From the Minneapolis shooter drawing a picture of himself staring into a mirror with his reflection not human but a beast with horns, to the recently resigned senior physician at the Centers for Disease Control proudly displaying photos of himself on social media dressed in full sadomasochistic leather regalia with the same horned demonic image tattooed on his chest—affirms the point that Satan is having a cultural moment.
Baphomet, the horned goat-like figure that evokes centuries of occultism and demonic possession, stands as a symbolic embodiment of inner torment, moral ambiguity, and an identification with evil. For the Church of Satan, the goat-like figure is a symbol of occult power and rebellion.
While Baphomet itself is not mentioned in the Bible, it is associated with themes that the Bible condemns, including idolatry and the worship of false gods like Baal or Molech. In Genesis 3 we are warned about Satanic deception; and in Deuteronomy 18, sorcery and divination are strongly forbidden. Yet, none of this appears to have dissuaded anti-religious zealots from adopting the image as a symbol of evil resistance to the good, the true, and the beautiful.
The resurgence of Baphomet is not just aesthetic. Rather, it is reflective of deeper cultural tensions around tradition, identity, and the sacred. And it is not only sadomasochistic gay physicians and troubled teens who are drawn to the satanic symbolism.
In 2018, The Satanic Temple temporarily erected (on the grounds of the State Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas) an 8-foot bronze statue of Baphomet flanked by two children. Intended to protest the use of public property to display the Ten Commandments, Lucien Greaves, co-founder of The Satanic Temple, told the cheering crowd that had gathered for the First Amendment rally: “I present to you Baphomet.” Refusing to denigrate the satanic representation, NPR downplayed the symbolic weight of the event, framing The Satanic Temple’s intent not as an endorsement of devil worship but as a strategic push for religious pluralism, free expression, and the preservation of church-state boundaries.
At the root of the growing fascination with Baphomet, pentagrams, and satanic imagery is a cultural shift that signals a deeper rejection of traditional religious institutions—especially Christianity. These symbols, once confined to the margins, are increasingly gaining traction as potent expressions of hostility toward traditional religious frameworks. Their rise reflects a broader cultural moment in which spiritual authority has become diminished, leaving a void for hateful expressions of symbolic resistance.
To begin to overcome the rise of hateful spiritual symbolism requires a renewed commitment from people of faith to speak truth into the cultural void that remains. For Catholics, the growing embrace of satanic imagery by troubled individuals is a reminder that Satan is real; and, as the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel reminds us, he “continues to prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.” Despite our “modern” culture, we no longer can deny the reality of demonic forces operating in our lives here on earth.
Religious writers have often called Satan an “evil genius” because of his ability to hide in plain sight and tempt us in subtle ways. C.S. Lewis offers a compelling description of the ways in which the “Father of Lies” cunningly tries to convince us to turn away from God. In his satirical Screwtape Letters, Lewis creates a senior demon named Screwtape who is instructing Wormwood, his young protégé, on how best to capture a soul for Hell. In Letter VII, Screwtape tells the young demon that the most effective thing he can do to bring souls to Hell is to convince people that Satan does not even exist.
The fact that “devils” are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that, he therefore cannot believe in you.
In the increasing prevalence of the Baphomet symbolism, no one is thinking of Screwtape’s little demon in red tights. Most of us are finally acknowledging evil in our midst. Our late Holy Father, Pope Francis, often warned of this evil. At a memorable Mass in the Vatican’s St. Martha guesthouse in 2014, he warned the faithful that they must always be on guard against deceit. He warned against the seduction of demonic evil. He cautioned that there is a battle, and a battle where eternal salvation is at play:
Satan always seeks to destroy man: that man whom Daniel saw there, in glory, and who Jesus told Nathaniel would come in glory. From the beginning, the Bible tells us about Satan’s seduction to destroy. Perhaps out of envy. …the battle is a daily reality in Christian life, in our family, in our people, in our Churches…unless we fight, we will be defeated.
The horrific symbolism of today’s demons posted clearly on the social media pages of troubled individuals provides a clear picture of the darkness we are warned of in the Bible—the one who prowls about the world seeking the ruin of souls. We need to fight this evil with prayer. And if the growing embrace of Satanic symbolism has revealed anything, it is an affirmation that spiritual forces—both good and evil—remain deeply relevant in our world.
This article was originally published on Crisis Magazine.
