Liberation

Not much, but I’ll give you what I’ve got!

Belphegor is thought to have originated as the Moabite got Baal of Peor or Baal-peor, who is actually referenced rather often in the Bible. He’s also possibly referenced as Chemosh, the Moabite god of war. Here’s what I could think of off the top of my head:

Then they attached themselves to the Ba′al of Pe′or, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the Lord to anger with their doings, and a plague broke out among them.– Psalm 106:27-29

Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree, in its first season, I saw your fathers. But they came to Ba′al-pe′or, and consecrated themselves to Ba′al, and became detestable like the thing they loved. – Hosea 9:10

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. – 1 Kings 11:7

And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ash′toreth the abomination of the Sido′nians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. – 2 Kings 23:13

He’s also referenced in the Dictionnaire Infernal as the demon of discovery and invention, and is supposedly meant to be worshiped while on the toilet with offerings of.. well, you get the picture.

He’s not a demon from the 72 in the Lemegeton, which can make finding the usual info on him a little tough. Belphegor seems to be a corruption of the name Bael-peor, as a reference to the God of the Moabites. within Numbers, we see him as a God that some Israelites became corrupted by and sacrificed to, and all those who did were sentenced to death. 

Hebrew references:

“Your eyes have seen what the LORD has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you.” – Deuteronomy 4:3“They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.” – Psalm 106:27-29“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved.” – Hosea 9:10

there seems to be a bunch of divides on just what he was to that culture. but according to some of the info and a background in the etymology, we know Bael/Ba’al is Lord or Lord of, and Peor seems to be the name of the mountain. in Moab.  there are some references to an entity known as Chemosh as well, but there doesn’t really seem to be a solid connection there.

the information on him as a demon is a little bit hazy and sort of crude, so I can’t honestly say what seems super relevant or not. like, there are people who claim that you better pray while you’re in the bathroom to him, cause your offering is excrement. JewishEncyclopedia covers this as well and basically says that it might just be stigma/ridicule of the worship. 

(secondary) sources: x, x

The Light-bearer

Abandoned the heavens

For the world

The Liberator

Wanders the earth

As a guide

As a teacher

So that we may gain

What was hidden from us

Enlightenment

Freedom

And the power

To be our own gods

If you are noodling over what kinds of spiritual experiences are psychologically healthy and not, Abraham Maslow wrote a book called _Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences_ that you should probably read.

Psychosis comes with compulsions. If you have an experience and still feel free to choose for yourself what you do and do not do, religiously speaking, it's not spiritual psychosis. Spiritual psychosis is psychosis with spiritual window dressing. It is spiritually themed, but not actually spiritual in nature, if that makes any sense. If your visions are threatening, and you feel like you can't say no to them, that is spiritual psychosis. If Hekate appears and tells you everything is going to be ok, but you should probably work on being nicer to people (and you think about that, and tell her maybe, but that's really hard, and you don't know if you can do that) that isn't.

Another problem, also with spiritual window dressing, but far more common, is spiritual bypassing. This is when you use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks. So, if you take a theological position that the gods hate everyone who does X because it triggers your trauma, that is spiritual by-passing. If the gods comfort you when you are hurting, that is not.