Bael (Goetia #1)

Tarot: 2 of Wands/Rods
Element: Fire
Rank: King; Chief of A’arab Zaraq; Fourth King of Edom
Celebration: Solstices; Fire Festivals
Legions: 66 or 60
Zodiac: Aries 0-9
Date: March 21-30
Qlipha: Herab Sarapel/A’arab Zaraq
Color: Black, Yellow
Infernal Letter: N (16th Letter)
Planet: Sun
Direction: South
Attributions: Fern, Iron, Gold, Oak, Frankincense, Bayberry, Sandalwood, Cinnamon

Above: Artistic Depiction of Bael for Pathworking and an Altar Piece
(Picture Credit: G.A. Roseberg)

Ba’al is a psychopompic shapeshifter and warrior god. Rufus Opus describes his character as “pure Kingliness.” He’s one of the nine kings of the Goetia and the chief of the Venusian Qlipha. Liber HVHI refers to him as “the Shadow of Death” and the “Witch Father.” The Book of Sitra Achra refers to him as “the Sovereign of the Shadow of Death,” the “Master of all Necrosophic Mysteries,” and “a liminal monarch of Unfated Death and Resurrection.” He’s a wise and sadistic god who enjoys watching others suffer– especially those opposed to him and his followers.

Bael teaches witchcraft. He presides over solstices and fire festivals and is powerful in necromancy. He gives aid in astral projection, shapeshifting within dreams, and in the attainment of Chaosophic Gnosis.

Bael can aid in decision-making and in the reconciliation of friends. Ba’al can instruct people in matters of the heart and spark creativity. He can ensure the profitability of creative endeavors. He imparts strength and invisibility.

Above: Sigil of Bael from the OFS Demonolatry Website

Ba’al is a conquering god who rules the ecstasy of combat and the termination of the structures of evolutionary stasis. He rules destruction and he can bless the destructive spells of the witch as well as her capacity to perform them. If the witch would summon Ba’al for the purpose of learning the killing arts and the arts of destruction, you must adorn the altar with a weapon of some kind. Any will do– it is all symbolic.

Bael can increase the witch’s influence over people– not by wit, but by simply making the witch come across as much more noble and impressive.

Ba’al appeared to us in a channeled vision as a dark-haired bearded man adorned in black and brown robes. His eyes were pitch black and lightning sparkled from his hands. Traditional demonography records Bael to manifest as a cat, a man, a toad, all three, and many other forms.

Since Ba’al’s Qliphothic attribution is to Venus Illegitima, it seems worthwhile to draw a parallel to Hekate. The conception of Hekate’s three-headed manifestation predated the identification of her with the moon or the Triple Goddess– the three-headed manifestation came from her chthonic connotations as goddess of the cross-roads, so Ba’al’s three-headed-ness likely hints at a similar attribute. The cat and toad alike symbolize liminality and witchcraft. His three-legged aspect often manifests with spider legs, and spiders are strongly related to necromancy.

Ba’al originated as the god of rain, resurrection, divination, earthquakes, wind, kingship, death, the dead, dew, weather, thunder, war, fertile fields, nature, sailors, fertility, and storms. He was created from Chaos and later challenged his father, a great sea serpent, to battle. Kathor crafted two maces named Ayamyr and Yagrush for Ba’al to use to kill the serpent, and Kathor also crafted Ba’al’s palace.

Ba’al was challenged to battle by Mot, the god of death, by whom he was defeated. His wife, which wife was also either his mother or sister depending upon the myth, Astarte/Anat, burried him on Mount Zephon and ventured into the Underworld to plea for Ba’al’s release. When Mot refused to liberate Ba’al, Astarte slaughtered him and ground him under a millstone, whereupon Ba’al returned to the land of the living and reclaimed his throne. Another version of the myth depicts Anat cleaving Mot with a sword, setting him aflame, and then feeding him to birds.

The cloud-riding Ba’al was depicted in golden armor with a golden helmet and two horns. Sometimes he wears a robe covered in stars, and he is often shown throwing thunderbolts. He was often depicted wearing the tale of a bull, symbolizing power and strong masculinity. The quail, bull, ram, and serpent were all attributed to him.

Bunches of grapes, lozenge-shaped cakes, pretzel-type cakes, and palm branches were hallmarks of his veneration, as were the sacrifice of children and rams. The crescent moon, rosette, and sun symbol were all symbolic of him.

For a list of magickal chants to Bael, follow the hyperlink below:
https://vkjehannum.wordpress.com/2017/12/30/magickal-chants-to-baal-or-bael/

Names of Bael from Ancient Polytheism

Ba’al/Bael/Bel: Lord
Aleyn/Aleyan: Mighty
Baal-Adir: Ba’al the Powerful
Adodos: ?
Frugrifer: Ba’al the Fruit-Bearer
Allyn Baal: Victorius Ba’al
Demarus: ?
Baal-Qarnain: Ba’al the Horned God
Baal-Rammon; Baal-Hadad; Rammanu: Ba’al the Thunderer
Baal-Zephon: Ba’al the Ruler of the North (as a white bull god)
Ishar: ? (also a name for Nergal)
Idurmer: ?
Ba’al Rapi’uma: (as defeater of death and ruler of ancestral spirits)

-V.K. Jehannum
Agios Octinomos-Drakosophia