The Rite to Belial.
Perhaps at some point I’ll write out the full instructional text for how I perform this rite each year. It is a modification of the rite found in Connolly’s Complete Book of Demonolatry, and there are no shortage of options to be found online if you want a reference to construct your own. This is not about the tech of the rite itself; this is about the thought and planning that goes into the petition I make during said rite. To me, that is the most important aspect.
I have a great deal of respect for Belial.
“Well of course you do, we should have respect and awe and adoration for all the infernal spirits.”
This is one of the many issues I have with how pop-occultism has taken the teeth, the nuance, and the practicality out of a lived practice. You actually don’t have to have those things for spirits just because they are spirits. And the more you encounter and work with spirits, the more of an opinion you have outside of their offices and powers. There are many spirits I simply don’t vibe well with energetically, and a few of them have returned that sentiment in kind. And that’s fine. But I like to do hard things, I like to make my own way, I find transgression sacred, and I like to succeed out of spite.
And so, Belial and I became very close very quickly. And each year, I consult him on where my Will is best directed in the coming year.
Goal-Setting with Demons for Fun & Profit
Outside of the Matron of my home and practice, I prefer to have specific spirits designated for specific areas of work. Belial presides over all the work in my life that pertains to the material world. Each year I sit down prior to the rite and reflect on progress made on the goals of the year, and what I’d like to accomplish or work toward in the coming year. With a few ideas in mind, I sit down for a divination session.
Calling upon Belial for this purpose is a much more low-tech affair than I’d suggest for others who may not have that connective thread of relationship. If this would be your first time calling upon Belial, my suggestion is a more fully-fleshed evocation ritual. For me, I sit down in my office, burn some incense (usually a combination of Myrrh and Mugwort or Patchouli and Cedar), light his candle, and take a few deep, cleansing breaths. After a few moments of grounding and entering an Alpha state, I pull out the tarot deck dedicated to him and consult on the following questions:
What is your feedback for me on how I progressed this year?
Where should my focus be on X area(s)?
What resources do I currently have at my disposal to accomplish these goals?
What do I need to learn/what resources should I seek out to accomplish these goals?
Do I have any unmet obligation to you that would prevent productive collaboration in the coming year?
That last question is very important. Sometimes I will have not met a goal in its entirety because I lost focus, invested energy elsewhere, or it plain slipped my mind. Because our yearly agreement is contractual, I offer things in return for each goal. It is critically important that practitioners honor our end of the bargain. I ask this simple yes or no question to determine what else I may need to tend to before the year’s end so I can begin with a clean slate and the most favorable conditions.
Once the session is over and I’ve recorded the notes, I go back to my scratchpad of ideas for goals and refine them with this new information in hand. Those goals then take the form of my petition to him during the rite. In preparation for the rite as I’m gathering the appropriate materials, I write the petition on paper and also the goals separately in a specific notebook. This way, I can seal and burn the petition correctly without forgetting the specifics throughout the year.
May the Champion of Humanity be at your side in the coming year. Ave Belial!
