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Baphomet

Samael is NOT a wiccan deity and neither is Lilith.

Samael is a fallen angel and considered a prince of demons.

Lilith has been called a demon of the night.

"The term Baphomet is almost assuredly a corruption of the name Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam. The term gained notoriety during the trials of the Knights Templar in the 14th century, when the Templars were accused of, among other things, worshiping an idol called Baphomet. Many of the accusations against the Templars were clearly false, and so many assume this charge was likewise invented by a king trying to get rid of a rich Order to which he was indebted.

Meaning of Levi’s Baphomet
Levi’s illustration has nothing to do with Islam, although tales of the secret knowledge of the Templars might have inspired him to adopt the name of their supposed god.

Levi himself described the meaning of the symbol thusly in Dogme et Rituel:

"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 hermetism, 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 androgyn 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 androgyn arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences."

Polarity
The idea of polarity, such as dividing the world into male and female energies, was a central concept within nineteenth century occultism. This influence is obvious in Levi’s Baphomet in several places:

* The gesture of one hand pointing up while the other hand points down, expressing the Hermetic concept “As above, so below,” reflecting how different levels of existence influence on another, whether those levels be intellectual vs. physical, spiritual world vs. material world, or microcosm vs. macrocosm.
* Chesed and Geburah, which are two Sephirot on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which maps out aspects of existence. They are on opposite sides of the tree, which are commonly understood to be male and female, severity and mercy. Chesed represents kindness and love, while Geburah presents power, strength and judgment.
* The Latin terms solve and coagula written upon Baphomet’s arms, which translate to dissolve and coagulate, which are opposing alchemical processes.
* Multiple physical examples of Baphomet being both male and female (i.e. breasts and phallus; one male arm, one female arm).
* The caduceus-like image replacing the phallus, in which the two snakes frequently represent male and female.

Elemental Forces
Baphomet also represents the unity of the four Platonic elements, earth, water, air and fire. Air and water are the easiest to identify through the fish scales (water) and symbolic semi-circle of atmosphere (air). Baphomet’s feet are planted on the sphere of the earth, while fire burns from his crown.

Fertility and Life
The choice of goat-like features for Baphomet comes from several connections between goats and fertility. Levi himself called the figure Baphomet of Mendes, comparing him to a what he believed was a goat-headed Egyptian god honored for fertility purposes. Pan, a Greek god with goat features, was likewise commonly associated with fertility in the nineteenth century.

In addition, Baphomet’s phallus has been replaced with a caduceus, which is considered b some to be a symbol of fertility. Certainly the phallic emphasis can only encourage notions of fertility.

Other References in Levi’s Explanation
Levi’s mention of Khunrath refers to sixteenth century occultist Henrich Khunrath, an Hermetic and alchemist whose works influenced Levi.

Levi describes Baphomet as the sphinx of the occult sciences. A sphinx is most commonly a creature with the body of a lion and the head of human. They originated in Egypt, where they were probably connected with guardianship, among other things. By Levi’s time, the Freemasons were also using sphinxes as symbols of guardians of secrets and mysteries. "

Also check out: http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/BaphometSigil.html

and for sure check out:

http://www.guardiansofdarkness.com/GoD/god-baphomet.html

Samael is another name for Satan, first time i ever saw him called that was on the Qabbalah (Sp) the twelve point one, not the literal definition.
Lillith is supposedly his wife, and the first woman created by God. It got botched and she went with Lucifer.
If i've heard correctly.

The Qabalah is not an item. The Qabalah is Jewish Mysticism.

the Chakana has 12 points.

If you study Kabbalah further and the angels, you will find that Sammael is overlaid with Christianity's Lucifer/Satan, but to be certain...Sammael literally translates to "Poison of God' and he is not a "fallen angel" listed among those in the Biblical accounts of Genesis...but Sammael is attributed as one of the "seven archangels of the Presence" and was created to "tempt and strengthen the faith of men"...considering Archangels of the Presence are indicative as being embodiments of the Aspects of The Creator aka the Ein Sof.......think on that one for a moment and draw your own conclusion.

Satan is a Hebrew word meaning literally, "my adversary"...in which case, anyone could be Satan in that aspect...simply the word Satan is not a name for any particular entity, but is a descriptive regarding anyone or any entity that stands against you in anything you are trying to accomplish or pursue.

Lucifer means "Light Giver" or "Morning Star" and is referrenced by the planet Venus, the brightest object in the sky apart from the Sun and the Moon. The following is quoted from the book "Angels A-Z"

"The Devil aquired the name Lucifer when the early Christian theologians Tertullian and St. Augustine identified him with the falling star in the passage from Isaiah. They made this association because the Devil was formerly a great archangel who rebelled against God and was tossed out of heaven. The legend of the rebellion and expulsion of Lucifer, as formulated by Jewish and Christian writers, describes Lucifer as the chief in the heirarchy of heaven, and as preeminent among all created beings in beauty, power, and wisdom. To this "annointed cherub" was apparently allotted power and dominion over the earth; and even after his fall and exclusion from his old domain, he still seems to retain some of his power and ancient title to sovereignty."

Question:..Why?

Lilith, according to Jewish mysticism was Adam's first wife made more in line as the angels themselves were...called the men of fire...whereas Adam and his descendents were men of the red earth. Lilith being made of fire was not "meet" for Adam and thus she went her own way and was demonized in later literature because she refused to be subservient to Adam. Adam rejected her, and God created Eve as a more obedient helpmate. She is also associated with the winged goddess of Sumeria and ancient Babylon, Inanna-Ishtar...goddes of heaven, the underworld, and earth.

Question: Why was Lilith demonized by Judaism and Christianity alike while ancient cilivlization revered her as the Mother Goddess that was also suppressed in these religious doctrines and replaced with the image of pious Mother Mary? Hmm...Lilith represents the strong-minded and willful heart of a woman of equality while Eve represents the submissive and dutiful "wife."

The symbol itself does represent Baphomet and is well explained. However, overall, this symbol is a modern-day mixture of several things taken from here and there in an attempt to draw on the powers related to those symbols and names regarding them as "dark" and of or relating to the "underworld"...the "dead or evil"...a proxy of symbolism, drawn from Medievil Christianity, often used in Satanism which uses inversions of Judeo-Christian symbols as an act of rebellion, paying homage to the most "rebellious" of all angels, ...pick a favorite name? Depends upon the theologian and the era you choose to rely upon, whose writings are often based on horrible mistranslations of a language that has no equivalent word in English.

Very well said Silverhawk. Kudos for posting the above information. People misinterpret things majority of the time but that pretty much gets to the point of things.

As for the symbol, yes, it is demonic name related according to those that use it for demonic purposes. However people tend to use things a lot of the times symbol wise without fully getting a more realistic history ESP names. It's like getting a tattoo of someone on your body you thought was evil but finding out they were really not so bad and going "oh darn!"