Priestess.
As the Church grew to a nationwide
institution, Anton asked me to compose a
ceremony that a Magister IV° could administer on
distant national, regional, & local occasions.
This ceremony was first conducted at the
“Bramford” (Dakota) on Halloween during the 2nd
Eastern Conclave, New York City. It remained the
official formalization until the cessation of the
initiatory Priesthood in June 1975.]
The Sentinels of the Abyss are
summoned to enfold these chambers in a
suspension of time and dimension, for
the Great Flame of the Prince of
Darkness is to be drawn to our midst.
- 368 -
As the Minions of Hell are convoked as
witness, I charge ye to suffer no word
of these proceedings to be passed to
the profane. Yea, the unseen ones rip
asunder the flesh of those who would
presume against Our Lord Satan, and he
may not be provoked with impunity.
Hear now the legacy of the Order of
the Trapezoid.
In the Diabolicon of the High Daimons of
Hell is recounted the first great war
of the Seraphim, wherein Lucifer and
Masleh forced the universal opposition.
From that epoch the entire cosmos has
known the power of both stasis and
change.
A n d E a r t h - c r e a t e d f o r t h e
preservation and glory of all that was
God - it was to Earth that Satan came
in aeons past, to infuse the minds of
the first men with the awareness of
self. Since that day of the coming of
the Fire, the story of the race of man
has been as that of the universe - torn
and tortured by war, famine, pestilence,
and death. Yet in the midst of death
we are in life - by the Gift of Satan
we are become gods of our selves.
By Satan was charged the High Daimon
Belial to entrust the care of the
- 369 -
Flame of Infernus to an Order of the
Elect. And Belial brought to this Order
the great Keys to the Shining Trapezoid
that is the Gate to the Abyss, saying:
Herein lies the geometric inspiration
for the existence of our lord Satan,
who is Lucifer, Lord of Light and
ArchDaimon of Infernus. Observe
that it doth shape and define the
inverse pentagram, which is itself
our seal and the key to all beauty
of proportion.
Even as the triangle and trihedron
symbolize the selfless labor of
men-beasts to support the apex -
the throne of God - so we cast
down and destroy that apex. Thus
we create our ensigns - the
T r a p e z o i d a n d t h e S h i n i n g
Trapezohedron, which are the ever-
u n f i n i s h e d m e m o r i a l s t o t h e
creative genius of man. In the first
civilizations of Earth our monuments
shall be uplifted, yet with the
passage of time they shall be
changed and effaced, and their
origin clouded.
But this Order shall endure until
the race of man shall cease, and
those who enter its fold shall
behold the heart of the Fire, and
- 370 -
they shall gaze upon the face of
the ArchDaimon. Yea, nevermore
shall they know peace, but their
eyes shall be opened, and they
shall become as Daimons, and the
forces of all creation shall bend
before their will. So it shall be
done.
These are the words of Belial, whom
we honor as the Guardian of the Flame
and first Magus of the Infernal Empire.
By his word we of the Black Order
have rejected the lure of unity, the
subjugation of the cross, and the
worship of the triad in all its forms
and disguises.
Embraced by the essence of the Fire of
Life, we scorn the pious antics of
superstition and abasement - these are
but pitiful endeavors to daunt the
weak and the timid. A fool is he who
places his foot upon the Path to the
Right - he has lain down for death. The
Black Magus is master of all things -
none holds power over him. By the
force of his person shall he vanquish
all barriers erected before him. His
word shall be as law, and the ring of
his laughter shall dismay all the
worshippers of false gods. And ever
before us shine the great Keys of the
Bond between Hell and Earth, and from
- 371 -
the Temple of the Ram shall come
forth the Eternal Serpent of the
Abyss, beloved of our Order, who is
that called Leviathan.
Advance to the altar of Hell, that the
eye of Our Lord Satan may seize upon
you. As your mind is revealed to the
lord of this world, do you affirm your
cause with Satan and accept of your
free will his eternal Priesthood?
[Response.]
I bring your hand to that of Azazel,
High Herald of the Infernal Empire,
who shall set upon you the seal of the
Priesthood of Mendes.
[The black Baphomet medallion of the Priesthood is
passed through the Black Flame on the altar and
placed around the neck of the recipient.]
In the name of Satan, and of his Exarch
u p o n E a r t h , I n a m e y o u t o o u r
fellowship and send you forth - beyond
the Abyss - to walk in ways of
strangeness and of beauty. You are
become as Belial - knowing no master -
and you are a glory to your race and a
brilliance before the sight of Our Lord
Satan.
[Here is spoken the Third Enochian Key.]
- 372 -
- 373 -
A4: The Baphomet
A. Enigmatic Emblem
The emblem of the Church of Satan was what
was formally called the “Sigil of Baphomet”. It
appeared above/behind altars as a plaque. It
appeared on the cover of the original Satanic Bible.
It was also the visible identification of Church
members as a 2”-diameter silver metal medallion
with fire-enameled inlay in the color of the
individual’s initiatory degree.
Since the “Bessy” version used by the Church of
Satan was in the public domain, commercial
reproductions abound, from T-shirts to computer
goatpads.
Not to mention all through this book, in case
you might forget its topic.
With so many Bessys bouncing around, it’s
surprising how little most enthusiasts know about it:
what it means, where the design ORIGINATED.
B. Knights Templar & Éliphas Lévi
The original Knights Templar were accused by
their Catholic Inquisitors of having worshipped the
- 374 -
Devil as a mysterious image or statue called
&nbs
p; “ B a p h o m e t ” ( s a i d t o b e a c o r r u p t i o n o f
“Mohammed”). The absence of any actual such
statue didn’t deter the Inquisitors from drawing one
themselves. It was later re-drawn by the French
mystic “Éliphas Lévi” (Alphonse Constant), and that
was Mr. B up to the 20th Century.
C. The Name
“Mohammed”>”Baphomet” also seemed a bit
of a stretch, so conspiracy theorists proposed several
alternatives: anagrams, reversed abbreviations, etc.
The most sensible interpretation remains that
of Idries Shah, who, in his book The Sufis, suggests
that the term was probably a corruption of the
Arabic abufihamat (pronounced “bufihimat”),
which means “father” or “source of understanding”.
An interesting alternative is that that
“Baphomet” derives from the ancient Egyptian Ba-
- 375 -
neb-Tettu, the hieroglyphic term for the city of
Mendes in the Nile Delta.
In Ptolemaic accounts Mendes was “notorious”
for its goat-god, who was said to mate with women
in religious festivals. The truth is probably less lurid.
Comments Sir E.A. Wallis Budge in his Gods of the
Egyptians:
The title Ba-neb-Tettu was sometimes held
to mean the “Soul, the Lord Tettu”, and this was
the name at Mendes of the local form of Khnemu,
whose symbol there, as elsewhere, was a ram … He
was regarded as the virile principle in gods and
men, and is styled ‘King of the South and North,
the ram, the virile male, the holy phallus which
stirreth up the passions of love.
D. For Bessy or Wirth
The artwork for the current emblem’s goat/
pentagram first appears in a 1931 book by Oswald
Wirth. 173
In 1961, French author Maurice Bessy wanted a
dramatic illustration for the front cover of his
illustrated history of magic, so he added concentric
rings around Wirth’s goat with room for a spooky
name between the rings. Cabalism was Jewish, so a
suitably Cabalistic name had to be in Hebrew, whose
letters already look mysterious to “gentiles”.
The only problem was that “Satan” in Hebrew
has only four letters, so Bessy used the 5-letter name
173 Wirth, Oswald, La fran-maconnerie rendue intelligible à
ces adeptes - II, “Le compagnon” , Paris: Derry-Livres, 1931,
page #60.
- 376 -
of the sea monster Leviathan instead, assuming that
no one would notice or care. He was correct. 174
WIRTH!
BESSY
E. Not a Caduceus
In retrospect it may be just as well that Anton
LaVey was satisfied with the Bessy design, else the
media might have not been quite so quick to splash
it around. Anton was a very talented oil painter and
inkpen sketch artist, but he had his “Reginald
Marsh” side and could be quite merciless in
moments of artistic irreverence.
Zeena has been quite sane and dull for the
last couple of years, but now she’s beginning to
make dry little comments that simply floor me.
Tonight, after critically viewing a sketch of Anton’s
(a man drinking a bottle of beer and scratching his
privates), she said, “Really! Can’t you ever draw
anything sophisticated?” 175
174 Bessy, Maurice, A Pictorial History of Magic and the
Supernatural, London: Spring Books, 1964 [the original
edition of this work - Histoire en 1000 images de la magie -
was published in 1961 by Editions du Pont Royal.]
175 Letter, Diane LaVey to M.A. Aquino, April 3, 1973.
- 377 -
Shortly after I assumed Editorship of the
Church’s Cloven Hoof newsletter in 1971, the High
Priest decided that he would grace it with a new
masthead. As diplomatically predicted by Diane, her
husband was just going to “update the Lévi
Baphomet a little”. That sounded sensible enough: a
proper pentagram at last! But it didn’t stop there:
For the masthead my prime thought was
that the design employed should incorporate
cloven hooves, thereby reinforcing the image
conveyed by the title.
After drawing a succession of devils, most
looking either like fugitives from a tin of ham or
third rate opera company rejects from Faust
auditions, I started a rather panoramic thing
showing a Devil’s herd, a la “Ghost Riders”,
galloping across the top of the page. My intentions
were the best, but alas, the page was too small, and
what began as a DeMille-type hippodrome petered
out to a shopping center dog and pony circus.
A stylized version of Baphomet was decided
upon because I felt that Lévi’s version, while
luridly graphic for the 19th Century, is far too
euphemistic for today’s climate. Such concessions
as the ill-fitted “good” pentagram on the forehead,
the caduceus in lieu of a virile member, the lap
robe to avoid exposure of the caduceus’ point of
mammary glands, arms that would better serve in
an ad for Jergen’s Lotion, a right hand apparently
in the act of hailing a cab, and a Roman candle
perched atop the head do little to advance the
impression of the truly base and carnal aspect of
the Beast of the World!
I have tried to beef up the aforementioned
and drawn the horns in the manner of certain
eastern and African wild goats rather than the
usual, domestic variety. The membranous wings
and scales have been added to graphically intensify
the Hellish origin.
Use your own judgment as to the color
rendition. I have enclosed a couple of suggestions.
- 378 -
Using red in only the eyes and the smoke
from the cranial exhaust (mistakenly assumed by
most occultists to be some sort of candle) would
certainly give the impression of a head “filled up
with burning mist and golden mire” as well as
direct the reader’s gaze towards the title. Allusions
to red, blazing eyes can be found throughout the
lore of Satan, from the ghouls and afrits of Persia
to Dracula himself. Or, if you feel it is more
striking in black and white, please don’t hesitate to
forgo color altogether. I am frankly undecided.
Diane prefers either the plain black and
white or black and white with just the touch of red
in the eyes and smoke. I’ll leave it up to you and
Janet176 to decide. 177
“Well,” laughed Jan, “I don’t suppose we’ll
need to worry about members leaving their copies
lying around on coffee-tables or office desks!”
176 My late former wife and a Priestess of Mendes III°.
177 Letter, Anton LaVey to M.A. Aquino, October 23, 1971.
- 379 -
F. Brandymet & Beyond
Now that the Cloven Hoof had a suitably
&nbs
p; upstanding masthead, I took another look at the
BessyBaph and decided that it might do with some
tinkering too. The goat’s nose had always looked as
though he’d run into a brick wall, and he also looked
slightly cross-eyed [possibly the result of the
impact?].
I didn’t have a goat available as a model, so our
Irish Setter Brandy was drafted:
I’m not certain what the Knights Templar, the
good citizens of Ba-neb-Tettu , or the Prince of
Darkness might think of the result, but the
“Brandymet” not only graced the Nineveh Grotto’s
ritual chamber thereafter, but even hat its moment
of stardom, when the Grotto was invited to design
the ritual chamber for Asylum of Satan, a horror
movie being filmed in Louisville. So our Brandymet,
accompanied by dæmon-candleholders Chet
- 380 -
Huntley & David Brinkley, and by griffin guardians
Haldeman & Erlichman, left the hushed hallows of
Nineveh, to preside over proceedings that would
unquestionably ennoble and exalt the Church of
Satan’s image for years:
Two further experiments briefly came and
went: my Goat Deco “BrandyBat”, and Anton’s
stained-glass altar backdrop for The Devil’s Rain.
- 381 -
In 2018 the Bessy Baphomet appears to persist
in the Satanist saddle, even if most devotees remain
“unclear on the concept”. [That’s O.K.: I’m not sure
that many Christians can explain why they venerate
the device that tortured Jesus to death, or the Jews
the Star of David (absent archæological evidence
that he even existed, much less used that glyph.]
For my final tweak of the Brandymet, I started
by redefining every line of Wirth/Bessy, mirroring
the result precisely, and re-redoing Mr. Mendes’
eyes and nose. Since I’m not a Jew, I saw no need for
the Hebrew, but I also realized that almost any
English-alphabetic of S-A-T-A-N looks dreadfully
dull. An appropriately ancient or alien alternative is
essential to properly perplex perusing profane. This
example is from the fragments of a fallen fane found
by Ahnenerbe archæologists in the Sahyadri Jungle
of India in 1934, principally - according to Louvre
Assistant Curator Dr. René Emile Belloq - for curses
and warnings. It is shown here next to a Bessy for
ease of comparison.
- 382 -