OTO:

 

     In the beginning of the 20th century, a manufacturer from Vienna Dr. Karl Kellner, and a German theosophist Dr. Franz Hertmann, founded a secret occult lodge which they named "Ordo Templi Orientis" (O.T.O.). Soon after they were joined by Theodore Reuss (1855-1923) who had connections with many lodges. It was he who led Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, into such a group.

      Reuss, whose lodge-name was "Brother Merlin", contacted Aleister Crowley in 1912, and he became a member of this additional lodge receiving the name "Brother Baphomet". Baphomet, the symbol of the satanic goat, usually portrayed as a half-human, half-goat figure, of a goat head. It is often misinterpreted as a symbol of witchcraft in general. (It is used by Satanists, who worship the devil, but is not used by neo-Pagan witches, who do not worship the Devil.)

      The origin of the name Baphomet is unclear. It may be a corruption of Mahomet (Mohammed). The English witchcraft historian Montague Summers suggested it was a combination of two Greek words, baphe and metis, meaning "absorption of knowledge." Baphomet has also been called the Goat of Mendes, the Black Goat and the Judas Goat.)

      The O.T.O. developed its sexual rites quickly under Reuss and later broadened them under Crowley. Not long after, Crowley took over the leadership of the lodge. Like other secret lodges, members may not disclose their knowledge.

 

(Baphomet)