why is the devil often pictured with horns on his head?

Question

also pictured is the devil with cloven hoofs and a tail. Where did this come from and why does he look like an animal?

Answer 1

Because Christian tradition has frequently identified pagan religions and witchcraft with the influence of Satan. He bears a resemblance to the pagan god pan.In fact few neopagan traditions recognize Satan or the Devil per se. However, many neopagan groups worship some sort of Horned God, for example as a consort of the Great Goddess in Wicca. These gods usually reflect mythological figures such as Cernunnos or Pan, and any similarity they may have to the Christian Devil seems to date back only to the 19th century, when a Christian reaction to Pan's growing importance in literature and art resulted in his image being translated to that of the Devil.

Answer 2

The "devil" was Gods most beautiful angel.. God did not take that away and turn him into something ugly.

During the time when the Christians came along, they wanted to get the pagans to believe in "their" God, to conform to their ways.

So they took the horned God (in which who the pagans believed in) and used some of his characteristics and made up the devil as we know him now.

They did it to scare the pagan people int converting, and it worked for the most part. This is as much a part of our history than the bible so there is proof of it.

The devil IS evil, but he does not look like what we have been taught, it is to frighten us.

Answer 3

The Devil is pictures with horns because whoever says he has horns haven't read the bible if they really believe it because he isn't ugly even he was beautiful angel at one time in heaven got so high and mighty thought he could outsmart God he was going to make himself above god and he was thrown out of heaven down to the earth and a third part of his angels with him,he isn't ugly he was handsome thats why he can fool people so easy the things he has for you are pretty yo look at just like he was and people are easy decieved. He has no horns

Answer 4

The devil seduced Eve so that go to show you he's not only a horned devil,he's a horny devil.
The devil is the definition of evil so when someone is trying to depict that in a work of art they can't pant him looking like a average Joe.

Answer 5

Satan loves when we goof on him, then we tend to underestimate him, treat him like santa claus and forget how dangerous he can be. He is the father of lies and definately will not come at you as a goofy thing with horns and a tail. Poor fellow is rather decieved himself though. Guess he should have read the end of the book first.

Answer 6

During the madness of the inquisition, an hermetic drawing by one Eliphas Levi which featured a creature with the head of a goat, among other things , was intended to be taken symbolically but was interpreted by the church as being a drawing of the devil himself.

Answer 7

This comes from when the Christians tried to convert the Pagans. Christians took the Pagan gods and literally demonized them. Mithos, had horns on his head, and the Pagan god Pan, has hooves and a tail.

Answer 8

Because the head of a goat is a pagan symbol. After paganism was wiped out by christianity, it was made to look disgusting and evil. Pagans worshipped the earth and elements, and used animals to represent certain ideas or powers. So earthly things became devilish and dirty.

Answer 9

Mischievous hate propaganda against Pagans.

Just as they use word Juggernaut in negative sense and villain in west.

Juggernaut comes from Sanskrit word Jagannath
(Lord Of the Universe = God), but this was also name of the temple in South India.

Missioneries have a long history of maliging other religions.

Answer 10

the cloven hoof version of satan is modeled after the Pagan God Pan.
http://www.uufnorthiowa.org/newsletter/2003/september5pagan.htm

http://www.crescentmoongoddess.com/p1640.htm