According to some strange tradition, the inverted five-pointed star and the goat's head are considered the main symbols of the devil. But if the five-pointed star is one of the most ancient and important symbols in many religions, then the connection between Satan and the goats is more difficult to grasp.
The role of goats in religion
It may sound absurd, but goats seem to have been out of favor with the authors of many religions.
If you carefully study the New Testament, then in the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew you can read the following [1]:
| 31 | When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy Angels are with Him, then he will sit on the throne of His glory, |
| 32 | and all nations will be gathered before Him; and he will separate one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; |
| 33 | And he will put the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left. |
| 34 | Then the King will say to those who are on His right hand: come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world … |
| … | … |
| 41 | Then he will say to those on the left: Depart from Me, cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels … |
Here, as you understood, goats represent sinners, followers of Satan. It is not entirely clear why goats are worse than sheep, but in Christianity, “evil” goats are often opposed to “good” sheep, even Jesus is sometimes called the “Lamb of God”. [2]
In Judaism, there is also a special rite, according to which all the sins of the people were assigned to the goats. According to legend, people brought a bull and two goats for sacrifice. After that, the priest cast lots, and according to its results one of the goats and the bull was sacrificed and burned for the sins of society. The second goat was left alive and laid on him all the sins of the Jewish people, after which he was sent to the desert (and this is how the phrase "scapegoat" appeared). The expulsion of the goat into the desert symbolizes the cleansing from all sins and the destruction of the consequences of all evil deeds of the Jews. [3]
Satan's image
Promotional video:
The devil has a huge number of guises, his image often changed and each time the artists made him as scary as possible in the eyes of their contemporaries. As soon as the devil was not portrayed: as a dragon, and a snake, and an evil angel and even a fly. [4] [5]
As for the goat-like image of Satan, according to experts, he could well have been copied from the image of one of the ancient horned deities. [6]
According to one version, the prototype of the devil could be the image of the Greek god of shepherding - Pan, who, according to the legend, was born with goat legs, horns and a long beard. Despite the fact that Pan, in principle, was not a negative character, in anger he could send a terrible, terrible dream, which caused a wild fear in a person, later called "panic". [7] [8]
Greek God Pan.
Seal of Baphomet.
Baphomet.
Modern symbols of the devil
As for the seal of Baphomet (an inverted five-pointed star with a goat's head inscribed in it), it was invented in 1969 by the founder of the Church of Satan, Anton Sandor LaVey. This symbol is just a figment of LaVey's imagination and has nothing to do with religious traditions. [9] The goat's head inside the pentagram is a symbol of Baphomet, a demon who was allegedly worshiped by the Knights Templar in the 12-14 centuries. Baphomet himself is also far from the most popular mythical character of antiquity and until the twentieth century, few people remembered him. Moreover, his most famous image (with a goat's head) appeared only in the 19th century. It was drawn by the French occultist Eliphas Levi, as a symbol of the sum of the entire universe (men and women, good and evil, etc.), but this drawing had nothing to do with the devil. [10]
The connection between goats and dark forces
Until the twentieth century, Satan had a huge number of images, and the man with the head of a goat is far from the most popular option. Despite the fact that goats are not very favored in different religions, their connection with the devil is still greatly exaggerated. By and large, until the twentieth century, it never occurred to anyone to make them the main symbol of the devil. As a result, the goats became victims of their appearance and the appearance of their more beautiful brothers - the rams. Agree, after all, no one will turn his tongue to call a cute, curly ram a spawn of the devil.