The Sorcerer's Realm

1: The Magic Stone of Saddam Hussein

Tyrants create their own twisted reality, and force their people to live, as it were, inside the dictator's skull, and inside his own private drama, endlessly re-enacting it. So complete can this process be that it gives an occult impression: that of a spell cast over an entire country by a master sorcerer. When the tyrant is overthrown or dies, it is as if an entire population is liberated from the spell - there is much relief, but also much surprise, and shame - at being held in thrall for so long.

Of course, this image is the stock-in-trade of a great many fairy and folk tales, legends and in our time, fantasy fiction. It is stock-in-trade because it has a psychological resonance which cannot be denied. But it's more than just metaphor. Astonishingly, many tyrants have used 'real' magical powers and psychic tools not only to control their people, but to gauge and manipulate their own destinies. Tyrants aren't the only ones with an interest in parapsychology and magic applied to government policy of course; democratic governments have also run projects investigating the possibilities of using psychics in intelligence work, for instance. But tyrants have been particularly keen on the whole idea of using the sorcerer's talents, as well as the secret policeman's, the torturer's and the informer's. Tyrants are instinctive manipulators but not necessarily analytical, and often give the impression of not understanding their own rise to, and hold on power. So they place a great deal of stress on the notion of 'Providence', which has ordained their destiny and protects them, but which must also be placated.

The pre-eminent modern example of the sorcerer's realm is Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Many people are no doubt familiar with the details of the repressive state apparatus and vicious practices by which the dictator of Iraq and his cronies kept their hold over Iraq. But few are aware of the fact that Hussein, his family and his circle not only believed in magic but used it in many ways, both to promote superstitious fear in Iraqis, and to also try and 'second-guess' their opponents and protect their own destinies.

Magic has a strange place in Muslim countries. Its practice, but certainly not its existence, is denied by fundamentalist Muslims. As it's mentioned several times in the Koran as being a very real force, it cannot be discounted, but is rather discouraged (and indeed, in some places suspected magicians are in danger of death). Despite this, many ordinary Muslims frequent magicians, faith-healers, fortune-tellers and other practitioners of magical arts. There is, like anywhere else, a great distinction made between good and bad magic, and most magic is carried out using the intervention of either angels or jinn (genies) - the latter being seen as much less reliable than angels, being habitual liars and mischief-makers. Nevertheless, jinn (who can usefully be compared to both fairies and demons in Western imagery - some are good, some bad, some merely highly unpredictable) are considered to be easier to use by ordinary magicians. The belief in such magic cuts across all social classes: though it's more common amongst the less well educated, even educated people often hedge their bets.

Saddam Hussein has always believed in magic. His mother, Sabha, was a peasant woman who sometimes worked as a fortune-teller. Saddam himself was supposed to have inherited some of his mother's psychic gifts, and was reputed to have had modest success in 'studying the sands' and summoning jinn to do his bidding. It was believed by many people in Iraq that he had seven jinn to protect him, and that he spoke daily with the king and queen of the jinn, who advised him. He ordered Baghdad University to set up a department of parapsychology, to investigate methods to use in the Iran-Iraq war, and later to 'mind-read' UN inspectors searching for WMDs in Iraq.

He also personally patronised magicians of all kinds, and had a rotating circle of favourite magicians-including not only Iraqis, but a French Arab, a Turk, a Chinese, a Japanese and an Indian magician, and - wait for it - a beautiful Jewish witch from Morocco! His personal magician, interviewed by a reporter from the Washington Post in Baghdad in 2003, before Saddam's capture, that most of his work for the Hussein family involved 'mostly issues of love, faithfulness and sexual prowess.'

Saddam's son Uday - who was also a firm believer in magic - scouted very actively for magicians and other psychics to come and work for the Hussein family, and indeed advertised on his own TV station for such practitioners to come forward. It wasn't a comfortable post to be in, by all accounts; if Uday or other family members took exception to a prediction or a spell, you might well be imprisoned or even executed. (The magician interviewed by the Washington Post was even imprisoned for six months because Saddam suspected his own wife, no doubt angry with his womanising, had paid the magician to cast a spell to hurt the dictator's leg.)

One or more of these sorcerers, it was said, had made Saddam a special talisman, a magic stone which he wore either around his neck, or had had implanted under the skin of his arm, depending on who you listened to. This stone made him invulnerable, and meant he could not be killed. The fact that the dictator survived several assassination attempts (including one by Mossad, which is regarded in almost supernatural terms by many people in the Middle East), countless plots, the Iran-Iraq war, the first Gulf War, and even the second Gulf War, could only add fuel to the image of Saddam the Sorcerer, arch-manipulator and master of all kinds of forces, historical and parapsychological, whose destiny was protected by dark and dangerous forces, and best not meddled with. Many believers in Saddam's magic powers were profoundly shocked by the TV images of the Master of Magicians being pulled, haggard and dirty, from his hiding place last year. But others believe he is still protected. Saddam's own delusional demeanour at his pre-trial hearing recently suggests the old fox still thinks he is the darling of Providence.

Coda:

As well as being surrounded by images of traditional magic, Saddam Hussein has also been the focus of stories of the 'UFO' variety. These stories appear to have more credence in fringe Western UFOlogist circles than in Iraq, where the more traditional occult images have more resonance. However they also have a following in Iraq as well, and other parts of the Middle East. These stories suggest that as well as housing magicians in his palaces, Saddam had some extraterrestrial guests as well - aliens rescued from a crashed UFO that had landed in the desert. These aliens had taught Saddam and his scientists some amazing bio-technology, including the capacity to bioengineer a race of giant scorpions that Saddam employed as watchdogs outside weapons facilities, and as killing machines. As well, it was claimed in some conspiracy circles that the Iraq war was 'really' about the fact that Saddam, because of his magic powers and his contacts with extraterrestrials, had access to 'stargates' to the so-called 'Planet X', or 'Nibiru', a planet reputedly beyond Pluto which is supposed to be the home of the 'Elohim', otherwise known as angels.

Sophie Masson's latest novel is Snow, Fire, Sword (Random House Australia). She is writing a novel at the moment, The Tyrant's Nephew which is based on some of this material.