Rituals & Magic: A Look at Mesopotamian Incantation Bowls

A strange thing has happened as I navigate grief, and it is this deep need for ritual. In modern American life, there is very little space for communal mourning, and I saw this clearly during the pandemic when such an intense, devastating event passed without collective acknowledgment or healing. When my father died, I felt an instinctive pull toward small rituals that came from within, quiet ceremonies that helped me feel grounded and made me realize how vital ritual can be in the human experience.

This curiosity has opened my eyes to how cultures across time have used ritual not only for funeral rites but also to set intentions, heal, ease sadness, and protect themselves from what they believed was harmful. Both the pandemic and my father’s passing felt dark and senseless, and I still struggle to understand them. At times I even find myself using the word cursed, which feels so unlike the logical, practical person I have always been.

Yet as I sit with grief, I feel a shift taking place within me and within my creativity. I am beginning to see how ritual can shape the objects we wear and worship, pieces meant for protection, healing, guidance, honoring, or setting intentions. Thankfully, there is a world of historical objects to explore, and if you have followed my jewelry journey for a while, you know I love history. I now have a growing list of objects, rituals, celebrations, and stories I am excited to research and share here.

One object that ties into this theme is the Mesopotamian incantation bowl.

Incantation bowls, sometimes called magic bowls, have been found in Iran and Iraq and were made during the Sasanian Empire (224 to 651 AD). This empire was the last of the Persian empires before the spread of Islam throughout the Middle East. During this period, many religions existed side by side. "Sasanian shahs changed their policies on religious tolerance to match their personal beliefs and political ambitions, but for the most part individuals were open to practice what they wanted. Christians, Jews, Mandeans, Zoroastrians, and other religious groups all coexisted in ways that were both harmonious and disastrous." credit

These bowls often contain writing in several languages or dialects, and some include magic spells influenced by the various religions practiced in the region. What I find most fascinating is that they reveal how cultural and religious traditions overlapped and survived. Even as people aligned themselves with organized faiths, earlier practices were still present. Otherwise these bowls would have belonged to one group alone rather than appearing across many communities.

I wrote about this idea of cultural layering in an earlier post on the Mudéjar style of architecture in Spain. I love when we see this blending of traditions preserved in an object. Thousands of incantation bowls have already been unearthed, and researchers believe tens of thousands more may exist.

In the center of many bowls is a figure, often a demon, and one of the most common is Lilith. The story of Lilith stretches deep into Mesopotamia and Jewish mysticism. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the goddess Inanna tends her sacred garden and grows a willow she plans to use for her throne. Lilith, a villain and enemy to Inanna, builds her house in the willow. When Gilgamesh kills the snake at the base of the tree, the commotion startles the bird raising her young there and sends Lilith flying away. She is depicted as a winged spirit with powerful and sinister qualities.

In the Hebrew Bible, Lilith was considered the first wife of Adam and was banished from Eden for refusing to obey him. Though mentioned briefly, her name came to embody dark feminine power. Some stories say she flew out of Eden because she refused to be inferior to a man.

In these bowls, Lilith often appears at the center. She is drawn with wings, long hair, and sometimes breasts filled with poison instead of milk. Around her is a script written by a healer or scribe, forming a spell that begins in the center and spirals outward to the rim.

These spells were meant for protection, healing, love, or counter curses. Archaeological evidence suggests that the bowls were placed upside down to trap the demon beneath them and positioned around homes under windows or porches. Researcher Richard Zettler noted that some were even placed rim to rim and sealed.

Here is one incantation line from the bowl pictured above:

"Bound and sealed are you, all you demons and devils and lilith, by that hard, mighty and powerful and strong binding. Evil lilith that leads astray the hearts of human kind and appears in a dream by night and appears in a vision by day... by the talisman of Meṭaṭron, the great prince that is called the Great Healer of mercies that bless the season, he that subdues demons and devils and evil enchanters and powerful magicians, from the house and from the threshold of Bahram Gušnasp son of Aštad Anahid. Amen Amen Selah." source

What moves me most about these incantation bowls is how they make the unseen visible: fear, hope, healing, protection. They show how people have always tried to soften the unknown with words, symbols, and ritual. There’s something profoundly human in that. As I sketch my own interpretations, I’m realizing that I’m searching for the same thing, a way for objects to hold protection, healing, or meaning. Perhaps that’s where this next chapter of my work begins.

Thanks so much for reading.

Take care for now,

Caitlin

Further Reading:

Magic in the Ancient World

To Catch A Demon

Incantation Bowl

The Story The Bowls Tell

Lilith