So a few months ago, I decided to believe that the religion of the nomadic Hebrews was merely a man vs nature concept. They lived and traveled in the deserts, which is a rather unforgiving environment. So it would make sense to me that, to motivate the survival of the tribe, tribal leaders created this idea of a singular god ruling the universe and has chosen this group of people to rule the earth. I feel as if the settlers in the Americas had a similar idea with manifest destiny. It made sense to think this. If this is so, then that must mean that good and evil, as they saw it, was about the positive and beneficial aspects of nature vs the negative and destructive aspects of nature. Then when they set up roots, the concept changed to tribe vs foreigner. Demons first were portrayed as being the representations of nature’s destructive aspects, such as predatory beasts and violent elemental forces. Then later on they were the gods of other societies, representing the destructive forces within man.
I believed that there was no literal devil as Satan doesn’t come up till the new testament, and there is much fabrication towards the name. I still identify as Pagan, but I don’t think he’s a demonization of the horned god. I consider Azazel to be the closest thing to Satan as he was a fallen angel, who taught man “forbidden” knowledge, “polluted” our blood, led us “astray”, waged a war against God, and became the origin of the scapegoat. The only difference is that man simply transferred their sins unto Azazel as opposed to him tempting man to sin.
I originally thought Belial was just a high ranking demon. Though I’ve figured out he was the king of demons before a mention of Satan or Lucifer. In my own personal mythology, I consider demons to be their own thing. While fallen angels become demons, not all demons are fallen angels. As said I don’t believe in a literal Satan. And whether Lucifer is an angel, a god, or some celestial being, I place him in the “fallen” category as a sort of midway point between demons and angels.
In the LHP, Belial is equated with the element of earth and rules over materialism, wealth, sex, and survival. However, I’ve been researching him from the Bible. I’m not finding too much to equate him with Satan (a fallen angel who tempts man to abandon God). It seems as if he has an entirely different feel.
As mentioned above, I feel as if the Hebrew religious belief system started with a man vs nature concept and later became tribe vs foreigner. It seems as if Belial simply represents or rules over the destructive aspects of nature, and later on was named patron, ruler, or associate towards those outside the faith and who reject the teachings of God. To the Christian, this would mean people who are violent, cruel, selfish, and will do whatever it takes to satisfy one’s darkest desires. However the “Sons/Daughters of Belial” seem to just be outsiders to the tribe or its customs or those who doubt their beliefs, and who instead turn to materialistic concerns or indulgence over “spiritual” “Salvation”. Outcasts, lepers, and pariah’s.
This fits in with the associations Belial is given from the LHP (Wealth, Sex, Survival). However, there is a more underlining nature to Belial, and the more I think about him, the more I feel it. While natural disasters are bad, they just happen. And where as no one wants to be eaten by a predator, the predator hunts just to survive. Many of us (myself included) eat meat from other animals. Nature may be cruel, but it isn’t malicious. The name of the game is survival of the fittest, and I feel like Belial just knows this better than anyone. Belial recognizes the darker parts of life that we are too afraid to accept. Yeah, they suck, but they won’t go away. We might as well try to understand them as to either fight them or utilize them to our advantage.
Another aspect of Belial’s nature I seem to feel is the concepts of doubt, skepticism, and disbelief in the face of blind faith and fanaticism. Belial seems to be about scrutinizing concepts and watching out for bullshit. It’s only a tool for survival. Nature isn’t always about brute force. Many predators employ deception and stealth to catch their prey. Humans, particularly within certain positions of power, are no different. Belial isn’t about total rejection of ethics, morals, and social order. He’s about deconstructing both positive and negative things, analyzing the pieces, and rebuilding them into a better, more reasonable model. Solve et Coagula. This is in contrast to Lucifer who brings inspiration and imagination. I like to compare the two to the creative right brain and the analytical left brain.
Above all, I’m getting to the conclusion that, by the Bible, Belial could be the one true ruler of this world and Aldonai is the evil invader. Belial rejects the vague and spiritual for the clear and practical. Belial accepts materialism as all species seek abundance in resources. Belial embraces individuality as all animals concern first and foremost self preservation. Belial understands that nature is by essence lawless, while acknowledging civilization, order, and morality (not Yahweh’s but the general idea of these things) are necessary artifices for survival.
I managed to get these ideas within the last week.