The Historic Origins Of The Goat Hoof Shoes That Have Conspiracy Theorists Talking

According to the New York Post, the first reference to the Classic Leather Tabi Décortiqué Low's supposed resemblance to the cloven-hooves of Baphomet turned up on Facebook. As Britannica notes, Baphomet is a pagan deity with Satanic connotations dating to at least the 11th century. The creature is a winged human figure with the body and feet of a goat. In 2015, the Satanic Temple  commissioned a statue of Baphomet which it placed in various locations as a form of protest against public displays of the Ten Commandments (via NPR).

The Reebok shoe controversy is just the latest example of how unfounded fears of Satan-worship have gripped the American public, as NPR reported. Another instance of Satanist panic showed up in the 1980s as the classic role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons became popular (per BBC). The Reebok-based Satanist furor soon spread to platforms like Instagram, where comments consisting only of the word "Satanic," as well as "Satanic no way will i [sic] ever wear those," showed up in response to Reebok's post.

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