The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies

by Rosemary Ellen Guiley; Philip J. Imbrogno

  Fairies and green djinn are both playful by nature and they love jokes and pranks, most of which are relatively harmless. They enjoy confusing travelers and leading them astray, causing worthless objects to look like great treasures, and wasting people's time. An oral account from the Isle of Man, a place rife with fairies, involves a postman making his deliveries in his horse-drawn cart in 1884. He was on a lonely road at about one o'clock in the morning when suddenly a swarm of red-suited little men came out of the bushes and surrounded him, halting his horse. They jumped aboard his wagon and started throwing the mail bags off. The man loaded them back on, only to have the little men throw them off again, laughing with great glee. Other little men danced wildly in the road. This went on for hours until dawn broke. The little men vanished and the postman was exhausted. Neither he nor anyone else could explain why this attack took place, except that the fairies enjoyed upsetting people.22

  Other acts are harmful to people, sometimes in deadly ways. The djinn lift people up into the air and toss them like toys. According to the scholar Al-Asqar:

  "They have been known to carry people through the wind and take them from place to place ... but this is only done with the evildoers who do not believe in Allah as the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth, or those people who do sinful acts. 1121

  Fairies who feel wronged by people punish them by ripping them through the air at great speed, dropping them down into brambles and brush until they are bloody. A Welsh fairy tale tells of a farm wife who once found a fairy dog, and took it home but treated it cruelly. When the fairies found out, they picked her up and sent her on harrowing flights through the air. She was dipped into bogs and swamps and tossed through briars, until all of her clothes were torn off and she was scratched and bleeding .2' The Sluagh, or "the Hosts," are wicked fairies renowned for their murderous nature. They swoop down and capture mortals, carrying them over land and sea. Then they drop their victims into mud and bogs, sometimes killing them. A Scottish account tells of a child snatched up one night by the Sluagh. It was returned the next day, lifeless, with the palms of its hands stuck into holes in the walls of its house.25 The Sluagh also levitate cattle and abduct them for their food. When they have consumed all the meat, they take the hides and roll up old men in them, and let them fall to the ground.

  They Cause Possession

  Since ancient times, illnesses and afflictions-including strange behavior that today would be diagnosed as mental illness-have been blamed on spirits who have entered a person's body and possessed him or her. Both djinn and fairies are among the types of entities who possess people.

  Sometimes both engage in possessions because they want to experience a human form. Fairies abduct humans during sleep and take them over; they are especially fond of beautiful children. The changeling is such a possession. Lore says that fairies have ugly children, and like to steal attractive human children at night, leaving their own infant in its place. The exchange is more like a possession, however, because the human child undergoes a transformation for the worse that includes physical and mental deteriorations and marked changes in personality. In some folklore accounts, such fairy-possessed children were called "demonic" and "evil."26

  Certainly, some cases of alleged possession in earlier times can be explained by a lack of understanding of disease and illness. However, cases of entity possession seem to be on the rise worldwide. They are usually attributed to demons, but djinn and fairies may also be responsible.

  They Are Weakened by Iron

  In folklore, iron is one of the best and most universal weapons against anything evil: demons, djinn, fairies, vampires, the demonic offspring of Lilith, and a host of other bad supernatural entities. Iron saps strength and power. It is unknown exactly where this belief originated, but it was widespread even in ancient times. One reason may be the fact that human blood contains iron and has an ironlike smell. Iron weapons and tools thus held the sympathetic magic of the life force, and could be used against things not human.

  In some cultures, such as the ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, and Aztecs, iron was sacred and was believed to come from heavenperhaps because iron is found in meteorites. The ancient Greeks and Romans would not allow iron in their temples or sacred rituals because it would repel spirits. For the same reason, ancient Saxons did not use iron rune wands in cemeteries in order to not disturb the dead.

  Both djinn and fairies loathe iron. Recall the earlier story of the enslaved djinn who built King Solomon his temple: the djinn were afraid of having to work with iron tools. Solomon commanded them with a magical ring made of copper and iron, engraved with a talisman, a pentacle. The great king also imprisoned even the most powerful of djinn in bottles made of brass laced with magnetic iron (magnetite) to neutralize their "magic."

  In Arabian lore, great desert whirlwinds were said to be the flights of evil djinn, and could be warded off with the cry of "Iron! Iron!" In India, iron amulets are worn to repel djinn.

  According to the minister Robert Kirk, fairies told him that they were uncertain how their weakness against iron developed, but they knew it could burn them. In the old days when fairies still lived above ground, they discovered they had no protection against the iron swords and weapons of the early human invaders, much to their horror. Worst of all was cold iron, that is, pure iron not smelted from ore and hammered without melting. It was easier to retreat than to confront such weapons. Evidently there were some fairies who were never bothered by iron, or who gained immunity against it, for there are iron-working fairies in lore, especially among the mine fairies.

  To keep fairies away, people used to put sharp iron scissors and tools in their homes. They tried to prevent fairy kidnappings of newborns by putting iron scissors underneath pillows or hanging them over beds. Iron nails and horseshoes were hung over doorways of homes and stables, and sometimes buried beneath thresholds.

  They Mate with and Marry Humans

  Djinn are capable of sexual intercourse, and they marry and breed among themselves. They also intermingle with humans. Not only is this undesirable from a human perspective, it is forbidden according to Muslim law. The Qur'an states that Allah "created for you mates from yourselves that you might find rest in them, and He ordained between you love and mercy."27 This prohibition especially applies to djinn, because they are the closest entities to humans. The offspring of djinn-human unions are considered abominations: they are said to be sterile and aggressive to such a point that they exhibit sociopath behavior. Such children also are said to exhibit great psychic powers and have a strong influence on human beings. The children of a female djinni are said to be invisible, like her, but the children of a male djinni appear more like humans.28

  One alleged offspring of a djinni-human union is the famous Queen of Sheba, who captured the interest of King Solomon. Although the Qur'an never mentions her by name, Arabian stories refer to her as Bilgis.29 According to lore, her father was a human king by the name of Al-Hadhad and her mother was a djinni named Marlis. The story goes that Marlis was pursued by evil djinn (red djinn) and was injured in a battle. Al-Hadhad found her wounded, and rescued and hid her. They fell in love and had a child together.

  When Bilqis was fifteen, she was quite aggressive and uncon- trolable. She quickly rose to the position of queen by eliminating all those who stood in her way. It was said that her methods of persuasion were only surpassed by her beauty, and because of this, Solomon was enchanted by her. The great king's advisors told him he shouldn't become involved with the queen, as she was the daughter of a djinn and a relationship was forbidden by God. Solomon wouldn't let go of his interest, and thought of a way to secretly find out if Bilqis was indeed half-djinn.

  The offspring of a human and djinn were believed to have a great amount of hair on their legs and feet that would give away their true identity. When Solomon invited the queen to his palace, he had the floor that led to his throne made of a shiny, glass-like material. When Bilqis entered the great hall, she thought it was wa
ter, so she raised her skirt, enabling him to see her feet and ankles. He was relieved to see them hairless. However, in an Arabian tale-which many scholars feel is embellished-Bilqis craftily removed all the hair from her legs and feet before visiting Solomon's palace.

  In another version of this story, the djinn spread the lie that Bilqis had the feet of an ass. They knew she was the daughter of a djinni, and if she married Solomon, their children would be even more cunning and powerful than Solomon himself, as they would have djinn blood. The enslaved djinn were afraid that any djinnhuman offspring would further enslave them.

  It is clear from the sparse historical accounts of the Queen of Sheba that, djinn or not, she had considerable power and influence. She influenced the other rulers, including the pharaoh of Egypt, not to attack Israel because she wanted the kingdom for herself. Today, this type of power might be considered a kind of psychic mind control.

  Since the days of the legendary Queen of Sheba, Middle Eastern people of both sexes have claimed sexual unions and marriages with djinn. In the United Arab Emirates is a clan that claims descent from a female djinni, despite their normal appearance. The claim is unsupported.30 Other modern accounts of human-djinn marriages exist. Young men who cannot afford to marry women sometimes visit a priest or sheikh who will marry them to a female djinni. They know the djinni will be jealous and will insist on strange conditions within the marriage. These husbands cannot talk about their djinn wives, or else they will drive them insane or possess them in unpleasant ways. The men cannot look at any mortal female, and they must always knock before entering a room. Stories resembling urban legends are told of the horror that awaits the man who enters a room occupied by his djinni wife without knocking:

  Amira told me about her cousin who was married to a djinni. For a year, he and his djinn-wife had lived happily together, and they even had a son. One day, the man forgot about the stipulation of knocking before entering, and he stumbled upon a horrifying scene. The ginniya had taken on a different shape. She was hairy and ugly with vertical eyes in her black face. She was cooking and their child was crying hungrily in the other room. The moment the man entered, he saw her breast, black and ugly, passing by on its own to feed the baby. The ginniya disappeared, taking her son with her, and never returned again. In Amiss story, her cousin came away relatively unscathed. In other similar cases, the human lover ends up blind or loses his mind.31

  Sometimes the djinn marital partners are described as the qarin, the djinn companion assigned at birth, or a makhawi, a term for djinn who fall in love with humans. If a woman marries a makhawi, they live together as a normal husband and wife. The makhawi appears only at night to sleep with his mortal wife and has certain conditions that must be met. In exchange for having all her needs fulfilled, the wife is forbidden from disclosing the true nature of her husband. If she does, he will mistreat her. It is believed that the most beautiful women of all will be chosen for wives by a makhawi.3Z

  Green djinn can develop fascinations and romantic attachments with humans. While sexual or legal union may not always be the result, the green djinn's infatuation can interfere with normal relationships.

  Fairies are renowned for falling in love with humans and marrying them, producing hybrid children. A love-struck fairy will follow a human around, much like an infatuated green djinn. Fairies try to lure their beloved into their own world, where they can be imprisoned. Sometimes if they cannot succeed with enticement, they resort to kidnapping. In fairy lore, if a young mortal wife or husband dies, they are believed to have been carried off by the fairies. They die to the mortal world, but remain alive in another form in the fairy kingdom.

  Humans may fall in love with fairies and can marry them, for fairies bring many blessings to such a union. A human husbandfairy wife union is more common in lore than the reverse. Sometimes, humans can convince fairies to live in our physical world. Like the djinn-human marriages, human-fairy relationships have conditions. If the human spouse fails to live up to the requirements set by the fairy spouse, the blessings, the marriage, and the fairy vanish.

  One story tells of a husband who is warned by the father of a fairy bride to never strike his wife. If he does so three times, she and all her blessings will disappear forever. In some versions of this story, the husband minds his manners, sometimes for many years, but inadvertently strikes his wife on three separate occasions.

  In fairy lore, the hybrid fairy-human offspring are considered strange, but they are not necessarily abominations. Like djinn-human offspring, they possess unusual supernatural powers.

  Leprechauns

  Leprechauns are among the most famous creatures of Irish lore. They are often called fairies, but may be in a class of their own. Their name derives from the Gaelic luacharma'n, ("pygmy"), or leith brogan ("maker of one shoe"). Originally, the name was used only in a part of northern Ireland, but over time the leprechaun became "nationalized" as one of the most familiar of Irish fairies.

  Leprechauns are described in appearance as old men about two feet tall, often dressed in green or like a shoemaker, with a cocked hat, leather apron, and upturned toes on their shoes. They are jovial when left to their own devices, but are hostile toward humans. Like many djinn, they prefer solitude. They spend their time making shoes for fairies-always one shoe, never a pair. The sounds of their cobbling can be heard in remote areas. They like to drink intoxicating brews.

  Leprechauns are famous for guarding their hidden treasure, usually a pot of gold buried in a secret cache or at the end of a rainbow. Leprechauns are usually invisible, but if one of them is seen and captured, he will promise to take a person to his treasure if allowed to go free. In djinn-like fashion, the leprechaun's promises turn out poorly for humans. En route to the treasure, the person must never take his eyes off the leprechaun, not even for a second, or the leprechaun will vanish. Or, the leprechaun will bargain with false money from one of two leather pouches that he always carries. One holds a silver shilling or coin that returns to the pouch each time it is paid out. The other holds a gold coin the leprechaun uses for bargaining its way out of tough situations. However, the coin turns to leaves or ashes after the human takes it and lets the leprechaun go.

  The tale of Patrick O'Donnell and the leprechaun bears striking resemblance to stories about tricky, wish-granting djinn. Out in the woods one day, O'Donnell found a leprechaun caught on a long black thorn. He offered to help the little fellow in exchange for being taken to his pot of gold. The leprechaun agreed. He took O'Donnell through the woods, trying to trick him into looking away, but O'Donnell was wise to that trick and kept his eyes on the leprechaun. Finally, the leprechaun took him deep into a swamp filled with hundreds of blackthorn bushes. The leprechaun stopped at one, and said the gold was buried beneath it. O'Donnell realized he now had a problem, for he did not have any tools for digging up the treasure. The leprechaun declined further help, pointing out he had fulfilled his end of the bargain. O'Donnell decided to go home and fetch a shovel. Before leaving, he tied his red scarf to the bush so he would be able to find his way back. The leprechaun laughed, knowing he has outwitted the man. Free to go, the leprechaun disappeared. O'Donnell fetched his shovel-but when he returned to the swamp, he found that every thorn bush had a red scarf tied to it. He never found the treasure.33

  In the Leprechaun horror films (four have been released since 1993), the leprechaun becomes even more djinn-like. In the first film, a man steals gold coins from an evil leprechaun, who exacts revenge by killing the man's wife by causing her to fall down stairs. The man imprisons the leprechaun in his basement, using a four-leaf clover as the seal that nullifies the little man's supernatural powers. He attempts to destroy the leprechaun with fire, but collapses of a stroke. He is taken to a nursing home, and the leprechaun is left in a crate. Ten years later, others discover the crate and accidentally release him. The leprechaun goes on a marauding spree of violence in revenge against his imprisonment. He is finally destroyed in a fire explosion-but only t
emporarily, for he can be revived at some point in the future as long as his gold is missing.

  The leprechaun's supernatural abilities mirror those of the djinn: the granting of three wishes that get twisted, levitation, and supernormal strength. In subsequent films, the leprechaun has the power to start fire, bend reality (in earlier times this was called bewitchment or glamour), enter and possess human bodies, regenerate damaged body parts, and create mysterious force fields. Like the djinn in the Wishmaster films, he can survive most attempts to destroy him. Ultimately, however, the human protagonists find a fatal weakness.

  In Closing

  There is considerable overlap between djinn and fairies, and we have touched only on the major similarities. We believe the djinn use many entities as "fronts" for interacting with humans, but fairies, with their diverse traits and rich lore, provide some of the best disguises. Certainly many human involvements with fairies are with fairies. However, the gray and shifting territory shared by fairies and djinn should cause us to reexamine and reevaluate our contact experiences.

  HE PHENOMENA OF UNIDENTIFIABLE OBJECTS seen in the sky have been with the human race since the dawn of history. Although most modern "investigators" are more interested in searching for alien spaceships from other star systems, the answer to at least part of the UFO mystery may not be as easy or apparent. The late Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who was considered to be the world's foremost authority on UFOs, once stated, "I would be disappointed if they (UFOs) all turned out to be someone else's spaceships from another planet. I believe the explanation to the total sum of the UFO experience to be more exotic."' Dr. Hynek spoke of visitors originating not from another planet or galaxy, but from a parallel reality. A parallel reality could also be interpreted as another dimension, and to us, this sounded like the home of the djinn.

  This is not to say that all or even some UFO reports are not extraterrestrial in origin, but we must consider that a certain percentage of these encounters could be djinn manifestations. The UFO experience is quite inclusive in its material, and it is our opinion that some sightings and close encounters are more phantasmic than solid and physical in nature.