Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

BELIAL (aka 'Beliar')

The demon of lies, Belial or Beliar, plays a less prominent part in medieval and modern demonology than Beelzebub, though both were once great powers of evil in Jewish belief. This is probably because the main early references to Belial are in writings which were not included in the Bible.

The name may be a shortening of Hebrew beli yaal, 'without worth', or be derived from "bliol," meaning "wicked one". Depraved debauchees are sometimes called 'sons of Belial' in the Old Testament but in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, of the late centuries BC, Belial achieves much higher rank as chief of devils, prince of deceit, the malicious one, the tempter, the ruler of evil inclinations and master of hypocrites.

Belial appears in numerous places in the Old Testament, such as Deuteronomy 13:13, Judges and 1 Samuel.

Belial is the sixty eighth spirit of the Lemegeton, described as a king, created next after Lucifer, who appears as a beautifulangel seated in a chariot of fire. The Lemegeton names Belial as one of the four chiefs of the seventy two spirits of the Goetia. The Lemegeton assigns him the power to win the favors of friends and foes, to give familiars, and to make men senators.

Despite the Biblical strong association of Belial with the person of Satan (2 Cor. 6:15), Belial is not considered an alternative name for Satan in Ceremonial Magick, appearing in many Grimoires as a separate entity alongside or subordinate to Satan.

In one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness, he is the leader of the forces of evil. 'But for corruption thou hast made Belial, an angel of hostility. All his dominion is in darkness, and his purpose is to bring about wicked-ness and guilt.' St Paul's second letter to the Corinthians (chapter 6) contrasts light with darkness, Christ with Belial. 'For what partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?'

The Sibylline Oracles, a mixture of Jewish and pseudo-Christian propaganda, predicts that Belial will appear on earth. He will come from Samaritan stock, the Samaritans and the Jews being bitter enemies.

"...Beliar shall come in later time and shall raise the mountain heights and raise the sea, the great fiery sun and the bright moon, and he shall raise up the dead and shall perform many signs for men: but they shall not be effective in him. Nay, but he deceives and many shall he deceive."

This picture of a worker of deceptive wonders is probably connected with the belief in the Anti-Christ or Anti-Messiah, the Incarnation of evil who will appear to counterfeit the miracles of the true Messiah and delude people into worshipping him.

The emphasis on Belial's deceitfulness may have been influenced by the Zoroastrian belief in Ahriman, the principle of the Lie, and this in turn may have enabled Milton to picture him in Paradise Lost as a honey-tongued liar, the politician whose only principle is 'peace at any price':

"A fairer person lost not Heaven; he seemed For dignity composed and high exploit:
But all was false and hollow; though his tongue Dropped manna, and could make the worse appear
The better reason, to perplex and dash Maturest counsels: for his thoughts were low;
To vice industrious, but to noble deeds Timorous and slothful."

Beelzebub and Belial were among the demons which the mass-murderer Gilles de Rais attempted to summon up by making Sacrifices. A cock, a dove, a pigeon or a turtle-dove had to be offered them to pacify them. The simple verbal formula for summoning them illustrates the belief of medieval magicians that God would help them to conjure up demons, however nefarious their motives for doing so. 'I conjure you Baron, Sathan, Belial, Belsebut, by the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, by the Virgin Mary and all the saints, to appear before us and to speak to us...'

see also: SATAN

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc