🔥 The Maqlû Ritual: Ancient Mesopotamia’s Powerful Spell to Destroy Witchcraft

Imagine a moonless night in the heart of Babylon. A weary woman kneels before a sacred fire, surrounded by clay figurines and the scent of cedar smoke. A priest chants ancient words, his voice rising and falling like the breath of the gods. The fire crackles—not just with heat, but with purpose.

This is the Maqlû ritual, one of the oldest and most powerful magical rites ever recorded. In this final post of our Witchcraft in Ancient Mesopotamia series, we explore this dramatic ceremony designed to break curses, banish witches, and purify the soul.

---

🔮 What Is the Maqlû?

Maqlû (Akkadian for “burning”) was a multi-night, ritualistic incantation series used to counteract the effects of witchcraft. The victim of a curse—believing they were bewitched—would call upon a trained āšipu (magician-priest) to guide them through the ritual.

The rite’s purpose was not only to heal the victim, but to symbolically and spiritually destroy the sorcerer responsible for the attack.

Unlike most Mesopotamian spells, the Maqlû was extensive: nearly 100 incantations across multiple clay tablets, accompanied by complex choreography of actions, chants, and offerings.

---

🌑 When and Where Was It Performed?

The Maqlû was typically performed during the month of Abu (mid-summer), over the course of one night, from sunset to sunrise. Timing was crucial—it had to align with cosmic forces and the unseen world’s rhythm.

The ritual was usually carried out:

• In a private courtyard or sacred space
• At night, under the stars
• In the presence of ritual tools, water, incense, figurines, and fire

---

🗿 Tools of the Spell

The priest and the afflicted person would prepare a symbolic magical toolkit. Common items included:

• Clay effigies representing the witch or witches (unnamed to avoid wrongful accusation)
• Bowls of water or beer, used to drown the effigies
• Cedarwood or date palm incense, burned to drive out evil
• Sacred fire, to consume the witch’s image
• Charms and amulets, placed on the person afterward for protection

Each object was empowered through recitation, transforming it from mundane material into a vessel of magical will.

---

🧙 Ritual in Action: A Night of Fire and Words

The Maqlû unfolded in dramatic stages:

1. Invocation and Preparation

The ritual opened with prayers to the gods, especially Ea, Shamash, and Marduk, asking for protection and justice.

2. Destruction of the Witch

The priest addressed the clay effigies directly:

“O witch, who works evil against me… I melt your heart, I break your spell, I cast your words into ash!”

The effigies were then:

• Burned in fire
• Drowned in water or beer
• Broken into pieces
  Each step symbolized a different kind of spiritual disempowerment.

3. Purification of the Victim

The afflicted person was anointed with oil, washed with water infused with magical herbs, and given protective charms. Final chants called for their restoration to peace, health, and divine favor.

---

👁️ Why It Worked (to the Mesopotamian Mind)

The Maqlû ritual didn’t need to name the witch. The gods would recognize the true source of the curse—and redirect the punishment accordingly. The ritual acted as a cosmic reset, putting spiritual energy back in balance.

Whether or not a real “witch” existed didn’t matter. The ritual provided:

• Emotional relief for the sufferer
• Spiritual closure for the community
• Psychological empowerment for the victim

---

📜 A Legacy Burned in Clay

The Maqlû texts were so important that scribes preserved them in royal libraries like Ashurbanipal’s at Nineveh. They weren’t fringe beliefs—they were mainstream magical science, backed by the temple, the crown, and the people.

Even today, the ritual’s core elements—banishing symbols, fire as transformation, purifying baths—echo in magical practices across cultures.

---

🕯️ Final Reflections

The Maqlû wasn’t just a spell—it was a sacred rite of survival, born from a deep understanding of spiritual balance. In a world teeming with invisible forces, it gave people the tools to defend themselves—not with swords, but with words, will, and flame.

It is a powerful reminder that even in the oldest civilizations, people knew how to fight darkness with fire—and fear with faith.

---

📚 Sources & Further Reading:

• Abusch, Tzvi, and Daniel Schwemer. Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Rituals. Brill, 2011.
• Bottéro, Jean. Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. University of Chicago Press, 2001.
• Finkel, Irving. The First Ghosts. Hodder & Stoughton, 2021.
• Scurlock, JoAnn. Magical Means of Dealing with Ghosts in Ancient Mesopotamia. Brill, 2014.
• The Maqlû Series, British Museum Cuneiform Tablets (BM 47845–47852).