Feature Writer: XP
Feature Title: The Demon God, Pazuzu
Link: Various
The Demon God, Pazuzu
In Assyrian and Babylonian mythology, Pazuzu (sometimes Fazuzu or Pazuza) was the king of the demons of the wind, and son of the god Hanbi. He also represented the southwestern wind, the bearer of storms and drought.
Iconography
Pazuzu is often depicted as a combination of diverse animal and human parts. He has the body of a man, the head of a lion or dog, talons of an eagle, two pairs of wings, a scorpion’s tail, and a serpentine penis. His right hand points upward and his left hand points down.
Mythology
Pazuzu is the demon of the southwest wind known for bringing famine during dry seasons, and locusts during rainy seasons. Pazuzu was said to be invoked in amulets, which combat the powers of his rival,[1] the malicious goddess Lamashtu, who was believed to cause harm to mother and child during childbirth. Although Pazuzu is, himself, an evil spirit, he drives away other evil spirits, therefore protecting humans against plagues and misfortunes.
Pazuzu is the demon which features in The Exorcist movies and books. In Sumerian and Akkadian mythology, Pazuzu was the king of the demons of wind, and son of the god Hanbi. For the Sumerians he also represented the southwestern wind, the bearer of storms.
Pazuzu is often depicted with the body of a man but with the head of a lion or dog, talons instead of feet, two pairs of wings, the tail of a scorpion and a serpentine penis. He is also depicted with the right hand upward, and the left hand downward; the position of the hands means life and death, or creation and destruction.
Pazuzu is the demon of the South-west wind that was known for bringing droughts and famine during dry seasons, and locusts during rainy seasons. Pazuzu was invoked in amulets aimed at fighting against the powers of the malicious goddess Lamashtu, who was believed to cause harm to mother and child during childbirth. Pazuzu is also a demon who protected humans against plague and evil forces.
Pazuzu is often depicted with the body of a man but with the head of a lion or dog, talons instead of feet, two pairs of wings, the tail of a scorpion and a serpentine penis. He is also depicted with the right hand upward, and the left hand downward; the position of the hands means life and death, or creation and destruction.
In Assyrian and Babylonian mythology, Pazuzu was the king of the demons of the wind, and son of the God Hanbi. He also represented the southwestern wind, the bearer of storms and drought. Pazuzu is the demon of the southwest wind known for bringing famine during dry seasons, and locusts during rainy seasons. Pazuzu was said to be invoked in amulets which combat the powers of his wife, the malicious goddess Lamashtu, who was believed to cause harm to mother and child during childbirth. Although Pazuzu is, himself, an evil spirit, he drives away other evil spirits, thus protecting humans against plagues and misfortunes.
Being a Judeo-Christian demon, Pazuzu was created as an angel to worship and serve God. After rebelling against God with Lucifer, God banished them and all their cohorts from Heaven, and they became demons. As a demon, Pazuzu sought to violate and destroy God’s favored creation, humans. He took the form of a pale skinned human-like ghoul, with brown irises, sagging lower eyelids, and yellow teeth. Sects of humans who worshipped him as a deity depicted him in statues with stubby horns, sharp teeth, two pairs of eagle-like wings, and a long, serpentine penis.
Pazuzu, along with the rest of his demonic brethren, was given limited power to alter what God had created, but not to create. He could cause levitation, and psychically alter humans’ perceptions of what they saw and heard. He could imitate and mimic the sound of any human and animal with precise detail, including all manner of languages and accents, and loud, terrifying animal bellows.
Perhaps, being a demon, Pazuzu’s greatest ability was the complete overtaking of a human or animal victim, known as possession. A demon’s plan of attack in possessing a human was to search for an individual with a spiritual weakness. Then they would begin infestation, by taking residence in their victim’s home. Slowly, and methodically, they would then begin oppressing their victim until they had completely broken down their defenses, at which point the demon could enter the victim’s body, taking it over as a vessel. It was not uncommon for multiple demons to reside within a single victim.
Pazuzu was a violently cruel and blasphemous being, uttering all manner of profane language and behavior. He would often cause his victims to vomit, sometimes in projectile streams.
Besides being able to physically identify sons of Cain, the Bible uses many names that are used to identify the Sons of Cain—let’s get a few:
1. Children of disobedience
2. Certain men who crept in unawares.
3. Thorns
4. Thistles
5. Tares
6. Foxes
7. Rotten Trees
8. Bad Figs
9. Trees with no fruit
10. Serpents
11. Fallen angels
12. Vipers
13. Snakes
14. Dragons
15. Nephillim
16. Scorpions
17. Locusts
18. Wondering Stars
19. Clouds without water
20. Abominable
21. Murderers
22. Whore-mongers
23. Dogs
24. Sorcerers
25. Idolaters
26. Liars
27. Adulterers
28. Kenites
29. Canaanites
30. Edomites
31. Lawless
33. Unbelieving
34. Trees of knowledge of good and evil
35 Among you
36. Of your own selves