1. Bael: a king of the Ars Goetia

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

Bael is number 1 in the catalog of 72 spirits that opens the Lesser Key of Solomon. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a king ruling 66 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Bael makes the magician go invisible.

Here I go through his entry layer by layer: the old text first, then what later centuries added, then modern practice, each part labeled so you can see how old it is.

If you came here wondering whether Bael suits a beginner, the short answer is in the Practical notes below: he does not meet the three beginner criteria I use, and I explain why.

At a glance

Historical These are the facts of the entry itself, from the 1904 text and its Observations.

• Number: 1 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Bael in 1904; other spellings: Baal, Baell, Baël (Weyer, Scot).
• Rank and legions: King, 66 legions.
• Direction: the text places him in the East.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): gold.
• Hours for kings (Observations): “From 9 till 12 o’clock at Noon, and from 3 till Sunset.”
• In Weyer’s catalog (1577): yes, as the source comparison below shows.

The Observations also say to work only when the Moon is 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 14 days old. These rules show how the Goetia imagined its spirits, as officials with office hours. You do not need them to read the entry, and the facts table above gives the short version.

The seal (1904)

Historical The seal shown above is Bael’s seal as printed in the 1904 edition, in a faithful vector drawing of that public-domain printing. The Observations ask for each seal to be made in the metal of the spirit’s rank, which for Bael means gold. In the text’s world the seal identifies the spirit and protects the magician; several entries say it is worn on the breast as a lamen.

Seals are not identical from one source to the next. The 1904 versions follow the manuscripts Mathers used, and later books and websites sometimes redraw, simplify or mix them. If two seals for the same spirit disagree, ask which edition each one follows.

Modern Looking at a seal does nothing on its own; it is a drawing in an old book. Modern practitioners almost always draw seals on paper rather than casting them in metal. Copying Bael’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Bael is “the First Principal Spirit,” a king “ruling in the East.” He appears “in divers shapes, sometimes like a Cat, sometimes like a Toad, and sometimes like a Man, and sometimes all these forms at once.” He “speaketh hoarsely.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

Historical These are all the offices the 1904 text gives him, in the order it gives them.

• Makes the magician go invisible.
• Rules 66 legions of “Infernal Spirits.”

The text adds that his seal “is used to be worn as a Lamen before him who calleth him forth, or else he will not do thee homage.”

Offices of harm or compulsion are part of the historical record, and reporting them is not endorsing them. For how offices work across the 72, see ranks and offices.

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical Weyer, in Scot’s English, also places Baell first, as “first and principall king (which is of the power of the east).” Where the Goetia gives three separate shapes, Weyer gives one figure with three heads: “the first, like a tode; the second, like a man; the third, like a cat.” The hoarse voice, the gift of invisibility, and the 66 legions are the same.

Weyer’s catalog appeared in 1577 and Reginald Scot translated it into English in 1584. Comparing the two with the 1904 text shows how much the Goetia owes to them, and where it changed or added things. More in Weyer and Scot.

Later tradition

Later tradition The name is almost certainly a form of Baal, a Semitic title meaning “lord” or “master,” used for several gods of the ancient Levant, most famously the Canaanite storm god. The Hebrew Bible condemns the worship of Baal many times. Christian demonology turned the old title into a demon’s name. This does not mean the Goetic Bael preserves anything of the Canaanite god’s worship. It means a hostile name traveled into a catalog.

Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal (1863 edition) shows Bael with the heads of a cat, a man, and a toad set on spider legs, an image often reproduced online. The spider body is the illustrator’s invention.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern As the first spirit in the list, Bael appears in many modern books and games. Modern devotional writers describe him in various ways; none of these descriptions are in the Goetia.

Some things said about Bael online are not in any grimoire at all: personalities, favorite foods, signs that a spirit has “picked” someone, or birth demons. They come from modern writing and social media. Treat them as one person’s experience, not as facts about the old text.

Beginner’s quick reference

Each line below is labeled by layer, so you can see how old each piece is.

• Rank metal and hours (Goetia): King: gold; 9 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to sunset.
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Sun.
• Decan and day or night spirit (later tradition: 777): Aries, first decan (0 to 10 degrees); day spirit. 777 decan incense: myrtle.
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color yellow (sometimes with black); incense frankincense; plant fern.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a cat, a toad, a man, or all three at once; a hoarse voice. 777 Magical Image: the same image. Le Breton engraving (1863): a crowned man’s head joined to a cat’s and a toad’s head, on spider legs. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, frankincense and fern, then oak, cinnamon, and bayberry.

Incense means smoke. If you burn any, use a stick or cone with a window open, no charcoal indoors, and none at all in a home with pet birds or anyone with asthma. A plant listed here is a correspondence, not something to eat or burn, and a plant without a warning is not automatically safe. Modern offering lists copy one another, so “most often listed” means widely copied, not confirmed. Water, light, time or a note of thanks is always enough.

Practical notes

Bael is a king, and the only office the text gives him is invisibility, a claim no practice can or should test. Not a first-contact choice under the beginner criteria. If you are drawn to him because he comes first, read his entry as history and choose a teaching spirit for practice.

The beginner criteria I use have three parts: the spirit is not a king, at least one office is teaching, and the entry does not center on harm, deception or compulsion. In the directory, Bael is not among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Bael with other spirits of his rank, read Paimon and Beleth. Kings are the highest rank among the 72. The 1904 Classified List names nine of them, from Bael to Belial, and they tend to rule the largest numbers of legions. Above them, in the Goetia’s wider world, stand the four kings of the quarters, such as Amaymon, who are not among the 72. The beginner criteria I use leave kings out of a first study, whatever their offices, simply because the text places them at the top of its court.

How to study this entry

Studying Bael needs only the texts, a notebook and some patience. This is the method I suggest for every entry.

1. Read the offices above in order and write each one in your own words.
2. Compare the 1904 wording with Scot’s English in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (Book 15, chapter 2), which is free to read online.
3. Copy the seal by hand, slowly, and note anything you missed at first glance.
4. Keep a two-column log: what the text says on the left, and what you have read online or feel about it on the right.

Then go back to all 72 spirits and read a neighbor or two. The entries make more sense side by side than alone.