Baphomet Altar Cloth - Sabbatic Goat red / green

This altar cloth features a one sided print with hemmed edges. Care instructions: Cold water delicate cycle, hang to dry. No bleach. 24" x 24" inches

Known as "Dhulqarnen" (Two Horned Lord) the god of witches represents the inherent desire and balanced intellect of the sorcerer; having some origins from the Sufi concept of 'ras el-fahmat' (head of knowledge) and from the Arabic root of FHM (meaning 'knowledge, understanding' and also 'black' revealing a balanced insight of power of the Infernal and Empyrean). The Sabbatic Goat is both a representation of the self-excellence of the Adept, also as a God (Deific Mask) of both chthonic and aerial planes of wisdom and power.

Inspired by the famous line drawing by Eliphas Levi, the great French magus of the 19th century which was composed as the frontispiece to second section of his masterwork "The Ritual and Dogma of High Magic". Levi devised this picture, which synthesizes many elements and symbols from a variety of religious and magickal traditions to illustrate the concept of "astral light, the great magical agent," the medium through which all seeming miracles are performed.

Because this drawing was originally intended to be correctly understood by only initiates of the Mystery Traditions, in more recent times it has been greatly misunderstood, maligned and sometimes abused by the ignorant and those who are unable to perceive its true meaning. Levi alternately titled this drawing "The Sabbatic Goat" (in reference to rites once held in honor of the divine goat of Mendes in ancient Egypt). It is also "Baphomet of the Templars" ( the order of the Knights Templar, the forerunners of modern Freemasonry). Ceremonial magicians and Witches have often recognized this symbol as one of the many representations of the Horned God, although this figure is never worshiped.

To quote Levi, "Baphomet is not a God: he is the sign of initiation. He is also the hieroglyphic figure of the great divine TETRAGRAMMATON ... he is a hold-over from the cherubs of the ark and the holy of holies ... he is the guardian of the key to the temple ... the goat which is represented in our frontispiece bears upon it's forehead the sign of the pentagram with one point in the ascendant, which is sufficient to distinguish it as a symbol of light ... between his horns he carries the torch of life, and the living soul of this torch is God ... it is also the type of the soul exalted above matter, even while cleaving to matter, as the flame cleaves to the torch."