Friday, March 11, 2016

A Spell Against Lamashtu

Description of the demoness Lamashtu from a Babylonian spell against her:
She is furious, she is fierce, she is divine, she is dazzling —
she is a she-wolf, the daughter of Anu!
Her feet are talons; her hands are unclean;
her face like a savage lion.
She rose up from a reed-thicket,
her hair hanging loose, her undergarments cut away.
She travels the tracks of cattle; she follows the tracks of sheep.
Her hands are stained with flesh and blood.
She enters through the window;
she slithers in like a snake.
She moves in and out of houses. She says,
"Bring me your sons, so I can suckle them,
and let me nurse your daughters!"
From Slightly Alive Translations (from Mostly Dead Languages).

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