Lamaśtu & Pazuzu
The certain and undeniable logic to Lamashtu’s position and prominence. (What human experience was Lamashtu associated with?)
Pregnancy was dangerous in Mesopotamia and death to either mother or child during pregnancy or infancy was common.
In Mesopotamia, “malevolent magic user” who caused chaos and harm.
a witch
This consisted of manual and oral actions performed by the client/patient or by the ašipu himself, sometimes in lieu of the patient.
“an ašipūtu ritual”
The Egyptian term for what was believed to be a primordial, natural force that the creator god applied increasing the ordered world and that continues to sustain the regeneration of the life-giving cycles of nature.
“Heka”
Demons, curses, witchcraft, angry deities, & ghosts were…
The main causes of illness and/or agents of evil.
Describe one of Lamashtu’s origin stories.
Former goddess OR Population Control
Low ranking, often monstrous creatures of the divine sphere that roamed the wilderness and mountains (associated in some sources with the Netherworld) and descame dangerous on their raids into human habitations.
Demons.
Highly trained ritual specialist, one of a range of similarly specialized professions, which included the diviner, the lamentation priest, and the physician/herbalist. The front line fighter against the everyday malevolent threats.
The ašipu or “exorcist”.
Whereas deities can use it at their convenience, humans can only harness and direct heka through…
“Ritual”
What were the two basic strategies/go-to professions for fighting illness in Mesopotamia?
the ašipu/”exorcist” and the physician/asu
Describe Pazuzu’s relationship to Lamashtu.
Pazuzu was employed as a protection against Lamashtu; was said to ward her off.
A specific demonic figure OR a title for a broader group of demonic beings which may include a verity of other individually named figures. (Mesopotamian context)
The “udug”.
Often included a mythological or descriptive prelude, explaining the situation and the evils afflicting the patient and proceeded with ritual instructions to be completed in order to alleviate the situation.
Incantation.
Egyptian rituals that aimed at targeting and incapacitating by proxy inauspicious forces - human beings, social groups, dangerous dead, demons, deities, or even malicious thought and slander.
curses.
The witch was too powerful to merely be exiled to the Netherworld; instead she was…
“Burned so that her spirit would rise like smoke, to the heavens, where the gods could deal with her”.