---- Regarding
the Watcher
The term Watcher within
the Necronicon
seems to be used rather loosely in some places. It claims that Ningishzida
is the watcher of the Gate to the Underworld. This to me seems to represent
"guardian" or "gatekeeper" as that is her primary roll within the Decent of
Inanna. It mentions the word Gatekeeper once when Ningishzida removes the
jewel of Inanna, all other references seem to be that of "watcher".
It also mentions "watcher" in the 50 names a few times, once as the "watcher
of the skies" (LUGALDURMAH) whom I believe simply "watches" the skies and
does not really guard anything, and again with NARILUGGALDIMMERANKIA who
watches the IGIGI and the ANNUNAKI. Again, I think this is more of a
reference to "pays attention to" rather then guards. Only ASARULUDU within
the Names deals with the Race of Watchers specifically. I'll speak of
ASARULUDU a bit more later on.
Where the
Watchers come from:
According to the "Normal Invocation of the Watcher" they come from
the Underworld (Egurra & Under the Mountains of Kur both references to the
'land of no return'). Though, they are not native to that land. Also see
below concerning their Parents.
The parents of
the Watchers:
If you take the account of the Enuma Elish and compare it to the 50 names
within the Nec it places ASARULUDU, NAMTILLAKU, and NAMRU as the gifts given
to Marduk by Anshar, Lahmu, and Lahamu. This certainly places them above the
race of man and apart from the Race of the Gods because the gods were not
gods until Anshar begot Anu. As such the gods themselves should fear them as
they out rank them by a generation.
The Watchers and
the Covenant:
In The Testimony of the Mad Arab (part 1) it mentions the watchers
and their Covenant between them, the Elder gods and the Race of men. In most
other instances of the Covenant it simply says 'between the gods and man'.
This leads me to believe that since they are apart from the Gods they abide
by another set of Rules all together. Theoretically you can shoo away most
Nec Entities in the name of the Covenant the Watchers will disregard that
type of warning and kill you anyway. As further proof of a different
covenant the watcher seems to be a Protector of sorts. Call upon another
Entity to protect you and you must bind it in the name of a higher power,
the watcher you must make sacrifice too and it does it of it's own accord.
What he looks
like:
According to the The Conjuration of the Watcher he will come in one
of three visages.
1)
A great and fierce dog which prowls about what it guards.
2)
A clean-shaven man wearing long robes and holding an unending stare.
3)
At times he will come as the Enemy, but only to those that have erred, for
they will be devoured by this silent race.
A possible
Reference to the Watcher outside of the Necronomicon:
In "The Devils and evil spirits of
Babylonia" by R. Campbell Thompson M.A. [1903] it has...
tug-šag-ga
alad-šag-ga da-mu kan-gub
Is translated as
May a Kindly Spirit,
a Kindly Guardian stand at my side
(literal spirit-heart spirit-heart side-name(ME)
stand-assignment)
Thompson has translated it as "kindly" but more literally it is a Protector
Spirit. The ancient text does not clarify one way or the other on if it is
actually Nice or Mean. I've found similar references using Alad-sha-ga for a
protective spirit as well.
So I am more then inclined to believe that this race is real and not just a
figment of Simon's imagination.
Summoning the
Watcher:
I will not go into detail about this as it's fully explained in the Nec. It
is well advised that one read, understand and follow the instructions
written within The Conjuration of the Watcher before one even thinks
of summoning this entity!
Banishing the
Watcher:
According to The Conjuration of the Watcher you should give him his
license to depart by striking your left hand upon the hilt of the Sword and
uttering a certain phrase. As the watcher is not of the race of the Gods and
certainly not of the race of man I suspect that typical banishings will do
NOTHING against them. I'd assume even the Banishing Crown of Anu would do
little to stop this entity as in a way he out ranks the very gods one calls
upon within that banishing.
As the Watcher can also be utilized to carry a curse to your victim, or
worse to carry the curse of another priest unto you. It may be advisable to
find a way to dispense of Watcher through other means, possibly through the
aid of ASARULUDU. Though, as for how, I can not tell you.
Though, he does seem to be bound by certain laws concerning the his Covenant
between the Gods and Man. So one may devise a system utilizing the ARRA and
AGGA as they seem to hold some power of the Bandar... though I'm simply
guessing here.
Humor:
I've left the Humor out of this as I do not think it's called for (and the
watcher is NO laughing matter!), but if you are interested check the PSD
homepage and look up possible translations for the word SSARATU.
(TO FART)
Lastly,
there seems to be a way to effect the watcher of another priest though I do
not know how, and it's only speculation...but in The Testimony of the Mad
Arab (Part 2) the Arab's Watcher seems to be afflicted with a disease.
It does not go into any detail on how this could be possible so it may well
be the Arab's powers is waning and effecting his control over the
Watcher...but either way what causes this effect is thus far speculation.
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