Who is Val Demon? What does the demon Baal look like? Demon Baal - a creature from medieval grimoires

An Assyrian-Babylonian deity, he combined a lot of functions - he was considered the thunder god, the patron of waters and war, the god of fertility, the sun, and the sky. In the culture of the ancient Greeks, Baal can be considered an analogue. In ancient Semitic languages, the name of the deity sounds like “Bel” or “Baal” and is translated as “lord”, “master”. It is used as a common noun “lord” in relation to both gods and rulers of cities.

Origin story

At first, the word “baal” was used more as a common noun. This is what they called the gods who patronized certain tribes or localities. There was the baal of the Phoenician city of Tire, the baal of the Lebanese city of Sidon, and so on.

The baal sanctuaries were tied to springs, mountains, forests and other natural objects. The word "baal" was used as a title and as such was an integral part of the names of princes and city rulers. For example, Balthazar, Teker-Baal. The name of Hannibal, the famous commander from Carthage and the sworn enemy of the Roman Republic, translates as “favorite of Baal.”

Over time, Baal became the god of sunlight, then the supreme god who created the universe, then a god of fertility and part of a phallic cult. Part of the cult of Baal were orgies and rituals, during which priests who fell into a state of ecstasy inflicted wounds on themselves. In the ancient city of Ugarit, Baal was known as the god Balu, who was nicknamed the Bull. His own sister Anat became God’s beloved. Balu was depicted as a warrior with a horned helmet on his head or in the form of a bull.

Under the name Baal-Tsaphon, the character was revered in ancient Phenicia. Tsafon or Tsapanu is the name of the mountain where this god lived. At the same time, the prefix “baal-” was also used when naming other gods who patronized various phenomena and areas of life. Baal-Tzaphon was considered the ancestor of sea deities and the god of flowing waters. The character's wife was called the goddess Astarte, known in Sumerian-Akkadian mythology under the name. Ela was considered the father of God.

Under the name Baal-Zebub, also known as Beelzebub, the character found his way into Christian mythology, where he became an evil spirit and one of the devil’s henchmen. Catholics consider Saint Francis of Assisi to be Beelzebub's heavenly adversary. In the ancient Greek translation of the Bible, the character's name is interpreted as “Baal of the Flies”, “Lord of the Flies” - Baalzebub.

In the Old Testament the character is mentioned as a deity worshiped by the Philistines, and in the Gospel as the prince of demons. The Bible stated that Baal's servants performed human sacrifices and even burned their own children as sacrifices to God.

Baal in culture

The image of Baal is often found in the world of computer games. In 2009, the RPG “King’s Bounty: Princess in Armor” was released, where Baal is the leader of the demons who have captured the heroine’s home world. A meeting with Baal awaits the player in the finale.

In the fictional universe of the Forgotten Realms, Bhaal is the dead god of murderers. One of the trinity of dark gods who stole the tablets of fate and thereby angered the supreme god. The criminals were sent to the human world, where they ended up in mortal bodies. This exile resulted not only in the death of the dark gods, but also in disaster for the Forgotten Realms universe.

In the Baldur's Gate series of games, the dark god Baal is the father of the main character. At the time of the game, God is killed in troubled times. However, the character foresaw his own death and took care to produce descendants from mortal women. Outwardly, the children of Bhaal do not differ from ordinary representatives of their own race and do not know the truth about their own origins. One of those with the blood of Bhaal may become the new god of assassins. Sarevok, a descendant of Bhaal, learns of this prophecy and begins to kill the other offspring of the god in order to remain his father's sole heir.

In the game Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Baal is the last of the rulers of Evil and the lord of destruction. Under the command of the hero are hordes of demons. The character strives to get to the World Stone, which protects mortals from the forces of Hell. Baal wants to destroy the artifact.

Film adaptations

Baal is a character in the series Ash vs. the Evil Dead, a demon and enemy of the heroes in the second season. The role is played by actor Joel Tobeck. Bhaal's ex-wife, the demonic woman Ruby, has taken possession of the protagonist's severed hand. From this hand grows an “evil clone” of the main character, who begins to destroy and kill.

A character named Baal is also present in the Brazilian TV series Supermax. There it is also a demon, also known as Nonato. This character served as a pastor and lives under a prison building with several women.

In 2008, the science-fiction thriller “Baal, the God of Thunder,” directed by Paul Ziller, was released. The main character of the film is an old scientist, archaeologist Owen Stanford. The hero is terminally ill and strives with all his might to save his own life. Medicine is powerless to help Owen, and he decided to involve folklore in the case.

The Eskimos have a belief that with the help of the amulet of the thunder god Baal, you can open the door separating the world of the dead from the world of the living. Owen intends to use this method not only to defeat the disease, but also to become a god. The hero assembles an expedition and finds the amulet, but the activation of the artifact leads to a terrifying storm breaking out across the land.

BAAL or Baal, Bel, Bel - from Hebrew means “lord”, “lord”, “strong”. This was the supreme god of the Canaanites, who was also worshiped by the Israelites who betrayed their faith. His name is often found on Phoenician and wedge-shaped inscriptions, also in Greek and Latin authors, who usually call him Βἡλος Belus, Bel. This name is part of many Phoenician and Carthaginian personal names, such as Annibal (“Baal is mercy”), Asdrubal (“Baal is help”), etc.; Aramaic, like Abdbal (“servant of Baal”); Assyro-Chaldean, like Belshazzar (Bel-sar-usur - “Let Baal protect the king”), and so on. Occasionally it is found even in Jewish names, such as Baalhapan, Eshbaal, Meribbaal, etc. But it was used not only as a proper name, but also as a common noun to designate a master, owner, owner of a person or thing, such as owner or owner of the house (Exodus 22:8; Judges 19:22), field (Job 31:39), ox (Exodus 21:28; Isaiah 1:3), owner of wealth (Ecclesiastes 5:12) and so on .; then the husband or master of the wife (Ex. 21, 3, etc.). From this we can conclude that the word Baal, as applied to God, was originally only an epithet expressing His supreme dominion and pointing to Him as the Lord of all things; only later did it become a proper name and a special deity, Baal, the ruler par excellence (“Hab-Baal, with a member”). As a result of the abuse that idolaters made of this expression, Holy Scripture, although it constantly calls God Lord, never once applies to Him the names Baal, but instead uses another word - Adon, Adonai, the meaning of which is the same, and the word Baal used only in application to false gods.

The main seat of the cult of Baal, widespread throughout Western Asia, which penetrated far to the west through the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, was Phenicia, which in turn borrowed it from Babylonia, where Baal was known under the name Bela. Due to his Mesopotamian origin, Baal everywhere retained the stamp of Sabeanism and, as the “lord” of the gods, corresponded to the main heavenly body - the sun, the source of all life on earth. Some interpreters find confirmation of the solar character of Baal in the text of Holy Scripture itself (2 Kings 23:4). Classical writers also identify Baal with the sun: “God is called Baal in the Punic language,” says Servius, “and Bel among the Assyrians; he is at the same time Saturn and the Sun” (Commentary on Virgil in Aeneid. I, 729). As the sun god, Baal is the “lord of the heavens,” Baal-Samin, which title he bears in the inscriptions, in the Punic verses of Penulus Plautus - Baal-Samen, in the bl. Augustine - Baal-Samen and Philo Byblos, who directly says: “they consider the sun to be a god who was the sole ruler of Heaven, calling him Beel-Samin.” Hence, in the mythology of the pagan Semites, V. is the personification of the male productive force and acts through his wife Astarte, who represented the passive or receptive force of nature. The religious cult of Baal, which consisted of wildly unbridled voluptuousness, seeking artificial stimulation, fully corresponded to this idea. In this respect, the cult of Baal completely coincided with the cult of Astarte, since serving her was at the same time serving Baal, her fertilizer. Its external symbol was always the phallus, in the form of a column with a truncated top. This is the so-called “gammanimi” are statues or columns of a conical or, rather, pyramidal shape, intended to depict the sun under the guise of a flame. Herodotus (2, 44) says that there were two such columns in the temple of Hercules, i.e. Baal, in Tire. One of the most ancient religious inscriptions mentions that one such statue in Palmyra was erected to the sun god. On Roman coins of the imperial era, an image of such a Baal column was preserved. According to the testimony of Holy Scripture, such columns (statues) were made of stone or wood (2 Kings 10:26), or even gold (Hos. 2:8).

At the temples of Baal lived the so-called kedeshim and kadeshots, holy fornicators and harlots who doomed themselves to serve the temple by earning money through fornication. It is clear what a deeply corrupting influence such a cult must have had. The memory of this corruption was immortalized for the consciousness of the Jews in the legend of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where the cult of Baal brought especially bitter fruits. But, despite neither this instructive story, nor the prohibition to have any communication with the servants of Baal, nor the menacingly fiery speeches of the prophets exposing the vileness of the cult of Baal, he always had an irresistible charm for the Jews, and the entire biblical history, starting from the time of settlement chosen people in Palestine, represents the history of passion for this cult. “The children of Israel forsook their Lord and began to serve Baal, doing evil before the Lord” - this is the many times repeated testimony of biblical historians. Obviously, the sublime cult of Jehovah was too high for the mediocre consciousness of the people, and the sensory-tactile cult of Baal irresistibly captivated them. Under King Ahab, thanks to the patronage of his Phoenician wife Jezebel, the cult of Baal found almost official recognition in the kingdom of Israel and at times penetrated into the kingdom of Judah, although there it always met with more opposition from kings and prophets. In Phenicia, the main sanctuary of Baal was located in Tire. One of the significant features of the cult there were sacred processions, during which the priests - hierodules indulged in frantic dancing, accompanied by inflicting wounds on themselves. From here the cult of Baal moved to Carthage, where his name is heard in the names of Hannibal (the mercy of Baal), Azdrubal (the help of Baal), etc.; Later we find traces of him in Rome, where he found an ardent follower even on the throne, namely in the person of the Emperor Heliogabalus, who, as a priest of the Syro-Canaanite solar god Baal, danced around the altar built in his honor. Being, in essence, one and the same god, Baal, under the influence of the polytheistic worldview of the pagans, appeared in different manifestations, which in different places acquired independent meaning. Thus, they received special names according to the place where they were worshiped, like Baal of Lebanon, or according to their attributed properties, like Baal-Berith - “Baal of the covenant”, who protected those who entered into an alliance with him (Judg. 8, 33; 9, 4 and 46), Baal-Zebub (Beelzebub) - “Baal of the flies”, “lord of the flies”, no doubt defending his worshipers against these insects (see. Beelzebub). The names of such places as Baal-Gad, Baal-Gamon, etc. were associated with the local Baals.

See op. M. S. Palmova, Idolatry among the ancient Jews (St. Petersburg, 1897), where there is a separate chapter on the cult of Baal (p. 217 et seq.) and where all relevant literature is indicated.

The word Baal is said to be included in many biblical and non-biblical proper names for cities, as follows:

VAALBEK, a city in Kili-Syria, famous for its splendor in the first centuries of the Christian era and which has retained its fame to this day due to its ruins. Baal was idolized there as the god of the sun, and in later times, undoubtedly, Astarte, which is why this city was known for its extreme immorality. See below. Iliopol.

VAAL-VERIF- the name of the local Baal, revered by the Israelites and especially the inhabitants of Shechem under Abimelech, the son of Gideon (Judges 8, 33; 9, 4). Baal-Berif means “lord of the covenant,” and is equated with the Ζεὑς ὁρχιος of the Greeks and the Deus fideus of the Latins, whom both revered as the patron of oaths, the director of treatises and alliances.
Baal-Gad- “lord of happiness” (Joshua 11, 17; 12, 7; 13, 5), the name of the Canaanite city, mentioned three times in Holy Scripture, in the book of Joshua. This was the northernmost point reached by the Israelites during the conquest. The fruit of the victory won near the waters of Merom against the Canaanite kings of the north was their subjugation of the entire country as far as Baal-Gad. In the book of I. Navin (11:17) the location of this city is said to be located “in the valley of Lebanon, near Mount Hermon” (cf. I. Nav. 12:17; 13:5). But opinions differ greatly as to what exactly should be understood by the “Valley of Lebanon.” According to the most likely opinion, Baal-Gad meant the city of Panea or present-day Banya, which is known in the New Testament under the name of Caesarea Philippi. The position of this city most of all corresponds to the data of the priest. text. Joshua was to pursue his enemies to this point, to the foot of Hermon, which immediately rises above the city and forms the natural boundary of Palestine to the north. There, above one of the three main sources of the Jordan, there is a cave, which at the beginning of our era was dedicated to the god Papu and was called Panium or Panea (J. Josephus, Ancient 15, 10, 3; War of Judas 1, 31, 3). The cult of the Pope probably replaced the cult of Baal-Gad in this place. The valley that extends to the south and southwest of Banya "near Hermon" was perhaps called the valley of I. Nav. 11, 17; 12.7).
Baal-Gamon- “Baal of the multitude,” the name of the place where Solomon had a vineyard (Song of Solomon 8, 11).
Baal Hatzar- a village, a country house, an estate, a place near the city of Ephron or Ephraim, where, by order of Absalom, his brother Amnon was killed at a feast (2 Kings 13:23).
Baal-Hermon- a city in the north of Palestine, beyond the Jordan, at the foot of Mount Hermon (Judges 3:3; 1 Chron. 5:23).
Vaal Meon- a city east of Jordan (Num. 32, 38; 1 Chron. 5, 8; I. Nav. 13, 17). Subsequently, the Moabites took possession of it, and it became one of their main places. The prophets Jeremiah (48, 23) and Ezekiel (25, 9) foretold him that, as punishment for the joy in which he indulged in the main cities of Moab on the occasion of the destruction of Judah, he would be destroyed along with them. In the 4th century of the Christian era, Baal Meon became a large city. “Baal-meon on the other side of the Jordan,” says Eusebius, which the sons of Reuben restored, “is a very large city near the Mount of Warm Waters in Arabia.”
Baal Perazim- “place of defeat”, a place not far from Jerusalem to the west, which received its name from the defeat of the Philistines there by David, since David said at the same time: “The Lord has swept away my enemies before me, as water sweeps away” (2 Sam. 5:20), or, as it reads in the book of Chronicles: “God has broken my enemies with my hand, like a rush of water” (1 Chron. 14:11).
Baal-Peor- a Moabite and Midianite idol, which is sometimes simply called Peor (Numbers 31:16; J. 22:17). It borrowed its name, according to some, from Mount Fogor or Fegor, on which this idol stood; according to others - from the debauchery to which the wives and girls of Moab indulged in serving this idol. On the advice of Balaam (Num. 31:16), the Moabites and Israelites were involved in serving this idol, for which they were subjected to severe punishment (Num. 25).
Baal-Zephon- the place of Typhon or dedicated to Typhon (Ex. 14, 2, 9; Numbers 33, 7); an Egyptian town near the Red Sea on the western side of its northern tip, between Migdol and the Red Sea, beyond Pi-Gagirof. It received its name from Typhon, the evil principle of the Egyptians, hostile to them and who lived in deep darkness underground. See Exodus.
Baal-Shalisha- “triple region” or “triple land”, a place in the land of Shalisha, in the mountainous regions of the tribe of Ephraim (2 Kings 4:42).
Baal-Tamar(Judges 20, 33) - a city of the tribe of Benjamin, near Gibeah Benjamin, where, during the turmoil during the period of the Judges, the Benjamites suffered a strong defeat from the Israelites.

* Alexander Ivanovich Ponomarev,
Master of Theology, Professor
Kyiv Theological Academy.

Text source: Orthodox theological encyclopedia. Volume 3, column. 1. Petrograd edition. Supplement to the spiritual magazine "Wanderer" for 1902. Modern spelling.

The demon Baal gained fame thanks to medieval grimoires. There he occupies a place of honor among the many-sided gathering of hellish entities. In the first part of the Lesser Key of Solomon, the Goetia, Baal heads an impressive list of seventy-two demons. According to her, he is a powerful king ruling in the East. Baal has at least 66 legions of infernal spirits at his disposal. And in Johann Weyer’s work “On the Deceptions of Demons” he is mentioned as the Minister of the Underworld, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of Hell and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Fly.

Appearance of Bhaal

What the demon Baal looks like also became known thanks to grimoires. In “Goetia,” as well as in I. Weyer’s book “Pseudomonarchy of Demons,” he appears as an unprecedented three-headed creature. His body resembles a shapeless mass, from which many spider legs protrude. Baal's torso is crowned by an impressively sized human head with a royal crown. The demon’s face, judging by the image in the illustration, is withered and thin, with a huge long nose and gloomy eyes. In addition to the human one, two more huge heads come out of his body: on the right is a frog, and on the left is a cat. He may appear in a less disgusting form. A man, a cat, a toad are typical creatures into which the demon Baal is reincarnated.

Summoning and banishing the demon Baal

Johann Weyer noted in one of his books that the demon Baal, if desired, can make a person invisible or reward him with supernatural wisdom. However, to achieve such an honor, you must meet him in person.

A person who decides to summon a demon in order to receive these talents puts on a metal plate called a “lamen” as its symbol. Thanks to him, according to the Goetius, he will receive the attention and respect of Baal. Before summoning a demon, a person is recommended to draw a protective pentagram with chalk, place candles on its rays and light them. Then you should read the text of Baal's invocation. Rumor has it that it is worth calling him only on Saturdays.

To obtain the desired talents, Bhaal must be released outside the protective circle. However, he is treacherous, insidious and cruel, so this step can entail great danger for a person. However, even such a powerful entity as the demon Baal can be sent back to hell. The expulsion of an evil spirit is carried out using a simple phrase from Papus’s textbook: “In the name of Adonai, through Gabriel, come out Baal!”

God who became a demon

Baal was not always a minion of the underworld. This demonic entity, now occupying significant “posts” in hell, was once a pagan deity. In ancient times he was called Baal, Balu or Bel. This is true of the Semitic peoples, as well as the Phoenicians and Assyrians. People saw him in those days differently than now: in the form of an old man or a bull.

His name is translated from the common Semitic language as “master” or “lord.” Initially, the word “baal” was a common noun for a god in whom members of individual tribes believed. Then people began to associate his name with a specific area. Later, even the title “baal” appeared, which was given to princes and mayors. This word became the name of the famous Carthaginian commander Hannibal and the Babylonian prince Belshazzar.

Great Deity

From the day of his appearance, Baal managed to visit different tribes and places of the sun, sky, war and other things. Ultimately, he became the Creator of the entire world and the Universe. According to historians, Baal was the first global patron god. The center of his cult was in the city of Tire, from where he penetrated into the kingdom of Israel. It later spread to North Africa, modern Europe and Scandinavia, as well as the British Isles. In terms of power, Baal can be compared with the Greek god Zeus and the Egyptian Set.

Savage rituals

The demon, even when he was a great deity, was distinguished by exorbitant cruelty and demanded horrific acts from humans. People sacrificed their own kind, in particular children, to him. Crazy orgies were thrown in honor of Baal, and the priests, in a state of ecstasy, engaged in self-mutilation.

Once in Carthage, during the siege of the city by Greek troops, the inhabitants performed the largest act of sacrifice to their deity. In this way they hoped to get rid of the enemy. The invasion of the Greeks, from the point of view of the Carthaginians, was a direct consequence of the fact that they did not want to give their children to Baal-Hammon, as this deity was called in those places. Instead, city residents sacrificed the offspring of strangers. The Carthaginians, realizing their “guilt,” then burned more than two hundred children. And another three hundred residents of the city voluntarily sacrificed themselves, trusting in the help that the god, and now the demon Baal, could provide. A photo of the bas-relief depicting the ceremony is presented below.

Persecution of idolaters

Acts of human sacrifice were also performed by the inhabitants of the kingdom of Israel. Elijah also fought against the idolaters who killed their children in the name of Baal. It was decided to execute the worshipers of the pagan deity. All of them were killed during the religious revolution. The destruction of the pagans led to the weakening of the cult of Baal.

The early Christian prophets also supported the bloody god. The fight with him ended in complete victory and the image of the deity was subjected to severe criticism. This is how the demon Baal appeared. In Christianity, he was, according to various sources, both the Duke of Hell and the Devil himself.

Associations with Beelzebub

Baal is often identified with Beelzebub. In Christianity, he is considered a demon and is mentioned in the Gospel, which says that the Pharisees and scribes called Jesus this way. They believed that Christ cast out demons using the power of Beelzebub.

The translator and commentator of the Bible, E. Jerome, identified the name of this creature with Baal-Zebub, or “Lord of the Flies,” mentioned in the Old Testament. He was still worshiped by the Philistines, who lived in the coastal part of the Kingdom of Israel in the city of Ekron. Beelzebub is usually depicted as a huge fly-like insect.

His name could also come from the word Zabulus, which was used by the Jews at that time. That's what they called Satan. Based on this, the name "Beelzebub" (Baal-Zebub) means "Baal the Devil."

In ancient times there was also a verb zabal. In rabbinic literature it is used in the meaning of “to remove uncleanness,” so the name “Beelzebub” can also be interpreted as “Lord of defilement.”

Finally

The demon Baal has experienced such transformations throughout the history of its existence. He was both a deity and the Devil himself. And only the medieval grinoires, who streamlined the hellish hierarchy, were able to determine the final place of Baal in the Universe.

Baal is generally an epithet “god, ruler” for various gods and mayors among the ancient Western Semites.

Story

Initially, the name Baal was a common noun for the deity of a particular tribe, then for a locality (Baal of Tire, Baal of Sidon, etc.), at this time his sanctuaries were confined to springs, forests and mountains.

The title “Baal” was given to princes and mayors and was included in the name. (For example: “Prince of Byblos Teker-Baal” mentioned in the Egyptian story of the 11th century BC, Hannibal, Balthazar, list of kings of Tyre.)

Later, Baal was considered the god of sunlight, a little later he became the creator of the whole world, the Universe, then the fertilizer god.

Almost at all times, the cult of Baal was accompanied by voluptuous orgies, and the priests in ecstasy inflicted cuts and wounds on various parts of the body, most often on the wrist and palms.

In Ugarit, Baal was highly revered under the name Balu, had the epithet Strongman and Bull, was the son of the god Daganu, his sister and lover was Anat (“spring”, goddess of springs).

He could be depicted in the guise of a mighty bull or a warrior in a horned helmet, which connects him with Zeus, Zeus-Ammon, and the Babylonian Zeus-Baal.

In Phenicia he was called Baal-Tsaphon (Ugarit. Baal-Tsapanu, after the name of the mountain where he lived) or simply Baal, Bel, and other Phoenician gods also had the epithet “Baal-”, patronizing different areas of life.

God of flowing water and ancestor of sea deities. Son of El (Ugarit. Ilu). His wife is the goddess Astarte, an analogue of the Sumerian Ishtar.

The center of the cult was in Tire, from here it spread to the ancient kingdom of Israel (under Jezebel) and Judea, despite the struggle of the prophets (especially Elijah and Jeremiah).

According to the Bible, Baal's service included human sacrifice, including the killing of one's own children.

During the religious revolution of the prophet Elijah, “all the servants of Baal were killed” - this cult in Ancient Israel suffered significant damage.

Baal was also revered in the Phoenician state of Carthage (the name Hannibal means “favorite of Baal”); through the Phoenicians and Carthaginians gradually in the 20th-10th centuries. BC e. the cult of Baal spread far to the West (to Egypt, Spain, etc.).

Emperor Heliogabalus (Elagabalus) transferred his cult to Rome.

Varieties

• Baal-Berith or Baal-Brith ("god of union") was the local Baal who was worshiped by the Jews after the death of Gideon.
• Baal Peor, the local Moabite Baal, with whose voluptuous cult the Moabites, following the advice of Balaam, sought to captivate the Jews.
• Baal Hammon is the sun god. In Carthage he was one of the main gods, in charge of fertility.
• Baal-Haddat is the god of thunder and storm, as well as the lord of the earth and fertility (in this capacity he acts as a mortified and resurrected deity).
• Bel - in ancient Armenian mythology, the builder of the Tower of Babel, who was opposed by the ancestor of the Armenians, Hayk, who killed Bel with an arrow from a bow.
• Khu-Baal (Hubal) is the tribal god of the ancient Arabs.