>>518931403
One thing I rarely see people connecting when they talk about Baphomet is how John the Baptist was also decapitated by Herod, baptized Jesus (an alternative etymology of Baphomet is Baph Metis, Baptism of Wisdom), and was the teacher of Simon Magus (Saulos Thaddeus Alexander Herod), the founder of Gnosticism, whose partner, Helen, was an incarnation of Sophia/Wisdom (atbash code for Baphomet). More obscure than this is the connection with the Teraphim.

>The Theraphim was not just a cult statue, but an instrument of divination. Its main function was to announce the future (futura annunciantia) and provide answers to those who consulted it (potens respondendi consulintibus). They were used to investigate future and hidden things, which required the figure to speak (loquebatur enim figura Theraphim). The most disturbing and relevant description of the head parallel is attributed to Eliezer (cited through Thisbites and Abenezree). He states that the Theraphim was the head of a firstborn (caput alicuius pueri primogeniti), who had been sacrificed in honor of a demon. This head was then preserved in salt and aromatics to prevent putrefaction

>The source explicitly describes how the head was activated to speak: A gold plate (lamina aurea) was placed under the tongue. On this plate was inscribed the name of an unclean spirit (daemonis cuiusdam). The head was then walled up (ponebant illud in pariete) and incense was lit before it. The demon animated the object, allowing it to predict the future

>The making of the Theraphim was intrinsically linked to the illicit and forbidden arts. Tostatus and Abenezree note that the image was made at a specific time and hour (certo tempore, sub certis siderum aspectibus), using astrology and necromancy to attract the virtue of the celestial bodies to the statue (or head). The statue was made in human likeness (ad similitudinem hominis), or of materials such as metal, wood, and stone, like the Egyptian Serapis, its analogue