Baphomet is sometimes said to be a non-human intelligence, variously described as a demon or deity, or an esoteric representation of the harmony of opposites inspired by alchemical teachings. In Éliphas’ depiction, Baphomet embodies the culmination of the alchemical process, the union of the male and female dual forces in the Astral Light and the soul “elevated above matter” which in turn may have been based on older Christian iconography portraying Satan as a being of mixed sex (see ‘Blavatsky the Satanist’ by Per Faxneld). As Lévi said: “The two sexes will be one, according to the word of Christ — the great androgyne will be created, humanity will be woman and man”. In some interpretations, Baphomet is a representation of two diametrically-opposed persons combined that create the “great androgyne” — male and female, that is, Sophia and the Demiurge, Isis and Osiris, Magdalene and Christ — and this is why Aleister Crowley called Baphomet the “Lion and the Serpent” because Baphomet is dualistic in nature. The Lion being for example, the Demiurge, Osiris, or Christ and the Serpent being Sophia, Isis, or Magdalene. Baphomet shares many characteristics with the Gnostic god Abraxas. In his book ‘Ancient Magic’, Filippo Carlà shows ancient carvings of Abraxas engraved with an acronym for the name of Christ. According to the Greek Magical Papyri texts, Abraxas corresponds to Osoronnophris whose name represents Egyptian Wsir Wn-nfr — “Osiris the Perfect Being” (possibly a reference to the union between Isis and Osiris into one being, Horus, the born-again Osiris, described by some as hermaphrodite). Osiris and Horus are assumed to be earlier incarnations of Jesus Christ.