I've seen some interesting interpretations of the meaning of Baphomet, which several Templars admitted to "worshipping" under torture. Baphomet was believed by the church to be a demon or idol of some kind. However, some scholars now believe that Baphomet was a mispronunciation or mistranslation of Mohammed, or perhaps a mistranslation of the Arabic for "father of wisdom" which is abufihamat. Either might be reasonable, considering the many years of contact and influence the Templars had in the Holy Land with Islam.
An even more interesting theory applies an ancient Jewish cypher system called Atbash. Using the Atbash cypher, Baphomet becomes "sophia" which means wisdom in Greek. What makes this interesting is that Sophia was worshipped by some Gnostics as a personification of knowledge and wisdom, and her earthly incarnation was... Mary Magdalene. Sophia also plays a very important part in some Kabbalistic sects of Judaism. This again could have ties to the Templars stay in the Holy Land, which was also the center of the followers of the Jewish Kabbalah. It all just heightens the aura of mystery around the Templars.
For my part, I find the idea of the Templars as having incorporated much of the teachings of Judaism and Islam into their inner rites as credible. So of the many interpretations, I find the mistranslation of abufihamat into Baphomet to be the most credible.
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