Description

Inverted pentacle Lavey seal of Baphomet

The Seal of Baphomet is the official insignia of the Church of Satan. It first appeared on the cover of The Satanic Mass LP in 1968 and later on the cover of The Satanic Bible in 1969. The seal has been defined as a “material pentagram” representative of carnality and earthly principles. The Church describes the symbol as “… the main visual distillation of the iconoclastic philosophy of Satanism”.

In literature and images prior to LaVey, the images used to represent the “satanic” are indicated by inverted crosses and blasphemous parodies of Christian art. The familiar goat head within an inverted pentagram did not become the primary symbol of Satanism until the founding of the Church of Satan in 1966. The original goat pentagram containing the Hebrew letters in the five points of the pentagram spelling Leviathan (לויתן) first appeared in the book La Clef de la Magie Noire by the French occultist Stanislas de Guaita, in 1897. book A Pictorial History of Magic and the Supernatural, with the words “Samael” and “Lilith” removed.

During his years of research on the “black arts”, LaVey came across this book and added it to his collection. When he chose to transform his magic circle, the Order of the Trapezius, into the Church of Satan, he decided that the symbol was the one that most fully embodied the principles that were the foundation of the satanic church. Contrary to claims made against the Church by detractors, LaVey never claimed to have created this particular symbol. [6] In its formative years, this particular version of the symbol was used by the Church on cards, stationery, medallions and especially above the altar in the ritual chamber of the Black House. During the writing of The Satanic Bible, it was decided to make a unique version of the symbol to be identified exclusively with the Church. The complete artwork now known as the Seal of Baphomet, first named in LaVey’s The Satanic Rituals, first appeared on the cover of The Satanic Mass LP in 1968 and later on the cover of The Satanic Bible in 1969. This version was designed by LaVey and attributed to “Hugo Zorilla” (a pseudonym used by LaVey in some of his works).

• Material: Stainless Steel