So this past weekend finally saw the unveiling of the Baphomet statue in Detroit. It looks pretty cool and the organization behind the event claims that it was the largest Satanic gathering ever. I think that title still goes to any Black Friday at Walmart, but I didn’t make the event so what do I know? Here is the word on the scene and the work from TIME magazine…
A little before midnight on Saturday, a crowd of around 700 gathered in an old industrial warehouse a few blocks from the Detroit River for what they’d been told was the “largest public satanic ceremony in history.” Most of them professed to be adherents of Satanism, that loosely organized squad of the occult that defines itself as a religious group. Others came simply because they were curious. After all, Satanists exist in the popular psyche as those who casually sacrifice goats and impregnate Mia Farrow with Lucifer’s child; if this ceremony was indeed unprecedentedly big, who knew what could be in store?
The reality of the event — and of the contemporary Satanic movement at large — was tamer, and, if the Facebook pictures speak the truth, harmlessly festive: a cross between an underground rave and a meticulously planned Halloween party. They were there to publicly unveil a colossal bronze statue of Baphomet, the goat-headed wraith who, after centuries of various appropriations, is now the totem of contemporary Satanism. The pentagram, that familiar logo of both orthodox Satanists and disaffected teens, originated as a rough outline of Baphomet’s head.
It’s odd that ol’ Baphomet suddenly has so much attention, but most people don’t really know the story behind the symbol. Here is Texe Marrs silly take on the beast. This video is full of Marrs’ usual paranoia and speculations, but also with some good basic information about Baphomet’s origins connecting back to the Knights Templar and the myths of Pan and the Green Man.
Stay Awake!
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