*Disclaimer of Pazuzu:*
"He is the silence. He is the king of the winds and he is the one who choses to work with you. Yes he is a protector but believe and understand his temperament and he must be approached in a specific way. It's different for men and women."
"Second reason is Pazuzu is not so much a people person. He can be very difficult to negotiate around. He is not a Goetic demon. he has to be approached in a specific way"
Although he was never the most benevolent of supernatural beings in ancient Mesopotamia - and was certainly regarded as an evil demon - he was not evil incarnate and was frequently invoked for protection from evil. He was particularly powerful in protecting pregnant women and children from the demon-goddess Lamashtu who preyed on unborn and newly-born babies.
The term "demon" in the modern day always carries with it the connotation of evil but this was not so in the ancient world. The English word "demon" is a translation of the Greek word daimon which simply meant "spirit". A daimon could be good or evil, depending on its intentions and the results of a visitation. In ancient Mesopotamia, as in other cultures of the ancient world, demons were often sent by the gods as punishment for sin or to remind one of one's duty to the gods and others in one's community. Demons were not always evil and even those who were, like Pazuzu, were still capable of good deeds.
DEMONS IN MESOPOTAMIA
In the Akkadian/Babylonian myth of the Atrahasis, human beings have grown too numerous, too loud, and far too fertile. Further, they live so long that more of them are being born at any given time than those who die. They cover the earth and disturb the god Enlil with their noise to such an extent that he decides to destroy them in a great flood. After the flood waters subside, the god of wisdom Enki proposes a plan to re-populate the earth: the gods will create a new kind of human with a shorter life span and greater threats to their lives on a daily basis. Henceforth there will be disease, miscarriages, impotency, sterility, attacks by wild animals, and all other manner of death waiting in a day. Demons were a part of this divine plan and were sent to punish the wicked, test the righteous, and could even be given leave to torment someone because a certain god felt it was justified even though another disagreed. Demons who interfered with sexual intercourse and fertility were especially troublesome. The demon Samana, with his dragon's teeth, eagle talons, and scorpion's tail, was a constant threat and a Sumerian incantation against him lists how he blocks the menstruation of the young girl, the potency of the young man, and the services of the courtesan and prostitute .Samana could also affect crops, livestock and, according to Bertman, "had a special appetite for infants and prostitutes".A demon of such malice and destructive power should have been held firmly in check by the gods and yet Samana was regarded as an agent of Gula, the goddess of health and healing, sent for reasons mortals would have to work out for themselves.
All that was clear was that one could be targeted by a god or demon for some exquisite or mundane torment at any time and for reasons which were not always clear. Scholar Gwendolyn Leick notes how "sexual life per se, of the individual and of society at large, was under a potential threat from the wrath of vengeful gods or the malice of demonic forces" . Sexuality was especially targeted, if one follows from the narrative of the Atrahasis, because it had to do with reproduction and population size. In targeting the sexual life of human beings, the gods could keep their communities down to a manageable size.
PAZUZU THE PROTECTOR
One of the best ways to protect one's self against such attacks was to find a protector in an equally powerful demon who would stand between an individual and the wrath of the gods as a shield. Pazuzu was the most popular of these protective deities. He was mainly called upon to keep Lamashtu from murdering unborn or newly born babies but seems to have also been invoked against disease, impotency, and the ill effects of the west wind and south-west wind which blew from the direction of the land of the dead; the very winds Pazuzu himself controlled.
He is imagined as an especially frightening figure capable of scaring off any lesser demon or ghost. Pazuzu is represented in statuettes and engravings with bulging eyes in a canine face, a scaly body, snake-headed penis, the talons of a large bird, and enormous wings. In the opening scenes of The Exorcist he is depicted accurately in the life-sized statue the priest looks upon in the ancient city of Hatra. In the novel, the author shows the priest handling a small statue of Pazuzu, not gazing upon a large figure, and this is also accurate. Although small statuettes of the demon have been found at Hatra, no full-sized statues have ever been found anywhere and it is unlikely they ever will be. Depictions of demons or deities associated with the underworld are rare because it was thought that, in creating such an image, one attracted the attention of the subject.
The small statuettes and amuletic charms featuring Pazuzu had exactly the same effect: they drew Pazuzu's attention to the wearer or the room where the statuette was placed but their diminutive size concentrated their power toward protection. The individual mortal would have had nothing to fear from the demon because they were honoring him by asking for his protection and, when he came, he would turn his demonic powers on those threatening his charges, not on the individual mortal who had invoked him.
Pazuzu is popularly invoked as protection against disease, ghosts, and other demons, especially the Lamashtu.
Credits to: Unknown Source
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