(an ancient bronze statue of the Sumerian demon Pazuzu)

Pazuzu is a relatively obscure Sumerian demon of pestilence, specifically the demon of the hot south-east wind that carried disease with it. He might have remained almost unknown in modern times save for a trick of fate. This demon was selected to star in the hugely influential film The Exorcist. It is Pazuzu who is supposed to have possessed the little girl and caused her head to spin around like a top, and all the other unpleasant experiences she endured in the film. I understand that Pazuzu received a percentage of the profits from The Exorcist, and has since retired to a tropical level of hell to avoid paying the taxes imposed on him by his old friend, Mammon. But this is only a rumor.

Pazuzu is characterized by four wings, a lion's head, lion's paws and feet, and the body of a man. The illustration above does not show his scorpion tail. He has power over pestilence that is carried on the air, either to bring it or to drive it away. The small statuette in the illustration was found in a Sumerian ruin facing the south-east, presumably to avert the evils of the south-east wind.