What is the significance of the goats head mask which is used/ or seen in rituals and images in some cults?

I have seen robed persons wearing goat head masks with cloaks in photos and pictures for a while now I understand the pentagram(which can be the goats horns,ears and beard) is more associated with wiccan/pagan beliefs but why the goat head? And any if anyone has links to pictures let me know I am doing a paper on this. Thanks.What is the significance of the goats head mask which is used/ or seen in rituals and images in some cults?
Greetings!





It`s a Hollywood thing.





/!\What is the significance of the goats head mask which is used/ or seen in rituals and images in some cults?
this is going to take ages ...


an aeon is an 'age' - the Mayans worked out that each aeon lasts approx 2000 years. Jesus' aeon was the fish. Moses aeon was the bull/calf before that it was the ram/goat which you refer. (Magick %26amp; Shamanism were the 'faith' of the time %26amp; used much symbolism) ....... they are the zodiac. according to the Mayan calander a new aeon is due to start in 2012 - the age of Aquarius. This is the real meaning of end times that fundies are flapping their wings over - each aeon has a main leader figure usually a virgin birth etc etc .... google zeitgeist for clarification, its really interesting!
It's symbolism of Dominance and Strength within us all. It's used as Hypnotic Modality into order to bring the young Pagans into a sort of Trance that what they are doing is important and to stay focused. In some Covens it is used as symolism of The Horned God. ________ ________
I'm not aware of any religion/cult that actually uses goat head masks. That's a very Hollywood cliche of Satanists and Pagans.





The conection between a pentagram and a goat's head was only made in the 19th century by an Occultist. It represented Baphomet. Some Satanists have adopted the image. The majority of people who work with pentagrams, however, have no need for the Baphomet symbol.





There's a lot of symbolism behind the 19th century Baphomet images. Reading more on Baphomet and Eliphas Levi might be on interest to you. You might start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baphomet





Just to reiterate, however, people interested in Baphomet still aren't running about in goat masks.
none. those cults involved demons.
It goes back to Ammon, the Egyptian god of fertility.
Diablo/Satan,


he who hides in each person hearts on earth.


What was posted above is true also above the points,like of a pentagram,pointed down,it means ungodly,pointing up,means belief.
As someone mentioned: Eliphas Levi and the ';baphomet';





That should give you some references for your paper.





Christianity made the symbol a negative one because of the pagan connection with Pan. Therefore goats became a symbol of Satan, which was inlaid in the inverted pentagram. The upright pentagram symbolizes man in perfect harmony with the universe (Like DaVinci's drawing) - the inverted one is man's connection to the animal world and basic instincts. The symbols were said to be Satanic so ceremonial magicians and 19th and 20th century Satanists ran with them.





Myth becoming fact.





Most pagans I know (after 20+ years in the community) utilized the Horned God for the masculine deity, one sometimes known as Herne or Cerunnos with stag horns, not goat. Most steer away from the goat-head imagery because of the association with Satanism but do occasionally use Pan in rituals (very carefully).





Hope that helps
To stay anonymous allot of these people have high influence in the community. for example the mayor of whoville is running the show
Sigil of Baphomet


The goat face represents carnality. In ancient Egypt goats were considered representations as god symbols of lust, and we think lust is an important factor of biology that keeps humanity going so we value that. The five-pointed star really comes from the Pythagoreans. That is the one figure in which every element is within the golden mean of each other. It鈥檚 this wonderful mathematical symbol of perfection, organic perfection specifically. Since we are organic life and enjoy the idea of perfecting ourselves, that star is right for us in there and it perfectly fits the goat head inside. Now around it are two circles, one at the tip of the points of the star and one outside. In that are Hebrew characters starting at the bottom and going counter-clockwise spelling Leviathan. In Hebrew mythology, Leviathan was the great dragon of the abyss, this powerful Earth figure that even Yahweh was afraid of. So all these things taken together creates a symbol that Anton LaVey identified with Satanism specifically. When he started the Church of Satan, usually upside down crosses were considered Satanic, and he saw that these different elements and felt this was a positive symbol you could tie to the Satanism he was creating.





And as mentioned there are many horned gods





The chrisian devil having the horns and cloven feet can come from the description of other angels.


This is form Ezekiel 1:7 %26amp;1:10





And their legs were straight legs, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot, and they sparkled like burnished bronze





As for the likeness of their faces, they each had the face of a man [in front], and each had the face of a lion on the right side and the face of an ox on the left side; the four also had the face of an eagle [at the back of their heads].
MasZterP is correct.





On BOTH counts.
Goats were probably offered as sacrifices.


http://altreligion.about.com/library/glo鈥?/a>
probably to remind others of mohameds first love!!
That is because a goat head is a symbol used in Voodoo.
The goats heat represents an upside down 5 pointed star.


the top four points are Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water.


The bottom most point of the goats beard represents


Satan as the ruler of Earth, which is where God sent him


after throwing him from heaven.





People fear going to Hell, but forget we are already here.
They use a goat head because it resembles satan, who resembles evil:


This is more of that ';horn phobia'; that people of this sort seem to be obsessed with. The association of the goat with Satan probably originated in the custom of the scapegoat, as is hinted at here. In Israel the sins of the tribes were ceremonially loaded onto the head of a goat. This ';scapegoat'; represented the god Azazel, 'Messenger of the Lord', who took these sins away each Day of Atonement. The Horned God Azazel was actually a divine redeemer who took human sins upon himself and atoned for them by his exile and/or death, and you can read this for yourself in Leviticus 16:20 in the Bible: ';An when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat; and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of the man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities upon him into a solitary land; and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.';
In the whole pagan rituals, the goat represents satan. In the Bible, satan is refered to as the goat. This is why the pentogram is associated with satanic worship.





I only know this because I had a buddy in the Army who is a satan worshiper. He had the satanic bible and everything. Creepy.
The goat's head is from Eliphas Levi's illustration of Baphomet, who is a symbol of conjoined opposites. But he also depicts the inverted pentagram with a goat's head in it and claims that it is a symbol of the supremacy of matter over spirit and therefore evil--in the 20th Century some people used it as a symbol for the devil. But there are older symbols, too. In pagan usage it is a reference to the ';Horned man';, a symbol of fertility and a very, very old icon (found in caves about 10-50k years ago).