The 19th century image of a Sabbatic Goat, created by Eliphas Lévi. The arms bear the Latin words SOLVE (dissolve) and COAGULA (congeal).

Baphomet (/ˈbæfɵmɛt/; from medieval Latin Baphometh, baffometi, Occitan Bafometz) is an imagined pagan deity (i.e., a product of Christian folklore concerning pagans), revived in the 19th century as a figure of occultism and Satanism. Often mistaken for Satan, it represents the duality of male and female, as well as Heaven and Hell or night and day signified by the raising of one arm and the downward gesture of the other. It can be taken in fact, to represent any of the major harmonious dichotomies of the cosmos. It first appeared in 11th and 12th century Latin and Provençal as a corruption of "Mahomet", the Latinisation of "Muhammad",^[1] but later it appeared as a term for a pagan idol in trial transcripts of the Inquisition of the Knights Templar in the early 14th century. The name first came into popular English-speaking consciousness in the 19th century, with debate and speculation on the reasons for the suppression of the Templars.^[2] Since 1855, the name Baphomet has been associated with a "Sabbatic Goat" image drawn by Eliphas Lévi.

History[link]

The name Baphomet appears in July 1098 in a letter by the crusader Anselm of Ribemont:

A chronicler of the First Crusade, Raymond of Aguilers, calls the mosques Bafumarias.^[5] The name Bafometz later appears around 1195 in the Occitan poem "Senhors, per los nostres peccatz" by the troubadour Gavaudan.^[1] Around 1250 in a poem bewailing the defeat of the Seventh Crusade by Austorc d'Aorlhac refers to Bafomet.^[6] De Bafomet is also the title of one of four surviving chapters of an Occitan translation of Ramon Llull's earliest known work, the Libre de la doctrina pueril, "book on the instruction of children".^[7]

Two Templars burned at the stake, from a French 15th century manuscript

When the medieval order of the Knights Templar was suppressed by King Philip IV of France, on October 13, 1307, Philip had many French Templars simultaneously arrested, and then tortured into confessions. Over 100 different charges had been leveled against the Templars. Most of them were dubious, as they were the same charges that were leveled against the Cathars^[8] and many of King Philip's enemies; he had earlier kidnapped Pope Boniface VIII and charged him with near identical offenses of heresy, spitting and urinating on the cross, and sodomy. Yet Malcolm Barber observes that historians "find it difficult to accept that an affair of such enormity rests upon total fabrication".^[9] The "Chinon Parchment suggests that the Templars did indeed spit on the cross," says Sean Martin, and that these acts were intended to simulate the kind of humiliation and torture that a Crusader might be subjected to if captured by the Saracens, where they were taught how to commit apostasy "with the mind only and not with the heart".^[10]

The indictment (acte d'accusation) published by the court of Rome set forth ... "that in all the provinces they had idols, that is to say, heads, some of which had three faces, others but one; sometimes, it was a human skull ... That in their assemblies, and especially in their grand chapters, they worshipped the idol as a god, as their saviour, saying that this head could save them, that it bestowed on the order all its wealth, made the trees flower, and the plants of the earth to sprout forth."^[11]

The name Baphomet comes up in several of these confessions. Peter Partner states in his 1987 book The Knights Templar and their Myth, "In the trial of the Templars one of their main charges was their supposed worship of a heathen idol-head known as a 'Baphomet' ('Baphomet' = Mahomet = Muhammad)."^[12] The description of the object changed from confession to confession. Some Templars denied any knowledge of it. Others, under torture, described it as being either a severed head, a cat, or a head with three faces.^[13] The Templars did possess several silver-gilt heads as reliquaries,^[14] including one marked capud lviii^m,^[15] another said to be St. Euphemia,^[16] and possibly the actual head of Hugh de Payns.^[17] The claims of an idol named Baphomet were unique to the Inquisition of the Templars.^[18][19] Karen Ralls, author of the Knights Templar Encyclopedia, argues that this is significant: "There is no mention of Baphomet either in the Templar Rule or in other medieval period Templar documents".^[20]

Gauserand de Montpesant, a knight of Provence, said that their superior showed him an idol made in the form of Baffomet; another, named Raymond Rubei, described it as a wooden head, on which the figure of Baphomet was painted, and adds, "that he worshipped it by kissing its feet, and exclaiming, 'Yalla,' which was," he says, "verbum Saracenorum," a word taken from the Saracens. A templar of Florence declared that, in the secret chapters of the order, one brother said to the other, showing the idol, "Adore this head—this head is your god and your Mahomet."^[21]

Modern scholars such as Peter Partner and Malcolm Barber agree that the name of Baphomet was an Old French corruption of the name Muhammad, with the interpretation being that some of the Templars, through their long military occupation of the Outremer, had begun incorporating Islamic ideas into their belief system, and that this was seen and documented by the Inquisitors as heresy.^[22] Alain Demurger, however, rejects the idea that the Templars could have adopted the doctrines of their enemies.^[23] Helen Nicholson writes that the charges were essentially "manipulative"—the Templars "were accused of becoming fairy-tale Muslims."^[23] Medieval Christians falsely believed that Muslims were idolatrous and worshipped Muhammad as a god, with mahomet becoming mammet in English, meaning an idol or false god.^[24] This idol-worship is attributed to Muslims in several chansons de geste. For example, one finds the gods Bafum e Travagan in a Provençal poem on the life of St. Honorat, completed in 1300.^[25] In the Chanson de Simon Pouille, written before 1235, a Saracen idol is called Bafumetz.^[26] Partner's book provides a quote from a poem written in a Provençal dialect by a troubadour who is thought to have been a Templar. The poem is in reference to some battles in 1265 that were not going well for the Crusaders:

And daily they impose new defeats on us: for God, who used to watch on our behalf, is now asleep, and Muhammad [Bafometz] puts forth his power to support the Sultan.^[12]

Alternative etymologies[link]

While modern scholars and the Oxford English Dictionary^[27] state that the origin of the name Baphomet was a probable Old French version of "Mahomet",^[12][22] alternative etymologies have also been proposed:

• In the 18th century, speculative theories arose that sought to tie the Knights Templar with the origins of Freemasonry.^[28] Bookseller, Freemason and Illuminist^[29] Friedrich Nicolai (1733–1811), in Versuch über die Beschuldigungen welche dem Tempelherrenorden gemacht worden, und über dessen Geheimniß (1782), was the first to claim that the Templars were Gnostics, and that "Baphomet" was formed from the Greek words βαφη μητȢς, baphe metous, to mean Taufe der Weisheit, "Baptism of Wisdom".^[30] Nicolai "attached to it the idea of the image of the supreme God, in the state of quietude attributed to him by the Manichean Gnostics", says François Juste Marie Raynouard, and "supposed that the Templars had a secret doctrine and initiations of several grades" which "the Saracens had communicated ... to them."^[31] He further connected the figura Baffometi with the pentagram of Pythagoras:

What properly was the sign of the Baffomet, 'figura Baffometi,' which was depicted on the breast of the bust representing the Creator, cannot be exactly determined.... I believe it to have been the Pythagorean pentagon (Fünfeck) of health and prosperity: ... It is well known how holy this figure was considered, and that the Gnostics had much in common with the Pythagoreans. From the prayers which the soul shall recite, according to the diagram of the Ophite-worshippers, when they on their return to God are stopped by the Archons, and their purity has to be examined, it appears that these serpent-worshippers believed they must produce a token that they had been clean on earth. I believe that this token was also the holy pentagon, the sign of their initiation (τελειας βαφης μετεος).^[32]

• Emile Littré (1801–1881) in Dictionnaire de la langue francaise asserted that the word was cabalistically formed by writing backward tem. o. h. p. ab an abbreviation of templi omnium hominum pacis abbas, 'abbot' or 'father of the temple of peace of all men.' His source is the "Abbé Constant", which is to say, Alphonse-Louis Constant, the real name of Eliphas Lévi.

• Arkon Daraul proposed that "Baphomet" may derive from the Arabic word أبو فهمة Abu fihama(t), meaning "The Father of Understanding".^[33] "Arkon Daraul" is widely thought to be a pseudonym of Idries Shah (1924–1996).

• Dr. Hugh J. Schonfield (1901–1988),^[34] one of the scholars who worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls, argued in his book The Essene Odyssey that the word "Baphomet" was created with knowledge of the Atbash substitution cipher, which substitutes the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the last, the second for the second last, and so on. "Baphomet" rendered in Hebrew is בפומת; interpreted using Atbash, it becomes שופיא, which can be interpreted as the Greek word "Sophia", or wisdom. This theory is an important part of the plot of The Da Vinci Code. Professor Schonfield's theory however cannot be independently corroborated.

Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall[link]

Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (1774-1856) associated a series of carved or engraved figures found on a number of supposed 13th century Templar artifacts (such as cups, bowls and coffers) with the Baphometic idol.

In 1818, the name Baphomet appeared in the essay by the Viennese Orientalist Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall, Mysterium Baphometis revelatum, seu Fratres Militiæ Templi, qua Gnostici et quidem Ophiani, Apostasiæ, Idoloduliæ et Impuritatis convicti, per ipsa eorum Monumenta^[35] ("Discovery of the Mystery of Baphomet, by which the Knights Templars, like the Gnostics and Ophites, are convicted of Apostasy, of Idolatry and of moral Impurity, by their own Monuments"), which presented an elaborate pseudohistory constructed to discredit Templarist Masonry and, by extension, Freemasonry itself.^[36] Following Nicolai, he argued, using as archaeological evidence "Baphomets" faked by earlier scholars^{[citation needed]} and literary evidence such as the Grail romances, that the Templars were Gnostics and the "Templars' head" was a Gnostic idol called Baphomet.

His chief subject is the images which are called Baphomet ... found in several museums and collections of antiquities, as in Weimar ... and in the imperial cabinet in Vienna. These little images are of stone, partly hermaphrodites, having, generally, two heads or two faces, with a beard, but, in other respects, female figures, most of them accompanied by serpents, the sun and moon, and other strange emblems, and bearing many inscriptions, mostly in Arabic.... The inscriptions he reduces almost all to Mete[, which] ... is, according to him, not the Μητις of the Greeks, but the Sophia, Achamot Prunikos of the Ophites, which was represented half man, half woman, as the symbol of wisdom, unnatural voluptuousness and the principle of sensuality.... He asserts that those small figures are such as the Templars, according to the statement of a witness, carried with them in their coffers. Baphomet signifies Βαφη Μητεος, baptism of Metis, baptism of fire, or the Gnostic baptism, an enlightening of the mind, which, however, was interpreted by the Ophites, in an obscene sense, as fleshly union.... the fundamental assertion, that those idols and cups came from the Templars, has been considered as unfounded, especially as the images known to have existed among the Templars seem rather to be images of saints.^[37]

Hammer's essay did not pass unchallenged, and F.J.M. Raynouard published an "Etude sur 'Mysterium Baphometi revelatum'".^[38] Charles William King criticized that Hammer had been deceived by "the paraphernalia of ... Rosicrucian or alchemical quacks,"^[39] and Partner agreed that the images "may have been forgeries from the occultist workshops."^[40] At the very least, there was little evidence to tie them to the Knights Templar—in the 19th century some European museums acquired such pseudo-Egyptian objects,^{[citation needed]} which were catalogued as "Baphomets" and credulously thought to have been idols of the Templars.^[41]

Eliphas Lévi[link]

Le Diable, from the early eighteenth century Tarot of Marseilles by Jean Dodal.

Later in the 19th century, the name of Baphomet became further associated with the occult. In 1854, Eliphas Lévi published Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie ("Dogmas and Rituals of High Magic"), in which he included an image he had drawn himself which he described as Baphomet and "The Sabbatic Goat", showing a winged humanoid goat with a pair of breasts and a torch on its head between its horns (illustration, top). This image has become the best-known representation of Baphomet. Lévi considered the Baphomet to be a depiction of the absolute in symbolic form and explicated in detail his symbolism in the drawing that served as the frontispiece:^[42]

The goat on the frontispiece carries the sign of the pentagram on the forehead, with one point at the top, a symbol of light, his two hands forming the sign of occultism, the one pointing up to the white moon of Chesed, the other pointing down to the black one of Geburah. This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. His one arm is female, the other male like the ones of the androgyne of Khunrath, the attributes of which we had to unite with those of our goat because he is one and the same symbol. The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light of the universal balance, the image of the soul elevated above matter, as the flame, whilst being tied to matter, shines above it. The beast's head expresses the horror of the sinner, whose materially acting, solely responsible part has to bear the punishment exclusively; because the soul is insensitive according to its nature and can only suffer when it materializes. The rod standing instead of genitals symbolizes eternal life, the body covered with scales the water, the semi-circle above it the atmosphere, the feathers following above the volatile. Humanity is represented by the two breasts and the androgyne arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences.

Lévi's depiction is similar to that of the Devil in early Tarot cards.^[43] Lévi, working with correspondences different from those later used by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, "equated the Devil Tarot key with Mercury," giving "his figure Mercury's caduceus, rising like a phallus from his groin."^[44] Lévi's depiction, for all its modern fame, does not match the historical descriptions from the Templar trials, although it may also have been partly inspired by grotesque carvings on the Templar churches of Lanleff in Brittany and Saint-Merri in Paris, which depict squatting bearded men with bat wings, female breasts, horns and the shaggy hindquarters of a beast,^{[45][unreliable source]} as well as Viollet-le-Duc's vivid gargoyles that were added to Notre Dame de Paris about the same time as Lévi's illustration.

Goat of Mendes[link]

Lévi's now-familiar image of a "Sabbatic Goat" shows parallels with works by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya, who more than once painted a "Witch's Sabbath"; in the version ca. 1821-23, El gran cabrón now at the Prado, a group of seated women offer their dead infant children to a seated goat. In Margaret Murray's survey of The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, the devil was said to appear as "a great Black Goat with a Candle between his Horns".^[46]

Francisco Goya, Witches' Sabbath, 1821-1823.

Lévi called his image "The Goat of Mendes", presumably following Herodotus' account^[47] that the god of Mendes—the Greek name for Djedet, Egypt—was depicted with a goat's face and legs. Herodotus relates how all male goats were held in great reverence by the Mendesians, and how in his time a woman publicly copulated with a goat.^[48] E. A. Wallis Budge writes,

At several places in the Delta, e.g. Hermopolis, Lycopolis, and Mendes, the god Pan and a goat were worshipped; Strabo, quoting (xvii. 1, 19) Pindar, says that in these places goats had intercourse with women, and Herodotus (ii. 46) instances a case which was said to have taken place in the open day. The Mendisians, according to this last writer, paid reverence to all goats, and more to the males than to the females, and particularly to one he-goat, on the death of which public mourning is observed throughout the whole Mendesian district; they call both Pan and the goat Mendes, and both were worshipped as gods of generation and fecundity. Diodorus (i. 88) compares the cult of the goat of Mendes with that of Priapus, and groups the god with the Pans and the Satyrs. The goat referred to by all these writers is the famous Mendean Ram, or Ram of Mendes, the cult of which was, according to Manetho, established by Kakau, the king of the IInd dynasty.^[49]

Historically, the deity that was venerated at Egyptian Mendes was a ram deity Banebdjed (literally Ba of the lord of djed, and titled "the Lord of Mendes"), who was the soul of Osiris. Lévi combined the images of the Tarot of Marseilles Devil card and refigured the ram Banebdjed as a he-goat, further imagined by him as "copulator in Anep and inseminator in the district of Mendes".

Aleister Crowley[link]

Lévi's Baphomet image employed in the later 19th century to suggest Baphomet worship by Freemasons.

The Baphomet of Lévi was to become an important figure within the cosmology of Thelema, the mystical system established by Aleister Crowley in the early twentieth century. Baphomet features in the Creed of the Gnostic Catholic Church recited by the congregation in The Gnostic Mass, in the sentence: "And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET."^[50]

In Magick (Book 4), Crowley asserted that Baphomet was a divine androgyne and "the hieroglyph of arcane perfection":

The Devil does not exist. It is a false name invented by the Black Brothers to imply a Unity in their ignorant muddle of dispersions. A devil who had unity would be a God... 'The Devil' is, historically, the God of any people that one personally dislikes... This serpent, SATAN, is not the enemy of Man, but He who made Gods of our race, knowing Good and Evil; He bade 'Know Thyself!' and taught Initiation. He is 'The Devil' of the Book of Thoth, and His emblem is BAPHOMET, the Androgyne who is the hieroglyph of arcane perfection... He is therefore Life, and Love. But moreover his letter is ayin, the Eye, so that he is Light; and his Zodiacal image is Capricornus, that leaping goat whose attribute is Liberty.^[51]

For Crowley, Baphomet is further a representative of the spiritual nature of the spermatozoa while also being symbolic of the "magical child" produced as a result of sex magic. As such, Baphomet represents the Union of Opposites, especially as mystically personified in Chaos and Babalon combined and biologically manifested with the sperm and egg united in the zygote.^{[citation needed]}

Crowley proposed that Baphomet was derived from "Father Mithras". In his Confessions he describes the circumstances that led to this etymology:^[52]

I had taken the name Baphomet as my motto in the O.T.O. For six years and more I had tried to discover the proper way to spell this name. I knew that it must have eight letters, and also that the numerical and literal correspondences must be such as to express the meaning of the name in such a ways as to confirm what scholarship had found out about it, and also to clear up those problems which archaeologists had so far failed to solve.... One theory of the name is that it represents the words βαφὴ μήτεος, the baptism of wisdom; another, that it is a corruption of a title meaning "Father Mithras". Needless to say, the suffix R supported the latter theory. I added up the word as spelt by the Wizard. It totalled 729. This number had never appeared in my Cabbalistic working and therefore meant nothing to me. It however justified itself as being the cube of nine. The word κηφας, the mystic title given by Christ to Peter as the cornerstone of the Church, has this same value. So far, the Wizard had shown great qualities! He had cleared up the etymological problem and shown why the Templars should have given the name Baphomet to their so-called idol. Baphomet was Father Mithras, the cubical stone which was the corner of the Temple.

As a demon[link]

Lévi's Baphomet is the source of the later Tarot image of the Devil in the Rider-Waite design.^[53] The concept of a downward-pointing pentagram on its forehead was enlarged upon by Lévi in his discussion (without illustration) of the Goat of Mendes arranged within such a pentagram, which he contrasted with the microcosmic man arranged within a similar but upright pentagram.^[54] The actual image of a goat in a downward-pointing pentagram first appeared in the 1897 book La Clef de la Magie Noire by Stanislas de Guaita, later adopted as the official symbol—called the Sigil of Baphomet—of the Church of Satan, and continues to be used among Satanists.

Baphomet, as Lévi's illustration suggests, has occasionally been portrayed as a synonym of Satan or a demon, a member of the hierarchy of Hell. Baphomet appears in that guise as a character in James Blish's The Day After Judgment. Christian evangelist Jack Chick claims that Baphomet is a demon worshipped by Freemasons, a claim that apparently originated with the Taxil hoax.^[55] Léo Taxil's elaborate hoax employed a version of Lévi's Baphomet on the cover of Les Mystères de la franc-maçonnerie dévoilés, his lurid paperback "exposé" of Freemasonry, which in 1897 he revealed as a hoax satirizing ultra-Catholic anti-Masonic propaganda.

See also[link]

• History of the Knights Templar
• Knights Templar legends
• Mahound
• Medieval Christian views on Muhammad

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Barber, Malcolm (1994). The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42041-5. 
• Barber, Malcolm (2006). The Trial of the Templars (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-67236-8. 
• Barber, Malcolm; Bate, Keith (2010). Letters from the East: Crusaders, Pilgrims and Settlers in the 12th-13th Centuries. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-6356-0. 
• Budge, Ernest Alfred Wallis (1904). The Gods of the Egyptians: or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology. II volumes. London: Methuen & Co. http://books.google.com/books?id=6SBLAAAAYAAJ. 
• Crowley, Aleister (1974). The Equinox of the Gods. New York: Gordon Press. http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/eoftg/index.html. 
• Crowley, Aleister (1944). The Book of Thoth; A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians, being the Equinox, Volume III, No. V. London: Ordo Templi Orientis. 
• Crowley, Aleister (1996-12). The Law is for All: The Authorized Popular Commentary of Liber Al Vel Legis sub figura CCXX, The Book of the Law. Louis Wilkinson (ed.). Thelema Media. ISBN 0-9726583-8-6. 
• Crowley, Aleister; Mary. Desti, Leila. Waddell (2004). Magick: Liber ABA, Book 4, Parts I-IV. Hymenaeus. Beta (ed.). York Beach, Maine.: Samuel Weiser. ISBN 0-87728-919-0 9780877289197. 
• Féraud, Raymond (1858). Sardou, A. L. ed. La vida de Sant Honorat (La vie de Saint Honorat). Paris: P. Janet, Dezobry, E. Magdeleine & Co. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ctc5AAAAcAAJ. 
• Finke, Heinrich (1907). Papsttum und untergang des Templerordens: Quellen. Volume II. Muenster: Druck und verlag der Aschendorffschen buchhandlung. http://books.google.com/books?id=kITUAAAAMAAJ. 
• Games, Alex; Coren, Victoria (2007). Balderdash and Piffle, One Sandwich Short of a Dog's Dinner. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/9761846072352|9761846072352]]. 
• Hodapp, Christopher (2005). "A crash course in Templar history". Freemasons for Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing. 
• King, C. W. (1887) [1864]. The Gnostics and their Remains. London: David Nutt. http://www.sacred-texts.com/gno/gar/index.htm. 
• Lévi, Eliphas (1861) [1855]. Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. II volumes (2nd ed.). Paris: Hippolyte Baillière. 
• Martin, Sean (2005). The Knights Templar: The History & Myths of the Legendary Military Order. ISBN 1-56025-645-1. 
• Michaud, Joseph Francois (1853). The History of the Crusades. Volume III. Trans. W. Robson. New York: Redfield. 
• Michelet, Jules, ed. (1851). Le procès des Templiers. II volumes. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22919. 
• Michelet, Jules (1860). History of France. Volume I. Trans. G.H. Smith. New York: D. Appleton. http://books.google.com/books?id=drQMAQAAMAAJ#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Migne, Jacques Paul (1854). Godefridi Bullonii epistolae et diplomata; accedunt appendices. http://books.google.com/books?id=_cIUAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Murray, Margaret (1921). The Witch Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology. Oxford University Press. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20411. 
• Nicolai, Friedrich (1782). Versuch über die Beschuldigungen welche dem Tempelherrenorden gemacht worden, und über dessen Geheimniß; Nebst einem Anhange über das Entstehen der Freymaurergesellschaft. II volumes. Berlin und Stettin. http://books.google.com/books?id=3dsFAAAAQAAJ. 
• Partner, Peter (1987). The Knights Templar and Their Myth. ISBN 0-89281-273-7.  (Previously titled The Murdered Magicians.)
• Paxton, Lee (2010). "Truth and Metaphor". Retreat From Reality. Lulu.com.  [1]
•  Philips, Walter Alison (1911). "Templars". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Templars. 
• Place, Robert M. (2005). The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. ISBN 1-58542-349-1. 
• Pouille, Simon de (1968). Baroin, Jeanne. ed. Simon de Pouille: Chanson de Geste. Geneva: Librairie Droz. ISBN 978-2-600-02428-0. 
• Read, Piers Paul (1999). The Templars. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81071-9. 
• Spunda, Franz. Baphomet: Der geheime Gott der Templer: ein alchimistischer Roman. ISBN 3-86552-073-1. 
• Waite, Arthur (1911). The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. London: W. Rider. http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/index.htm. 
• Wright, Thomas (1865). "The Worship of the Generative Powers During the Middle Ages of Western Europe". In Knight, Richard Payne. A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus. London: J. C. Hotten. http://www.sacred-texts.com/sex/wgp/index.htm. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Baphomet

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Baphomet". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Nicki Minaj
Minaj at 2010 MTV Music Awards
Background information
Birth name	Onika Tanya Maraj
Born	(1982-12-08) December 8, 1982 (age 29)[1] Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago
Origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, R&B, pop
Occupations	Rapper, singer-songwriter
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Cash Money Records, Young Money Entertainment, Universal Republic Records, Universal Motown
Associated acts	Young Money
Website	mypinkfriday.com

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj ( /mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and when she was 5 years of age she moved to the New York City borough of Queens, where she grew up.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, Pink Friday, in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release.^[2][3] She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time.^[4] Her second single, "Your Love", reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.^[5] She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List.^[6] Minaj was named the 2011 Rising Star by Billboard.^[7] Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was released on April 3, 2012.

Early life[link]

Maraj was born in 1982^{[1][note 1]} in Saint James, a suburb of Trinidad and Tobago's capital city Port of Spain.^[8][9][10] Her parents are of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian ancestry^[11][12] and she lived in Saint James with her grandmother until age five, because her parents were looking for a place to live in the Queens borough of New York City at the time. Her mother would occasionally visit, and one day, when Minaj was five, her mother picked her up to move to Queens.^[13] According to Minaj, her father drank heavily, took drugs, and once tried to kill her mother by setting the house on fire.^[14]

She attended Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210, where she played the clarinet.^[13] She graduated from LaGuardia High School.^[15][16] At LaGuardia, a school specializing in music and the visual and performing arts, Minaj participated in the drama program.^[15] She had initially planned to sing at LaGuardia but lost her voice on the day of the audition.^[15]

Career[link]

2007–09: Mixtapes and Young Money[link]

Minaj released her first mixtape in 2007 after releasing Playtime Is Over with Dirty Money Records. She released another mixtape on July 7, 2008, titled Sucka Free, under the label Be. On April 18, 2009, Minaj released a third mixtape and appeared in XXL magazine.^[17] She won the Female Artist of the Year award at the 2008 Underground Music Awards.^[18] Minaj released Beam Me Up Scotty, another mixtape, in April 2009 under the label of Trapaholics Records; it received positive coverage on both BET and MTV.^[19][20]

In August 2009, Minaj signed a record deal with Young Money Entertainment, with distribution from Universal Motown Records, after fellow American rapper Lil Wayne discovered her and secured the record deal.^[17][21] She then had a solo rap verse in their single "BedRock," which became a commercial success, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Minaj also appeared on "Roger That", which charted at number 56. The song, and in particular Minaj, received positive reviews from critics.^[22] Both songs were included in Young Money Entertainment's debut collaborative studio album We Are Young Money, which was released in December 2009. The album charted in the top ten on the Billboard 200, reaching number 9 and later receiving a Gold Certification by the RIAA. She was then chosen by Mariah Carey to be featured on her single and music video for "Up Out My Face". Critics praised her collaboration for helping to maintain Carey's feminine image and providing a polite track for the female R&B singer.^[23]

[edit] 2010–11: Pink Friday

Britney Spears and Minaj performing the Femme Fatale Remix of "Till the World Ends" in the Femme Fatale Tour.

After a major record label bidding war, Young Money Entertainment announced on August 31, 2009 that Minaj had been released from a 360 deal with the label in which she retains and owns all of her 360 rights – including merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, touring and publishing.^[24] In an interview with 95.8 Capital FM, Rihanna stated that after the two collaborated on "Raining Men" from her album Loud that the duo would be teaming up together for a possible second collaboration on Minaj's Pink Friday.^[25] Hip-hop rap artist and producer Kanye West was also confirmed for the album.^[26] On August 3, 2010 Minaj revealed on a Ustream.tv channel that the album's name would be Pink Friday, in reference to Black Friday.^[27]

Pink Friday was released on November 19, 2010 in both standard and deluxe versions.^[28][29] A buzz single, "Massive Attack", was released in April.^[30] In August, Minaj released "Your Love" as the first official single from her debut album. The single peaked at 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and topped the Rap Songs chart. Minaj became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List^[6] and the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.^[31] In October 2010, Minaj became the first artist to have seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously.^[4] Minaj released a joint single with The Black Eyed Peas front man, will.i.am titled, "Check It Out", which is Minaj's most successful single to date in Europe. "Right thru Me" was released September 24, 2010; the music video was released in late October. "Moment 4 Life" was released as the fourth single. The track featured Canadian rapper Drake and was released on December 7, 2010, becoming a success on the Billboard Hot 100. The single peaked at number 5 on the Hot Rap Songs.^[32] The album gained a Platinum certification in the United States a month after the release.^[3]

On January 29, 2011, Minaj appeared on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest, performing "Right Thru Me" and "Moment 4 Life". On February 9, 2011, it was announced that Pink Friday had reached number one on the Billboard 200 in its eleventh week on the chart.^[33] It was hinted by Simon Cowell that Minaj would join the judging panel of the American version of the The X Factor.^[34] Starting in June 2011, Minaj will be supporting Pink Friday by serving as an opening act along with Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo on Britney Spears' sixth concert tour, the Femme Fatale Tour, in support of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale.^[35] She also was featured on the official remix of Spears' track "Till the World Ends" along with Spears and singer Kesha, which charted at number 3 in the US in April 2011.^[36] "Super Bass" was released from Pink Friday in May 2011, the single charted within the top 10 in many countries including; United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada and more.^[37] The song gained positive reviews from critics.^[38][39] Minaj will voice a character in the 3D animated film, Ice Age: Continental Drift, as an unknown character.^[40][41] Minaj is also featured on French DJ David Guetta's 2011 album, Nothing but the Beat on "Where Them Girls At" and "Turn Me On".

[edit] 2011–present: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

Minaj's second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, was first announced through Twitter in November 2011 and was released on April 2, 2012 in the United Kingdom and April 3, 2012 in the United States. The album features collaborations with producers Hit-Boy, Dr. Luke, Rico Beats, Kenoe, RedOne and Oak. Cash Money A&R Joshua Berkman told HitQuarters that Minaj was extremely particular about the beats and music she used saying: "She wouldn't just rap or sing on anything – I could give her a thousand tracks and she may only like one or two."^[42] Preceding the album's release, three promotional singles were released: Roman in Moscow (which didn't make the final cut of the album), "Stupid Hoe," and "Roman Reloaded." The album's first single, "Starships", was released on February 14.^[43] "Starships" became Minaj's best-peaking single in the United Kingdom, when it reached a peak of 2. It has also peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it her second top 10 arrival following, "Super Bass" in 2011. The music video was released on April 26th, 2012.^[44]

On February 12, 2012, Minaj debuted her song "Roman Holiday" at the 54th Grammy Awards. It was the first song ever performed on the Grammy stage by a solo female rapper.^[45] The exorcism-themed performance drew a mixed response online.^[46][47]

She was featured on Madonna's twelfth studio album, titled MDNA, alongside M.I.A. on its lead single "Give Me All Your Luvin'", for which a music video has been directed by Megaforce.^[48] The trio performed the song for the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show.^[49] She was also featured on a song called "I Don't Give A", another track from the album.

She released her second single, "Right by My Side", which features Chris Brown, on March 27, 2012, after premiering on Minaj's website on March 20, 2012.^[50] Following the album's release, it peaked at number 24 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. It also peaked in the lower regions of the UK singles chart, at position #101. The third single, "Beez in the Trap", which features 2 Chainz was released to U.S. Urban radio on April 24, 2012. It was premiered on DJ Flex's radio show at Hot 97 on March 20, 2012. It has peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Rap Songs Chart.^[51] The video was premiered on April 6, 2012 on Minaj's official VEVO account.^[52]

Artistry[link]

Minaj in 2011 during Femme Fatale Tour

Image[link]

Minaj has been noted by the media for her curvaceous figure.^{[53][54][55][56]} In an interview with Vibe Minaj discussed her sexual image stating, "[w]hen I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot... and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing."^[57] In an interview with Interview, Minaj commented on her sexual image again stating, "I made a conscious decision to try to tone down the sexiness, I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You’ve got to have something else to go with that.”^[58] Minaj has a tattoo in Chinese characters that reads "上帝與你常在" (shàngdì yǔ nǐ cháng zài)^[59] on her left arm, meaning, "God is always with you."^[60]

Alter egos[link]

While growing up, Minaj's home life was often chaotic, with her parents constantly fighting.^[61] As a means of escape, she would create characters and live her life through them.^[61] In an interview with New York she stated, "To get away from all their fighting, I would imagine being a new person. 'Cookie' was my first identity – that stayed with me for a while. I went on to 'Harajuku Barbie,' then 'Nicki Minaj'. Fantasy was my reality."^[61]

On November 18, 2010, Minaj assumed a different alter-ego named "Nicki Teresa".^[62] Wearing a colorful scarf around her head, she went around as the "healer to her fans" as she visited them at The Garden of Dreams Foundation at Fuse studios in New York City.^[62] Minaj made an appearance on Lopez Tonight on December 6, 2010 and presented a different alter-ego for the Spanish-inspired occasion, named "Rosa" (pronounced Rrrrrosa).^[63]

In April 2012, Minaj was asked if Roman, Martha and Rosa come out in the bedroom saying “No, they don’t come out in the bedroom, but other people come out in the bedroom,” she told Big Boy during his “Backstage Breakfast,” adding, “And there’s only one person that would know who that personality is". Minaj did not name her alter-ego.^[64]

For her debut album, Minaj created another alter-ego named "Roman Zolanski".^[65] She stated that in songs like "Bottoms Up" with Trey Songz it is not Minaj rapping, but instead Roman Zolanski, and claims that Roman is her "twin brother". She claims that he was born inside her, out of rage, and becomes him when she is angry. She has also said 'He is a demon inside her'. Roman has been compared to Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady, and on the song "Roman's Revenge" from Pink Friday, Minaj and Eminem collaborate, using these alter egos.^[66] On the collaboration, she said "The new album is going to have a lot of Roman on it ... And if you're not familiar with Roman, then you will be familiar with him very soon. He’s the boy that lives inside of me. He's a lunatic and he's gay and he'll be on there a lot."^[67] Roman also has a "mother" called "Martha Zolanski",^[68] who also appeared on the song "Roman's Revenge", with a British accent,^[69] and on "Roman Holiday", singing for the first time.^[70][71] Martha appears in the video for "Moment 4 Life" where she appears to be Minaj's magical Godmother. In songs such as "All I Do Is Win (Remix)" it is Minaj rapping.^[65] Minaj stated that on her debut album, fans will get to "meet" Nicki, Roman and Onika.^[65]

Influences[link]

Minaj has stated that artists who have influenced her musical style include Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Lil Wayne, Lauryn Hill, Jadakiss, Natasha Bedingfield, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim and Missy Elliott.^[72][73] She was also inspired by Janet Jackson,^[74] Madonna, Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Jones,^[75] M.I.A. and Cyndi Lauper.^[76][77][78]

Product and endorsements[link]

During her career, Minaj has signed contracts with a variety of corporate interests. Companies she contracted with include soft drink manufacturer Pepsi;^[79] Mattel, which produced a custom a Nicki Minaj-themed Barbie;^[80] and MAC Cosmetics, as part of an AIDS-awareness campaign in Latin America.^[81]

Personal life[link]

Minaj is a Christian, and on Christmas Day in 2011, she indicated her faith in Jesus by tweeting John 3:16.^[82][83] In addition, she states that after her father went to rehab and started attending church, "he got saved and started changing his life."^[84] Minaj states that her heroes are "God. And my mother."^[85][86]

While some songs and interviews have implied that Minaj is bisexual,^[87][88] she has said that she does not date nor have sex with women,^[15] but added in an interview with Out magazine, "I don’t date men either."^[89] In an interview with Vibe she commented, "I just embrace all people of all lifestyles and I don’t tell them they are bad people. And I say girls are beautiful and girls are sexy and they need to be told that, and if they don’t have anyone to tell them that and mean it, I’m gonna tell them that. But I feel like people always wanna define me and I don’t wanna be defined."^[90] She reiterated her dislike of being labeled in an interview with Out, saying: "The point is, everyone is not black and white. There are so many shades in the middle, and you’ve got to let people feel comfortable with saying what they want to say when they want to say it."^[89]

During an interview in the May 2010 issue of Details, Minaj was asked if she felt hip-hop was becoming more gay-friendly. She responded, "I think the world is getting more gay-friendly, so hip-hop is too. But it's harder to imagine an openly gay male rapper being embraced, people view gay men as having no street credibility. But I think we'll see one in my lifetime."^[88]

In July 2011, Minaj's cousin Nicholas Telemaque was murdered near his home in Brooklyn, New York City.^[91] Telemaque was referenced in Minaj's song "Champion" in her second studio album.^[92]

Discography[link]

• Pink Friday (2010)
• Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012)

Touring[link]

• Pink Friday Tour (2012)

See also[link]

Nicki Minaj portal

• List of awards and nominations received by Nicki Minaj

References[link]