The goat heat is a symbol that keeps reoccurring in many areas, ranging from religion to art to black metal. Some bands have used it in prominent ways, such as in the logotypes of metal bands The Funeral Pyre, Dimmu Borgir and, unsurprisingly, Goat the Head. The cover of Slipknot’s second full length release “Iowa” also featured a goat, as do numerous other CD covers. Naturally, we couldn't resist creating a set of mobile phone wallpapers with variations on this theme.

The origin of the goat head as an iconic symbol for alternative belief systems is unclear, but it may have begun with the history of Baphomet, a being allegedly worshipped by heretic Templars in the 1300s. The confessions in which this worship were mentioned are to be doubted as they were forced through torture by the Inquisition, and today most scholars hold that Baphomet is actually a corrupted version of the name Mahomet or Muhammad.

What was odd about the confessions is that the name Baphomet was mentioned in several different confessions, in relation to an idol that was secretly worshipped. The description of this idol varied greatly (and some Templars claimed to never have heard of it), and some confessions described the image as a severed head, a cat, or a head with three faces – also a reoccurring image in today’s media.

The name and the being fell out of most people’s consciousness, but they were revived as French occultist and author Eliphas Levi published “Dogmas and Rituals of High Magic” in the 1800s. This book featured an illustration of Baphomet, partrayed as a large goat with wings, breasts, a torch-like flame on its head between the horns and a pentagram in its forehead. This image, which went on to become the most long-lasting and widely spread depiction of Baphomet, bears some resemblance the classical image odf the Devil in a Tarot deck, but it also resembles images of bizarre entities that were carved into the walls of old Templar churches.

This image was subject to greater fame as British occultist and writer Aleister Crowley in the early 1900s incorporated Baphomet into his mystic system of Thelema. Crowley portrayed Baphomet as a being that represented raw emotions such as lust and energy, and he included a version of Levi’s drawing in his tarot deck as the devil and so reinforced the growing interpretation of Baphomet as an evil figure.

Notably, the Freemasons were accused of worshipping Baphomet in the late 1800s, and this claim is still upheld by some that suspect that the secluded order indulge in Devil worship.