The Devil “Pazuzu” by Simon

PAZUZU was a prime example of the type of Devil of which the Sumerians were particularly aware, and which they depicted constantly in their carvings and statues. The purpose of this iconography was to ward off the spiritual and psychic circumstances that would precipitate a plague or some other evil.

“Evil to destroy evil.”

Although the ancient peoples of the world were conscious of an entity we might call the “Author of all Evil”, the Devil or Satan, as evident in the Sumerian Creation Epic and the rumored existence of the Cult of Set of the Egyptians, the more pressing concern was usually the exorcism of the “little devils” that tormented society.

There is no exorcism of TIAMAT, she exists, somehow, just as the Abyss exists and is perhaps indispensable to human life if we think of Her as typifying the female quality of Energy. Although MARDUK was responsible for halving the Monster from the Sea, the Sumerian Tradition has it that the Monster is not dead, but dreaming, asleep below the surface of the Earth, strong, potent, dangerous, and very real, Her powers can be tapped by the knowledgeable, “who are skillful to rouse Leviathan.”

Although the Christian religion has gone to great lengths to prove that the Devil is inferior to God and exists solely for His purpose, as the Tempter of Man-surely a dubious raison d’etre-the Sumerian Tradition acknowledges that the Person of “Evil” is the oldest, most Ancient of the Gods:

Whereas Christianity states that Lucifer was a rebel in heaven, and fell from God’s grace to ignominy below, the original story was that MARDUK was the rebel, and severed the Body of the Ancient of Ancient Ones to create the Cosmos, in other words, the precise reverse of the Judeo-Christian dogma. The Elder Gods possessed a certain Wisdom that was not held by their Parents, yet their Parents held the Power, the Primal Strength, the First Magick, that the Elder Ones tapped to their advantage, for they were begotten of Her.