Baphomet
The name Baphomet or Bafomet was used in protocols of the Templar trial in southern France to describe a symbol allegedly venerated by the Knights Templar .
Origin and symbolism
The origin of the symbol is unknown. The Baphomet figure was shown with a white beard and two red gemstones as eyes.
etymology
There has been some speculation about the origin and meaning of the word Baphomet :
- Abufihamat is said to be of Arabic origin and mean 'father of understanding'.
- Baphomet is said to have been a corruption of the name Mahomet , the medieval spelling of the name Mohamed.
- Baphomet is a corruption of the Gnostic Bapho Metis (Greek for: baptism in wisdom or acceptance into wisdom ).
- About the 6th century BC The Jewish Atbash reversal, which originated in the 3rd century BC , is written in Hebrew from Baphomet (ב פ ו מ ת) Sophia (ש ו פ י א). Hugh J. Schonfield made this discovery ; So far, however, there is no evidence that the Templars dealt with the Atbash reversal.
- Arthur Edward Waite said that Baphomet had to be read backwards because the name was originally written in Hebrew letters. Accordingly, the Ananym TEM OHP AB would consist of three abbreviations with the meaning: "Templi omnium pacis abbas" , (= 'the father of the temple, universal peace of mankind').
- According to Aleister Crowley , Baphomet is a corruption of father Mithras (Bafomithr).
- Kuno Graf von Hardenberg linked in his work Rosenkranz and Bafomet to an old Templar letter square to explain the word Baphomet , into which he could insert the Templar cross after deleting all letters except A and B , which is composed of two heraldic figures called "Fyrfos" and heraldically called "the speaking head".
If, on the other hand, only the letters A and B are deleted from the letter square , the initial letters STNDMT of the Latin Templar name Salomonis Templum novum Dominorum Militiae Templariorum and behind the central B the cabbalistic reversal TMDNTS remain. Combined with the “talking head”, the “Fyrfos”, the square symbolizes the “fire igniter” (Latin: Fomes ). In this sense, the square was an amulet-like gem as evidence of religious affiliation to abbreviate a Templar ritual phrase and, as the Templar's caput , should be understood not as the main but as the main ritual piece: "ex literis BA fomitem habemus" (= from the letters B and A we have the "firelighter"). The abbreviation of this formula was "BA fomes" or "BA fomit" = Bafomet.
Text comparisons with contemporary Provencal literature showed that the spelling Baffomet was only used in the process protocols from the Provencal-speaking area . Baffomet is the Provencal word for the Prophet Mohammed , or for the alleged idol, which was attributed to the Muslims in some chansons de geste . For example, one finds the "gods Bafum / Bafumet et Travagan" and Mohammed as their envoy in the Provencal poem about the life of the holy honor , completed in 1300. In the chanson Simon de Pouille , written before 1235, one speaks of a Saracen idol called “Bafumetz”, and the chronicler of the First Crusade, Raimund d'Aigulhers, calls the mosques “Bafumarias”. As early as 1098, Anselm von Ribemont wrote in a letter from Antioch that the attacking Muslims had invoked their god "Baphometh". When asked about an idol, according to Anke Krüger, the Templars described what they knew about idols from the Chansons de gestes or the lives of saints.
Baphomet and the Templars
The historical foundation of the Baphomet can be found in the logs that were made during the Templar process. One of the articles of indictment in the trial against the Templars of 1307 was that the friars would "worship an idol". Few Witnesses confessed such worship during the various stages of the trial. The descriptions vary. According to Larchant, the prosecution records speak of an "idol as a head with a beard" to whom the Templars allegedly paid homage. Some declared it to be a black statue, others as a head with two or three faces (see: Ianus , Trinity ) or as a four-footed figure.
The term baffomet only appears in some protocols that were recorded in the south of France . Neither evidence of actual worship nor an existing idol of Baphomet was found. The statements in the logs diverge to such an extent that it has not yet been possible to obtain evidence of the existence and shape of the Baphomet. In addition, these statements were often obtained under torture.
Éliphas Lévis Baphomet and modern reception
The magician and occult writer Éliphas Lévi Zahed first drew Baphomet as a demon with a horned goat head, female breasts and a pentagram on his forehead in the 19th century . His representation arose from various much older deities of pagan origin. Horned fertility gods are found in ancient Egypt and in Celtic representations. Correspondences of the arm posture and torch symbolism can be discovered in the Mithras cult in the twin brothers Cautes and Cautopates , the personified boyish symbols of morning and evening, life and death with raised or lowered torches. Several specific sources for Lévis Baphomet can also be identified, such as the famous androgynous in Heinrich Khunrath's Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae (1595), a print in an edition by Clovis Hesteau de Nuysements, Traittez de l'harmonie et constitution generalle du vray sel and above all the Le Diable card in the Tarot de Marseille (around 1500). In addition, visually similar representations of the devil or demons have been omnipresent since early modern times.
It has been pointed out that Lévis Baphomet must be seen in the historical context of early socialism , romanticism and magnetism. On the one hand, it stands for an alleged tradition of true religion, which extended from the late antique school of Alexandria to Gnostics, Templars, Cathars and other heretics to contemporary socialists. On the other hand, it is a symbolic expression of Lévis' magical-magnetistic theory of astral light .
Lévis Baphomet is widespread today and has been adopted by Satanists . The representation is used in the Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey and on record covers by bands such as Angel Witch , Death SS , Ringworm , Mysticum and Blackdeath . Its fascination is explained by its complex syncretic symbolism. The figure unites good and bad , man and demon , woman and man , man and animal and also contains elements of alchemy ( "Solve et coagula!" - 'Loosen and connect!'). As a result, Baphomet also found its way into fictional literature, for example in the novel "The Vampire" by Władysław Reymont , here as an embodiment of the devil.
The Taxil hoax gave rise to the conspiracy theory that Freemasons would worship Baphomet, as portrayed by Lévi, as an idol .
In the so-called “Christian rite” of the Great National Lodge of the Freemasons of Germany , the figure of Baphomet, symbolizing the world soul , is played in the spelling “Baffometus”, which is derived from the Italian word bafil (“beard”) means “the man with the beard”, a certain role. In the Grand State Lodge, the symbol is only visible on the Grand Master's emblem.
His study of the Templars was Alfred Schuler believe they had a bearded, Baphomet revered called main. He equated this with the worship of the quintessential life, which the temple masters would have atoned for with death - thereby declaring them to be Gnostics in disguise .
Such modern representations lack any historical context with the Knights Templar and cannot be substantiated with finds from the time of the Templars.
literature
- Anke Krüger: Guilt or Prejudice? The protocols of the Templar trial in text comparison (1307–1312). In: Historical yearbook. Vol. 117, 1997, ISSN 0018-2621 , pp. 340-377.
- Anke Krüger: The “Baphomet Idol”. A contribution to the provenance of the main allegations against the Knights Templar. In: Historical yearbook. Vol. 119, 1999, pp. 120-133.
- Allan Oslo: The Secret Doctrine of the Knights Templar. History and legend. Königsfurt, Klein Königsförde / Krummwisch 2001, ISBN 3-93-393988-7 .
- Peter Partner: The Murdered Magicians. The Templars and their Myth. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1982, ISBN 0-19-215847-3 , especially pp. 138 ff. And 164 ff.
- Julian Strube: The "Baphomet" of Eliphas Lévi. Its Meaning and Historical Context. In: Correspondences . Vol. 4, 2017, ISSN 2053-7158 , pp. 37-79.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Horst E. Miers : Lexicon of Secret Knowledge (= Esoteric. Vol. 12179). Original edition, Goldmann, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-442-12179-5 , pp. 97-98.
- ↑ a b c Ruud Vermeer: Aleister Crowley. Iris Buecher 2005. p. 148.
- ↑ This reversal was as CryptoLogic mystery in the novel The Da Vinci Code ( The Da Vinci Code ) is used.
- ↑ Horst E. Miers: Lexicon of Secret Knowledge (= Esoteric. Vol. 12179). Original edition; and 3rd updated edition, both Goldmann, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-442-12179-5 , p. 98.
- ↑ Karl RH Frick: The Enlightened. Gnostic-theosophical and alchemical secret societies. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2005, pp. 258ff.
- ↑ Andreas Resch : Online edition of the Lexikon der Paranormologie. Keyword: Baphomet. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on May 10, 2019 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Recueil des historiens des croisades . Historiens occidentaux. Volume 3. Imprimerie Impérial, Paris 1866, pp. 892-893 .
- ↑ Anke Krüger: The "Baphomet Idol". 1999.
- ↑ Ian Wilson represents the hypothesis - largely rejected by the scientific community - that the idol allegedly venerated by the Knights Templar is identical to the Turin Shroud . See most recently Karlheinz Dietz , Die Templer und das Turiner Grabtuch . In: Karl Borchardt, Karoline Döring, Philippe Josserand, Helen J. Nicholson (eds.): The Templars and Their Sources (= Crusades - Subsidia . Vol. 10). Routledge, London 2017, ISBN 978-1-315-47529-5 (e-book; limited, unpaginated preview in Google book search).
- ↑ Strube 2017, pp. 40–42
- ↑ Strube 2017, pp. 44–73
- ^ Matthias Mader: Angel Witch . In: Matthias Mader, Otger Jeske, Manfred Kerschke (Eds.): NWOBHM: New Wave of British Heavy Metal . The Glory Days. Iron Pages, Berlin 1995, p. 16 .
- ↑ Angel Witch . In: Malc Macmillan (Ed.): The NWOBHM Encyclopedia . IP Verlag Jeske / Mader GbR, Berlin 2012, p. 35 .
- ^ Death SS : The Horned God of the Witches , 1981.
- ^ Death SS: Guardian Angel , Lucifer Rising Records 1997.
- ^ Death SS: The Horned God of the Witches , Black Widow Records 2004.
- ^ Ringworm : The Promise , Incision Records 1993.
- ↑ Mysticum : Lost Masters of the Universe , Planet Satan Revolution 2004.
- ↑ Blackdeath : Satan Makes Free , Drakkar Productions 2004.
- ^ Franz Wegener: Alfred Schuler, the last German Cathar. Gnosis, National Socialism and the mystical blood light. Gladbeck 2003, ISBN 3-931300-11-0 , p. 32.
