Difference between revisions of "Pazuzu"

Revision as of 19:06, 8 August 2006

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.

Origin

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 his hated rival, 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, in particular the demoness Lamashtu.

Appearance

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 popular culture

Literature/Movies

At the beginning of both the book and film The Exorcist, when Father Merrin is at the site of an archaelogical dig in Northern Iraq, the figure that threatens him; seemingly an illusion, is Pazuzu, whom he had battled many years earlier.

Later, when he is appointed to perform the exorcism on Regan, he suspects it is Pazuzu that possesses her. The 1977 sequel film Exorcist II: The Heretic and the 2004 prequel Exorcist: The Beginning also deals with Pazuzu.

Music

There are several heavy metal bands named Pazuzu

External links

The Demon of the South-West Wind
Oriental Institute of Chicago figure of Pazuzu

Part of this article consists of modified text from Wikipedia, and the article is therefore licensed under GFDL.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{stub}}
+In Sumerian and Akkadian mythology, '''Pazuzu''' was the king of the [[demon]]s of wind, and son of the god [[Hanbi]].
+For the Sumerians he also represented the southwestern wind, the bearer of storms.
-In [[Sumerian mythology|Sumerian]] and [[Akkadian mythology]], '''Pazuzu''' was the king of the [[demon]]s of wind, and son of the god [[Hanbi]]. For the [[Sumer]]ians he also represented the southwestern wind, the bearer of storms.
+==Origin==
+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.
-==Mythology==
+Pazuzu was invoked in amulets aimed at fighting against the powers of his hated rival, 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, in particular the demoness [[Lamashtu]].
-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.
+===Appearance===
+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 his hated rival, 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, in particular the demoness [[Lamashtu]].
 ==In popular culture==
+===Literature/Movies===
+*At the beginning of both the book and film ''The Exorcist'', when Father Merrin is at the site of an archaelogical dig in Northern Iraq, the figure that threatens him; seemingly an illusion, is Pazuzu, whom he had battled many years earlier.
+Later, when he is appointed to perform the exorcism on Regan, he suspects it is Pazuzu that possesses her. The 1977 sequel film ''Exorcist II: The Heretic'' and the 2004 prequel ''Exorcist: The Beginning'' also deals with Pazuzu.
+===Music===
+*There are several heavy metal bands named ''Pazuzu''
-* At the beginning of the [[The Exorcist|book]] and [[The Exorcist (film)|film]] ''The Exorcist'', when Father Merrin is at the site of an [[archaeology|archaelogical dig]] in [[Iraq|Northern Iraq]], the figure that threatens him &mdash; seemingly an illusion &mdash; is Pazuzu, whom he had battled many years earlier. Later, when he is appointed to perform the exorcism on Regan, he suspects it is Pazuzu that possesses her.  The [[1977]] sequel film ''[[Exorcist II: The Heretic]]'' and the [[2004]] prequel ''[[Exorcist: The Beginning]]'' also deal with Pazuzu.
-* There are several [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] bands named Pazuzu.
-* The name or figure of Pazuzu is also referenced in a number of other fictional works; see [[Pazuzu (disambiguation)]] for further information.
 ==External links==
@@ Line 19: / Line 26: @@
 *[http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/HIGH/OIM_A25413_c_72dpi.html Oriental Institute of Chicago] figure of Pazuzu
 {{wikipedia}}
-[[Category:Angels & Demons]]
+[[Category:Angels & Demons]] [[Category:Sumerian mythology]] [[Category:Akkadian mythology]]