The Goat of Mendez
The Goat of Mendes (sometimes spelled “Mendez”) is a term from occultism that refers to a goat-headed deity or symbolic figure, most famously associated with Baphomet.
Historical Origins
• The name comes from the ancient Egyptian city of Mendes (Greek name for Djedet in the Nile Delta). The primary god worshipped there was Banebdjedet, a ram-headed deity linked to fertility, creation, and generation. Ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BCE) described the Mendesians revering goats (especially male ones) as sacred, equating their god to the Greek Pan and noting rituals involving goats as symbols of fecundity. He even claimed to have witnessed or heard of bestiality in rituals (though this may have been exaggeration or misunderstanding).
• Importantly, the Egyptian god was actually ram-headed (like many depictions of the god Amun/Osiris fusions), not goat-headed. The “goat” confusion arose later from mistranslations and cultural blending of goat/ram imagery in fertility cults (goats and rams were both seen as highly sexual animals in antiquity).
Occult Reinvention:
Éliphas Lévi and Baphomet
In the 19th century, French occultist Éliphas Lévi (in his 1854–1856 book Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie) popularised the modern image by drawing a figure he explicitly called the “Baphomet” or “Sabbatic Goat of Mendes”. Lévi’s version combined:
• The alleged idol worshipped by the Knights Templar (accused of heresy in the 14th century; “Baphomet” likely a corruption of “Mahomet/Muhammad”).
• Goat imagery from witch sabbaths and the Devil in medieval folklore.
• The Egyptian “Goat of Mendes” as a symbol of primal generative force.
• Hermetic, Kabbalistic, and alchemical symbols representing the balance of opposites (male/female, light/dark, good/evil).
Lévi’s Baphomet is an androgynous, winged humanoid with a goat’s head, breasts, a caduceus (or phallic symbol), and esoteric tattoos like “Solve” and “Coagula” (dissolve and coagulate, an alchemical principle). It was meant as a symbol of cosmic harmony and enlightenment, not evil—though it terrified conservative Christians
The Knights Templar were accused of worshipping Baphomet during their dramatic suppression in 1307–1314, orchestrated primarily by King Philip IV of France (“Philip the Fair”), who wanted to seize their immense wealth and eliminate his debts to them.
Modern Usage and Satanism
• In the 20th century, the inverted pentagram with a goat’s head inside (often called the Sigil of Baphomet) became the official emblem of the Church of Satan (founded 1966 by Anton LaVey). It features a goat head in a downward-pointing pentagram with Hebrew letters spelling “Leviathan.” Here it’s explicitly a symbol of earthly, carnal power and individualism
Groups like The Satanic Temple use similar goat-headed imagery (e.g., their famous Baphomet statue with children) for political activism, emphasising reason, justice, and separation of church and state.
Baphomet and goat symbolism in television and cinema
The Baphomet and characters based on him have in many, mostly horror films that tv shows including:
The Witch , The Crimson Altar, Baphomet and more!
In short: There never was a literal ancient “Goat of Mendes” demon—it started as a fertility ram-god, got misremembered as a goat, and was transformed by 19th-century occultists into the iconic goat-headed figure we know today as Baphomet. It’s now one of the most recognisable symbols in Western esotericism and modern Satanism it represents freedom of expression, sexual freedom and an irreverent opinion of Christianity
