In religion, folklore,
and mythology a demon (or daemon,
dæmon, daimon from Greek [ðaïmon])
is a supernatural being that has generally
been described as a malevolent spirit,
and in Christian terms it is generally
understood as a Fallen angel, formerly
of God. A demon is frequently depicted
as a force that may be conjured and
insecurely controlled. The "good"
demon in recent use is largely a literary
device (e.g., Maxwell's demon), though
references to good demons can be found
in Hesiod and Shakespeare. In common
language, to "demonize"
a person means to characterize or
portray them as evil, or as the source
of evil.
Although frequently regarded
as a malevolent demon of the underworld,
Pazuzu seems also to have played a beneficent
role as a protector against pestilential
winds (and particularly the south-west wind).
Moreover, Pazuzu's association with Lamaštu
led to his employment as a force against
her evil, forcing her back into the Underworld.
Amulets of the demon Pazuzu (or simply of
his head and face) were therefore often
situated in houses or hung about the necks
of pregnant women.
Bronze amulet head of Pazuzu. Neo-Assyrian
period, circa 800-550 BCE. Probably from
Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern Iraq. British
Museum ANE 93089
Pazuzu
is often depicted as a combination of animal
and human parts. He has the body of a man,
the head of a lion or dog, eagle-like taloned
feet, two pairs of wings, a scorpion's tail,
and a serpentine penis. He is often depicted
with his right hand pointing upward and his
left hand downward. The position of the hands
means respectively life and death (or creation
and destruction).
Amulet of the demon Pazuzu Start of the 1st
millennium BCE Bronze, height: 15 cm, width
8,60 cm, depth 5,60 cm.
Inscription au dos : "Je suis Pazuzu,
fils de Hanpa. Le roi des mauvais esprits
des vents qui sort violemment des montagnes
en faisant rage, c'est moi. Acquisition 1872
Musée du Louvre Département
des Antiquités orientales MNB 467
Richelieu Rez-de-chaussée Mésopotamie
- Syrie du Nord. Assyrie : Til Barsip, Arslan
Tash, Nimrud, Ninive Salle 6, Vitrine 4
Pazuzu,
the demon in the 1973 film The Exorcist --
At the beginning of the book and film The
Exorcist, when Father Merrin is at the site
of an archaelogical dig in Northern Iraq,
the menacing sculpted figure is Pazuzu, whom
he had battled in an exorcism several years
earlier.
Scene with Pazuzu from The
Exorcist
When Merrin is later appointed to perform
the exorcism on Regan MacNeil, he suspects
it is Pazuzu that possesses her. There is
a foreboding scene in which Pazuzu recognizes
his old adversary Merrin arriving to perform
an exorcism. The 1977 sequel Exorcist II:
The Heretic, the 1990 The Exorcist III, the
2004 prequel Exorcist: The Beginning, and
the other 2005 prequel Dominion: Prequel to
the Exorcist also involve Pazuzu.
"Pazuzu, Lord of Fevers and Plagues,
Dark Angel of the Four Winds with rotting
genitals from which he howls through sharpened
teeth over stricken cities…."
William S. Burroughs, Cities
of the Red Night
A
winged demon, feared by the people of ancient
Mesopotamia. It is a creature with a deformed
head, the wings of an eagle, the sharp claws
of a lion on its hands and feet, and the tail
of a scorpion. This demon is the personification
of the south-east storm wind, which brings diseases.
The Mesopotamians believed that Pazuzu lived
in the desert.
Bibliography
Borger, R. [1987], "Pazuzu", in Rochberg-Halton,
F.(ed.), Language, Literature and History: Philological
and Historical Studies Presented to Erica Reiner,
[American Oriental Series 67], New Haven, 1987,
pp.15-32.
[1988], "Corrigendum to Language, Literature
and History: Philological and Historical Studies
Presented to Erica Reiner", JAOS 108 (1988),
p.485.
Green, A. [1985], "A Note on the 'Scorpion-Man'
and Pazuzu", Iraq 47 (1985), pp.75-79.
Heeßel, Nils P. [2002], Pazuzu - archäologische
und philologische Studien zu einem altorientalischen
Dämon, [Ancient Magic and Divination IV,
eds. Abusch, Tz. & Guinan, A.K.], Leiden:
Brill - Styx, 2002. ISBN 900412386 5
Ken is a Demonologist, Spiritual
Warfare Counselor, and Catholic faith
adviser, as he has over 28 years of research
/ experience on the topics, with his first
experience occurring when he was about
seven years old. He is near completion
of his book: ”The realm of the Demonic”:
A comprehensive guide to the Demonic haunt”,
which should be in print by 2009. And
will begin a producing an educational
documentary as a companion to his book,
after the book is completed.
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The demon Pazuzu first appeared in Babylonian myth
in the guise of the "storm-bird" Zu, who
stole the Tablets of Destiny from the dragoness
Tiamat. In the later Babylonian civilization, he
once again appeared, this time under the name of
Pazuzu, and was said to be the child of the chief
wind-demon, Hanpa.
Zu, or Anzu in Persian and Sumerian, (from An "heaven"
and Zu "far", in the Sumerian language)
is a lesser divinity of Akkadian mythology, and
the son of the bird goddess Siris. Both Zu and Siris
are seen as massive birds who can breathe fire and
water, although Zu is alternately seen as a lion-headed
eagle .
The Anzu was a servant of the chief sky god Enlil,
(possibly previously a symbol of Anu), from whom
Anzu stole the Tablet of Destinies, so hoping to
determine the fate of all things. In one version
of the legend, the gods sent Lugalbanda to retrieve
the tablets, who in turn, killed Anzu. In another,
Ea and Belet-Ili conceived Ninurta for the purpose
of retrieving the tablets. In a third legend, found
in The Hymn of Ashurbanipal, Marduk is said to have
killed
In Mesopotamian mythology Lamashtu (Sumerian Dimme)
was a female demon, monster, malevolent goddess
or demigoddess that menaced women during childbirth
and, if possible, kidnapped children while they
were breastfeeding, she would gnaw on their bones
and suck their blood, as well as being charged with
a number of other evil deeds. She was a daughter
of the Sky God Anu.
Lamashtu had a hairy body, a lioness' head with
donkey's teeth and ears, long fingers and fingernails
and the feet of a bird with sharp talons. She is
often shown standing or kneeling on a donkey, nursing
a pig and a dog, and holding snakes. She also bears
some functions and resemblance to the Mesopotamian
demon Lilitu.
Lamashtu's father was the Sky God Anu (Sumer An).
Unlike many other usual demonic figures and depictions
in Mesopotamian lore, Lamashtu, was said to act
in malevolence of her own accord, rather than at
the gods' instructions. Along with this her name
was written together with the cuneiform determinative
indicating deity. This means she was a goddess or
a demigoddess in her own right.
She bore seven names and was described as seven
witches in incantations. Her evil deeds included
(but not limited to), slaying children, unborns,
and neonates, causing harm to mothers and expectant
mothers, eating men and drinking their blood, disturbing
sleep, brought nightmares, killing foliage, infesting
rivers and lakes, and a bringer of disease, sickness,
and death.
Pazuzu, a god or demon, was invoked to protect birthing
mothers and infants against Lamashtu's malevolence,
usually on amulets and statues. Although Pazuzu
was said to be bringer of famine and drought, he
was also invoked against evil for protection, and
against plague, but he was primarily and popularly
invoked against his fierce, malicious, rival Lamashtu.
Amulet from Mesopotamia.
The back of the object shows the body of the male
demon Pazuzu, his head peering over the top at the
front. At the bottom left, Pazuzu drives Lamashtu
back to the Underworld, to which she is lured by
offerings. She is standing on her donkey, and both
are in her boat on the river to the Underworld.
She holds snakes and suckles the usual animals.
The registers above show a sick person being attended
by healers and protective beings, just above a row
of protective spirits, and at the top the symbols
of the main Babylonian deities. Bronze. 13.3 cms
high. Dating to around 625-539 B.C.E.).
In Mesopotamian religion, the most terrible of
all female demons, daughter of the sky god Anu (Sumerian:
An). A wicked female who slew children and drank
the blood of men and ate their flesh, she had seven
names and was often described in incantations as
the “seven witches.” Lamashtu perpetrated
a variety of evil deeds: she disturbed sleep and
brought nightmares; she killed foliage and infested
rivers and streams; she bound the muscles of men,
caused pregnant women to miscarry, and brought disease
and sickness. Lamashtu was often portrayed on amulets
as a lion- or bird-headed female figure kneeling
on an ass; she held a double-headed serpent in each
hand and suckled a dog at her right breast and a
pig or another dog at her left breast.
Mesopotamian Incantation Prayer Against Lamashtu:
Great is the daughter of Heaven who tortures babies
Her hand is a net, her embrace is death
She is cruel, raging, angry, predatory
A runner, a thief is the daughter of Heaven
She touches the bellies of women in labor
She pulls out the pregnant women’s baby
The daughter of Heaven is one of the Gods, her brothers
With no child of her own.
Her head is a lion’s head
Her body is a donkey’s body
She roars like a lion
She constantly howls like a demon-dog.
Mesopotamia - the land between the rivers, the
Tigris and the Euphrates - is an ancient Greek term
used by archaeologists to refer to the area now
roughly equivalent to the modern country of Iraq.
"Amulet formed by the figure of Pazuzu,
the god of storms, cyclones and hurricanes."
A large number of terra-cotta figures of gods and
demons have been found by many excavators during
the course of their work on the sites of ancient
cities in Babylonia; the commonest of these are
the so-called "Papsukkal figures," which
were believed to protect houses.
PAZUZU WALLPAPER
To download your PAZUZU wallpaper
visit the image size links below. THEN: Please right
click the image and save to your computer!
