Satanic symbolism includes images, names, objects, and gestures used in Satanic religion and culture. The Pentagram, goat imagery, Baphomet, and figures of Satan or Lucifer are prominent examples. No single image carries the same meaning in every community.

A symbol's history#

The Church of Satan's published history of its Sigil of Baphomet describes a particular development of the goat-and-pentagram design. The organization's version has its own institutional role. It should not be used as an undifferentiated emblem for every Satanic denomination.[1]

Éliphas Lévi's Baphomet is another specific image. Its combined features and gestures belong to his nineteenth-century occult account of equilibrium. Later Satanic use is one part of that image's reception, alongside its wider life in ceremonial magic.[2]

Meaning within practice#

An image on an Altar can function as an object of devotion, a focus for attention, or a statement of religious belonging. A nontheistic participant and a theistic worshiper may use similar visual material while explaining its role differently.

Names also act as symbols. The four infernal names structuring The Satanic Bible have literary and elemental functions within that book. A devotional tradition may instead address one of those names as a deity. The distinction is established through the surrounding religious text and practice.

Symbols used by the Temple of Set, Dragon Rouge, and other occult organizations can be compared with Satanic images, but their own explanations matter. Visual resemblance alone does not establish a common theology, lineage, or membership.

See also#

References

  1. Church of Satan, History of the Sigil of Baphomet (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
  2. Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic, Library of Congress scan · Primary occult context for Lévi’s symbolic images. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
satanic symbolismbaphometpentagramculture

This encyclopedia covers traditions beyond the High Satanic Church. Church doctrine is identified as such when it appears.