Pazuzu And Possession Options

Hey guys,
Some questions about Pazuzu.

I haven't actually seen The Exorcist, (the crabwalking down the stairs during a preview was enough) and I also heard about other people needing therapy after seeing the film, but after seeing an initial mention of him on the forums, I've been following some of the Necronomicon threads about him, and he also came up in a conversation once or twice with Grimstone.

More broadly speaking though, involuntary/hostile posession isn't a topic I've seen discussed here much at all, so I thought maybe it might be time to bring that up. I'd been under the impression that the sort of incident depicted in the Exorcist was actually a real occupational hazard when doing serious evocation...is that true?

About Pazuzu in particular though, is there anyone here who has worked with or who actually worships this guy? If so, can you tell me...if a person doesn't work with the Nec or involve themselves with his religious system in any way, is there any reason to consider him a danger?

I'm thinking probably not, because I know how badly maligned Kali has been in a few films as well...so it made me wonder in this case as well...is Pazuzu as bad as the Exorcist made him out to be?

This post has been edited by Petrus: Dec 8 2007, 11:59 AM

Its just fiction, if you want to materialize Pazuzu then do so, he is only as bad as you allow him to be.

Greetings,

According to the Demonomicon (useful text, found on SM) Pazuzu is a Mesopotamian demon ... "the personification of the south east storm wind, which brings diseases.... it is the able magician indeed who can remove PAZUZU once he has laid hold of a man, for PAZUZU lays hold unto death." Not a nice sort of demon. I am unaware it being particular to the Nec system, though I am not in to the Nec myself, do you have a particular reason you are looking to use the Nec system?

As to The Exorcist, yes from the description in the Demonomicon he really is that nasty.

I am unaware it being particular to the Nec system, though I am not in to the Nec myself, do you have a particular reason you are looking to use the Nec system?

As to The Exorcist, yes from the description in the Demonomicon he really is that nasty.

Not so much myself...more what I was wondering is...how do magicians deal with the fact that things as dangerous as Pazuzu (or as far above their own level of ability) are out there? Does he fall under the class of higher level demons who usually won't show up unless you specifically summon them, or is there a very real danger, as happened in the Exorcist, of just performing a random seance and having something as nasty as him turn up?

Just a slight correction. While the Nec may be a work of fiction (and this is not to deny it's applicability and power), Pazuzu is very much a real entity in various ancient Mesopotamian pantheons. Not entirely a bad guy though. He, while being a vicious demonic spirit, also did battle with his arch-nemesis Lamashtu, who was thought to be a slayer of women and young children. He was feared as a demon and yet loved as a protector against both storms and disease.

How do magicians deal with the fact that things as dangerous as Pazuzu (or as far above their own level of ability) are out there?

If you will forgive a rhetorical question; how do you deal with the fact that tornadoes and earthquakes are out there? Or to put it more personally how do you deal with the knowledge there are others who are smarter, or stronger than you? Pazuzu is as natural a part of the word as an earthquake and will exist –in one form or another - irrespective of us. Just as some are stronger than others, so are there forces which are stronger than yours. Asking how one can deal with strong forces is to ask how can one live. All forces, whether they be demon or angle or god or tornado, are both more than the magician and more narrowly defined- seldom will you see something that has no domain and influences universally. Domain is how one deals; a burly man will not hunt you down lest you give him cause, neither will Pazuzu. Even though a force will exist irrespective of us does not mean it cannot be avoided- like a tornado- or used –like a stronger man.

Given time and experience the more powerful and even the really nasty things out there can be used to ones own advantage, and one need not worry about them even as far as one would a tornado.

You might enjoy reading Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. It is a by-the-minute description of five contemporary "demonic possessions" in America. Were these people actually possessed by demons? You be the judge, he is a fine writer. He is the source of many of the ideas about demonic possession found in The Exorcist.

I do not believe in random demonic possession, or hostile takeover of the will by spirits.

The grimoires reference the "Sanctum Regnum" or Holy Kingdom as synonymous with havng a pact with a spirit. In this case the spirit is sought deliberately, but in accounts of exorcisms (like those in Martin's book) the Kingdom is used as a term for the demonic possession. In both instances the Kingdom is entered voluntarily, with a sign of acceptance given by both parties. The magician seeks better circumstances in life, the victim of possession usually seeks escape from emotional pressures, but the influence of the spirit is requested in both cases. This is the "tacit or implicit" pact of the Malleus Maleficarum.

Supporters of demon exorcism claim that they bring the will of the individual back to the driver's seat, ejecting the influence of the demon through the power of whatever sort of deity they worship. I believe that, at least for the overwhelming majority, it is simply a matter of the social will pitted against an antisocial habit adopted by the "possessed" person. Figures and symbols of authority are brought in, and reinforced ad nauseam (pea soup!) until the possessed person relents and rejoins the social body.

I once attempted to conjure Pazuzu as a curse. I went out at night to the seashore, drew the sigil of Pazuzu in the sand with a dagger, and set down a painted sculpey doll made to look exactly like the fellow with steel wire wrapped around the ankles as was his custom. The doll was the size of a large potato, the sigil of Pazuzu was twelve feet across and the doll was in the central spiral. I said the Adu En I conjuration, but could not remember the very last word. I could not remember it at all. As disappointing as this was (the waves still took the doll), I decicded not to worry about invoking The Lord of Rotten Genitals further against that guy or anyone else.