It’s Pazuzu Time!
Meet the Godfather of All Demons…
Pazuzu? Isn’t that the name of the demon that possessed the young girl Regan MacNeil in the 1971 novel The Exorcistnovel and subsequent movie adaptation? So surely that’s just fiction? Well, the novel is a work of fiction but in history the demon Pazuzu dates to at least the 8th century BC in Mesopotamia. So, who or what was — or still is — Pazuzu?
In most statues and amulets Pazuzu is depicted as having a scaled, canine-like body, birds’ talons for feet, two pairs of wings, a scorpion’s tale, a doglike muzzle, human ears, the horns of a gazelle, and he typically has his right hand raised and his left hand lowered. In other words, he (and depictions leave no doubt that he is masculine in gender) is the prototype for almost all depictions of demons from ancient times through until the present day. But Pazuzu’s story is more complicated than might at first appear for there are actually two sides to his character.
On the one hand he is undoubtedly evil: in fact, on one Sumerian inscription Pazuzu describes himself as ‘The King of the Evil Wind Demons’, while in another he is held responsible for the southwest winds that would bring famine during the dry seasons and locusts during rainy season and is variously named as the ‘Agony of Mankind’ and the ‘Suffering of Mankind’. All in all, a bad guy, and the depiction of him possessing two pair of wings (making a total of four wings) has been interpreted as meaning he controls the four winds.
But there is another side to Pazuzu, that is well documented in Mesopotamian white magic texts, which depicts him as a protective domestic deity. In particular, Pazuzu was invoked by pregnant women and nursing mothers for protection against the demoness Lamashtu, who was said to steal babies either while they were still in the womb (through miscarriages) or while breastfeeding (through infant mortality — which was endemic during ancient times).
This explains why so many carved, pottery and bronze amulets of Pazuzu have been found in Mesopotamian archaeological excavations. They were not being worn by devotees of Pazuzu the evil demon but rather by people seeking Pazuzu’s protection against the malevolent Lamashtu. Apparently, these amulets had to be worn so Pazuzu’s gaze was always directed outwards, to ensure his energy was directed at any potential threats the user faced.
As for Pazuzu in the modern era, apart from in The Exorcist, his most notorious manifestation in recent times involved the American ‘devil worshipper’ and murderer John Lawson, who changed his name to Pazuzu ‘llah Algarad. (The name means Pazuzu, the Lord of Locusts.) Lawson’s later life and crimes were devoted to Pazuzu. He is said to have committed suicide in a North Carolina prison in 2015 before he could stand trial for his crimes. Since then, an urban legend has emerged that Lawson’s fatal injuries could not have been self-inflicted. Perhaps Pazuzu the Demon came calling?
