The History Of The Baphomet
14:31 Apr 16 2006
Times Read: 601
Baphomet, the symbol of the satanic goat, usually portrayed as a half human, half goat figure, or a goat head. It is often misinterpreted as a symbol of witch-craft in general. It is used by Satanists, but is not used by neo-pagan witches who do not worship the devil.
The origin of the Baphomet is unclear. It may be a corruption of Muhomet (Mohammed). The english witchcraft historian Montague Summers suggested that it was a combination of two greek words, baphe and metis, meaning "absorption of knowledge." Baphomet has also been called the Goat of Mendes, The Black Goat and the Judas Goat.
In the middle ages the Baphomet was believed to be an idol, represented by a human skull, a stuffed humans head or a metal or wooden human head with curly black hair. The idol was said to be worshipped by the Order of Knights Templar as the source of fertility and wealth. In 1307 King Phillip IV of France accused the Order of the Knights Templar of heresy, homosexuality and among other things, worshipping this idol and anointing it with the fat of murdered children. However, only 12 of the 231 knights interrogated by the church admitted worshipping or having knowledge of the Baphomet. Novices said they had been instructed to worship the idol as their god and savior, and their descriptions of it varied: it had up to three heards and up to four feet; it was made of either wood or metal, or was a painting, sometimes it was a gift.
In 1818 a number of idols called heads of Baphomet were discovered among forgotten antiquities of the imperial museum of Vienna. They were said to be replicas of the Gnostic divinity, Mete, or "Wisdom."
Perhaps the best-known representation of Baphomet is the drawing by the 19th century French magician, Eliphas Levi, called "The Baphomet of Mendes." Levi combined elements of the tarot devil card and the he-goat worshipped in antiquity in Mendes, Egypt, which was said to fornicate with its women followers ( as the church claimed the devil did with witches). Levi's Baphomet has a human trunk with rounded, female breasts, a caduceus in the midriff, human arms and hands, cloven feet, wings and a goat's head with a pentagram in the forehead and a torch on top of the skull between the horns. The attributes, Levi said, represented the sum total of the universe - intelligence, the four elements, divine revelation, sex and motherhood and sin and redemption. Hite and black crescent moons at the figure's side represent good and evil.
Aleister Crowley named himself Baphomet when he joined the Ordo Templis Orientalis, a secret sexual magic order formed around 1896 in Germany
The Church of Satan, founded in 1966 in San Francisco, adopted another rendition of baphomet to symbolize Satanism. The symbol is a goats head drawn within an inverted pentacle, enclosed in a outer circle, hebraic figures at each point in the pentagram spell ot leviathan, a huge water serpent associated with the devil. In Church of Satan rituals, the sigil of Baphomet is hung on the wall behind the alter. The Baphomet may also be worn as a medallion.
Vlad The Impaler08:30 Apr 14 2006
Times Read: 606
One day, Vlad Dracula decided to cleanse his Kingdom of those he considered to be lazy and unproductive, those who suffered from illness, a handicap, or were simply born in poverty. He decreed that no one should go hungry in his Kingdom, and invited all the poor, unfortunate souls who tainted his concept of what society should be to a banquet in the great hall in Tirgoviste. Once he felt his "guests" had been well fed, not to mention drunk and complacent, Vlad made his appearance, asking them how they would enjoy never having to feel the pain of hunger ever again, or if they wished to never have to worry about anything ever again, to be without a care in the world.
Of course, their reply was enthusiastic, so he obliged, ordering his men to board up the hall, which was then set ablaze. No one escaped. Vlad Dracula's treatment of his own subjects paled in comparison to the atrocities he committed against his enemies, and any who opposed him. On St. Bartholomew's Day, he impaled 30,000 merchants for disobeying trade laws, having their bodies left to rot outside the city walls as a reminder of what would happen to any who disobeyed him
Vlad The Impaler VS Dracula
08:17 Apr 14 2006
Times Read: 608
Although by now you will have noticed that Vlad the Impaler and Count Dracula a very different characters, we would like to point out the following elements which may or may not have influenced Bram Stoker in the creation of his fearsome character.
Dracula's cape may have been based on the red and black cape worn by members of the Order of the Dragon.
Killing a vampire by driving a stake through his heart is reminiscent of Impalements.
Vlad the Impaler was Transylvanian, as is Stoker's character.
Vlad the Impaler lived in a castle, which is also known as castle Dracula, and currently a tourists attraction (although the real castle Dracula lies buried beneath is structure)
While imprisoned, Vlad the Impaler tortured and impaled rodents and insects. Count Dracula's lackey, Renfield, devours insects in his cell while imprisoned in an insane asylum.
Vlad the Impaler is said to have consumed human flesh, and to have drunk human blood. Some also speculate that he suffered from a rare allergy that made him lose control when exposed to blood, as well as crave it.
While Vlad the Impaler may not have been one of the living dead, it is believed his allergy to blood caused him to have very pale and swollen face.
Although most movie versions of the Dracula character were without facial hair, Stoker's character was a tall man with aquiline features, sporting a long white mustache, an elderly version of what the real Dracula would have looked like.
Harker recalls a conversation with Count Dracula: "In his speaking of things and people, and especially of battles, he spoke
as if he had been present at them all."
In that same exchange, Dracula explains the origins of his race: "What devil or what witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood is in these veins?" He held up his arms. "Is it a wonder that we were a conquering race, that we were proud, that when the Magyar, the Lombard, the Avar, the Bulgar, or the Turk poured his thousands on our frontiers, we drove them back?"
Count Dracula alsop ststes that: "Who was it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the Danube
and beat the Turk on his own ground?"
Van Helsing explains that another way to insure a vampire will not return is to cut off its head. Vlad the Impaler was rumored to have been decapitated.
Van Helsing also theorizes that: "He must, indeed, have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk."
In Francis Ford Coppola's feature film "Bram Stoker's Dracula", actor Gary Oldman is shown wearing an armor sporting the "Order of the Dragon" insignia, and a fair amount of background is given on the Character which was not in the book but is based on the historical Vlad Dracula.
Again, In Coppola's adaptation, Prince Vlad Dracula's wife Elisabeta is shown committing suicide to avoid capture in exactly the same manner as Vlad the Impaler's wife during the capture of his castle by the Turks.
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