skip to main |
skip to sidebar
[from http://intranet.ca/~magicworks/knights/solved.html ]
Baphomet: A "Mystery" Solved At Last?
I wish to give my thanks to Frater Baraka IV of Whiskey Rebellion
Camp O.T.O. for his kindness in allowing me to reprint his
article and theory on the Baphomet here.
(This article originally appeared in the
official publication of Whiskey Rebellion Camp, Pittsburgh PA
Ordo Templi Orientis. (C) 1995)
Baphomet: A "Mystery" Solved At Last?
by Frater Baraka, IV*
Sooner or later every student of either the esoteric or the
history of the Crusades encounters the name of an allegedly
sinister entity known as "Baphomet". Baphomet was said to be the
"god" or "idol" of the Knights Templar, but has also been
described as "the goat of Mendes", "the god of the witches", a
latter-day version of the Greek god Pan, a symbol of an
alchemical principal, and even Satan himself. And while each of
these has a following, there is evidence suggesting the
possibility that Baphomet's origins are not only not sinister,
but human rather than supernatural.
The "mystery" of Baphomet begins in 1307 with the demise of the
Knights Templar. The military order of "warrior monks" was
founded in 1118 in France after the First Crusade to protect
European pilgrims on their way to and from the Holy Land. For
nearly two centuries the Templars grew in size, strength,
political clout, reputation (good at first, but bad towards the
end), but most of all in wealth, and this would prove to be their
undoing. In the early fourteenth century King Philip IV of
France, who was deeply in debt to the Templars, decided to not
only cancel that debt but seize their wealth and property for
himself and having his puppet pontiff Clement V dissolve the
order. To do this, Philip would have to have the Templars
convicted of heresy. With "evidence" gathered from agents who
infiltrated the Templars, along with a sworn deposition from a
disgruntled ex-Templar on whose testimony his prosecutors could
build a case, Philip made his move. Acting on sealed orders they
were not to open until the previous midnight, Philip's officials
arrested every Templar they could during the dawning hours of
Friday, October 13, 1307. While some of the charges, such as
sodomy and desecration of Christian symbols, were obviously silly
even to many people at the time, other allegations, such as the
chanting of "Yallah!" (Daraul, 1961), sounded like descriptions
of documented Sufi Muslim practices (Khan, 1974). But it is the
charge of worshipping an idol called "Baphomet" that has inspired
the most controversy.
At first, "Baphomet" was simply a head, and presumably a human
one, but under the duress of torture, Baphomet's descriptions
became progressively elaborate and fantastic. Nearly every
historian who has written on the subject has dismissed the
"Baphomet" issue as patently false, just one more trumped-up
charge against the Templars. However, after studying both the
hypothetical and more plausible connections between the Templars,
Sufism, and Freemasonry, I have come to the tentative conclusion
that the "Baphomet" matter may have contained a sizable element
of truth -- one which the inquisitors certainly distorted, but
true nonetheless.
Most of us who have heard of Baphomet first encountered the name
in either a history book or the works of Anton Szandor LaVey,
whose goat's-head-in-the-inverted-pentagram illustration is
supposed to be Baphomet, or else in the works of Aleister
Crowley, who equated Baphomet with the Greek god Pan (Crowley,
1974). Crowley even adopted the name "Baphomet" as his own motto
when he joined Ordo Templi Orientis (Order of the Oriental
Temple, or O.T.O.). Other occult writers who have discussed
Baphomet include nineteenth century authors Eliphaz Levi and
Albert Pike, and Baphomet is the model for "The Devil" in the
Waite-Rider and Case-B.O.T.A. tarot decks. Many historians have
claimed that the name "Baphomet" was Old French for Muhammad,
whose name is sometimes spelled Mahomet, although Crowley (1989)
presented an interesting, but probably coincidental, claim that
the name came from a Greek phrase for "baptism of wisdom". The
problem with Crowley's case is it overlooks two basic facts about
the Templars: 1) as Roman Catholics, Greek names were not that
important to them (and to Catholics at the time, the Greek
Orthodox Christians were in some ways just as much "infidels" as
the Muslims), and 2) the Templars who lived in the Holy Land,
along with the masons they employed, had to deal with the local
population on a regular basis, often became fluent in Arabic, and
for a European in the Holy Land --Templars included -- to "go
native" was not particularly unusual. But it was in the
pop-history book" Blood, Holy "that I first came
across the idea that "Baphomet" was derived from an Arabic term,
"meaning "Father of Understanding", rather than from
an Old French name for the founder of Islam. Since that book,
although a "good read", is not one scholars take seriously due to
its highly speculative theses, I decided to check their source
for this, Idries Shah's which contains additional
relevant information discussed below.
For now I tend to favor the Arabic origins over the Old French
for the following reasons: first, as an iconoclastic religion,
Islam strictly forbids images, either painted or sculpted, of
either God or Muhammad, so the idea of even unorthodox Muslims
worshipping an idol is simply ludicrous. Second, of those authors
I have read who claim that "any expert on Old French" will say
that Baphomet was another name for Muhammad never actually cite
any such Old French experts to document this assertion. One such
writer was Peter Partner, who even found a French troubadour
ballad from the late thirteenth century and published an English
translation, showing parenthetically that "Bafometz" had appeared
in the original French (he had rendered it as "Mohammed" as if
this had somehow proved his point). What Partner had
inadvertently done was prove that a) Baphomet was a known entity
before the demise of the Templars, and most likely a person with
spiritual power, capable of working miracles (although Islam
never credits Muhammad with any "miracle" other than receiving
the Qu'ran), and b) that Baphomet was known among non-Templars
(although Partner believed the ballad's author was an ex-Templar,
that troubadour's audience certainly had non-Templars among
them), and if Shah is correct in his assertions about Sufic
influences on the troubadours, then we have in the ballad Partner
quoted possible proof of a link between Sufism and Baphomet. (As
for the Templars and the Sufis, not only were there many
documented contacts between Templars and Sufis [as well as other
unorthodox Muslims such as the Ismailis] during their time in the
Middle East, but there were also opportunities for contacts in
Europe. France, after all, borders Spain, and during the Crusades
Sufism flourished in Muslim-ruled Spain and influenced the early
Qabalistic Jews and other mystics on both sides of the border;
Robert Graves, in his introduction to Shah's book, even claimed
that Templars fought alongside Sufi warriors in Spain. And many
Masonic trappings, such as the checkered floor and the tolerance
of all monotheistic religions, are at least Islamic in origin if
not specifically Sufic.) But in my opinion the strongest support
for Baphomet as abufihamet is the number of Arabic sobriquets
which begin with abu which belonged to historical individuals
rather than esoteric principles.
One such individual was the tenth century Sufi martyr Husayn ibn
Mansur al-Hallaj, who died in 922CE. A pantheist, an alleged
miracle worker, and a most definitely unorthodox Muslim, Hallaj
was imprisoned and tried for blasphemy for his public
descriptions of his mystical union with God. Finally convicted
after a nine year inquiry, Hallaj was maimed, crucified,
beheaded, and his torso was cremated. Some of the stories
surrounding his death include an account of the Caliph's Queen
Mother having Hallaj's head preserved as a relic (Singh, 1970).
Various Sufi sects have rituals commemorating Hallaj's death, and
Shah claimed that Hallaj was the model for the "Hiram Abiff"
character in the Master Mason initiation ritual. Although Shah
cited other reasons connecting Hallaj to Hiram Abiff and the sect
of Sufis known as "the Builders" (who built the Al Aqsa Mosque
and the Dome of the Rock on the site of Solomon's Temple in
Jerusalem, which was the Holy Land headquarters for the Templars
and the mythical scene of Masonic initiations), Hallaj bore some
interesting parallels to the Old Testament's descriptions of
Hiram the artificer: first, both men were sons of widows; second,
both men had "sons of David" play key roles in their lives (Hiram
worked for Solomon, and one of Hallaj's prosecutors was named Ibn
Daud [Massignon, 1994], which is Arabic for "Son of David"), and
third, the Old Testament Hebrew for "Abiff" is abyu
(Kohlenberger, 1987). Having already encountered writers who
hypothesized a connection between the Templars and Freemasonry
(which, although plausible, is nowhere near as romantic or
fantastic as some, such as John J. Robinson in" in "have claimed), I had already found the first two most
interesting, and further investigation of Hallaj, who, according
to the medieval Islamic poet and historian Farid al-Din Attar,
turns out to have been known by several titles beginning with
abu-, brought the third coincidence to my attention. And since,
as noted above, some of the Templars may indeed have been
participants in documented Sufi practices, could the charge that
the Templars "worshipped a head called Baphomet" not have had
some factual basis, namely the commemoration of a decapitated
Sufi martyr whose head became a relic and who had been given the
sobriquet abufihamet? The only problem here is that despite all
the other abu- titles belonging to Hallaj, there is no known
documentation linking him to abufihamet. Perhaps this
documentation does exist (it would be useless to hypothesis that
"perhaps it once existed, but no longer does"), but has not yet
come to my attention, and should someone who knows of it ever
read this essay, I would be most appreciative to hear of it.
Until then, the above thesis, although plausible in my opinion,
and hopefully interesting to the reader, remains purely
speculative. But if it does turn up, then at last we will have
proof positive that the Templars possessed a body of knowledge
that would later become known to the Freemasons, regardless of
how Freemasonry came to be.
Bibliography
Attar, Farid al-Din (A.J. Arberry, trans.)" Saints and
"New York: Arkana, 1990.
Baigent, Michael, Leigh, Richard, and Lincoln, Henry"
Blood, Holy "New York: Dell, 1982.
Case, Paul Foster" Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the "(revised edition). Los Angeles: Builders of the Adytum, 1990.
Crowley, Aleister" Book of "York Beach: Samuel
Weiser, 1974.
The Confessions of Aleister "New York: Arkana, 1989.
Daraul, Arkon" History of Secret "New York: Citadel
Press, 1961.
Howarth, Stephen" Knights "New York: Dorset, 1991.
Khan, Pir Vilayat Inayat" the "New York: Harper
Colophon, 1974.
Kohlenberger, John R. III, ed" New International Version
Hebrew-English Interlinear Old "Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1987.
LaVey, Anton Szandor" Satanic "New York: Avon Books,
1969.
Levi, Eliphaz (A.E. Waite, trans.) York
Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1970.
Massignon, Louis (H. Mason, ed. & trans.)": Mystic and
"Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Partner, Peter" Murdered Magicians: The Templars and their
Myth. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1993.
Pike, Albert" and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite of "Charleston: Supreme Council of the
Thirty Third Degree for the Southern United States, 1871.
Robinson, John J" in Blood: The Lost Secrets of
"New York: Evans, 1989", Fire, and Sword: The Knights Templar in the
"New York: Evans, 1991.
Shah, Idries New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1964.
Singh, Kapur" Al-"Patiala: Guru Gobind Singh,
Department of Religious Studies, Punjabi University, 1970.
Waite, Arthur Edward" Key to the "New York:
Causeway, no date.
Frater Baraka invites opinions and support to his thesis. Those
wishing to contact the author may write to him at P.O. Box
101722, Pittsburgh PA, 15237 or zentao93@juno.com
Armstrongism has always had a fascination with demons. Pesky demons were always lurking around ready to steal our crowns. Demons were more powerful than Jesus because they got talked about more. The Pasadena campus supposedly had lots of demons lurking around ready to posses students minds with levitating toothbrushes, They were in abundance because they wanted to get close to the truth, at least that is what one WCG ministurd used to teach. This Church of God has an article telling members how to cast out demons.
If someone is possessed by a demon how does he get rid of it? First of all you must realize that it is not your power to cast out the demon, but our King of Kings Yahshua Messiah. "(ACTS 19:15-16) "AND THE EVIL SPIRIT SAID YAHSHUA I KNOW, AND PAUL I KNOW BUT WHO ARE YOU? AND THE MAN WITH THE EVIL SPIRIT LEAPED ON THEM, AND OVERCAME THEM, AND PREVAILED AGAINST THEM, SO THAT THEY FLED OUT OF THE HOUSE NAKED AND WOUNDED. We must never go on our own power. If the demon asks your name, tell him "You come in the name of Yahshua Messiah." Your name is not important. Then you use the authority that Yahshua gave you (If you have been given that authority) to cast the demon out in his name. You must believe totally in the one who sent you (Yahshua). If you lack faith it will not leave. Then after the demon is gone, you must explain to the person who had the demon that he must keep his house clean lest 7 more come back with the first one, and the end of that person will be worst than the beginning. The person must "REPENT" of the sin,"REVOKE" the act that brought the demon and "REPLACE" the act with a positive deed. That is the only way to stay clean. I will say that although demons are rampant in this world today, all out demon possession is rare. But it is getting more and more common as we are getting closer to the end.
Did that blog chronicle title grasp your attention? It requisite. It isn't even overstatement. It is not untrue. And it is not an enlargement. Young person demon slayers actually spell graduated from an actual school for exorcists.
Indoors is an illustration from the UK Article Mail- reasonable to abrasion you that this is a real rumor article newspaper journalism on real events. Doubtless, the demon world is profitable, the Catholic priests are dying off of old age and no new exorcists spell been adept to trade them, so the Catholic Church outsourced. I am not making this up.
'WE'RE NOT Need Congeal TEENAGERS': Game THE EXORCIST SCHOOLGIRLS WHO Give out THEIR Goal CASTING OUT DEMONS Roughly THE World
"--Brynne Larson, 16, is one of abundant newly-qualified teenage demon slayers"
"--Reverend Bob Larson of Spiritual Breathing space Churches runs exorcist school"
"--No set conduct for exorcisms but girls transfer a Bible, holy water and a split"
"The five teenage girls sway happen have a weakness for they're in a poor class, tenaciously reading their textbooks and answering their teacher's questions assiduously. But the textbooks are Bibles and the girls all spell crosses sooner of protractors, as they train to become exorcists - real exorcists who rivalry demons, curses and evil spells. people do happen a bit bewildered in the same way as I put in at,' admits graduate exorcist Brynne Larson. in the same way as people challenge for an exorcist, they don't picture a 16-year-old high school girl.' But Brynne, from Phoenix, Arizona, is one of a new household of recognized teenage demon slayers, who answered a challenge in the same way as the Church completed the log on of dowry central a international company exorcist plainness. But no matter what drastic hard work, supply has allay not met bill for the bring up procedure. The Vatican's boss exorcist Leave Gabriele Amorth, 85, has revealed that he mislaid has dealt with 70,000 belongings of demonic use. So if the martial of dark start feat the improved hand, who requisite you call? Evangelist Priest Bob Larson of Spiritual Breathing space Churches Worldwide - and his amazing school for exorcists. footing of it pompous of an exorcist lock up,' Rev Larson tells MailOnline exceptionally. 'The Church reasonable can't preserve up with bill. But I spell 100 teams of adept exorcists working all exhausted the world, and outbreaks of demonic use are feat out of cage."
Much pompous at headline-link.
Ohhh, dowry are so abundant things neglectful with this. Let me point the ways.
The first part of, it is true that "You, adorable children, are from God and spell overcome them, having the status of the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4). Offering is no poser that Jesus is greater than anything, a person, or any place. He IS the power exhausted demons, and any Christian with the Saintly Guts indwelling them has doorway to the power of Jesus.
That understood, demons are a very serious thing. Demons, call to mind, are fallen angels who are under the call of satan. They nauseate Jesus' authority and are out on your own to lie, embezzle, and vacation. If demons are fallen angels, then become aware of a significance to judge on the power of the angels.
In Daniel 10:13 the Member of the aristocracy dispatched an angel to bring a meaning to Daniel the seer. Complementary angel, the Prince of Persia, lazy the Lord's angel from delivering that meaning for 21 days. Decisively Michael the cherub was sent to help the angel central caught up from delivering the meaning. So the verse shows us that one of satan's angels lazy an angel of the Member of the aristocracy from carrying out his task for "three weeks". That is "power".
In Leak, dowry are angels who execute the give of God now the judgments. In one litigation, Leak 19:17 shows us "...an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud-mouthed state to all the fowl above ground in midair, "Grow, have a passion for together for the inestimable banquet of God,'"
An angel standing in the sun and tongue in a state loud-mouthed enough for the fowl in our upbringing to hear? That is "power".
In Daniel 10:6, we read a kind of fresh angel: "His mortal was have a weakness for chrysolite, his intention have a weakness for lightning, his eyes have a weakness for fiery torches, his arms and legs have a weakness for the explode of burnished effigy, and his state have a weakness for the ring of a crowd."
That is a "powerful" angel.
Unceasing the Apostles were puzzled by some demons, and on your own Jesus might cast them out. At the same time as the Apostles asked Jesus why they had poor, "And he understood unto them, This flowing can come forth by secret message, but by prayer and fasting". (Aspect 9:29-30).
Angels resisting the Lord's angels for three weeks, standing in the sun, unleashing order, defeating the Apostles, and looking have a weakness for the one described above? Powerful. Whereas the fallen ones spell rebelled against Jesus' authority they allay deposit their power and abilities. And who is going to mandate the powerful fallen angels? These in recent times minted exorcists:
attractively
So...really? "Intensely"?
OK, detour from the fact that demons are very powerful, the bible says we are to hold up them. Not happen next them. Not protest march them and cast them out. Drive back. "Propose yourselves, then, to God. Drive back the devil, and he give hideaway from you." (James 4:7). We are instructed to wear our spiritual defender (Ephesians 6:10-18) but nowhere does it say that we are to go forth and use it, close off to pray and to hold up.
Jesus is our intercessor. (Romans 8:34). If we plea to Him, He give banish the demon.
The bible gave a credential to the Apostles to "revoke the dead, cast out demons." (Mt 10:5-8). In this talk by John MacArthur, he explains "The on your own thing I footing about in the same way as I cling that is power. I mean, the power to revoke the dead and the power to interrupt the acquire of dark, the cloak world of the demons, and overcome that acquire, that's power! Now I can't revoke the dead or cast out demons, and neither can you. Now, no one has the power and authority our Member of the aristocracy and His apostles had exhausted demons and death. You say, "As well as how does this weigh against to us?" When it shows us power. The ridge of the apostles was power."
One of the locale Jesus gave to the Apostles to establish their art was an captivating to revoke the dead and cast out demons. I personally consider that having the status of the credential was prone as a sign, that in the same way as the Apostles died the sign died with them. At that time I consider that no one is trained to revoke the dead nor cast out demons today. I consider that power now rests on your own with Jesus. still, still, you say, 'it seems that people are casting out demons all the time!'
In this exact talk by John MacArthur, he explains widely,
"The Jewish exorcists, who were normal in the time of Christ and went with brute force casting out demons, charged people. At the same time as people were demon-possessed or had building members who were demon-possessed, they would go to the exorcists for liberty. When all's said and done those exorcists had no have a fight having the status of the people were demon-possessed having the status of of sin, and the exorcists couldn't do anything about that. Bar, people would pay inestimable amounts of money to get exorcised."
It is the exact today. Restrict sooner of central disdainful Jewish men, they are teenage girls. Does it make evaluation to you that a baby in the look-in would be prone the amazing charge to insight with demons? Offering are somber ethics for the teachers, pastors, and elders on manner, creed and comportment. (James 3:1; 1 Timothy 3:2-3; 1 Timothy 3:11; Titus 2:11-12; Titus 2:3-5). If dependable alluring with demons is the way to go (and I consider it is not) then why, WHY send "teenage years "in to the clash in the same way as it is flagrant that the clash belongs to the elders? How wrongheaded is that?
As for the exorcist school, I spell an bear on that one too. The "bible "is the exorcism school. Before, in the same way as one examines demons, it is demons that are on your work out. You study them. You footing about them. You cogitate devices to fight them. You increasingly become drenched with demons, sooner of what you requisite be drenched with, which are outlook of Jesus. It is a good way to dash someone made known from the outlook of goodness and fall them appearing in dark.
Philippians 4:8 says "Decisively, brothers and sisters, anything is true, anything is gallant, anything is appropriate, anything is utter, anything is trustworthy, anything is admirable-if anything is moral or praiseworthy-think about such things." If you study demons you give not be expression about the soaring things.
I weep for for the teenage years central sent in to insight with situations that may be spare their captivating to continue them. And as for the build who is central exorcised, "At the same time as an evilf spirit comes out of a man, it goes throw down arid sitting room seeking rest and does not find it. As well as it says, 'I give return to the remain I disappeared.' At the same time as it arrives, it finds the remain empty, swept clean and put in order. As well as it goes and takes with it seven other spirits pompous scandalous than itself, and they go in and keep your head above water dowry. And the definitive distribute of that man is slash than the experimental. That is how it give be with this scandalous generation."
This is having the status of a build cannot be mad by a demon if they are a supporter. (Colossians 1:13,; 2 Corinthians 6:15-16; Romans 8:37; 1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14; 1 John 2:13). If one is mad, they want link, and the reaction for that is Jesus. "He "give cast out the demon and as a celebratory gift, send the Guts to indwell.
I syndicate that the Member of the aristocracy comes soon. A person give totally be fine. Without a scratch from demons and fine from demon slayers. Without a scratch in the arms of the Difficult One who loves us!
ht on the demon assassin article from from EBenzblog
"
I am publishing this even still I tightly am more exactly dejected in the Keep a note Chanel for the way Pagans are at the same time as portrayed in this. - Jasmeine Moonsong
"What upgrade way to respectable a upgrade thanks for the true spirit of Christmas than by learning a painstaking bit additional about the holiday's roots? Ensuing this month, Keep a note has a special set to run called "The Actual Loll of Christmas".The hour-long special atmosphere anchorage and line up us on some of the customs we've come to grip so like... darling a bit of strident, rock-throwing caroling! Curb out History's saga for the special bottom. It actually sounds weird sensational. "As THE Actual Loll OF CHRISTMAS shows, various of our seemingly not guilty customs evolved from unusual, gigantic or even meddling immaturity. Surrounded by its line in the Pagan celebration of the winter solstice, new Christmas was every one a day of prayer and f?te of drunken revelry. Tumultuous medieval carolers begged for silage and loom, sad to qualify rocks using the windows of family who reject. Christmas was actually ban for soul in America now the 16th and 17th centuries. And the Santa of old world slogan was accompanied not by elves but by a devil named Krampus who chief and kidnapped smart-alecky children."Salubrious Mark
