Balam
Balam is the 51st of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of King according to the text. In different editions his name also appears spelled Balaam, a form that echoes the name of the biblical prophet Balaam.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
The name Balam (also spelled Balaam) echoes that of the prophet Balaam, a figure from the Book of Numbers (chapters 22 to 24) in the biblical tradition, hired to curse the people of Israel and whose donkey speaks according to the account. This is another documented case — like Bael/Baal and Astaroth/Astarte, already covered elsewhere in this catalog — of medieval and Renaissance Christian demonology repurposing a name of biblical or extra-biblical origin when composing the catalog of subordinate spirits, without this implying a direct identity between the figures. In Mathers' edition (1904), Balam is described with three heads — the first of a bull, the second of a man, the third of a ram — with the tail of a serpent and flaming eyes, riding upon a furious bear and carrying a goshawk upon his fist, speaking with a hoarse voice.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Balam holds the catalog's 51st position and is described as a terrible, great, and powerful King, commanding 40 legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attributes of giving true answers about things past, present, and to come, and of granting men the gift of invisibility and wit, making them witty according to the text.
Interpretation — Dr. Rudd's Tradition (manuscript, c. 1650)
The manuscript attributed to Thomas Rudd, predating Mathers' edition by roughly two and a half centuries, documents a related but distinct version of the catalog — in it, each of the 72 spirits, including Balam, is paired with a corresponding angel drawn from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), a restraining/governing structural element absent from Mathers' edition. No reliable record of the specific angel name Rudd's manuscript assigns to Balam was found among the sources consulted for this entry; the general pairing practice is documented by researchers such as Joseph Peterson.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Modern Luciferian authors, chiefly Michael W. Ford (in works such as The Luciferian Goetia), treat the biblical echo in Balam's name the same way they treat the already-discussed cases of Bael/Baal and Astaroth/Astarte elsewhere in this catalog: as another example of a figure demonized by the Judeo-Christian tradition to be reclaimed and reread as a symbol of forbidden knowledge, rather than as a hostile external entity. In this reading, the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits cease to be powers summoned under a higher divine hierarchy and instead represent archetypal currents of the practitioner's own consciousness, integrated in service of self-deification. Balam's triple head — bull, man, and ram — is reinterpreted as the archetype of instinct, reason, and will united in a single figure, and the gifts of invisibility and wit the text attributes to him are read as the initiate's capacity to conceal his intentions and act with cunning over his own fate.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the name Balam related to the biblical prophet Balaam?
- The name echoes that of the prophet Balaam, from the Book of Numbers (chapters 22 to 24) — a documented pattern, also observed in other spirits of the catalog such as Bael/Baal and Astaroth/Astarte, in which medieval and Renaissance Christian demonology repurposed names of biblical or extra-biblical origin when composing the catalog of subordinate spirits.
- How does the text describe Balam's appearance?
- According to Mathers' edition, Balam has three heads — of a bull, a man, and a ram — with the tail of a serpent and flaming eyes, and appears riding upon a furious bear, carrying a goshawk upon his fist.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Balam as old as the Mathers and Rudd traditions?
- No. It's a modern interpretation, developed mainly from the 2000s onward by Luciferian authors such as Michael W. Ford, who reframe the Ars Goetia's spirits as psychological archetypes for self-development — a contemporary symbolic reading, not a historical manuscript like Mathers' or Rudd's.
Sources
- S. L. MacGregor Mathers (trans.), Aleister Crowley (ed.). The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (1904).
- Joseph H. Peterson (ed.). The Lesser Key of Solomon (2001).
- Thomas Rudd (manuscript), ed. Adam McLean. Dr. Rudd's Treatise on Angel Magic (c. 1650 (2007 ed.)).
- Michael W. Ford. The Luciferian Goetia (2007).