Balam (demon)

For other meanings under variant spellings, see B'alam (disambiguation).

In demonology, Balam (also Balaam, Balan) is a great and powerful king (to some authors a duke or a prince) of Hell who commands over forty legions of demons. He gives perfect answers on things past, present, and to come, and can also make men invisible and witty.

Balam is depicted as being three-headed. One head is the head of a bull, the second of a man, and the third of a ram. He has flaming eyes and the tail of a serpent. He carries a hawk on his fist and rides a strong bear. At other times he is represented as a naked man riding a bear.

His name seems to have been taken from Balaam, the Biblical magician.

See also

• Goetic demons in popular culture
• The Lesser Key of Solomon

Sources

• S. L. MacGregor Mathers, A. Crowley, The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (1904). 1995 reprint: ISBN 0-87728-847-X.