The Baphomet Tarot: Part Four

    Part 4. The Shadow Baphomet

      In the context of Akron’s Baphomet Tarot, Baphomet takes on a different role:

In this book, Baphomet is the symbol of the shadow, the repressed, that which has been “estranged from itself,” something nearer to human beings than all else because it is a part of them and must, therefore, remain “the Devil we don’t know”—at least until human beings recognize it.[1]

          For those unfamiliar with Jungian psychology, the shadow is the darker, hidden side of our personality, the part of the psyche known as the personal unconscious. It is the realm of unresolved conflicts and unexpressed emotions and well as animalistic instincts. The shadow creates problems when these repressed emotions break though into the conscious mind, influencing and interfering with our lives in ways that we don’t understand— “the Devil we don’t know.”

          Manifestations of the shadow include self-destructive behaviors, such as eating disorders and addiction; mental illness, including depression and anxiety; verbal, sexual, or physical abuse of other people; and other immoral behavior, such as stealing and lying. Often people do these things without realizing the cause or motivation for their actions—this is how the shadow works.

          One of the primary goals of Jungian therapy is the integration of the unconscious and the conscious minds, which leads to self-realization. Emotional, mental, and behavioral issues are resolved to the point where they no longer interfere with the enjoyment and fulfillment of life. From a Gnostic perspective, that which obscures the divine spark in humanity is removed, leading to enlightenment, the awareness of our own divine nature. This is what happens when the shadow is brought into the light of consciousness.

          When Akron compares Giger’s Baphomet with Lévi’s original image, he shows us that Giger’s image is a shadow version of Lévi’s:

Lévi’s demon sits on a cube (a symbol of human limitation) which itself rests on a sphere (a symbol of a fertile earth). Giger’s Baphomet, on the other hand, is enthroned upon five skulls, the central one of which is wearing a mighty bishop’s mitre which at the height of the lower abdomen of the figure transforms into a machine gun. In Lévi’s interpretation one can find in the same place a caduceus (a Hermes staff). The lower part of the body represents the mystery of procreation, as becomes clear in the form of the two snakes winding themselves around the staff. By contrast, in Giger’s picture the snakes coil themselves around the gun resting on top of the skulls; an up-to-date metaphor for blocked and deformed emotions which allow instinctive releases only via aggressions. Whilst Lévi’s Baphomet displays female breasts and the belly of a pregnant woman, in Giger’s picture the protruding breasts appear as the heads of two demons each of which is holding a hand grenade in its hand.[2]

          Lévi’s symbols have been replaced with their shadow opposites. As Akron has observed, the life and fertility symbolized by the earth-sphere, breasts, and caduceus-phallus have become symbols of death and aggression in Giger’s image. There are many other shadow elements in the image: the syringe in Baphomet’s left arm, symbolic of addiction and escapism; the bishop’s miter at the base of the gun-phallus, indicating the sexual repression and violence inspired by religion; the metal braces that hold Baphomet’s arms in place, suggesting fears of mechanization and a loss of control. As a whole, Giger’s Baphomet seems like an ideal symbol for the Jungian shadow in the Baphomet Tarot.

          The symbolic key that links the shadow Baphomet to the divine Baphomet is the pentagram. In Lévi’s image, the pentagram is “the sign of the microcosm” and the flame of the torch above it is “an image of divine revelation.”[3] Akron observes that “in Giger’s version an upright pentagram is crossed by an inverted one, in this way expressing the union of the microcosm with the macrocosm.”[4] Like Lévi’s image, Akron’s divine Baphomet unites and integrates both darkness and light, signified by the upright and inverted pentagrams above Giger’s shadow Baphomet, which itself is but a symbolic part of the divine Baphomet.

Summary

Akron redefined Giger’s Baphomet as a representation of the Jungian shadow. He created the Baphomet Tarot from Giger’s paintings to facilitate the process of investigating and integrating the shadow. This integration dispels the darkness that obscures the divine spark within us, allowing us to realize the divinity within us and to achieve personal enlightenment—the fulfillment of the desire of the divine Baphomet to help humanity evolve.

Bibliography

Akron and H.R. Giger. Baphomet: Tarot of the Underworld. AGMüller, 1993. Booklet for tarot deck.

Akron and H.R. Giger. H.R. Giger Tarot. Taschen GmbH, 2000. Booklet for tarot deck. Kindle edition.

Epilepsy. Baphomet. Lyrics by Akron. Kk/AGMüller, 1995. Compact Disc. CD Insert.

H.R. Giger. H.R. Giger’s Necronomicon. Morpheus International, 1991.

Levi, Eliphas. Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual. Translated by A.E. Waite. Samuel Weiser, 1999.

[1] Akron and H.R. Giger, Baphomet: Tarot of the Underworld (Neuhausen, Switzerland: AGMüller, 1993. Booklet for tarot deck.), 9.

[2] Epilepsy, Baphomet, CD insert, 5.

[3] Levi, Transcendental Magic, xiv-xv.

[4] Epilepsy, Baphomet, CD insert, 5.