The great God Pan is also known as the Goat of Mendes and can be found today in the
form of the horned goat God, made famous by the Knights Templars,
Baphomet. 33rd Degree Freemason, Albert Pike had written in Morals and Dogma,
“The Gnostics held that it [universal agent] composed the igneous
[pertaining to fire] body of the Holy Spirit, and it was adored in the
secret rites of the Sabbat or the Temple under the hieroglyphic figure
of Baphomet or the hermaphroditic goat of Mendes.” This is confirmed
by the Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, Proclus who describes Jupiter,
in one of the Orphic Hymns, to be both male and female, (hermaphrodite).
Myths and legends undergo strange transformations.
When the early Christian drew upon mythology they modified and changed it;
gentle Pan became Satan! To the common mind, Satan, or the devil, was a
he-goat. Thus the devil came into possession of horns and a tail, and the
familiar cloven hoof. Later, in the Middle Ages, the devil took a more
dignified form, in keeping with his supposed power. But the people would
not wholly give up the goat, therefore their devil was supposed to appear riding
on a goat. Witches were credited with performing fearful ceremonies in
which they raised the devil in order to do homage to him and his goat. In
the early days of Masonry in London, the enemies of the Fraternity employed the
weapon of ridicule; processions of Mock Masons, the Gormogons and or other
organizations made all manner of fun of the secrecy and the ceremonies of
Freemasonry. Some of this fun was a bitter and venomous jest; jealousy and
ill-will of the excluded circulated stories that Freemasons and witchcraft were
allied. that Freemasons were accustomed to raise the devil in their lodges -
and, of course, he appeared riding on his goat!
