Random Thoughts

[Rev. Rye]

Wisecrack-cum-bit of research written in preparation for the Deep Hurting Project Exorcist II: The Heretic review that ended up becoming aborted because nobody at my local library noticed it was missing since 2018:

Pazuzu is not a scary name. It sounds like Harlequin's embarassing mentally challenged cousin in a particularly bad commedia dell'arte. There's a reason the 1973 film never used it. Namely, it sounds really fucking stupid. Yes, I know Pazuzu was actually an evil spirit in the ancient religions of Mesopotamia, but frankly, looking into the actual Pazuzu legends makes the connection make even less sense, since, according to the Ancient History Encyclopedia, "Pazuzu was the most popular of these protective deities. He was mainly called upon to keep Lamashtu from murdering unborn or newly born babies but seems to have also been invoked against disease, impotency, and the ill effects of the west wind and south-west wind which blew from the direction of the land of the dead; the very winds Pazuzu himself controlled.He is imagined as an especially frightening figure capable of scaring off any lesser demon or ghost."