I am standing on the shore of the sea, on the shore of the great river
To the nighthawk and the bird
I am saying, I am asking him:
I adjure you, great bird of rivers
That you may hear my words
And accept my incantation
Four blast-demons went forth from the 4 winds of
the world
The rebel horn did sound and the devil drums did pound
Four sea dragons went forth from the fortress of the deep
Queen Zarni Lilit moaned and Leviatan shrieked
Leviatan, the sea monster, he was agitated
He caused himself to shake and the whole world did quake
The block of heaven slipped, there was panic in the firmament
The angels battle stern, the great house is overturned
Bound and turned aside, all blast demons and harmers
Uproot all evil from this council
Uproot all evil from this woman
From this constellation, this star, this woman, this star
One thousand may fall at your side
Ten thousand fall at your right hand
But to you, they will not come near
In my time of dying I don't want nobody to mourn
All I want for you to do is bring my body home
Well, well, well, dying will be easy
He’s gonna make up my dying bed.
Will you meet me in the middle of the air?
And if my wings should fail me, Lord
Won't you meet me with brand new pair?
Well, well, well, I’m gonna cross over
He’s gonna make up my dying bed.
In my time of dying I don't want nobody to cry
All I want you to do, just wash me when I die
Well, well, well, dying will be easy
He’s gonna make up my dying bed.
(Safety from the heavens for Sargoi daughter of Dada,
her children, her house and her possessions,
that they may be protected from demons,
from bands of spirits, from lilits,
from curses and from monsters which appear to them)
I adjure you, O angel which comes from heaven!
This angel does the will of its lord
and walks upon the steps of its lord
SA-U
And is praised in heaven
SA-U
And on earth
SEM-U)
They are filled with pure glory,
they endure from the beginning to eternity
Their feet do not appear in dances for the entire world.
They sit, they stand in their place,
They blow like a trumpet blast
and they flash like lightning.
Oh hangman, devil man, slacken up your line
I see my sister coming from a far-off distant land.
Oh sister, sister, did you bring me gold?
Did you pay my fee?
Or did you come to see your only brother
Hung from the devil’s tree?
Oh no oh no, I brought you no gold
Nor did I pay your fee
Alas I come to see my only brother
Hung from the gallows tree.
Oh hangman, devil man, slacken up your line
I see my father coming from a far-off distant land
Oh father, father, did you bring me gold?
Did you pay my fee?
Or did you come to see your only son
Hung from the devil’s tree?
Oh no oh no, I brought no gold
Nor did I pay your fee
Alas I come to see my unworthy son
Hung from the devil’s tree.
Oh hangman, devil man, slacken up your line
I see my mama coming from a far-off distant land
Oh mama, mama, did you bring me gold?
Did you pay my fee?
Or did you come to see your only son
Hung from the devil’s tree?
Oh no oh no, I brought no gold
Nor did I pay your fee
Alas I come to see my guilty son
Hung from the devil’s tree.
Oh hangman, devil man, slacken up your line
I see my sweetheart coming from a far-off distant land
Oh sweetheart, sweetheart, did you bring me gold?
Did you pay my fee?
Or did you come to see your only lover
Hung from the devil’s tree?
Oh yes, Oh yes, indeed I brought you gold
Yes, I paid your fee
I would never see my lover hanging
Hung from the devil’s tree.
Seven men grasp seven sharp sickles
Seven mysteries: bowls, knots, vows, eye, brows, necklace charms, pebble charms
Seven spirits in every likeness
In every likeness and in all colors
Or of a sea serpent!
Seven spirits in the likeness of a husband and wife
Seven spirits in the likeness of a beast or a bird
Or a lili (male demon) or a lilit (female demon)
My lover, have you forgotten your resting place between my breasts?
Why have you sold me to live as a slave forever?
Didn’t I follow you through the ancient barren land?
The wasteland, the desert, the mountain are my witnesses
My love was yours and your favor was in me…
Give me your strength, and I will give you my love
Bodies of commotion and bodies of tumult
Sound of bodies of commotion,
Sound of words, of words:
“TY-G-LH (SLD) YA’H QY-SH-TS P-SH-M-SHYN NYA’SYN”
Upon her head and upon the top of her hair he sealed his name:
KHZYT LBR SHTY SHTY PNDY SKSYN SQSWN QSH
Barren one, we call you!
This is the great name from which the angel of death must flee. Amen, amen, selah.
Sons of broken jars, sons of mighty ones that were weak,
Sons of a land which kills its inhabitants
Your food is the flesh of each other, your drink is black water
You bark like dogs, you grunt like pigs, you hiss like snakes
We cast against your hearts arrows of iron, devi
Bring down upon you a boulder of unhewn stone
Cause the sea and its cliffs to roll over you
Peace without peace shall be upon you, devi, for the great day of judgement.
A bloody destiny is killing all, with inundations of blood and wrath.
The battle against the demons is approaching
Early in the morning and it won’t be long
I’ll just be waiting in the Devil’s home
Some people say the Devil’s dead
I saw the Devil at the foot of my bed
Get back, Devil, leave me alone
I’m gonna do better from this day on
Bust out your pistol if you wanna be bad
I got a 32-20, don’t make me mad
Smamit gave birth to sons
Smamit gave birth to 12 sons.
All of them were killed
All of them killed by Sideros/Iron
She got up, fled from him,
and she went to a mountain, unique in the world.
She performed spells of copper and iron
To protect the daughter inside her.
To this house of iron
Locked inside a mountain
(As Smamit gave birth)
Came Sanoy, Sansanoy, and Samangalof
Open let us in Open let us in
No No No
Open let us in Open let us in
No No No
We are here to help We are here to help
She stood and opened the gate
But Sideros/Iron entered with them
He killed her daughter
Strangled her daughter
“Sanoy, Sansanoy and Samangalov, what have you done?”
They chase Sideros down to Pelagos, the great sea,
Now they will kill him. He said:
“Let go of me and I swear
In the name of He who measures out the water in the bottom of his hand
I swear
In the name of He who meted out the heavens with a span.
I swear
That whoever mentions the names Sanoy, Sansanoy and Samangalov,
I will not kill their child
Well met, well met, my own true love
Well met, well met, said he
I've just returned from the salt, salt sea
And it's all for the love of thee
I might have married a king's daughter
I‘m sure she’d marry me
But I refused the golden crown
And it's all for the love of thee
If you could have married a king's daughter
I'm sure you are to blame
For I am married to a house carpenter
And I think he’s a fine young man
Forsake, forsake your house carpenter
And come away with me
I'll take you to where the white lilies grow
On the shores of Sicily
She took her baby in her arms
And gave him kisses three
She said stay at home with your daddy, dear
And keep your papa good company
She had not been at sea two weeks
I'm sure it was not three
When this poor girl she lost her mind
And she wept most bitterly
O do you weep for your silver and gold
O do you weep for your store?
Or do you weep for your house carpenter
Who you never will see no more
I don’t weep for my house carpenter
I don’t weep for my store
I just weep for my darling little babe
Who I never will see anymore
He grew as tall as the topmast high
A wicked smile had he
He struck the ship with a blast of fire
And he sunk it to the bottom of the sea
What hills, what hills are those, my love
That shine so bright and free
Those are the hill of Heaven, my love
But not for you and me
What hills, what hills, are those, my love
That look so dark and cold
Those are the hills of Hell, my love
Where you and I must go
In your name, the rescuer of love, I am coming.
I come in the power of my own self.
On my body polished armor of iron
All my head of iron
I stand in pure fire.
I am clothed with the garment of Hermes, Dabya and Malala
And my power is from the One who created heaven and earth.
I have come.
I have confronted the evil haters and the mighty foes.
And if you act at all against this house,
I Merduk, daughter of Banai, will enchant you with the spell of the sea
And with the spell of Leviatan the sea-monster.
My heart loves you and wants you
I cant do anything, it’s out of our hands
Everyone is your slave. What can we do?
Even Gd who created people cannot control you, or the passion in my heart. Time is precious for us…
Let Hindu bat Makhlapta experience the love of the heavens
Let her find relief from the fire,
From the burning, from oppression,
Let her be saved by the satisfaction of love.
Amen, Selah!
Rescue Qaqi daughter of Makhlapta
So that her confusing dreams may cease
And the evil spirit, and the evil satans will cease.
Amen Selah Hallelujah
It’s too bad that I can’t come to your house
It's not that I need to, it’s just that I want to.
It’s too bad that I can’t lie on your couch
It's not that I need to, it’s just that I want to
A private premiere of a new work by Carter
beats a walk in the park
When I’m high and horizontal, that’s the time I want you
to play me Brian Ferneyhough, 8 to the bar
It’s too bad we can’t have the fun we had
It's not that I need to, it’s just that I want to
You’d rub my feet to a soundtrack so sweet:
“Dialogues des Carmelites”
And when I’d really relax, you’d get out your ax
Mmm, bust out the Ligeti baby, that’s how to treat me
It’s too bad we can’t have the fun we had
It's not that I need to, it’s just that I want to
In late antiquity, Babylon was dense with supernatural beings. Seductive demons and fierce angels, jealous gods and powerful goddesses, all could be counted on to participate in everyday life, for good or for ill. These spirits could be coaxed and commanded with amulets containing special combinations of letters, repeated words, biblical prooftexts and esoteric images. The Bowls Project is inspired by texts drawn from demon bowls, amulets common from 300-700 CE in the area now known as Iraq.
Demon bowls, or incantation bowls, were inscribed with a householder’s secrets and desires and then buried under the doorway to protect her home. The requests found in the bowls are particular, yet timeless--calling for protection for children, health after miscarriage, release from gossipy neighbors, a loyal husband, a passionate lover. Divorce requests are common; oftentimes from people suffering from demons who married them non-consensually. A special delight of the bowls is to hear the individual voices of women from this time. These spiraled Aramaic inscriptions are among the few existing records of female voices during the time and place of the Babylonian Talmud. They open up a larger discussion around the connections between material and literary culture, canonized and marginalized voices, ritual power and popular practice, and the ways music mediates these relationships.
Kabbalists study demon bowls because they are part of the root system of Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. For the less mystically inclined, the bowls are fascinating for their cosmopolitan form, illustrating the porosity between Mesopotamian religions and cultures. A Jewish bowl might have loans from Mandaean, Syrian, Persian, or Greek divine names and demons; it may refer to Zoroastrian, Gnostic or proto-Islamic beliefs and practices. Earlier Babylonian goddesses like Innana and Lamshtu often appear in Jewish bowls as demons with wings and talons; the character of Lilit originates in this mixed Mesopotamian crucible. The host of Babylonian demigods might be reframed as Y-h surrounded by angels. In other words, incantation bowls are characterized by cross-pollination and syncretism.
Demon bowls are marked by the use of language not just as descriptive tool, but as activating power. Bowl texts work magic with performative words, much like legal statements such as: “I now pronounce you partners for life.” The proper order and placement of words has power; the bowls contain and direct that power, and strong surrounding spirits may choose to listen. These performative words are an unusual combination of written and oral tradition, transmitted through multiple filters of language, culture, and individual experience. In this way the texts the bowls contain are hybridized further.
The bowls inhabit the world of the “apocalyptic intimate”--a spirit-rich environment where the vast supernatural realm intersects the tiny domestic sphere. The apocalyptic intimate is also a compelling strain in American folk music, where deities and demons live among us, deeply engaged with our most profound and personal experiences from sex to death. How can we sing down Babylon from inside Babylon? The apocalyptic intimate opens that space for us--spiritually, musically and sensually. The Bowls Project is a conversation within that space, among voices from very separate places and times that resonate together, manifesting differently yet congruently--between the old Babylon and the new.
---Jewlia Eisenberg
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