The Seven Names of Lamastu is an exploration of the religions and mysteries of the cradle of civilisation, Mesopotamia. A modern translation of the famous Lamastu Series, with commentary, which can be used as a dictionary and travel companion through the earliest form of religion and sorcery.

Utilising material spanning 3000 years, this book examines childbirth in the Biblical and Babylonian world. Stol's scholarship has an extraordinary range. He follows the mother and child from conception to weaning, analyzing a variety of different texts and topics. He deals, for example, with the vicissitudes and procedures of labor and delivery, delivery with magical plants and amulets, and with legal issues relating to abortion or to the liability of the wet-nurse. Many of the texts are rich and distinctive. Babylonian incantations to facilitate birth describe the child moving "over the dark sea" and, like a ship, reaching "the quay of life." His discussions are supplemented with relevant examples drawn from Greek and Roman sources, Rabbinic literature, and modern ethnographic material from traditional Middle Eastern societies. The last chapter, written by F.A.M. Wiggermann, deals with the horrible baby-snatching demon, Lamastum. This book is a fully re-worked edition of a volume originally written in Dutch (1983). Both authors teach at the Free University (Amsterdam).

This title looks at Kaalai and her worship in Kaula Tantra."

From the primal chaos of Tiamat, the Gods of Order Marduk, Ishtar and Adad; Underworld Gods including Nergal and Ereskigal to demons and spirits such as Pazuzu, Lilitu, Lamastu and the Seven Udug-Hul, Sebitti is a gateway into ancient Babylonian (the gate of the gods) powers. Sebitti guides the Kassapu (warlock or sorcerer) in the most effective methods of understanding and invoking Deific Masks of ancient Mesopotamia. From ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian tablets and temple invocations, within is a modern approach to these primal powers inherent in nature and humanity. Luciferians embrace sorcery and primal forces, inherent within nature and the self in order to expand consciousness and personal power. The theory and practice of ancient sorcery is outlined for the modern practitioner and is presented to awaken the desires of our current time. Presented first is the modern Luciferian philosophical foundation, followed by a study of the ancient practice of Sorcery in Mesopotamia

Wiggerman's study of Mesopotamian monsters bridges the gap between text and image. Wooden and clay figures of monstrous spirits such as Hairy-One (lahmu), Bison-Bull (kusarikku), and Furious-Snake (mushussu) stand guard at the entrances to buildings to protect the inhavitants from demonic intruders. Deriving his information from the ritual texts that describe the production and installation of these figures, the author identifies the monsters of the texts with objects from the archaeological record and presents a detailed discussion of the identities and histories of a variety of Mesopotamian monsters.

Maskim Hul is a complete grimoire of Tiamat-centered magick, pre-luciferian sorcery developed from authentic Mesopotamian clay tablets. Tiamat, Kingu and the 11 Chaos-Monsters created by Tiamat are explored, their functions, manifestations and how they survived and existed in the pantheon of Marduk, Ea and the other gods. The gods, demons and evil spirits of Mesopotamia are presented along with Cuneiform sigils and documentation of their use in sorcery. The extensive Invocations of the Gods, Hymns and the entire foundation of authentic Kassapu-practice of ancient Babylon is offered in a concise manner. The grimoire is founded and dedicated to the Seven Sebitti or Maskim, the "Seven Evil Gods" or rebels along with Lamashtu, Lilith are presented in a plethora of rituals and their names of calling. The Serpent Gods of fertility, Ishtar revealed as a form of Tiamat (from pantheon sources) and the rites of necromancy and the Black Flame (Melammu) is presented.

This book analyzes the history of Mesopotamian imagery form the mid-second to mid-first millennium BCE. It demonstrates that in spite of rich textual evidence, which grants the Mesopotamian gods and goddesses an anthropmorphic form, there was a clear abstention in various media from visualizing the gods in such a form. True, divine human-shaped cultic images existed in Mesopotamian temples. But as a rule, non-anthropomorphic visual agents such as inanimate objects, animals or fantastic hybrids replaced these figures when they were portrayed outside of their sacred enclosures. This tendency reached its peak in first-millennium Babylonia and Assyria. The removal of the Mesopotamian human-shaped deity from pictorial renderings resembles the Biblical agenda not only in its avoidance of displaying a divine image but also in the implied dual perception of the divine: according to the Bible and the Assyro-Babylonian concept the divine was conceived as having a human form; yet in both cases anthropomorphism was also concealed or rejected, though to a different degree. In the present book, this dual approach toward the divine image is considered as a reflection of two associated rather than contradictory religious worldviews. The plausible consolidation of the relevant Biblical accounts just before the Babylonian Exile, or more probably within the Exile - in both cases during a period of strong Assyrian and Babylonian hegemony - points to a direct correspondence between comparable religious phenomena. It is suggested that far from their homeland and in the absence of a temple for their god, the Judahite deportees adopted and intensified the Mesopotamian avoidance of anthropomorphic picorial portrayals of deities. While the Babylonian representations remained confined to temples, the exiles would have turned a cultic reality - i.e., the nonwritten Babylonian custom - into a written, articulated law that explicity forbade the pictorial representation of God.

Ancient Mesopotamia was a rich, varied and highly complex culture whose achievements included the invention of writing and the development of sophisticated urban society. This book offers an introductory guide to the beliefs and customs of the ancient Mesopotamians, as revealed in their art and their writings between about 3000 B.C. and the advent of the Christian era. Gods, goddesses, demons, monsters, magic, myths, religious symbolism, ritual, and the spiritual world are all discussed in alphabetical entries ranging from short accounts to extended essays. Names are given in both their Sumerian and Akkadian forms, and all entries are fully cross-referenced. A useful introduction provides historical and geographical background and describes the sources of our knowledge about the religion, mythology and magic of "the cradle of civilisation".

he Manasā Epic is a collection of stories about the serpent goddess Manasā and her sister Neta which were retold, extended, modified, changed and embellished by poets for more than 500 years. Includes: Vedic rituals, pūjā ceremonies, mantra practice, kuṇḍalinī, breathing and awareness exercises

Dragon Bones is a masterly and insightful exploration of ritual, myth and oracles in Shang Period China. The author shines a light on one of the most obscure and least-known areas of ritual practice in the ancient world, demonstrating its value and connection to the development of magical practices in China over a period of many centuries.