News — Feature
Pazuzu: A Fiend in Need?
Regardless of how popular and equally infamous Pazuzu is, it was surprisingly tough to find much differing information about this deity. I wanted to dig a bit below the surface which customarily portrays Pazuzu as a demon of the southwestern winds who brought drought and disease, and in more recent times, the possessor demon in one of my all-time favorite films The Exorcist. Why was Pazuzu, an “evil” demon, so relied upon and held close by ancient peoples who were scared of demons? The idea of light versus dark does not play a role in this scenario. Instead, what we...