Demons in Ancient Mesopotamia

00:24:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPihRoMVyaI

Summary

TLDREl vídeo explora el món fascinant de la demonologia de la Mesopotàmia antiga, on els demons i altres criatures sobrenaturals eren acceptats com a part de la vida quotidiana. Els antics mesopotàmics tenien un sistema complex per identificar i combatre aquests éssers a través de rituals, encanteris, i l'assistència de rituals especialitzats coneguts com a ashipu. Figures com Lamastu i Pazuzu representaven la dualitat de la realitat demoníaca, amb Pazuzu actuant com a protector contra Lamastu. La col·laboració amb altres creadors de contingut proporciona una visió més àmplia de les pràctiques ocultes i els ritus d'exorcisme.

Takeaways

  • 👻 La Mesopotàmia antiga tenia una rica tradició de demonologia.
  • 🔮 Els demons eren vistos com éssers amb personalitats i emocions.
  • 💫 Pazuzu era un protector que es feia servir contra Lamastu.
  • 👶 Lamastu era temuda per amenaçar mares i nens.
  • 🪄 Els rituals i encanteris eren comuns per fer front als problemes causats pels demons.
  • 🌌 Els ashipu eren exorcistes i metges alhora.
  • 🧙‍♀️ Les males pràctiques de màgia eren atribuïdes a les 'kashaptu', o bruixes.
  • 📜 Aportacions d'altres creadors sobre temàtiques relacionades amb l'ocultisme.
  • 🌻 Es manté viva la tradició dels rituals per combatre forces malèfiques.
  • 🧠 Les creences antigues en esperits influencien la comprensió moderna dels fantasmes.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    El món dels antics mesopotamis estava ple de criatures invisibles i sobrenaturals, incloent déus, fantasmes, bruixes i dimonis. La seva existència era acceptada com un fet quotidià i es va desenvolupar una complexa demonologia que incloïa teories sobre les personalitats dels dimonis i com interactuar amb ells. En aquest context, el vídeo es proposa explorar la fascinant relació dels antics mesopotamis amb aquestes criatures supernaturalment malèvoles durant el mes d'octubre.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    El vídeo és una col·laboració amb altres creadors de YouTube, que exploren temes relacionats amb l'ocultisme i l'exorcisme. S'explica la diferència entre la concepció moderna dels dimonis i la dels antics, que consideraven que eren criatures amb personalitat que podien ser tant bones com dolentes. Aquesta ambivalència en la seva natura és essencial per a entendre les seves interaccions amb els humans i el seu impacte en la vida quotidiana.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Els dimonis, com Lamastu, eren temuts pel seu poder sobre la salut i els esdeveniments socials. Lamastu, per exemple, era una demoníaca que amenaçava els nens i representava el perill del naixement. D'altra banda, Pazuzu era considerat un protector contra Lamastu, i els antics mesopotamis utilitzaven aquest dimoni en rituals per contrarestar les forces malignes.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:24:45

    Es discuteixen les tècniques i rituals emprats pels mesopotamis per a protegir-se de dimonis i bruixes. Els exorcistes, coneguts com ashipu, eren considerats figures crucials en la societat, combinejaven coneixements mèdics amb rituals religiosos per expulsar dimonis o curar malalties. A més de la utilització de figures i amulets, se'n detallen les diferents formes de màgia, tant protectores com malevolents, en les seves pràctiques rituals.

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Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Què eren els demons en la Mesopotàmia antiga?

    Eren criatures sobrenaturals considerades tant bones com dolentes, amb personalitats canviants.

  • Quines eines s'utilitzaven per fer front als demons?

    S'utilitzaven rituals, encanteris, amulets i exorcismes per combatre els demons i protegir-se'n.

  • Quins eren alguns dels demons més coneguts?

    La mashtu, un perill per a nens, i Pazuzu, generalment un protector contra la malícia.

  • Com s'identificaven els problemes causats pels demons?

    Els problemes sovint es relacionaven amb malalties o conflictes socials que es atribuïen a la influència demoníaca.

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  • 00:00:01
    the world of the ancient Mesopotamians
  • 00:00:04
    was one that was filled with various
  • 00:00:06
    invisible and supernatural creatures
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    some of which were good but others that
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    were definitely evil there were Gods
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    ghosts witches and demons all of whom
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    were seen as a natural part of everyday
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    life in this region in ancient times
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    indeed the existence of demons was
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    basically taken for granted by the
  • 00:00:32
    mesopotamus and there was never a
  • 00:00:33
    question whether or not they existed but
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    rather what should be done if you
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    actually encountered one in fact there
  • 00:00:41
    was quite a complex and developed
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    demonology in this ancient civilization
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    one that involved theories regarding the
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    personalities of different demons how to
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    interact with them and of course how to
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    get rid of those that were causing
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    trouble or malady so for this year's
  • 00:01:01
    shocktober we're going to dive into the
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    fascinating world of demons and ghosts
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    and evil well supernatural creatures in
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    ancient Mesopotamia
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    foreign
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    [Music]
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    [Music]
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    I am very excited to say that this is a
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    big collaboration between four different
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    creators here on YouTube I am working
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    together with my friends Dr Justin
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    Sledge from the channel esoterica Dr
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    Angela Pucca from Angela's Symposium and
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    Dr Dan atrell from the channel the
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    modern hermeticist we will all be making
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    videos and releasing them today on some
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    related topics in terms of occultism I
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    guess but also things like spirits and
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    exorcisms I will tell you more about
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    this collaboration at the end of the
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    video but it is truly a blessing and
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    such a privilege to be working with such
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    amazing people that inspire me go check
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    out their channels they're all amazing
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    if you haven't already and and check out
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    their videos which are going to be so so
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    interesting
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    now even though there were certainly
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    many demons in ancient Mesopotamia it's
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    important to remember that the modern
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    idea of demon doesn't really correspond
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    to the way that the Ancients conceived
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    of these beings the idea of demons as an
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    exclusively evil creature associated
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    with the devil that is out to hurt or
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    possess humans is one that very much
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    develops with the writers of early
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    Christianity
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    ancient people in pre-christian times
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    had a rather different conception of
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    demons the word itself demon comes from
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    the Greek term diamond and a diamond in
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    ancient Greece was a much more
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    ambivalent creature basically a diamond
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    was a spiritual being that stood in
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    between the gods and humans the gods
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    were of course the highest beings in
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    existence and US humans are lower
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    physical creatures and in ancient
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    writers such as Plato the diamonds fit
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    right in between They Are Spiritual
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    Beings that are more powerful than
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    humans but not quite Gods as such they
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    often acted as intermediaries between
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    the two Realms and could serve as
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    positive inspiration or as cause for
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    trouble
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    diamonds were neither good nor evil they
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    were both good diamonds and evil
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    diamonds so while the idea of evil
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    diamonds did technically exist there was
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    only one category of this elusive being
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    and with us have a slightly more complex
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    perspective here the situation in
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    ancient Mesopotamia was basically the
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    same demons could be both good or evil
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    with different personalities it's not
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    that any given demon was either good or
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    bad definitively but they could do good
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    or evil things their nature wasn't set
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    in stone but had personalities and
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    emotions just like other creatures
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    obviously the mesopotamus didn't use the
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    Greek word Diamond especially not in
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    pre-hellenic times instead the Sumerian
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    word udog or the equivalent Acadian
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    utoku was used to refer roughly to our
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    concept of demon today or rather the
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    ancient Greek concept of demons as long
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    as we understand that translating it as
  • 00:04:23
    demon is a compromise and that we should
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    keep in mind that this is referring to a
  • 00:04:28
    much broader category of beings rather
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    than the Christian evil creatures that
  • 00:04:33
    we associate with the term today
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    so what were these demons well the
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    demons were everywhere and they were
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    seen as the cause behind all kinds of
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    different issues both personal and
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    larger societal issues it was demons
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    that caused illnesses both mental and
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    physical it was demons that could cause
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    Strife in general in society it could
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    affect the crops in the fields demons
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    that did Evil things which some evil
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    some demons did was a problem to the
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    ancient Mesopotamians and they were
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    feared and they developed ways for
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    humans to control and get rid of these
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    creatures as we both see soon to
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    understand more how they worked I think
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    it's probably useful to take some
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    particular examples so demons could be
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    very ambiguous creatures that could take
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    on different forms or no form at all but
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    there are certain famous demon
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    personalities that had certain
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    characteristics and personalities and
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    were associated with certain things one
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    of the most famous of these demons was
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    a frightening female demon that was
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    primarily seen as a great danger to
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    children and newborn babies indeed the
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    thing she was most feared for was that
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    she would stalk mothers and eat their
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    babies either before or after birth in
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    other words she is definitely a demon
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    that represents the dangers of
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    childbirth and the possibilities of
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    miscarriage if a mother has a
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    miscarriage the baby is stillborn or the
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    mother doesn't survive the birth this is
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    the work of La mashtu quite an
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    unpleasant creature these frightening
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    characteristics and features can also be
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    seen from depictions of her as she's
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    often portrayed with a lion's head and
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    taloned hands clutching snakes and
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    nursing a piglet the theme of motherhood
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    is present here but in a kind of Twisted
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    way
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    the origins of this demon is uncertain
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    but one of the names by which he is
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    known is as the daughter of Anu Anu
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    being the chief God in the Mesopotamian
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    Pantheon in other words it seems like La
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    Master originally came from the world of
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    gods perhaps a goddess herself but that
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    she somehow fell from that position to
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    instead inhabit the world as an evil
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    demon obviously this was the kind of
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    demon that people wanted to get rid of
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    and there were many techniques and
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    rituals aimed at doing exactly this
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    complex incantations that would drive
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    her off connected to this another very
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    famous and well-known demon in this
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    context is Pazuzu indeed he is perhaps
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    best remembered as the demon from the
  • 00:07:04
    1973 movie The Exorcist in which he
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    basically plays the role of the villain
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    this is quite interesting because while
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    Pazuzu certainly has a frightening
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    appearance and some incantations do
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    describe him as the king of the evil
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    wind demons he was mostly used as a
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    protective Spirit particularly against
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    la mashtu
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    Pazuzu really looks like a monster he
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    has the head of a beast with long claws
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    and four wings but the figure of this
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    demon would be employed as protection
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    his head would often be worn by pregnant
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    women to keep La mashtu away from The
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    Unborn Child and a statue of him could
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    be kept in the house or used in rituals
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    for the same reason quite the opposite
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    of his role in The Exorcist in other
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    words aside from these two prominent
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    characters we also have other more
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    ambiguous kinds of demons or creatures
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    that roam the lands of Mesopotamia there
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    was for example the so-called liliths or
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    lilithu female spirits of women who died
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    in childbirth that could roam around as
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    well as these similar aradat Lily ghosts
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    of young women who had died unmarried
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    that now drifted with a wind from the
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    hills and haunted men at night
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    many have of course connected these
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    liliths the etymology of which means
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    something like a female spirit or demon
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    with a figure of Lilith in the Bible
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    sometimes conceived of as the first wife
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    of Adam
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    etymologically there's probably a
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    connection and it's another example of
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    the influence of Mesopotamian mythology
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    on the books of the Bible again to
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    protect themselves against all these
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    malevolent forces the Mesopotamians used
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    various techniques of what we could call
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    Magic
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    just like in the later Islamic World
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    basically all magic or occult practices
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    had a protective purpose it sought the
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    help from God or Gods from Evil forces
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    and their influence either to eradicate
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    an already existing problem or to
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    prevent something bad from happening to
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    begin with
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    there are examples of non-protective
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    magic too though and the most famous and
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    prominent example of this is the witch
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    yes there were witches in ancient
  • 00:09:07
    Mesopotamia too Dina constantopoulos
  • 00:09:10
    writes that the witch is quote perhaps
  • 00:09:12
    best rendered as malevolent magic user
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    known as kasheptu and Acadian witches
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    were evil Cosmic beings similar to
  • 00:09:20
    Demons that used magic to do evil rather
  • 00:09:23
    than for protective reasons they could
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    hurt or curse people and could be both
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    male and female even though the female
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    version is definitely overrepresented in
  • 00:09:33
    other words while magic could be used
  • 00:09:34
    for good or evil the kasheptu or which
  • 00:09:37
    represented the malevolent use of magic
  • 00:09:39
    and something that one needed to be
  • 00:09:41
    protected from so now that we have a
  • 00:09:43
    kind of General overview of some of the
  • 00:09:46
    creatures and evil spirits that roam the
  • 00:09:48
    lands of ancient Mesopotamia what can we
  • 00:09:50
    say about the actual practices used to
  • 00:09:53
    ward off these forces I mentioned
  • 00:09:56
    earlier that there existed various
  • 00:09:58
    rituals and protective
  • 00:10:01
    ways that one would counter these evil
  • 00:10:05
    forces or get rid of them or at least
  • 00:10:07
    control them in some way and this
  • 00:10:09
    included fascinating things everything
  • 00:10:12
    from incantations protective amulets
  • 00:10:16
    exorcisms and various other juicy things
  • 00:10:19
    it's definitely true that the
  • 00:10:21
    Mesopotamians had developed systems that
  • 00:10:23
    were called protective rituals indeed a
  • 00:10:26
    lot of such Traditions that we find in
  • 00:10:28
    other places later in history such as in
  • 00:10:30
    the Greek magical papyri or in Egyptian
  • 00:10:33
    and Roman magic may actually originate
  • 00:10:35
    in places like Babylonia and Assyria we
  • 00:10:38
    have long text written back then about
  • 00:10:40
    how to protect oneself from witchcraft
  • 00:10:42
    or demons and archaeological findings
  • 00:10:45
    also gives us first-hand examples of
  • 00:10:47
    what this could look like
  • 00:10:48
    at the center of this tradition was a
  • 00:10:51
    class of professional exorcists referred
  • 00:10:54
    to as ashipu
  • 00:10:56
    these were ritual Specialists that could
  • 00:10:58
    do everything from divination herbal
  • 00:11:01
    medicine and to exercise and banish evil
  • 00:11:04
    demons
  • 00:11:05
    a pretty important person in a society
  • 00:11:07
    in which these forces were omnipresent
  • 00:11:10
    the art ship who had a bunch of
  • 00:11:11
    different tools and special knowledge
  • 00:11:13
    with which he could accomplish this
  • 00:11:15
    first and foremost when protection was
  • 00:11:17
    sought from evil spirits or misfortunes
  • 00:11:19
    this was done from the Gods Not the
  • 00:11:22
    diamonds right but the actual Gods who
  • 00:11:25
    ruled the world deities like enki Marduk
  • 00:11:28
    or Ishtar in other words the ritual
  • 00:11:30
    specialist would counter evil spirits by
  • 00:11:33
    invoking the power up and seeking the
  • 00:11:35
    help of the Gods and he would do so
  • 00:11:37
    through spells incantations and magical
  • 00:11:40
    objects such as amulets not only do some
  • 00:11:43
    of these objects survive but we also
  • 00:11:45
    have significant writings which attest
  • 00:11:47
    to these practices and even sometimes
  • 00:11:49
    give instructions there are very
  • 00:11:51
    significant works such as the so-called
  • 00:11:53
    Exorcist manual a compendium of
  • 00:11:56
    everything that an aspiring professional
  • 00:11:58
    needed to know in terms of esoteric
  • 00:12:00
    knowledge incantations medical knowledge
  • 00:12:03
    and generally how to perform rituals of
  • 00:12:05
    exorcism works such as these are
  • 00:12:07
    invaluable for our understanding of how
  • 00:12:09
    the these magical practices worked in
  • 00:12:11
    Antiquity on top of just being
  • 00:12:13
    incredibly fascinating in themselves so
  • 00:12:16
    say you were being bothered by a demonic
  • 00:12:18
    Force perhaps your house was being
  • 00:12:20
    haunted or a family member had
  • 00:12:22
    mysteriously Fallen ill or you wanted to
  • 00:12:24
    protect your baby from the child eating
  • 00:12:26
    lamashtu in that case you could simply
  • 00:12:28
    call an ashipu who would come and solve
  • 00:12:30
    your problem he would and it is mostly
  • 00:12:32
    he in these cases show up to your house
  • 00:12:35
    and make an assessment of what needed to
  • 00:12:37
    be done since ghosts and demons were
  • 00:12:39
    such a taken for granted part of
  • 00:12:41
    everyday life the vibe here is kind of
  • 00:12:43
    similar to people today calling for a
  • 00:12:45
    doctor to help with a medical problem
  • 00:12:47
    got a demon problem just call your local
  • 00:12:49
    ashipu and he will help you out and
  • 00:12:51
    indeed in this culture the doctor was
  • 00:12:53
    kind of the same person as The Exorcist
  • 00:12:55
    since the ashipu could also have medical
  • 00:12:57
    knowledge once the demon was identified
  • 00:13:00
    or the ashibu knew what needed to be
  • 00:13:02
    done he would get to work Gathering all
  • 00:13:05
    the materials that were required for the
  • 00:13:08
    ritual before it would commence we've
  • 00:13:10
    already mentioned some of the details of
  • 00:13:12
    the kinds of practices and material that
  • 00:13:15
    would be used in these kinds of
  • 00:13:17
    exorcistic rituals say for example that
  • 00:13:20
    your troubles were caused by a ghost the
  • 00:13:22
    spirit of a deceased human being
  • 00:13:25
    this could happen for various reasons
  • 00:13:26
    and the effects of the ghost would often
  • 00:13:28
    be connected to the way they died
  • 00:13:31
    if you have trouble breathing maybe
  • 00:13:32
    that's a ghost who died by strangulation
  • 00:13:35
    or by Drowning do you have a terrible
  • 00:13:37
    fever maybe you're haunted by a ghost
  • 00:13:39
    who died in a fire
  • 00:13:41
    ghosts were again spirits of the Dead
  • 00:13:43
    who had not quite moved on to the
  • 00:13:46
    underworlds or in more Sinister examples
  • 00:13:48
    might have been summoned by a
  • 00:13:50
    necromancer the job of The Exorcist in
  • 00:13:52
    these cases was to make sure the ghost
  • 00:13:54
    could make its way to that underworld
  • 00:13:56
    through reciting incantations and spells
  • 00:13:58
    it's all kind of similar to the way that
  • 00:14:00
    we conceive of ghosts today and the way
  • 00:14:03
    that they are portrayed in movies and so
  • 00:14:05
    on the ashipu as part of this ritual
  • 00:14:08
    could chant incantations that included
  • 00:14:11
    instructions like I implore you to
  • 00:14:13
    return to your true Abode in the
  • 00:14:15
    Underworld and then the ghost would
  • 00:14:17
    hopefully listen to him for example now
  • 00:14:19
    if your problems were rather caused by a
  • 00:14:22
    demon that was a more complicated matter
  • 00:14:25
    demons are not deceased human beings but
  • 00:14:27
    Immortal Spirits as we saw standing in
  • 00:14:30
    between Gods and Men
  • 00:14:32
    so unlike a witch or a ghost you
  • 00:14:35
    couldn't get rid of a demon by killing
  • 00:14:37
    it or destroying it this required more
  • 00:14:39
    complicated rituals in the case of La
  • 00:14:42
    Master the baby eating demon we
  • 00:14:44
    discussed before there were several ways
  • 00:14:46
    of getting rid of her
  • 00:14:47
    usually The Exorcist would use a
  • 00:14:50
    figurine of the Goddess herself which
  • 00:14:52
    became like a kind of receptable or body
  • 00:14:54
    for the actual demon the figurine could
  • 00:14:57
    be placed next to the victim or in
  • 00:14:59
    general kept in the House Then followed
  • 00:15:01
    several days of ritual the figurine
  • 00:15:04
    would be taken care of even perhaps fed
  • 00:15:06
    and such things almost in way to show
  • 00:15:08
    hospitality and get the demon on your
  • 00:15:10
    good side
  • 00:15:11
    The Exorcist would throughout these days
  • 00:15:13
    recite incantations and perform various
  • 00:15:16
    rituals
  • 00:15:17
    all the effects of the rituals performed
  • 00:15:19
    upon the figurine were transferred to
  • 00:15:21
    the demon herself so to say so the the
  • 00:15:24
    figure of this demon just like when you
  • 00:15:27
    pray to a god in various polytheistic
  • 00:15:29
    religions were seen as the kind of as as
  • 00:15:31
    embodying the demon and what you did to
  • 00:15:34
    the Statue of the figurine affected the
  • 00:15:37
    actual Spirit herself lastly then after
  • 00:15:40
    these days of rituals the figurine would
  • 00:15:42
    be taken away and buried outside the
  • 00:15:45
    city walls together with another
  • 00:15:46
    figurine of a black dog thus one had
  • 00:15:49
    banished lamashtu in the case of this
  • 00:15:52
    demon s we also often see the employment
  • 00:15:54
    of Pazuzu that other demon as a
  • 00:15:57
    protective force in these rituals in
  • 00:15:59
    connection to rituals like these or just
  • 00:16:01
    in themselves for preventive or
  • 00:16:02
    productive reasons The Exorcist could
  • 00:16:04
    also make amulets that would protect the
  • 00:16:07
    prison
  • 00:16:07
    amulets could look in different ways and
  • 00:16:10
    be made up of various materials and
  • 00:16:12
    their contents developed across the
  • 00:16:14
    history of Mesopotamia for the most part
  • 00:16:16
    amulets in Mesopotamia were so-called
  • 00:16:18
    unleathered or semi-lettered amulets in
  • 00:16:21
    other words they didn't necessarily have
  • 00:16:23
    anything written on them or inscribed on
  • 00:16:25
    them lettered amulets would appear later
  • 00:16:27
    in Egyptian and Roman contexts and
  • 00:16:30
    adopted a Mesopotamia through that but
  • 00:16:32
    in the earlier period this was usually
  • 00:16:34
    not the case an amulet could be a little
  • 00:16:37
    bag made of animal hire that contained
  • 00:16:39
    some sort of natural material like a
  • 00:16:41
    plant or something that was considered
  • 00:16:43
    protective or the object could be
  • 00:16:45
    infused with its protective Powers
  • 00:16:47
    through incantations vocally recited
  • 00:16:49
    over it by The Exorcist it could then be
  • 00:16:52
    worn around the neck or hung above the
  • 00:16:54
    door or bed of someone you wanted to
  • 00:16:55
    keep safe again in the case of La Master
  • 00:16:58
    we saw that one very popular amulet was
  • 00:17:00
    to wear a figurine of the head of the
  • 00:17:02
    demon Pazuzu who protected against her
  • 00:17:05
    evil Powers the Spells and incantation
  • 00:17:07
    used by The ashipur Exorcist could vary
  • 00:17:11
    also depending on the particular
  • 00:17:12
    circumstance or spirit that one worked
  • 00:17:15
    with but in most cases they take the
  • 00:17:17
    form of seeking help from the gods
  • 00:17:19
    praising them before asking for the
  • 00:17:21
    specific favor and ending with a promise
  • 00:17:24
    to fulfill if help is granted as I said
  • 00:17:26
    in later periods we also see the
  • 00:17:28
    prominence of written talismans where
  • 00:17:30
    images or spells will be written on an
  • 00:17:32
    object like a piece of parchment or
  • 00:17:34
    copper or stone and just the fact that
  • 00:17:37
    those words are written on it means it
  • 00:17:39
    has protective powers
  • 00:17:40
    a common spell could look like this
  • 00:17:42
    quote First there would be the word an
  • 00:17:46
    which means spell and then it would say
  • 00:17:48
    the actual spell like like this
  • 00:17:50
    daughter of Anu prominent one among the
  • 00:17:53
    gods in in most princely lady but also
  • 00:17:57
    binder Grievous asako demon ghost that
  • 00:18:00
    weighs heavily upon mankind so that
  • 00:18:02
    exalted La Master should not come close
  • 00:18:04
    to man may you be bound by the spell of
  • 00:18:07
    Heaven Bound by the spell of Earth
  • 00:18:10
    this kind of thing becomes incredibly
  • 00:18:12
    widespread in later periods we see a
  • 00:18:15
    very extravagant examples of this in the
  • 00:18:17
    so-called Babylonian incantation bowls
  • 00:18:19
    of late Antiquity these were often
  • 00:18:21
    conceived in a Jewish context but
  • 00:18:23
    functioned in the same way rabbinic or
  • 00:18:25
    Biblical verses could be written in
  • 00:18:27
    these bowls which then function to trap
  • 00:18:30
    evil demons it's fascinating stuff and
  • 00:18:33
    the later Islamic tradition and there
  • 00:18:35
    are called practices we see the exact
  • 00:18:37
    same things with quranic verses or names
  • 00:18:39
    of God in Arabic being employed as
  • 00:18:42
    talismans by simply writing them down on
  • 00:18:44
    different materials
  • 00:18:46
    some argue that many of these practices
  • 00:18:48
    have their origins in ancient
  • 00:18:50
    Mesopotamia as a third example maybe you
  • 00:18:53
    are being bothered by the malevolent
  • 00:18:54
    magic of witches or ashaptu this is a
  • 00:18:58
    little different from demons because
  • 00:18:59
    witches can be killed the ritual of
  • 00:19:02
    getting rid of a witch is somewhat
  • 00:19:04
    similar to a demon exorcism though the
  • 00:19:06
    ashipu would often make a figurine of
  • 00:19:09
    the witch and rituals performed on the
  • 00:19:11
    figurine would transfer to the actual
  • 00:19:13
    rich just like in the case with LA
  • 00:19:15
    Master for example
  • 00:19:16
    in a similar fashion incantations were
  • 00:19:18
    recited and then the figurine was often
  • 00:19:21
    burned in a fire so that the witch's
  • 00:19:23
    Spirit would rise like smoke to the
  • 00:19:25
    heavens and be punished by the gods and
  • 00:19:28
    even more mundane problems could be
  • 00:19:30
    solved with the help of these ritual
  • 00:19:32
    Specialists perhaps you got stung by a
  • 00:19:34
    scorpion a pretty serious thing in the
  • 00:19:36
    ancient Middle East one instruction
  • 00:19:38
    sounds like this quote a bundle of seven
  • 00:19:41
    Reeds to be used as a torch then the
  • 00:19:44
    Scorpion will be placed on the burning
  • 00:19:46
    torch until it is consumed during that
  • 00:19:49
    time one will recite Over The Sting the
  • 00:19:51
    prayer as follows and then there follows
  • 00:19:53
    a longer prayer which ends like this
  • 00:19:55
    then let the flowing water carry
  • 00:19:58
    everything away in its Eddies let the
  • 00:20:00
    current take it away and may a solitary
  • 00:20:02
    hand that of envel descend to rest on
  • 00:20:05
    its victim such is the formula to calm
  • 00:20:08
    the effects of the sting of a scorpion
  • 00:20:10
    indeed these are just a few examples of
  • 00:20:13
    the different ways that the ashipur the
  • 00:20:15
    ritual Specialist or Exorcist would help
  • 00:20:17
    people with various evil forces or
  • 00:20:20
    demons and spirits in ancient
  • 00:20:22
    Mesopotamia but as we saw this was an
  • 00:20:25
    accepted reality this was part of
  • 00:20:27
    everyday life for people and calling for
  • 00:20:29
    an exorcist was basically the same as us
  • 00:20:31
    calling for a doctor today the lands of
  • 00:20:34
    Babylon and Assyria of Sumer and akkad
  • 00:20:37
    were filled with spooky ghosts and
  • 00:20:39
    spirits and creatures which sometimes
  • 00:20:42
    could cause you illnesses or other
  • 00:20:44
    problems and the only way to get rid of
  • 00:20:46
    those problems was to call a ritual
  • 00:20:49
    specialist an ashipu or Exorcist that
  • 00:20:52
    could use his specialized knowledge and
  • 00:20:55
    the tools that he had at his disposal to
  • 00:20:58
    get rid of the issue some of this we
  • 00:21:01
    recognize very clearly from our modern
  • 00:21:03
    conception of these things from how
  • 00:21:05
    ghosts work to demons and exorcisms but
  • 00:21:08
    we should also be careful not to project
  • 00:21:10
    are modern ideas onto a context in
  • 00:21:14
    ancient times that was very different a
  • 00:21:17
    lot of these Concepts and ideas have a
  • 00:21:20
    different meaning to the ancient
  • 00:21:21
    Mesopotamians than they perhaps do to us
  • 00:21:23
    today but at the very least it remains a
  • 00:21:26
    fascinating tradition of occult practice
  • 00:21:30
    a fascinating tradition of ancient
  • 00:21:32
    religion that not only can tell us a lot
  • 00:21:34
    about the development of these kinds of
  • 00:21:37
    ideas all the way to modern times but
  • 00:21:40
    also of course fits perfectly into this
  • 00:21:44
    wonderful yearly tradition of shocktober
  • 00:21:47
    here on let's talk religion as I said in
  • 00:21:50
    the beginning this is a collaboration
  • 00:21:51
    with three other creators again Dr
  • 00:21:55
    Justin Sledge from esoterica who will be
  • 00:21:58
    making a video about the dibik the very
  • 00:22:01
    famous kind of possessing uh spirit of
  • 00:22:04
    Judaism and especially or particularly
  • 00:22:08
    he will be talking about the first case
  • 00:22:10
    of dybic exorcism in the I believe the
  • 00:22:14
    16th century and that's incredibly
  • 00:22:17
    fascinating and of course connected to
  • 00:22:19
    what we talk about here so I'll have
  • 00:22:21
    talked just now about ancient exorcism
  • 00:22:24
    the earliest examples of exorcistic
  • 00:22:26
    rituals in ancient Mesopotamia and
  • 00:22:29
    Justin will be talking about how that
  • 00:22:31
    tradition is also present to some degree
  • 00:22:34
    in Judaism with the case of the dybic so
  • 00:22:37
    check out that video Dr Angela puka from
  • 00:22:40
    Angela Symposium will be making a video
  • 00:22:42
    about ancestor worship again very
  • 00:22:45
    strongly connected to a lot of what
  • 00:22:47
    we've been talking about here today uh
  • 00:22:50
    incredibly interesting stuff so check
  • 00:22:52
    out that video and then a trail aka the
  • 00:22:54
    modern hermeticist will basically be
  • 00:22:56
    putting out a full audiobook of a 17th
  • 00:22:59
    century translation of the arbatel of
  • 00:23:02
    magic a fast knitting grimoire from the
  • 00:23:05
    16th century about ceremonial magic so
  • 00:23:09
    do not miss out on those incredibly
  • 00:23:11
    fascinating videos by some amazingly
  • 00:23:14
    talented creators and friends and
  • 00:23:17
    amazing human beings go to their
  • 00:23:19
    channels there will be links in the
  • 00:23:21
    description to all of that stuff to
  • 00:23:23
    their videos and to their channels go
  • 00:23:25
    watch the videos go subscribe to their
  • 00:23:27
    channels you will not regret it it is
  • 00:23:29
    truly some really awesome
  • 00:23:31
    content here on YouTube I hope this
  • 00:23:34
    video was a good introduction to some of
  • 00:23:36
    the earliest examples of magic some of
  • 00:23:40
    the earliest examples of occult
  • 00:23:41
    practices and in particular exorcisms
  • 00:23:44
    and demons in ancient Mesopotamia this
  • 00:23:47
    is such a interesting topic to to
  • 00:23:50
    research and talk about I just love
  • 00:23:52
    doing this stuff and especially on a
  • 00:23:55
    October evening like this look forward
  • 00:23:59
    to more episodes in this year's October
  • 00:24:02
    next week we are talk talking about the
  • 00:24:05
    Sham Selma Arif the most famous and I
  • 00:24:08
    should say Infamous book of
  • 00:24:11
    occult
  • 00:24:13
    practices in the history of the Islamic
  • 00:24:16
    and arabic speaking world so I will see
  • 00:24:19
    you then
Tags
  • Mesopotàmia
  • demonologia
  • rituals
  • exorcisme
  • Pazuzu
  • lamastu
  • ocultisme
  • espiritualitat
  • encanteris
  • antiguitat