so addicted were the Jews to his cult that they would carry an image of him in their pockets, producing it, and kissing it from time to time. Baʿal Zebub was called Baʿal Berith because such Jews might be said to make a covenant of devotion with the idol, being unwilling to part with it for a single moment. According to another conception, Baʿal Berith was an obscene article of idolatrous worship, possibly a simulacrum priapi. This is evidently based on the later use of the word "berit" to refer to circumcision. Christianity According to the Admirable History written by Father Sebastien Michaelis in 1612, Baʿal Berith once possessed a nun in Aix-en-Provence. In the process of the exorcism, Baʿal Berith volunteered not only his own name and the names of all the other demons possessing her, but the names of the saints who would be most effective in opposing them. See also Other uses of "berith" References Further reading J.C. DeMoor, בעל, Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament, hrsg. G.J. Botterweck, H. Ringgren, Bd. 1, Col. 706–718. S. L. MacGregor Mathers, A. Crowley, The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (1904). 1995 reprint: . "Berith - Goetia, the Lesser Key of Solomon the King: Lemegeton." DeliriumsRealm.com - Demonology, Fallen Angels, and the Philosophy of Good and Evil. 30 Apr. 2009 <http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/delirium/articleview.asp?Post=120>. External links Deities in the Hebrew Bible Demons in Judaism Goetic demons Levantine mythology Middle Eastern mythology Phoenician mythology West Semitic gods Baal Book of Judges El (deity)