Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...

Bells 25
Canaan who were turned into demons when the
Jews began to filter in and developed what eventually
became monotheistic Judaism. Baal was
mocked by the Jews as Baalzebub, lord of flies,
who created and controlled flies in the Philistine
city of Ekron. But he was originally Baal the
Prince, the chief god in the Canaan pantheon.
Baalzebub appeared in Kings 2:1 as the god called
upon by King Ahaziah (c. 850–849 B.C.) to cast
out demons.
In the New Testament his name was transformed
into Beelzebub, and was used to refer to
the Devil. He was called the prince of devils by the
Pharisees and as such he appeared in Luke 11:19
when Jesus, upon healing somebody, was accused
of casting out demons through Beelzebub. In
contemporary usage, Beelzebub is an alternate
name for Satan.
See also Demons; Satan
For Further Reading:
Eliade, Mircea, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion. New
York: Macmillan, 1987.
Encyclopaedia Judaica. New York: Macmillan, 1971.
Beliar
Beliar or Beliel, meaning “worthless,” is mentioned
as the personification or symbol of evil in various
sources, such as in Deuteronomy, Judges, 1
Samuel, as well as in the work of two modern
writers, Thomas Mann and Aldous Huxley. He is
the angel of lawlessness in the apocryphal The
Martyrdom of Isaiah and Satan in The Gospel of
Bartholomew. Milton refers to Beliar as a “falsetitled
son of God,” whereas the medieval
Schoolmen asserted that he was once partly of the
order of angels and partly of the order of virtues.
In Glasson’s Greek Influence in Jewish Eschatology,
however, Beliar is not regarded as an angel. He is,
rather, compared with Ahriman, chief devil in
Persian mythology.
See also Demons; Satan
For Further Reading:
Davidson, Gustav. A Dictionary of Angels Including
the Fallen Angels. New York: Free Press, 1967.
Glasson, T. Francis. Greek Influence in Jewish
Eschatoloy. London: Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, 1961.
Beliel
Beliel was a demon who presented himself to King
Solomon and danced before him in Das Buch
Beliel, by Jacobus de Teramo. In 2 Corinthians,
Beliel is portrayed as Satan when Paul of Tarsus
asks how Christ and Beliel can agree. Victor Hugo,
deriving his description of Beliel from occult
mythology, refers to Beliel as hell’s ambassador to
Turkey. A fuller account of Beliel occurs in John
Milton’s Paradise Lost. When Beliel first appears,
Milton declares, “A fairer person lost not Heav’n:
For dignity compos’d and high exploit.” But later
the truth is seen that “all was false and hollow,” and
that “a spirit more lewd/Fell not from Heav’n,” and
that Beliel was indeed “vice itself.”
See also Demons; Milton, John
For Further Reading:
Davidson, Gustav. A Dictionary of Angels Including
the Fallen Angels. New York: Free Press, 1967.
Ronner, John. Know Your Angels: The Angel Almanac
with Biographies of 100 Prominent Angels in
Legend and Folklore, and Much More.
Murfreesboro, TN: Mamre, 1993.
Bells
Throughout the history of humanity the ringing
of bells has played a variety of magical, ritual, and
symbolic roles. The sound of bells is widely
believed to drive away evil spirits. Such belief is
evident in the common habit of wearing small
bells on hats or clothing, in putting them around
the necks of domestic animals, and at the entrance
of shops. During the Middle Ages, church bells
were rung especially to frighten witches and evil
spirits. The sound of church bells could make
witches fall to the ground when they were flying in
the night sky. Also, the sound of bells of any kind
could keep villages safe from storms and other
natural calamities.
Bells are also sometimes used by religious
Satanists. Thus in The Satanic Bible, for instance,
Anton LaVey lists bells among the “Devices Used
in a Satanic Ritual.” This ritual bell, which signals
the beginning and end of ceremonies, “should be
loud and penetrating, rather than soft and
tinkling.” LaVey asserts that a bell should be used
to both “purify” and “pollute”: “The priest rings
the bell nine times, turning counter clockwise and