The Untold Truth Of The Seven Princes Of Hell

The Seven Princes of Hell are a collection of fearsome foes spread across various religions and cultures, but they find their origins in the writings of notorious witch hunter and German bishop Peter Binsfeld, who tortured confessions out of supposed witches that turned into what he perceived as the chief villains behind witchcraft — these seven princes. Each one lorded over a specific sin, and each one has made numerous appearances across various religious texts, from the Bible itself to the book of Tobit. Some started as angels themselves, most were created by God, and the links to Christianity go deeper than that.

They've also worked their way into literature, particularly of Binsfeld's time. Works such as "Paradise Lost" and Dante's "Inferno" feature the Princes in various forms, and demonology experts across the centuries have kept them nice and organized in various encyclopedias like the "Dictionnaire Infernal." The results differ from source to source, but a few core ideas remain the same. For instance, each Prince was its own entity, even if they were often conflated with one another and each demon has significant power that has been seen throughout history.

According to Binsfeld, the Princes were divided as such, according to Mythology & Fiction Explained, Lucifer presided over pride and Satan presided over wrath. Beelzebub represented gluttony, Belphegor symbolized sloth, Leviathan was in charge of envy, Asmodeus encouraged lust, and finally, Mammon presided over greed.

None of them are friendly by any means, but here are some untold truths about them.

There is so much overlap between the historical accounts of witches and warlocks and the power of demons. Binsfeld himself was a notorious witch hunter who used confessions obtained through torture to build out his seven princes of hell. That being the case, it makes sense that "outbursts" of witchcraft, if you will, are often attached to the powers of a demon or evil entity. 

According to Puritan Cotton Mather, in his writing "Of Beelzebub and His Plot" (via Bartleby), it was Beelzebub who was behind the sudden onset of witchcraft in his backyard. Mather was a prominent figure in the Salem trials, and it's interesting that he chose Beelzebub to discuss of all the other princes of hell. It could be seen as another conflation of the devil and his various monikers, but throughout history, specific names are chosen for specific instances that back up Binsfeld's classifications. For instance, in the "Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures," by Theresa Bane, there are numerous ties linking Beelzebub to divination and possession — traits that Mather and his contemporaries piled on the accused witches. 

Adding to that, the Arabic meaning places him as the "patron god of witches," according to the Sunday Guardian.

Leviathan is the figurehead of envy, though her history tracks all the way back to the Bible in making her a separate entity. While Beelzebub, Lucifer, Satan, and the like are often conflated, Leviathan has been and seemingly always was a separate creature who was, quite literally, a monster. More specifically, a monster of the sea, mentioned in the Bible as the female counterpart to Behemoth, the male beast on land. If you want to get even more specific in appearance, Theresa Bane's "Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures" describes Leviathan as "a monstrous female sea creature three hundred miles long with eyes glowing as brightly as twin suns." 

Leviathan makes another appearance in Revelation, according to Howard Wallace's article, "Leviathan and the Beast in Revelation," though she isn't mentioned by name. In Revelations 12:3, a great red dragon with seven heads emerges from the sea and Wallace draws the connection that this is Leviathan, fighting in the war between good and evil, since Leviathan was known to have seven heads as well. Later in Revelations, a beast rises out of the Earth as well and this, according to Wallace, is Behemoth, the mate of Leviathan.

Beelzebub is often conflated with Satan and Lucifer, along with the more standardized "devil," but Binsfeld identified plenty of unique characteristics in each to fathom them into different entities. Beelzebub especially has a very specific connection to flies that Lucifer and Satan don't. While flies can be found in various demonic connections (like the Amityville horror house), Beelzebub is the one most often hailed as the "Lord of the Flies," according to Theresa Bane's "Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures." Such a Lord of Flies is he, that he is often depicted as a giant fly himself, though there are variants on his appearance including horns, tails, tall as a tower, goose feet, etc. 

However, it's the connection to flies that separates him from his contemporaries. According to the "Dictionnaire Infernal," he has complete power over flies on earth and uses them to ruin harvests. Taking that a step further, he is also the leader of the Order of the Flies, according to Bane's "Encyclopedia," which is a specific entourage in hell filled with all of Beelzebub's lieutenants and underlings. 

There is a third reason he is known as the Lord of Flies, and it is because he, himself, was capable of flying, according to Mythology & Fiction Explained. His title also translated to "Lord of Fliers" for that same reason. 

The Talmud brings one of the best stories relating to one of the seven princes of hell, and it occurs in the book of Tobit. It discusses the famous King Solomon, who above all things, asked God for wisdom. Wisdom or not, Solomon made a bit of an unwise decision with Asmodeus, known in the text by his Hebrew name Ashmedai. According to the story, Solomon needed some guidance in building the temple, so he took a rabbi's advice and bound some demons to find the instructions given by God. 

While there are multiple versions of this story, according to the Katz Center — one in which the demon is helpful and friendly, one in which he is used to build the temple, and one where he deposes Solomon and takes his place on the throne — every one of them brings Asmodeus into the close proximity and perhaps servitude of King Solomon. In the version where Solomon is deposed, he so unwisely unbound the demon as a sort of challenge, at which point Asmodeus literally punted Solomon across the world, leaving Solomon with the unenviable task of returning to the throne and taking it, which he does in the end. Still though, for a while there the temple was ruled by a prince of hell. 

While Belphegor was assigned to the crime of sloth, his actual abilities go much deeper than being depicted seated on a toilet. The whole notion of him being slothful comes from his being inventive enough to create devices to do the work for him, and by extension, by tricking humans into doing the work and then claiming credit for himself, according to Mythology & Fiction Explained. So in a sense, his sloth gave way to ingenuity, and one of his tricks as a deceitful being is his ability to take whatever form is most beneficial for him in the moment.

According to Theresa Bane's "Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures," that meant that Belphegor could appear as anything from a young girl to a giant phallus — whatever was more likely to get the job done. Tracing him back to his origins as Baal-Peor, he was both a sun god and a moon goddess to the Moabites who worshipped him. Again, whatever was most likely to get people to do what he wanted. Call him a crowd pleaser. 

Satan is by far the most common of the seven princes of Hell to be associated with the devil in general, but Binsfeld sorted him as the patron prince of the deadly sin of wrath. He was supposedly the primary opponent of Jesus in the battle for humanity, but Satan was so prevalent in the realm of man that his name became a common noun as well. In the Hebrew scripture, there was a difference between the Satan and a satan. The latter referred to a human adversary or obstacle, while the former was the actual prince of hell himself. 

According to "The Devil Made David Do It... or 'Did' He?" by Ryan E. Stokes, early Hebrew writings didn't necessarily subscribe to a belief in malevolent beings such as demons, let alone the seven princes of hell. So when it came time to reprint the Bible, they used satan as a general term, which often took on supernatural connotations, but without committing to it being a specific entity. 

Elaine Pagels digs even deeper in "The Social History of Satan, the "Intimate Enemy": A Preliminary Sketch," highlighting how, at the time, Jews didn't believe that a satan operated on his own volition, and that all of these supernatural beings were of Godly nature and therefore working according to his will.