An Interview with the Demon: Belial

"You're so worthless/Far from perfect/Don't know why I ever cared
Always hopeless/Up for purchase/I think you were made from hell"

(Blog post dedicated to King Belial!)

I didn't start my night thinking I was going to interview the demon Belial. After a confusing start to our relationship—which is apparently common according to other Belial followers, who opine that "he has a sense of humor"—Belial has remained near and helped me with shutting down a disruptive psychic element that had been with me since birth. After experiencing something that gratifying, it's natural to be quite curious about a being that proffered such aid. Between my own ingesting of a herbal ally who always readily deepens my spirit communication and offering Belial my sake I had purchased for an end-of-school-term celebration, we somewhat naturally fell into conversation.

As one of the most infamous of the 72 entities in the 16th century grimoire Ars Goetia, Belial is mostly known for his ability to procure wealth and influence for those who call on him as well as "give excellent familiars." The same book declares that Belial has "a comely voice," to which I don't disagree. From shortly prior to our first meeting, I generally got the sense of a lean, suited man with an elaborate walking stick, but this night, Belial invited me to close my eyes. Once I did, I saw a wide face that looked somewhat like an African tribal mask, if you can forgive me for lack of regional specificity, and flames shooting out from behind it.

"I was an angel," Belial told me. Thus, commenced a series of questions on my end.

Were you the first to fall as the grimoires said? Why is a spirit that carries your name the angel assigned to lead demons in the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Yes; I was what you might understand as a Nephilim [from the Book of Enoch]. Belial is one of the many names humanity has given to the entity now called The Devil, who is our chief who currently more frequently goes under Lucifer. He gestured me into taking the name Belial when humanity started to use the names to for separate entities and we saw value in my having more intimate relationships.

I don't know how to ask this next question without sounding foolish. Part of me wants to ask how similar the Fall was as it was depicted in John Milton's Paradise Lost

Not so similarly... John Milton was a talented writer and in his work provided names that we could take on. He built cosmology that humans could understand. We [myself and other angels working underneath Lucifer] left Heaven because we believe in Lucifer's form of righteousness over that of the other side's.

Did Lucifer actually fall unconsensually? Some of us gain the sense that...

Two things can be true at once. He did and he did not.

But what has differentiated you from other angels to me is that there seems to be much more emphasis on the process of giving offerings in exchange for your work.

We are willing to show favor to you empty-handed [Author's note: he said this with a strong tone of "Please still give me offerings"] because you are one of Lucifer's.

One of Lucifer's, like you are?

Not so far off.

The description of me in Ars Goetia... It's not that I give untruthful answers unless I am given my payments. It's that I refuse to give answers at all because I know being King Belial that my worth is higher. Lucifer may not care in some instances if you approach him without an offering because he's the emperor and the interest of the empire is prioritized over his personal pleasure. I have similar interests, but not quite on the same scale, so I like to get paid when approached for my work or have a positive connection, as I do with many of my followers.

Do you have a positive connection with me? 😄

[Laughs] Yes. But you can still give me wine once in awhile.

So as the entity that calls himself Belial, which means worthless in Hebrew, can you speak to how that name connects with living beings who may be marginalized and viewed as "worthless" by bigger parties?

I recognize and am willing to work with anyone who views themselves as "worthless," whether as a badge of honor or because of oppression and abuse they have endured.

Is there anything else in particular you like to give those people besides the wealth and influence?

Freedom. I can help you undo old patterns of self-sabotage you don't even know you're doing. And by the way, every single one of you reading this is self-sabotaging.

Do you actually know who is going to read this interview or is it just that every human self-sabotages?

The latter. Perpetually. Every single one. Sometimes you spend a good decade with a follower and unravel the big patterns and that's all you're able to do for them. That's usually when they move on to other spirits.

You are also known to give good familiars, so what types of familiars do you give?

I love cats. Can't get enough of them. But I have given some dogs too; I'm partial to small black terriers. Once I gave a follower an iguana. They took very good care of it.

I have such a limited perception at this point, but I want to ask if you were a fictional character who would you be?

[sends me a visual of the Leonardo DiCaprio gif where he toasts as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (2013)]

Okay, I love the book, but I have not seen that movie so I am not sure what that means.

He's having a lot more fun at the parties in the film. If you watch it, you will recognize me.

Uh, is his being in love with Daisy in that weird way also accurate to you?

No, my love for my godspouses is much more elegant and practical.

On that note, I saw someone say you asked them to be a godspouse, but they were already one to another spirit. In my experience with being godspouse-adjacent with Lucifer, that is a lot of commitment on the part of the human. How would that have even worked for them if they had said yes?

[Seems to have not expected this question and finds it really funny that I asked] Well, there's usually a general agreement with the other spirit about the pathway the human will take throughout their life. That makes it much easier because we never ask the human for anything that is in conflict with the other. You have also already experienced this by working with Astaroth closely alongside Lucifer. Humans figure out how to adjust their own time and we are flexible.

To an extent.

I think some of my self-consciousness around entering this sort of relationship is that it's a very subservient one. It took me awhile to learn that Lucifer had my best interests in mind, but even with that I still struggle with the idea that I am not being self-reliant enough when I ask him about or for things. Part of this also is that I grew up in a very controlling environment where it took me a long time to escape and be able to live as my own person and sometimes I am worried that I am sacrificing that again.

As a spirit that works to free humans from slavery, I want to reassure you that you are not re-entering slavery. Demons, at least of our rank, do not keep humans the same way that humans keep other living beings. I welcome you to share with your readers what happened earlier that prompted this question.

Okay, readers. So I was preparing my material to apply to field placements for my graduate program. I thought I wanted to serve the senior population and started looking at a list of potential organizations to look into. Lucifer became present and very firmly told me, "Do not look at those." I can experience this as upsetting because when I was younger I would explore career interests and have them belittled and blocked by my parents. However, I acquiesced to Lucifer redirecting me to another sort of organization and specifically looking at a particular one I had looked at before. Upon going deeper into their website, I realized for the first time they had a program providing service for LGTBQ+ people and that likely if I worked for them I would take on the type of work I have been wanting to do for three years.

When your relationships are with largely other humans, you can see that those humans often put their own interests ahead of yours. In a power dynamic like with you and your parents, that is a form of slavery because they see you as a possession and through much of your life you have no escape. We recognize that we can see more than humans can and that they are often confused and upset when we discourage against what they think they want. But we are immortal, what we see is vast, and our pleasures are different. When we care about you, as Lucifer does, we accurately see your strengths and inclinations and try to push you in directions where you will experience more fulfillment. You are not losing your power by obeying us because you are gaining more prosperity.

Thanks for letting me interview you, Belial.

Of course. One last thing that your readers may want to know: part of what makes us communicate with you so well is the writing. Your spirit is already set up to anticipate dialogue, giving us room on what we can say. But, for instance, someone else who may be more informed in film language may communicate with us more visually. It's important to create art for multiple reasons, and one is that it helps shape the human spirit's form of connection with beings such as us.