#68 · King
Belial
The 68th of the seventy-two, a king. Distributes preferments and favours (requires gifts). In the language of this path, Belial is a shadow pole — worked only with its angel, Habuhiah.
| Rank | King |
| Number | 68 of the 72 |
| Legions | 50 |
| Direction | North — traditionally styled "King of the North" in the cardinal-king schema used by later ceremonial and Demonolatry traditions; the 1904 Goetia text itself assigns no direction to Belial. |
| Also called | Belial · Beliall · Beliar · Belhor · Berial · Bélial |
| Angel (light pole) | Habuhiah — Shem #68 |
What the grimoires say
In the 1904 Goetia, Belial is a King governing 50 legions. Distributes preferments and favours (requires gifts).
Said to manifest as two beautiful angels seated together in a chariot of fire, addressing the operator in a pleasant, well-spoken voice.
“The Sixty-eighth Spirit is Belial. He is a Mighty and a Powerful King, and was created next after Lucifer. He appeareth in the Form of Two Beautiful Angels sitting in a Chariot of Fire. He speaketh with a Comely Voice, and declareth that he fell first from among the worthier sort, that were before Michael, and other Heavenly Angels. His Office is to distribute Presentations and Senatorships, etc.; and to cause favour of Friends and of Foes. He giveth excellent Familiars, and governeth 50 Legions of Spirits. Note well that this King Belial must have Offerings, Sacrifices and Gifts presented unto him by the Exorcist, or else he will not give True Answers unto his Demands. But then he tarrieth not one hour in the Truth, unless he be constrained by Divine Power. And his Seal is this, which is to be worn as aforesaid, etc.”— Mathers & Crowley, The Goetia (1904), public domain
The shadow it carries
Stripped to the bone, Belial's traditional office turns on legal favour and advocacy — the text frames belial as sought for winning goodwill in disputes and before authority. Read plainly, that is a real human force; in the language of this path its raw, unowned form is a shadow pole. Its shadow is what that force does when it runs you from the dark; its gold is the same force — seen, owned, governed.
You never reach for it alone. Its light pole is the angel Habuhiah; met together, behind protection, Belial becomes a disowned part of yourself approached while the light is already in the room.
Correspondences
A word of honesty first: almost none of the table below is from the old grimoires. The rank, legions, direction and office are traditional; the planet, day, colour, tarot, incense and the Enn are modern attributions (mostly 20th–21st-century Demonolatry and correspondence compilations), and the sources openly disagree. Use them as a working frame, not as law.
| Correspondence | Value | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Tarot | Eight of Cups (Lord of Abandoned Success) | Modern; Golden Dawn decan card for the first decan of Pisces (0–10°), reached via the quinance mapping of the 72 spirits. No basis in the grimoires. |
| Zodiac / decan | 5°–10° Pisces (first decan of Pisces) | Modern; Crowley / Golden Dawn 'quinance' attribution placing spirit 68 in this 5° segment (Liber 777 tradition). Not present in the 1904 Goetia. |
| Planet | Saturn | Modern; Golden Dawn ruler of the Pisces-I decan. No grimoire basis. |
| Day | Saturday | Modern; inferred from the Saturn/Earth association. Sources vary; no grimoire basis. |
| Element | Earth | Modern Demonolatry; derived from the 'King of the North' attribution. Not in the historical texts. |
| Metal | Lead | Modern; by Saturn association. No grimoire basis. |
| Candle colour | Black | Modern Demonolatry; commonly cited for Belial. No grimoire basis. |
| Incense | No traditional attribution; modern sources vary (e.g. musk, copal, dragon's blood) | Modern eclectic practice; no consensus and no grimoire source. |
| Plant | No traditional attribution; modern sources vary | Modern eclectic practice; no consensus and no grimoire source. |
| Animal | No traditional attribution; modern sources vary | Modern eclectic practice; no consensus and no grimoire source. |
| Date-window | circa 24 February – 1 March | Modern Shemhamphorash calendar window (Sun at 5°–10° Pisces), shared with the paired Shem angel Habuhiah. Not part of the grimoire tradition. |
Its modern Enn — a chant from the Demonolatry current, not found in any grimoire:
“Lirach Tasa Vefa Wehlc Belial”
Making a connection
Gathered from what practitioners report, put plainly — a starting point, not a rule:
- Sit with the seal above as the first meeting-place: trace it, hold it in the mind’s eye, and let impressions arrive without grabbing at them.
- Set a gentle frame. Keep it simple — a black candle, a saturday, a little incense, a moment of quiet. If you work the Demonolatry current, chant the Enn softly — more like settling than commanding.
- Bring the real theme. Practitioners associate Belial with securing position, rank and public standing (the grimoire's 'presentations and senatorships'), reconciliation — gaining the favour of both friends and enemies alike. Name what you actually want, and ask — don’t demand.
- Journal before and after, and treat everything as your own experience, not fixed doctrine.
Rank, legions, direction and office are from the public-domain grimoires (Weyer 1577; Mathers & Crowley, The Goetia, 1904). Images are public domain: the 1904 seal. The Enn and the planet/day/colour/tarot correspondences are modern attributions (Demonolatry and compilations), flagged as such; sources disagree, and no copyrighted description or artwork is reproduced. Angel pairing per the Rudd tradition. Take the technique, never the tribe.
“He gives nothing freely — and neither, in the end, does the world. Know the price.”