The Wiki + Divine

Baphomet’s name and iconography have been associated with witchcraft and paganism since the middle ages. Symbols such as the goat and the pentagram have been assimilated into various modern occult religions, the most well-known of which is Satanism. The first record of the name Baphomet (written as Baphometh) was in the confessions procured from members of the Knights Templar by torture. King Philip IV of France considered the Templars a threat to his rule and accused them of a multitude of sacrilegious crimes, but inconsistency among the Templar confessions suggests that the cult of Baphomet was an invention of the inquisitors. It is likely that the only factual basis for worship of Baphomet was the incorporation of certain Muslim ideals into Templar practices during the Crusades (Baphomet is almost certainly a French derivation of “Muhammad”). Early Christian views on Islam and the sinister nature of “Baphomet” imparted by the French inquisitors during the Templar trials led to a connection between Baphomet and devil-worship. This “false god” element of Baphomet’s cultural history seems to be playing out in The Wicked + The Divine, as he shows up to The Morrigan’s concert carrying her severed head and declares himself “the new King of the Underground.”