Babylonian Devil Trap

Between the third and first Centuries B.C.E. and the 16th Century C.E., Babylonian Devil Traps were common.
These devil traps were terra-cotta bowls inscribed with magical texts or symbols with the purpose to drive away evil.

Hebrew slaves in Babylonia changed the words and text to quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures that invoked God.
One bowl was inscribed with the “bill of divorce” from the devil and all of his monsters. It ordered demons to leave town.
How were these bowls used? They were turned upside down, and buried under the four cornerstones of buildings and houses.

Image from Google search

The Dead Lands :: Book Review

I recently had the pleasure of reading The Dead Lands by Dylan J. Morgan. If you haven’t read any of Mr. Morgan’s novels – or stories for that matter, you really need to!

The Dead Lands takes place in a far away solar system. Two planets revolve around their sun. The story starts on the planet Hemera 100 years before the main story (I want to say 100 years ago, but this is a futuristic story, or I took it that way.) So anyways, Hemera is about to enter a civil nuclear war, and the president of Magna , and his family enter cryptogenic chambers, they’ll awaken in 100 years. The other planet Erebus promised to help the president when his SOS comes.

One hundred years later, we meet Lane an ex-solider now bounty hunter. Tricked into a special mission to save the president of Hemera, he and a group of elite soldiers begin the month long flight to their sister planet. Most of the soldiers in this new squad know about Lane’s past. His ex-girlfriend is one of the squad members. They’re all told this will be a simple mission, life on Hemera won’t offer any resistance because they don’t expect there to be any life.

Their landing doesn’t go as planned, crashing hundreds of miles away from Magna, the squad loses their pilots, the first in a long line of death. Three soldiers are left with the crashed ship, to try to get communications with Erebus working again. The others head out in search for Magna and the president.

Driving the rovers they brought with them, they find deserted dried lands, and crumbling cities. What they’ve expected all along.

Right about here I started wondering if Morgan wrote a book I didn’t expect. Where are the monsters, I asked Lane and the others. Answering me, Hemera natives started appearing, the troop find a settlement, and are told about the mutants living in Magna.

The troop gets to Magna and all he’ll brakes loose. The mutants although primitive can kill easily.

I’m leaving this review here, because I don’t want to ruin any of the suspense, I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning reading, having to know what happens next.

You can buy your ebook of The Dead Lands by clicking on the title. It’s 0.99 cents at time of posting.