Bael
The first spirit of the Goetia
Curated byBestiarypediaCreated onUpdated on
+2Levant(Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine)⇄ Cultural variants (1)
The first of the seventy-two
Bael opens the catalogue. In the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum that Johann Weyer published in 1577 (as an appendix to a treatise that, paradoxically, defended women accused of witchcraft) and later in the Ars Goetia of the Lemegeton, the Lesser Key of Solomon compiled in the seventeenth century, he is spirit number one in a list of seventy-two that legend ascribed to King Solomon. The name he inherits from the great Canaanite god Baal, «Lord», but the grimoire's entry no longer speaks of storms or harvests: it speaks of a king who rules in the east, commands sixty-six legions and submits only within a drawn circle. That change of register is what defines Bael and separates him from the god whose name he takes. He is not the memory of a cult: he is an inventory entry.
A hoarse voice, and a spider that came later
The texts are sparse and agree on the essentials: he appears in different shapes (sometimes as a cat, sometimes as a toad, sometimes as a man) and sometimes as all of them at once, and he always speaks in a hoarse voice. What was asked of him was invisibility; he is also credited with granting cunning and sharpness of wit to whoever calls him, and command over his sixty-six legions. The detail everyone now associates with Bael, however, appears in none of those texts: the three heads mounted on a body with spider's legs are the print Louis Le Breton engraved for the sixth edition of Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, in 1863. It is a nineteenth-century reading that became more famous than the description it illustrated. It is worth knowing the date of each: the grimoire says three heads; the spider was the engraver's.
The one who opens the list
Being first of seventy-two gave him a standing his own entry would not justify. Bael is not the most powerful in the catalogue nor the one who takes up most room in it: he is the one who opens it, and so he heads every edition, translation and reprint of the Solomonic system since the sixteenth century. The ceremonial occultism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries inherited him in that post, and with the post it inherited Le Breton's engraving, which is today his default image in any search. In popular culture he works as the gateway to the whole catalogue: whoever looks into the Goetia meets him first, and from him takes the idea of what the other seventy-one are. The other half of his story (how the Canaanite god who lent him the name ended up turned into a demon) belongs to Baal's entry, and is told there.
Also known as
Relics
Symbology
Element
Air of the east
Number
66
Color
Dull gold
Animals
Cat, Toad
Sigils:
Traits
Powers
Weaknesses
Behavioral
Resistances
Relations with other beings
In the Atlas
Travel the beings’ world of origin and the cosmos of their dimensions.
Mythologies
The Abrahamic religions comprise Judaism, Christianity and Islam, three monotheistic traditions that share a common origin in the figure of Abraham, regarded as patriarch in all three. Originating in the ancient Near East, Judaism developed among the Hebrews during the second millennium BCE, Christianity arose in the 1st century CE in the context of Second Temple Judaism and Islam appeared in the 7th century on the Arabian Peninsula. Each is based on divine revelations transmitted through prophets and sacred scriptures, such as the Torah, the Bible and the Qur'an, and upholds the belief in a single creator and judge God.
Sources
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
Johann Weyer · 1577
Catalogue of sixty-nine demons included by Johann Weyer in his work "De praestigiis daemonum" (1577). It describes the infernal hierarchy, its ranks and offices, and is the direct precedent of the Ars Goetia and later Western demonology.
Dictionnaire Infernal
Collin de Plancy · 1818
Demonological dictionary by Collin de Plancy (1818), famous for the illustrations by Louis Le Breton in its 1863 edition. It catalogues demons, superstitions and infernal beings, and popularized the visual image of many entities of goetia.
Ars Goetia
Anonymous · 1650
First section of the Lemegeton or Lesser Key of Solomon enumerating seventy-two demons.
Frequently asked questions
In which Renaissance grimoires does Bael appear as the first catalogued spirit?
Bael emerges as the first spirit catalogued in the Ars Goetia of the Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis and in Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum. His initial mention in Renaissance grimoires presents him as a preeminent entity that grants invisibility, wisdom and dominion over infernal armies. Tradition associates him with ancient Semitic deities adapted to the Christian framework of demonology.
What shapes does Bael take, and what was asked of him?
The grimoires describe him appearing sometimes as a cat, sometimes as a toad, sometimes as a man, and occasionally in all three shapes at once, always in a hoarse voice. What was asked of him was invisibility, and he was credited with giving the operator cunning and sharpness of wit. The spider-legged body he is usually drawn with does not come from the texts: it is the engraving Louis Le Breton made for the Dictionnaire Infernal in 1863.
What place does Bael occupy in the demonic hierarchy and how many legions does he command?
Bael is the first king of hell according to demonological tradition and presides over sixty-six legions of demons. He is linked to the eastern direction symbolizing ancestral power and subtle temptation. His foundational role establishes the archetype of the demonic monarch who mediates between the human plane and the chaotic forces of the underworld.
Why does Bael head the list of the seventy-two?
Because Johann Weyer set it so in 1577 and later compilations inherited it, starting with the Ars Goetia. It is not a hierarchy of power: the order of the list is simply the one that stuck, and nobody altered it afterwards. His rank of king and his sixty-six legions place him high within the catalogue, but above him demonological tradition sets figures who do not even appear among the seventy-two.
🔖Cite this entry▾
If you cite this article in an academic, journalistic or editorial publication, use any of these formats:
Bestiarypedia. (2026, August 20). Bael. Bestiarypedia. https://bestiarypedia.com/en/beings/bael
Free citation with attribution and canonical link for editorial, academic or journalistic use. Full commercial reuse or creation of derivative products requires prior agreement.
