FIRST ENTRY OF GOETIA GOODIES AND GOONS
I’ll be categorizing the spirits of the Ars Goetia as either good or bad (or in between) here. I’ll be relying on the Ars Goetia, the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (whose English translation appears to be the main basis for the Goetia), the Liber Officium Spirituum (what the Pseudomonarchia was a decoy version of), and the negative influences ascribed to the respective Shem ha-Mephorasch angels.
The First Principal Spirit is a King ruling in the East, called Bael. He maketh thee to go Invisible. He ruleth over 66 Legions of Infernal Spirits. He appeareth 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. This is his character which is used to be worn as a Lamen before him who calleth him forth, or else he will not do thee homage.
(Liber Officium Spirituum: Power over both masculine and feminine love. Appears as a king.)
(Pseudomonarchia Daemonum: Clarifies that he has the three heads of the component creatures. Grants wisdom as well as invisibility.)
Opposed by: Vehuiah. Negative influences involved: Turbulence, promptness (i.e. doing without thinking), anger.
Despite various media, Bael does not appear to be the foremost king of the Goetic spirits; the Ars Goetia itself seems to make that Belial, since he was (a) one of the four primary leaders alongside Gaap, Asmoday, and Beleth, and (b) actually did something besides return to his usual activities on escaping the brass vessel (in this case, impersonating one of the Babylonian gods).
In any case, putting the sources together, and adding in the things Vehuiah opposes, we get someone who grants invisibility, wisdom, and (pseudo-)love. At the very least, Bael is a cerebral spirit. Only problem is, despite the wisdom he grants, he seems to be very impetuous, and quick to anger. I could see him setting up a couple just to spite a lover of one of the couple’s components who’d done him even an imagined slight. There’s also the question of what the wisdom consists of, and why it comes bundled with invisibility. Perhaps not so much wisdom in the sense of “the best thing to do”, and more “how to get away with avenging yourself”, which we’d call just a subset of knowledge (and not good knowledge, either). Bael himself is likely the sort who’s quick to justify himself on not-particularly-good pretexts.
GOETIA GOON
