The Green Egg Forum is a lively hotbed of thoughtful discourse, moderated by Cat Gina Cole. In this column, Cat shares some of the most interesting and interactive posts and threads from the forum. Want to get in on the conversation? We would love to have you! Go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1069823176940972/ to join.
This week in the forum there was this provoking post:
“I thought this would be a good follow up to Wade’s earlier post on Paganism and Christmas. I take issue with the smallest of facts here, they keep calling it a pentagram, when clearly it is a pentacle, point up! I do not endorse the Satanic Church on the whole, but they really have done a lot in getting us Pagans in the door and on the map with their push for equal representation for all religions. Their choosing Baphomet I am sure was for shock value, and it works.
(The above post references this Fox News link (warning: you will have to disable your ad blocker to see it: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/satanic-temple-bizarre-inclusion-wisconsin-christmas-tree-festival-sparks-outrage?fbclid=IwAR3gw7bMx6bTIcmzauOx-S5oPaF9lf5a7ePVVKo9YAJUx8zUja9hzWy_CE8
But I would like to know two things, One, what is your take on the article itself? And who and what is Baphomet to you?”
This post brought up some very interesting replies:
“Baphomet is a teaching aid to alchemists.”
“I read an explanation of Baphomet before that explains the inclusion of animals, elements, male and female, etc into one being which demonstrates “oneness”, hermeticism and alchemical transformation. It puzzles me why the Satanic Temple chose Baphomet, instead of a more correct image of Satan. To me it shows they care little about truth and the community, and more about shock and sarcasm.
“Personally I dislike the attacks on Christmas. I think they cruelly wreck Christmas for kids that have little else to look forward to. Christmas is magical to little kids. I’m happy I’ve celebrated Christmas with my own kids. Santa and his elves are the best.”
“Good for the museum to allow diversity in Christmas trees. The quote from C.S. Lewis from the pastor, no surprise there. Their belief is it is their way or from satan. And there is a lot of latitude with these all or nothing approach from evangelists. Christmas trees is a pagan tradition. Outside trees were used for solstice offerings, and was known for Odin, sacrifices of 9 animals, prisoners etc. The common people would make symbolic offerings on the outdoor trees. Christian officials persecuted the pagans and the trees were taken indoors to hide from passing by Christian prudes. After a while the trees get adorned with more christian themes. Like anything Christian colonialism needs to usurp Christmas trees all to themselves. No surprise there also.”
“The thing about the reason for taking the trees indoors is not part of any history I’ve every found (history, not story). Do you have a source? Bringing evergreens inside as a symbol of surviving the winter is an obvious connection and could be done by people of any religious persuasion. Let’s not allow the “persecution” meme take over.”
“Baphomet was created by Alphonse Louis Constant, better known as Eliphas Levi “Zahed”.
“Baphomet was to represent the union of opposites. Male and Female, animal and Man, Heaven and Hell, good and evil. It is a metaphysical metaphor for a magician to control, balance and unify all opposites in themselves.”
“My take on the article itself is that it’s a lot of fervor over nothing. I’m amused by Christians that are so riled up over this, after all, Satan is part of their religion. For me personally, Baphomet represents our animal nature. Our unbridled animal instincts. Baphomet represents our raw emotions and sexuality. Our animal nature, which is no different than the wolves and the deer and the lions and tigers and bears, oh, my! It is the nature of what we truly are that terrifies the ones that have been civilized. They fear us animals that would wrap ourselves in animal skins, feathers and stone beads, and smudge our faces with war paint. Savages, free and uninhibited.”
Then something unseen in any social media group I have been in occurred…Some one who had been challenged about their source went back, looked at the source and amazingly then admitted they had quoted incorrectly without any nastiness occurring! There was also discussion about the pentacle mentioned in the original post and here are some of those comments:
“I’ve never encountered that distinction between a pentagram and a pentacle. As I know them, pentagrams can be any orientation, up, down or sideways. Technically, a pentacle is a disk with a pentagram on it, but these days a lot of people hold that a pentagram is a unicursal five-point star, while a pentacle is that same star enclosed in and with points touching a circle.”
“A pentagram can be any direction. The word means a five-pointed thingy that is drawn, or sculpted as the case may be.”
“A pentagram is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex regular pentagon. Drawing a circle around the five points creates a similar symbol referred to as the pentacle, which is used widely by Wiccans and in paganism, or as a sign of life and connections. Wikipedia”
“I would like to add that a pentacle pointed down is the symbol of the God/Lord and is often used for 2nd degree initiations.”
“I love all the differing views we get from such posts. I learn all the time here. In my training the pentacle indeed is the 5 point star in a circle. That the 5 point star with tip down and no circle was a pentagram and simply used for drawing power down to you from whatever or whomever you are working with.”
I love that in almost 60 years the forum has been running it is still a place to not only voice an opinion, but to also learn.
There was much more that was commented on for each of these posts, but for that, you will have to join us in the group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1069823176940972