Yappathon EP 1: “As above so Below”
Today after seeing a dumb homophobic image of a low opacity Baphomet on a rainbow, I looked into the whole “as above so below” hand motion. After looking around and as someone who loves Hermeticism and worships Hermes, I decided to yap about how this hand motion is far from demonic views or Satanism to my trusty Tumblr blog.
Disclaimer: if you’re a Satanist coming across this props to you and no hate. Additionally if anyone has any facts or wants to correct me bc I addressed something wrong lmk.
So we all know Baphomet’s iconic pose and based off things like his looks and being allegedly worshipped by the Knights Templar (which I don’t know much abt tbh), he has or represents connections to Satanism (as far as I’m aware).
However, my main focus is on his hand motion, representing the phrase “as above so below” which originated, to my knowledge, from a Hermetic text called the Emerald Tablet (more on that later). It’s known that Levi, the sculptor of the iconic Baphomet pose, was both an occultist and member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society for Hermeticism practices in Great Britain in the 19th century. So he obviously is aware of this phrase and its origin, meaning, and included it because it aligns with many religious views.
Now to talk about its actual meaning. It’s similar to the Christian “on earth as it is in Heaven” quote, representing this link between the spiritual and physical suggesting the Divine live in tandem with our world. The meaning can be expanded to other Hermetic principles but the rough understanding is that it simply implies a link between us and the Divine.
As I mentioned, it originates from a Hermetic text. It obviously has connections to Hermeticism and nothing about it is genetically Satanic.
Looking at the Magician tarot card, yes the one with the most connections and implications to Lord Hermes, he is hitting the iconic pose. This description of the card even shows how it is simply a connection between our world and the Divine.
There’s also a movie I’d love to watch called As Above so Below and has to do with the Philosophers stone, an Alchemy thing, which in part is a Hermetic thing so I think that’s great for clearing up the meaning of this phrase.
Ghost the band and even uncannon yet official Welcome Home art depict this pose and use it to imply Satanic connotations. Not to hate on those medias but in that way it is arguable that yes technically the pose is Satanic because of popular belief and if some use it to convey Satanism, that indirectly connects it although it technically as you now hopefully know, has a much different meaning and background.
Thank you for reading my rant and yapping sesh, don’t expect future episodes unless I have a topic I feel like info dumping about but I thought it was fitting to share here as much as I know and I found this very interesting hope you do too!
