The first named among the seventy-two, and a king set in the east.
The Spirit
Bael opens the catalogue of the Ars Goetia, the first book of the Lesser Key of Solomon, and stands as the first of its seventy-two spirits. His name descends from the Semitic title Ba‘al, meaning simply “lord” or “master,” a word once borne by the storm and fertility deities of Canaan and Phoenicia whom the Hebrew scriptures condemned as false gods. In the long demonological reworking of that heritage, the venerated lord became a catalogued demon, and the grimoire tradition inherited him already stripped of his old divinity and fitted into a hierarchy of ranks and legions.
The grimoire presents Bael as a king ruling in the eastern quarter, a figure of considerable dignity within the infernal order. He is remembered chiefly for a strange and multiple appearance, and for the practical office of concealment that the operator was said to seek from him.
Office
According to the Goetia, Bael grants the gift of invisibility and endows those who treat with him with cunning and wisdom. His teaching is thus one of concealment and craft rather than open dominion — a fitting first entry, since the whole grimoire tradition concerns itself with hidden knowledge sought through hidden means.
Attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Number | 1 |
| Rank | King |
| Legions | 66 |
| Appearance | Speaks hoarsely; shows himself with three heads — of a toad, a man, and a cat — or in any single one of these forms |