Utukku : The Good or Bad Spirit

Utukku, (also known as Udugg, Uruku ) is a spirit from Babylonian, Akkadian, Sumerian and Mesopotamian lore which exists both as a good and evil spirit. It is believed that an utukku spirit can be the spirit of a person who died recently but made its way out of the grave for reasons which no one knows.

Benevolent or good Utukku is called Shedu / Lamassu while the malevolent or evil ones are known as the Ekimmu or the Edimmu. These edimmu were seen as the ghosts of people who weren’t buried properly; who were also aggressive to the living, capable of possessing anyone who did not stay away from any sort of taboo like the eating of ox meat.

They are children of An, the sky god and Ki, the goddess of the earth. They act as servants to Nergal, the ruler and god of the underworld. The edimmu could make the ones they possess do evil and fall sick. It is said that libations or the fulfilling of funeral rites on the soul of the dead could appease the ekimmu.  As a spirit that travels through the wind, they can pull the “breath of life” from sleeping youths.

 

The Akkadians believed that the Utukki were given the job of getting sacrifice offerings which humans have made. They often brought parts such as the liver and other animal entrails, plus their blood as an added bonus.

 

Appearances:

There is no concrete and detailed description of what the Utukku looks like because the only type of description given to them bears elements of what other demons in Mesopotamian lore look like.

This appearance is simply a dark shadow void of light around it which poisons all life and has a deafening voice.

 

Abilities:

• The evil Utukku causes sickness and discomfort to people.
• The evil Utukku can possess a person (as they are spirits) and cause him or her to do evil deeds.
• The good Utukku are summoned for protection against the effects of the evil Utukku on the life of a person.
• The good Utukku can also heal a person of sickness (physical or mental) which was inflicted by the bad Utukku.

HOW TO EXORCIZE AN UTUKKU

Evil Utukku can be sent away through exorcism. There are old texts from Mesopotamia called the Udug hul texts which talks about how an utukku brings sickness on his target, how to cure the sickness  and exorcize the spirit.

 

To exorcize this spirit, the act of spinning of white and black yarns over the bed of the sick to form a canopy, was practiced by the ancient Babylonians. They would do this while chanting a prayer to expel the evil spirit away from the body of the one afflicted by its evil power. The prayer goes like this:

 

Evil utukku, evil âlû, evil êdimmu, evil gallu, evil god, evil rabisu, labartu, labasu, âhhazu, lilu, lilithu, handmaid of lilu, sorcery, enchantment, magic, disaster, machination which is not good may they not set their head to his head, their hand to his hand, their foot to his foot–may they not draw near. Spirit of heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of earth, mayest thou exorcise.

 

Going further, the evil utukku was also mentioned in an Akkadian and Sumerian incantation text. In this text, Asalluh tells his father about udug.  Below is an extract:

 

O my father, the evil udug, its appearance is malignant and its stature towering,

Although it is not a god, its clamour is great and its radiance [ melam] immense,

It is dark, its shadow is pitch black and there is no light within its body,

It always hides, taking refuge, it does not stand proudly,

Its claws drip with bile, it leaves poison in its wake,

Its belt is not released, his arms enclose,

It fills the target of his anger with tears, in all lands, it’s battle cry cannot be restrained.

 

 

SEE ALSO:

 

CITATIONS:

1: https://genies.fandom.com/wiki/Utukku

2: https://vampireunderworld.com/middle-eastern-vampires/utukku/

3: www.ancientpages.com/2016/10/25/utukku-lemnutu-incantations-used-as-therapy-in-mesopotamia/

4: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/utukku

5: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udug

6: The Encyclopedia for demons and demonology