CLAIM #1:
Freemasonry Worships Satan, Lucifer, Moloch, Baphomet And Any Other Satanic Entity?
ANSWER:
This Claim is False!
Freemasonry is NOT a religion, neither is there any worshipping or satanic rituals!
This fallacy has been initially spread since the initial papal bull of Friday the 13th of October 1307 (approx. 715 years ago) where: “hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France, an action clearly financially motivated and undertaken by the efficient royal bureaucracy to increase the prestige of the crown.
why?
King Philip IV was the force behind this move, but it has also embellished the historical reputation of Pope Clement V. From the very day of Clement V’s coronation, the king charged the Templars with usury, credit inflation, fraud, heresy, sodomy, immorality, and abuses, and the scruples of the Pope were heightened by a growing sense that the burgeoning French State might not wait for the Church, but would proceed independently.”.
However there are other places that this lie has originated from, namely in the modern day era, in the 1890s A man named Leo Taxil who published a FICTIONAL book which mocks not only Freemasonry but also the Catholic Church’s opposition to it, where he used a particular image (The Baphomet) designed by a Mr. Éliphas Lévi who originally designed it for his own book, “Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie”.
Who was Leo Taxil and what did he do? “Léo Taxil was the pen name of Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès, who had been accused earlier of libel regarding a book he wrote called The Secret Loves of Pope Pius IX. On April 20, 1884, Pope Leo XIII published an encyclical, Humanum genus, that said that the human race was separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other of those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth.
The one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ… The other is the kingdom of Satan… At this period, however, the partisans of evil seems to be combining together, and to be struggling with united vehemence, led on or assisted by that strongly organised and widespread association called the Freemasons.”
One of the first instances where we see an image of Baphomet linked to Freemasonry is on the cover of Léo Taxil’s Book: “Les Mysteres De La Franc-Maconnerie Devdiles Par Leo Taxil” seen in the image above left.
The entire book is fiction and in fact, in a public admission in 1897, Léo Taxil writes “The public made me what I am; the arch-liar of the period” confessed Taxil, “for when I first commenced to write against the Masons my object was amusement pure and simple. The crimes I laid at their door were so grotesque, so impossible, so widely exaggerated, I thought everybody would see the joke and give me credit for originating a new line of humor. But my readers wouldn’t have it so; they accepted my fables as gospel truth, and the more I lied for the purpose of showing that I lied, the more convinced became they that I was a paragon of veracity.”
Pastoralis Praeeminentiae
Thus the lie has not only survived more than 200 years, it has continued to gain momentum as time passes, becoming bigger and bigger as each year passes, especially in the last 10 years thanks to the proliferation of such conspiracy theories via the internet. Prior to this book being written there are NO REFERENCES to Baphomet in Freemasonry. Ever.
Pastoralis Praeeminentiae, Latin for “Pastoral Preeminence,” was issued by Pope Clement V on 22 November 1307. This bull was sent to all Christian monarchs and ordered the arrest of all Knights Templar and the seizure of all their properties. In spite of this request not all monarchs complied immediately; some did not believe the accusations and required more force by the Church for the arrests, confiscation, and investigation to occur in places like England.
any baphomet statues or idols?
Baphomet and/or statue of Baphomet does NOT exist in any Freemason Lodge. There is NO Satanic or Luciferian references in Freemasonry whatsoever. How can there be Satanic references in Freemasonry when one of the admission prerequisites require one to believe in a Supreme Being, of which Satan is NOT.
Not only does Freemasonry lack the basic elements of a religion, it has no dogma or theology, no wish or means to enforce religious orthodoxy, it offers no sacraments, it does not claim to lead to salvation by works, secret knowledge or by any other means and the secrets of Freemasonry are concerned with modes of recognition, not with the means of salvation.
why do people continue this lie?
Why do people continue this lie? Unfortunately this is a difficult question to answer as it may have many facets… On one hand it could be considered that ignorance is the biggest culprit. On another hand it could be a product of fear of the unknown.
Another possibility would be because intolerant extremists and fundamentalists see it as a vehicle to spread their hatred and lies about people and groups either to justify their own inadequacies or ignorance and they believe they appear ‘intelligent’ or ‘knowledgeable’ to others.
Unfortunately there is another possibility and that is based on the ‘click bait’ principle in order to obtain more followers, usually on their social media accounts or to gain some kind of popularity or recognition as usually their names are listed there.
Where Did The Image Of Baphomet Originate?
The image of Baphomet was originally created in 1853 by occultist Eliphas Levi, for his book “Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie” (“Dogmas and Rituals of High Magic”).
Prior to this, the image of Baphomet did NOT exist EVER !
The image of Baphomet, was created in 1854, is supposed to reflect a number of principles considered fundamental to occultists and was influenced by Hermeticism, Kabbalah, and alchemy, among other sources. However prior to that, there was no image in existence.
The first known mention of Baphomet was in a letter written in 1098 by Anselm of Ribemont describing the Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade. Anselm stated that the Turks “called loudly upon Baphomet.”
Some scholars believe that the word refers to the prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. In 1307 Philip IV of France had every Templar in France arrested, accusing them of such heretical acts as idolatrous worship of a bearded male head called Baphomet. By the 19th century Freemasons had also been (falsely) said to worship Baphomet, re the Papal Bull of 1307.
In Eliphas Levi’s book “Dogme et ritual de la haute magie” (1861; Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual), the influential French occultist (Éliphas Lévi) created the Baphomet that has become a recognised occult icon. The book’s frontispiece was a drawing of Baphomet, imagined as a “Sabbatic Goat” a hermaphroditic winged human figure with the head and feet of a goat that is adorned with numerous esoteric symbols. Lévi describes the meaning of each element of the drawing, which is defined by its profound and pervasive duality.
The term Baphomet is most assuredly a corruption of the name Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam. It has long been thought to be a derivation from Mahomet, the French name for the prophet. The term gained notoriety during the trials of the Knights Templar in the 14th century, when the Templars were accused of, among other things, worshipping an idol called Baphomet. Many of the accusations against the Templars were clearly false. This caused many to assume this charge was likewise invented by a king (Philip IV of France) trying to get rid of a rich Order to which he was indebted.
What Is The Meaning Of Levi’s Baphomet?
Levi’s illustration has nothing to do with Islam, although tales of the secret knowledge of the Templars might have inspired Levi to adopt the name of Baphomet.
Levi himself described the meaning of the symbol thus in “Dogme et Rituel”:
“The goat on the frontispiece carries the sign of the pentagram on the forehead, with one point at the top, a symbol of light, his two hands forming the sign of hermetism, the one pointing up to the white moon of Chesed, the other pointing down to the black one of Geburah.
This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. His one arm is female, the other male like the ones of the androgyn of Khunrath, the attributes of which we had to unite with those of our goat because he is one and the same symbol. The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light of the universal balance, the image of the soul elevated above matter, as the flame, whilst being tied to matter, shines above it.
The beast’s head expresses the horror of the sinner, whose materially acting, solely responsible part has to bear the punishment exclusively; because the soul is insensitive according to its nature and can only suffer when it materialises. The rod standing instead of genitals symbolises eternal life, the body covered with scales the water, the semi-circle above it the atmosphere, the feathers following above the volatile. Humanity is represented by the two breasts and the androgyn arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences.”
webmaster’s note:
As the definition of Baphomet’s so called ‘dual gender’, the extremist and fundamentalists have focused their efforts on using this as a basis of their attacks against Freemasonry, claiming that Freemasons are behind the latest ‘Push for Transgender in children’. This is not only a lie, it is ridiculous. Freemasonry does not teach any such doctrines or dogmas, no such gender equality or political narratives and certainly does not interfere with the gender of children. However because of the false link made between Levi’s totally fictitious Baphomet and Freemasonry, it was the easiest method for extremists to spread their hatred onto Freemasonry using a known lie and somehow making it true.
In fact the Christian extremist doctrine utilises the same method as of Nazi Joseph Goebbels which states “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is a law of propaganda attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels. It is also opportune to note that extremist Christians are also Anti-Semites and are fixated on spreading lies with intent to accumulate followers whilst spreading lies about everyone and anyone that does not agree with them.
Extremists are NOT Christians, although they claim to be, thus should they read their bible, they would soon find out their behaviour is contradictory to what they claim they follow and preach. See bible verses: 1 Peter 3:16, Exodus 20:16, Exodus 23:1, Isaiah 54:17, 1 Peter 2:1-12, Genesis 50:20, Leviticus 19:16, 1 Peter 2:1-25, Proverbs 3:30, Deuteronomy 19:16-19, Proverbs 11:9, Psalm 35:20, Titus 2:3, 1 Peter 3:9, 2 Timothy 3:3, Proverbs 25:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:15
Attributes of Levi’s Baphomet:
POLARITY
• The idea of polarity, such as dividing the world into male and female energies, was a central concept within 19th-century occultism. This influence is obvious in Levi’s Baphomet in several places.
• The gesture of one hand pointing up while the other hand points down. This expresses the Hermetic concept “As above, so below.” It reflects how different levels of existence influence one another, whether those levels be intellectual versus physical, the spiritual world versus the material world, or microcosm versus macrocosm.
• Chesed and Geburah, are two Sephirot on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which maps out aspects of existence. They are on opposite sides of the tree, which are commonly understood to be male and female, severity and mercy. Chesed represents kindness and love, while Geburah represents power, strength, and judgment.
• The Latin terms “Solve” and “Coagula” written upon Baphomet’s arms. These translate to dissolve and coagulate, which are opposing alchemical processes.
• Multiple physical examples of Baphomet being both male and female (e.g., breasts and phallus; one male arm, one female arm).
• The caduceus-like image replacing the phallus, in which the two snakes frequently represent male and female.
ELEMENTAL FORCES
• Baphomet also represents the unity of the four Platonic elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Air and water are the easiest to identify through the fish scales (water) and the symbolic semi-circle of the atmosphere (air). Baphomet’s feet are planted on the sphere of the earth, while a fire burns from his crown.
FERTILITY AND LIFE
• The choice of goat-like features for Baphomet comes from several connections between goats and fertility. Levi himself called the figure Baphomet of Mendes, comparing him to a what he believed was a goat-headed Egyptian god honored for fertility purposes. Pan, a Greek god with goat features, was likewise commonly associated with fertility in the 19th-century. In addition, Baphomet’s phallus has been replaced with a caduceus, which is considered by some to be a symbol of fertility. Certainly, the phallic emphasis can only encourage notions of fertility.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baphomet
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/taxil_confession.html
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/delarive.html
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/taxil_confessed.html
https://www.sacred-texts.com/evil/dwf/index.htm
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/miller_e/miller_e.html
https://www.masonicworld.com/education/articles/Albert-Pike-And-Lucifer-The-Lie-That-Will-Not-Die.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20070303091224/
http://altreligion.about.com/library/texts/bl_confessiontaxil.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_et_Rituel_de_la_Haute_Magie
https://www.learnreligions.com/eliphas-levis-baphomet-goat-of-mendes-95993