Excerpts from "Para-Tactics"
Hybrid
Demon bowls (aka incantation bowls) are ceramic amulets that were commonly used to trap demons throughout the 5th–7th century CE Babylonian Empire. The amulets were inscribed with incantational texts and drawings.
The University of Pennsylvania pillaged many such bowls from Nippur (modern day, Nuffar, Iraq) in the late 1880s. In the early 20th century, James Montgomery published his translations and notes on the formulae written on the stolen incantation bowls, work that reflects his colonial academic assumptions and lack of faith in ancient lesbians. Inspired by the reverse surveillance techniques of artist-scholars Hanaa Malallah and Zainab Bahrani, intervening at the historic site of this archeological dig, I wanted to send the power of the incantations back towards the imperial entitlement and ahistoric heterosexism of those like Montgomery. The text of these digital amulets consists primarily of snippets read out loud while paging backward through the Montgomery translation with a recorder.
BIRTH TO THEIR MOTHERS
(for finding queer ancestors)
go out into the field to pray go out into the fields to pray dust dust dust grandmother of Lilith’s Lilith of Lilith Lilith of angels and angels gathering go out into the field to under what sign under the sign of Tammuz the planet’s turned and at the time that was appointed the angels bowed the prayers were not received they were intercepted the prayers were not welcomed they were captured meet me in the field at dusk by the big willow downstream find me by the quickly growing roots find me in the broken branch a scrap a twine a lock of hair find me under the sign of Tammuz find me find me intercepted you shall be banished from the homes and wombs of wife and children daughters and sons any Lilith that should come to them in the night join me in the fields join me join us go out into the field to pray the swollen lip unbruised feet a broken toe five fish without water a chain a chain unbroken binding bound tied together knotted she looked as if daughter of daughter of daughter of in the house with many rooms in the house of many grandmothers in the house of many grandmothers together weaving in the house of many grandmothers together weaving daughters I will banish thee be unbound be bound go from here never return return go out into the field to pray I banish thee in the name of a powerful one has seen you a powerful one wants you prayers intercepted in the marketplace by a charlatan a sorcerer a sorcerer two sorcerers an egg buried go out and seek to be found to be bound to the word the word unbroken in fragments the verse as it is stated go out into the field gather collect intertwine weave banish banish dissolve you will not harm nor life nor limb nor blood nor mountain daughter of daughter of mountain daughter of blood who will plow who will plow my field I will plow I will plow your field back back and forth three women three daughters three braided wicks burning murderous demons demon museums myrtle in the name of in the name of the amulet in the name of fire of Gabriel of garment hair knotted Adam meets angel of death faces off the world close up you will seduce in a great wind blast I have put you to flat flight wrangle to be victorious of a star a woman a singing a plural a butcher a class of evil spirits a type of grass in the fields written menstruation the throne in the pain a howler gazelles mountains of daughters interjected angel father in law leavened pebble charm dinger circle precinct common sickness and milk to marry to brave a flash of lightning to bless a sign of accusation in place of a father denominative faith repeated cattle field destroyer a get a sweating fever a brother a goddess an error be behind to tarry a patriarch (patriarch) a mountain (patriarch) a song (patriarch) the second temple (patriarch) the daughter of (patriarch) David Hamelech Lilith (working for the patriarch) bound to leaving from you shall not touch you shall not be mountain (a sorcerer) mountain (wife of evil spirits) a prince the eleven names of the angel of the divine name the divine name the divine name backwards not in the flesh be sealed charmed a sin an error a denominative the name of the name of interchangeable assimilation a wild beast abodes of the demons none transgress none the people hobbled and suppressed and covered and squeezed under the foot of abundance their mother and her daughters and by the seal the house and by the word the living God in the name formed to rhyme with the following peoples the flesh and blood of his victims a perversion your father other gods light king victorious mystery of water mystery (illegible) God a badly mutilated division a murderous masculine quartering the Tetragrammaton apparently Ishtar the image spirit the assembled waters and the tormentor almighty Liliths against the Word for the Word quaffing devouring peace in the fire for thus salvation of the cattle for the wedding of her bride so continuing to scroll backwards through the Montgomery translation of the bowls from Nippur and read random phrases that seem to go together the gender of the deity the religion of the moons the obscure masculine variant just as there are forms there are mischief wrought a crescent on her head a lunar characteristic Innanna daughter of sin a dialectic daughter of without an oracle the witch old except trace the use edited partake of spirit birth to their mothers
INVIABILITY OF AN ORACLE
(prophylactic for breakup sex)
Aleph the daughter of the name the consequence of the latter case the word is the stature is the body infested with great elaboration thorough incantation sealed by amulet fire cast above last demon armed and equipped from whose control on surnamed and charmed by earth and sealed in heaven the great queen of the goddesses the grandmother of Lilith fetters of our lady seven spells a whole person a savior of love strokes hypocrisy again a perversion glory to perversion the name obscured upon them thou frustrated thou floated naked are you and forth nor are ye clad with your hair disheveled behind your backs across the mother the sea warded against you do not trouble the dwelling the desert divorce the desert separate the three send forth Liliths to generations this day above any day this family above any family and from all they abode from this day forever and arts and mighty works the invocation the voice of invocation the breath of foulness suppressing construction darkness suppressed under the throne of God plague under healing property established livelong and touch them I scan and rhyme against you and I bind you that I have been idle brass iron even for all her house and dwelling and the word by error I make this God this holy temple of hail recorded down there the psalm of you by Him close are the mouse we will enter as is right the word is panacea the mystery is confirmed the garment of God Adam begat by Eve poetic floor needed and honey poured on it the secret stone smoothing the face of the deity lightning like the lightning to frustrate wherein they dwell keep thy soul the whole world stand in their place steps of the throne praise is an earth of a horn on which honey is poured an angel who has offspring preserved I adjure the descending with glory be not bereave indecipherable hopeless attempts to appear to her engraved within the six days of creation by the days of the world the great ruler of Lilith smitten of thy heart and with the lance of the name I am that I am fly and refrain the love of heaven from the Lilith and the Lilith since becomes nonsense a translation and arrangement almost difficulties for a woman in her household in terms of a divorce the Babylonian story against the rule the hungry one in this threshold with that seal and with those Satans his son preserved from the waters cease and go forth remove from their abode their bed chamber daughter of threshold her whole countersealed forever distinguish and his wife laying a foundation the four corners of the house restored bring forth brought the sealment neither in dream or sleep of day perish the pronunciation of letter from earth the mountains are uprooted I write for them words from words swallowed by demons the celestial height of the world in the fashion of all the Liliths who appear to them in a dream by day revealed as traces by the rock one affected consummating mortals disgusting the procedure the terms of thy writ is called a whore fledgling wings the sex is as a hoof for the sharpening of the possibility a ghost a dead etymology the Babylonian imagination in the midst of her humanlike head uncertain uncertainty between singing and you where evil becomes almost intelligible illegible mutilated particularly indistinct the great angel before him standing fire in the spheres beasts worshiping this day and forever preserved to turn away to separate uprooted forever a divorce from the firmament from heaven dwelling in the bed chamber whose mother because she has sent you the four of you with your hair disheveled and let fly behind your backs rusty root bewilderment the hairs inviability of an oracle
THE ANGEL OF DEATH IS AFRAID
(crip time protection amulet)
press down in this in months and in all years and in this day out of all days and this month out of all months and this year out of all years and this season out of all seasons fastened up are their doors pressed down attach the observance rebuke seven mighty enchanted in the place of surrounded bound you twelve signs of the zodiac the seven stars of judgment in the great hour people either by day nor by night either by night nor by day because going you shall not sin against you are charmed great healer mighty mistress and a bow the love and curative powers of the deities in which the angel of death is afraid swallowed up plucked from the burning plucked from the side of his wife a woman by day shall have by night neither household neither death frightened he flees and is swallowed up the authority according to rebuke burnings strong remove salvations mysteries other mountains gathered at the summary of God’s idle spirits encamped in severed rose and tongues upon the monster Leviathan and upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah and against property and against to bring down upon the mountain the spell who created heaven and earth my figure of pure fire malignant adversaries the spell of the sea fiends with a formula fast flying whoa destroying foul who dissolve the body like water waves breaking confuse and hobble and dissolve where you stand where you stand fearful and affrighted bound to mankind men in the likeness of women and to witness the likeness of men they lie forever and ever forever be thine begotten by the prescription of the Lord count for them salvation arriving in bits of sacred history
THE AGE OF CEASING
(for casting off imperialism)
flourishes with abandonment currents Babylonian soil luxuriant spiritual energy disperse magic outbitting adaptation vowel permutations science is as much cosmopolitan as another clue for closest correspondence perhaps it is mentioned but once unearthed precludes theology the north the figure like Moses the origin of the operation of witchcraft scanty religious import comparative absence of the long previous sanctuary in lieu of so holy the ethical sphere an outlet into Jewish monotheism as to that of the Hellenistic world the venerable mysteries appear as danger when met by mechanical means this is especially true of the general lack the Lord of healing that is without a prayer the passage without any service in the name of names are simply used professionally assistance to question whether we are sufficient the love chasm of the sorcerer remains in our texts the inversion of the male counterpart as ancient times the parallel workings of universal and uniform dominant and interfusion geographically most distant the large degree of the immediate point of view the center of gravity as well as omissions of similar place Nippur by the writer drawn from the silt in true connecting be right and claiming literary specimen as well established sorcerers for the expulsion gives first extensive exposing deriding the practice of growth is a title that in composition diffuses the faiths the domain of empire and the magic wild age at the beginning of our era it arose in consequence from the speech of similar supplies Babylonia against observations that require to discover continuation of pre-speculate the data is justified the bowls are justified the peoples of a book I’ve noticed the seventh century I have caused settlers these loans in the name of evil spirits the good home none of negative evidence despite the late age necessarily late only from its influence representing remains philological with the alphabet to bear seven conclusions small coin slip down through the soil the soil is not modified at all back into the proceeding century a seventh century a lower stratum the lowest destroyed covered with sand practical magic Jewish houses Parthian coins described as the provenance of calligraphic variation the chronology nevertheless of the same belonging the stratification composed of biblical verses in the age of ceasing to exist of anyone and so fixed not observed fallaciously assigned but fallaciously the pop shards inscription fluent almost cursive formed under careful century bowls acquaintance acquainted the god and goddesses have commissioned me whom shall I send for the priestly exorcism
THE WORD AGAINST SALVATION
(ward against legibility)
a type of pain in the wedding the abode of the word against salvation the throne in the grass remove in a liturgical fashion this world within world remove from him the name within the wild drawn from sleep the river whom I shall send into the proceeding century