Symbology: The Satanic Star and the Goat of Baphomet

 The first symbol that I would like to shed some light on is the Satanic Star. This is the symbol for the Church of Satan. Also known as the inverted 5 pointed star, this symbol is used in paganism, witchcraft, freemasonry and Gnosticism. It represents to pagans the 4 elements of the material universe, plus spirit, and also man, representing the 4 limbs and head. So it is used in honor and worship of nature and man. In Satanism this symbol is inverted upside down to represent the rebellion or subversion of man and is known as the “sigil of baphomet”. It then has two points facing up, instead of one, which then also represents the goat demon, baphomet, azazel, Satan. For hundreds of years occultists have identified the symbol in this way and drawn images of the horned goat Satan within the inverted pentagram, with the two horns in the upper triangles, the ears within the horizontals, and the goatee beard within the downward pointing triangle. You may also see this symbol portrayed like this:

That brings me to the next symbol, which as mentioned above is directly related to inverted pentagram, its known as the Goat of Baphomet. 

Baphomet, the symbol of the satanic goat, usually portrayed as a half human, half goat figure, or a goat head is used by Satanists who worship the devil. 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.

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.