Demons, Devils and Djinn by Olga Hoyt

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Demons,

devils,

and

cijinn

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Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn


4/164

Demons,


5/164

Devils,

and

Djinn

OLGA

HOYT

ILLUSTRATED

WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

ABELARD-SCHUMAN

y

New York

London

^

H

An Intext

Publisher

V

XLibrary/ifeG

Vf

/y

Horace Mann

Middle

School

Denver,

Colorado


6/164

For

permission

to

use

copyrighted

materials,

grateful

acknowledgment

is

made

to

the copyright

holders

listed

on

pages

5

and

6

which

are

hereby

made

a

part

of this copyright

page.

All

rights reserved.

No part of

this

book may be

reprinted,

or

reproduced

or

utilized

in

any form

or by

any

electronic,

mechanical

or

other means,

now known

or

hereafter

invented,

including

photocopying

and recording,

or in any information

storage

and

retrieval

system,

without

permission

in

writing

from

the Publisher.

NEW

YORK

LONDON

Abelard-Schuman

Abelard-Schuman

Limited Limited

257 Park Avenue

South

450

Edgware

Road

W2

lEG

10010

and

24

Market Square Aylesbury

Published

on

the same

day

in

Canada by

Longman

Canada

Limited.

Printed

in

the

United

States of

America

Copyright

©

1974

by Olga

Hoyt

Library of

Congress

Cataloging

in Publication

Data

Hoyt, Olga.

Demons,

devils,

and

djinn.

SUMMARY:

Examines

the

many

forms

and

appearances

of

demons

throughout

history

and the

world,

the

charms

which

call them

forth,

and the

spells

that banish them.

Bibliography:

p.

1.

Demonology

—

^Juvenile

literature.

2.

Spirits

Juvenile literature.

[1.

Demonology.

2.

Super-

natural]

I.

Title.

BL480.H69

133.4'2

73-6190

ISBN

0-200-00110-8


7/164

Acknowledgments

The

author

and

pubHsher

wish

to

thank

the

following

for

permission

to

use the illustrations

listed

below:

Aldus

Books

Limited

for the

pictures from The

Supernatural

by Douglas

Hill and Pat Williams,

which

appear

on

pages 80

and 111.

From

the Aldus

Archives.

The

Trustees

of

the British

Museum

for

the picture

on

page

136.

Crown

Publishers,

Inc., for

pictures on

pages

40,

42,

54,

120,

and

131,

taken

from

The

Encyclopedia

of

Witchcraft

and

Demonology

by

Russell

Hope

Bobbins.

©

1959

by Crown

Publishers,

Inc.

Used by permission

of

Crown

Publishers, Inc.


8/164

6

Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn

Alfred A.

Knopf, Inc.,

for the

pictures

from

The

Island

of

Bali

by

Miguel Covarrubias,

which

appear

on

pages

96

and

99.

Copyright

1936,

1937

by

Alfred

A. Knopf,

Inc.,

and

renewed

in

1964,

1965

by Rosa

Covarrubias.

Reprinted

by

permission

of

the

publisher.

Philosophical

Library

for the

pictures

from A

Treasury

of

Witchcraft

by Harry

E.

Wedek,

which

appear on

pages

20,

23,

36,

and

113.

Harald

Schultz

for

the

picture on

page

144.

Singing

Tree Press for

the

pictures

from

Devils by

J.

Charles

Wall,

which

appear

on

pages

26,

69,

and 150.

University

Books, Inc.,

for

the

pictures

from

The

Book

of

Ceremonial

Magic

by

Arthur

Edward

Waite, which

appear

on

pages

61, 109,

and

148,

and for

the

pictures from

The

Mystic

Mandrakeby

C.

J.

Thompson,

which

appear

on

pages

87

and

91.

Reprinted

by

permission

of University

Books, Inc.,

Secaucus,

New

Jersey,

07094.

We

are

grateful for

the

assistance

of

Hans L.

Raum,

Jr.,

in

shooting

the

photographs

for

this

book.

Special

thanks

to Diane

DeVore

for her

rendering

of

the two

drawings

that

appear

on

pages

96 and

99.


9/164

Contents

Illustrations

Introduction

1

Demons

and Devils

2

Djinn

3

Spirits

in Ancient

Babylonia and

Assyria

4

Modern

Spirits

of

the Middle

East

9

11

13

25

34

41

7


10/164

8

Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn

5

Chinese

Kuei 50

6 Demons on

the

Steppes of

Asia

63

7

Demons

in

Japan

68

8

Demons

and

Djinn

of India

74

9

The

Demon

of

the Mandrake

85

10

The Malay Birth

Demon

90

11 Demons

of Bali

93

12 Some

Tales of

Summoning

or

Exorcising

Demons

101

13

The

Nature

of Demons

and Witchcraft

130

14

Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn

Today

143

Bibhography

154

Index

157


11/164

Illustrations

Satan

is

frequently

represented

as

a

goat

or

dragon

20

Reading the

Black

Book

23

The

devil as

a

serpent

26

Assyrian

devil

36

A

drawing of

the head

of

an

evil demon

40

An early drawing

of

a

devil

42

One

of

the

lower order

of

demons

54

Hell Mouth and

the

Devil Chained

61

A

Japanese

devil

69

The Temptation

of

St

Anthony

80

9


12/164

10

Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn

Drawing

of

the

mandrake

female

87

Gathering

of the mandrake with the

aid of a

dog 91

A

demon face

on the

Pedjeng

drum

96

A Balinese demon

or

buta

99

Title

page

of

the

Grimoire

of

Honorius

109

The

devil

carrying oflF

a

witch

111

Demons

represented

as

animals

113

Demoniacal

attack of hystero-epileptic fit

120

Nicholas Remy of Lorraine

131

Witches

and

demons

dancing

in

a ring

136

Exu

and

his female counterpart 144

The

devil

struggling

with

Saint Peter

148

Sculpture of

a

devil

on

Notre

Dame

Cathedral

150


13/164

Introduction

Belief

in

the

supernatural

has

been

part of

man

from

at least

the

time

of

recorded

history.

Whether

belief

in

evil

spirits,

such

as

demons,

devils,

and

djinn,

is

associated

with

religion

—

pagan.

Christian,

or

non-Christian

—

or

whether

it

stems

from

the

folklore

of

various

peoples of

diflPerent

lands,

it is

interesting

to

study.

For

what

people

believed

—

no matter

how

unscientific

and

extraordinary

it

may

seem

to

us

—

tells

us

something

of

the

moods,

feelings,

and

customs

of

their

times.

I

have

made

a random

selection

of

these

evil spirits

accord-

ing

to

no

certain

pattern.

Rather, I

have

cited

those

stories

that

I

hoped

would

give

the reader

a

lively

glimpse

of

the

creatures

that

many

thousands

of

peoples

have

believed

in

through

the

years.

To

some,

demons,

devils,

and

djinn are

still

very

real.

Let

the

reader

decide.

Olga Hoyt

11


14/164


15/164

1.

Demons

and

Devils

One

sunny

July

afternoon

in

1971,

the

telephone

rang

in

the

office

of

the

Reverend

John

J.

Nicola,

assistant

director

of

the

National

Shrine

of

the

Im-

maculate

Conception,

in

Washington,

D.C.

The

call

was

from

a

Virginia

parish

priest

who

wanted

to

consult

Father

Nicola

concerning

a

possible

infestation

or

obsession

of

a

couple's

home

by

the

devil.

Arrangements

were

made,

and

that

evening

Fa-

ther

Nicola

and

the

parish

priest

drove

down

to

a

13


16/164

14

Demons,

Devils, and Djinn

little

Virginia

town

near

Washington,

and

arrived

at

the

house

allegedly

possessed

by the

devil.

There

they

heard the story

of

the

bizarre events

of

the

past

four months

since

the

family

had

moved

into

the house.

Night

after night there

were the

sounds of foot-

steps

running

up

and

down

the

stairs.

There

were sounds of

things moving about the

house,

knocks on

doors, voices

calling

out

of

no-

where—

voices

identical

to

those

of the family

members.

At first

the

whole

family

thought

these

phenomena

must

be

in their

imaginations. But

then one night as

they came

home

late

after

visit-

ing relatives,

they

saw

every

light in the house

flash

on

and oflF,

as

they drove

into the

driveway.

Another

night

the

parents were

watching

televi-

sion

when they heard

glass

crashing

in the kitchen.

There

they

discovered

the clock,

smashed,

face

down

on

the

floor.

Lying

beside

it

was

the

four-

inch

cement spike that

had supported

the

clock

on

the

wall—

it

was

cleanly

cut

in two,

but

the

nail

hole in the

wall

was

undisturbed.

One

day

the

maid was waxing the

piano

stool.

The

piano sud-

denly

jumped

away

and made a

sizable

dent

in

the

oak

mantel

of

the

fireplace. All

these

events

(the

maid quit in

a

hurry) were enough

to

convince

the

family

that the

devil was in

the

house,

and

they

requested

a

formal

exorcism.


17/164

Demons

and

Devils

15

For

several

days

Father

Nicola

pondered

the

matter

of

a formal

exorcism,

which

would

consist

of

addressing

the

demon

directly

and

command-

ing

it

to

depart

from

the

person

he

obsessed

or

the

place

he

infested.

Such

a formal

exorcism

would

require

permission

from

the

local

bishop.

Father

Nicola

decided

against

such

a

course,

but

instructed

the

parish

pastor

to

bless

the

house,

for

as

Father

Nicola

wrote

later

to

the

bishop

about

the

case,

the

blessing

removed

the

anxiety

which

was

responsible,

and

if

perchance

there

was

some

diabolical

influence,

the

blessing

and

infor-

mal

exorcism

was

sufficient

to

terminate

it.

The

pastor

blessed

the

house,

but

when

Father

Nicola

visited

it

a week

later,

as

a

follow-up,

the

family

reported

that

there

had

been

noises

coming

from

the

cellar,

a

part

of

the

house

that

the

pastor

had

forgotten

to

bless.

The

Father

immediately

blessed

the

cellar,

and

the

devil

has not

been

heard

from

in

this

place

since.

The

idea

of

the

devil

is

very,

very

old;

we

know

that

from

the

beginning

of

recorded

history

people

have

believed

in

evil

supernatural

beings,

whether

they

be

called

devils,

demons,

djinn,

or

by

many

other

names.

Devils

were

associated

with

evil,

the

gods

and

angels

with

the

good;

and

even

as

people

worshiped

their

gods long

before

the Christian

era,

they

feared,

revered,

and

placated

their

devils. An-


18/164

16

Demons,

Devils, and

Djinn

cient

religious

legend

tells

of

Lilith,

a

winged

de-

moness of

Assyria with

long

disheveled

hair,

who

was

created

by God out

of filth and

mud over 5000

years

ago.

That

legend

says

she

was

Adam's first

wife, and

from their joining came

hundreds

of

lesser

demons,

closely

related to

human beings,

but

inhumah.

(Eve

appeared

on

the

scene

much,

much

later.)/

Fifty centuries of

history show

varied

and

conflictmg

views

of

such

devils

and demons.

Some say

they are

evil

intelligences

who wait

to

pounce upon

man,

always

scheming

to

overturn

the

order established by

the gods.

These

demons

have

alarming power,

but

can

be

subdued

by

strong

magicians. Others hold that the

devil

is

the

magician's

associate,

as

in witchcraft, and that the

devil can be

wooed

to do

one's

bidding.

The ancient

Greeks tell of heroic

struggles

be-

tween the

gods

and the demons and

devils.

They

believed

a

secret

name

controlled

the

whole

uni-

verse,

including the

gods.

He

who

spoke

this

fear-

some

name

could

be

heard by

the

demons and,

when

they heard it, the demons cowered;

the

sun

and the

earth turned about; hell was

troubled;

riv-

ers,

seas, and

lakes

were

frozen;

rocks

were

shat-

tered into

hundreds

of

pieces.

In the

seventh

cen-

tury

B.C. the great

god Ea

of the

Assyrians

knew

the

magical name.

He

was

called

upon

to

fight

against

seven horrible

demons called

maskim who

lay in

wait

to

harm

human

beings,

and

as

he

went


19/164

Demons

and

Devils

17

to

battle

he

uttered

the

secret

name.

This

name

alone

can

subdue

the

maskim,

the

Assyrian

story

said,

and

it

was

written

down

on

clay

tablets.

When

it

is

uttered

everything

bows

down

in

heaven,

on

earth

and

in

the

infernal

regions.

The

gods

themselves

are

bound

by

this

name

and

they

obey

it.

These

maskim

were

the

evil

counterparts

of

the

gods.

They

were

crafty

devils,

who

lurked

in

am-

bush,

preparing

to

spring

upon

their

victims

just

as

later

the

Arab

ghul

of

the

same

part

of

the

world

set

traps

and

waited

in

hiding

for

unwary

travelers.

In

ancient

times,

there

was

a

widespread

belief

in

evil

supernatural

beings,

but

these

beings

could

assume

many

diflFerent

shapes.

Thus,

in

ancient

art

and

statuary

we

see

the

mingling

of

human

and

animal

forms,

such

as

the

man-faced

bulls

of

As-

syria

and

the

various

animal-headed

gods of

Egypt.

Probably

from

Egypt

the

Greeks

and

Romans

ac-

quired

the

centaurs

(half-man,

half-horse),

mino-

taurs

(half-man,

half-bull)

and

the

half-goats,

half-

men

that

were

satyrs

and

fauns.

From

these

early

animal

types

came

the

representations

of

the

devil,

during

the

Dark

Ages,

or

Middle

Ages.

At

that

time,

the

devil

was

pictured

as

a black

naked

figure,

half-man,

half-goat,

with

a

long

tail,

horns,

and

cloven

feet.

From

then

on demons

and

devils

could

be

found

in

all

forms,

sometimes

human,

sometimes

not.

The

devil

might

be

a

tortoise

with


20/164

18

Demons,

Devils, and

Djinn

a

man's

face

and

feet, or

a

cooking

pot

with

arms

and legs. As

the

belief

in devils spread in European

society

and the devil

was

feared

as

the patron of

witches, the

Christian Church began

to

portray

him

as a

hideous,

frightful,

and evil

being.

Under

religious instruction the

people

became terrified

of

the

devil.

The

Church

encouraged

this

attitude,

for the Christian

devil

was

the

archenemy

of

God

and

the

religious

hierarchy. 'Even leaders

of the

Church said

they saw

devils. The

Christian

his-

torian

and philosopher,

St.

Augustine, for example,

did

not believe

that

devils

possessed fleshly

bodies,

but

he

believed that they did exist

in

some form,

and

were visible

to

mortals.

St.

Jerome,

the

church

scholar of the

third

century A.D.,

wrote

of

devils

with half-human

bodies. He

believed

that

these

beings,

little men with

curved

nostrils,

and horns

and

feet

of

goats,

came

from

the

lower

world.

The

clergy in

the

seventeenth century told

their parish-

ioners

that

if

they

did

not

obey

all

the

teachings

of

the Church,

they

would

be

cast

into

blazing

fires,

hung

up by

their

tongues,

to

sizzle

and

roast as

devils pranced around.

In

Europe

the

devil was

often

seen

as

a

serpent,

a shape

that

seems

to

be the oldest

attributed to

him.

From

this

concept

he

developed

—

to

many

into

a

dragon,

a sort of

serpent

with

wings,

some-

times

having the

head

of

a

lion,

sometimes

that of

a man,

and

at

other

times

that

of

a

crocodile.


21/164

Demons

and

Devils

19

Some

students

of

demonology

believe

that

the

modern

devil

had

his

early

roots

in

the

great

god

Pan

of

Greek-Roman

times.

Pan

was

the

god

of

nature,

partly

joyous,

partly

terrible.

Gradually,

over

the

ages,

the

bright

side

of

Pan

was

lost,

and

the

devil

assumed

more

bestial

and

ferocious

char-

acteristics.

Just

as

there

were

many

views

about

the

devil's

appearance,

there

were

many

views

as

to

what

the

devil

could

do,,

and

how

he

could

be

threatened,

controlled,

or

exorcised

(driven

out).

In

Europe

in

medieval

times,

images

of

cocks

were

placed

atop

and

around

churches,

because

of

the

belief

that

the

devil

could

assume

the

shape

of

a lion.

The

lion

and

the

cock,

the

people

said,

were

mortal

enemies.

Goblins

(malicious

spirits)

were

carved

in

the

moldings

of

churches

to

scare

oflF

lesser

demons,

but

usually

a

cock

was

placed

on

a

swivel,

to

turn

in

all

directions

with

the

wind,

and

frighten

away

the

devil.

The

cock

was

gilded

to

shine

out

brightly,

so

the

devil

could

not miss

seeing

him.

This

device

has

come

down

to

us

as

the

weather

vane.

In

addition

to

the

cock,

there

were

several

other

ways

of

frightening

away

demons

and

devils.

Salt,

for

example,

was

considered

an antidemoniac

because

it

is

a

preservative.

Demons,

being

crea-

tures

who

corrupt

and

destroy,

shy

away

from

salt.

In

the

same

way

the

demons

were

supposed

to

fear


22/164

In

medieval

witchcraft,

Satan

is

frequently

represented

as

a

goat

or

dragon to

whom

homage

is

paid

by

all

the

practitioners

of

the

black

arts


23/164

Demons

and

Devils 21

iron,

which

was

beUeved

to

come

from

the

sky

and

thus was

heavenly.

As

the Middle Ages

progressed,

fears grew

and

everything possible

was done

to

keep the

devil

away.

Besides fearing for

their

souls,

people came

to

believe

that the

devil

could

possess

human

bodies.

It

was

thought there were

two

ways

he

might

do

this.

The devil could

act as an indepen-

dent

agent;

or

he

might be

used

by

a

magician,

or

a

witch.

Actually

the

idea of demoniac possession

is ancient and

universal.

Skulls of aboriginal dwell-

ers of

Peru

(from

a

time long before

the discovery

of America)

indicate

trepanning,

or cutting

open

the

skull.

These

ancient

Peruvians

believed

that

demons

could

inhabit

the head,

and

the only

way

to

get

rid

of them

was to cut

open

the

skull

and let

the demons

come out.

Trepanning

was

later

done

in

Europe on epileptics.

Europeans

believed

that

all

epileptics

were possessed

and

that

the

only cure

was

to

take the

demons

out

of

the head.

Throughout history, people

have

tried

to

sum-

mon

the

devil

to do

their specific

bidding,

usually

to

obtain

riches,

a

lover,

or

for

revenge

on

ene-

mies.

This liaison with the

devil

caused

many

inno-

cent

(and

sometimes

not-so-innocent)

persons

to

lose

their

lives during

the

witch-hunts

in

Europe,

starting

in

the eleventh

and

twelfth

centuries,

and

culminating

in dreadful

trials

and

executions

in the

fifteenth,

sixteenth,

and

seventeenth

centuries.


24/164

22

Demons,

Devils, and Djinn

Witches

were

tried

because

the

authorities

said

they had

pacts

with

Satan

—

the

devil.

These

witches were

accused

of

anti-Church and

antiso-

cial activities,

and the

treatment

meted

out

by the

witch-hunters

was shocking.

Yet

it was not strange

that belief in

demons and

devils

would

be very

strong in

Europe

at

the

time, since

it

had

existed

for centuries.

For

example,

grimoires (magical

textbooks) have

been

known

for

hundreds of

years.

One

of

the ear-

liest and most

complete grimoires, which

dates

from

about 100

to

400

A.D.,

was

called the Testa-

ment

of

Solomon, after King Solomon of

Israel in

the

tenth

century

B.C.

This

grimoire

was

supposed

to

represent

Solomon's

own ideas. It catalogued

demons and

described the

princes

of evil, the

fallen

angels, and

the

great

lords of darkness.

The

most

important

aspect

of this

work was

that it

proclaimed

that

Solomon had

power

over all

devils,

a

power

he

received

through

a

magic

ring

brought

to

him

by an

angel

of

God.

This

and

later

grimoires

spelled

out

who

the

devils were, what

their

functions

were, and

how

they

could

be com-

manded,

or

brought

under control.

In the Testa-

ment

of

Solomon,

Beelzebuth was the

prince

of

devils;

Asmodeus

was

the devil

of

lust

who

was

part

spirit

and part

man.

(The

names of the

devils

came

from

Jewish,

Greek,

Egyptian,

Assyrian, Baby-

lonian,

and

Persian

sources.)

All

these

demons had

/


25/164

Reading

the

Black Book.

The Black Book was

a

grimoire,

a

manual

for invoking,

commanding,

and

controlling

demons

and

spirits

of

the

dead

specific functions and areas

of

operation.

One

strangled

babies,

one

wrecked

ships, one

set

fire

to

crops,

many brought diseases

(each

demon repre-

sented

a

specific

disease,

such

as

fever,

or

migraine

headaches, or eye

ailments, or

inflammation

of the

tonsils).

Later

grimoires listed the

three

supreme

powers


26/164

24

Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn

of

evil as

Lucifer,

Beelzebuth,

and

Astaroth.

When

called

by

a

magician

to

appear,

Lucifer

came

as a

handsome boy, Beelzebuth

as a

huge

fly,

and As-

taroth

as

a

black-and-white human

figure.

By

the end of the thirteenth

century

someone

cataloged

1,758,064,176

devils, and

even

so august

a

personage

as

the Blessed

Reichhelm

of

Schoen-

gan,

a

German

churchman of the

same

period,

claimed

actually

to

see

these

devils as

rain and

as

the

dust

sometimes

seen

in

a

sunbeam.

By

the

six-

teenth century,

Jean

Wier, physician

to

the

Duke

of

Cleves,

argued

that

there

were

only

7,409,127

devils.

He

went

much further;

he

chronicled the

complete

hierarchy

of hell, listing

the princes

of

death,

as

well

as

the

land of

tears,

fire, justice,

hell,

and the infernal

armies,

one by one. He even

named

the

demons

who were

hellish

ambassadors

to certain

countries;

they included

Mammon

(En-

gland),

Belial (Turkey),

Rimmon (Russia), and

Thamuz

(Spain).

These

men

who

wrote

so

as-

suredly

about the

underworld

were

not

eccentrics,

or

mentally

unstable.

They believed, just

as

almost

all

people of

their

times believed,

in the real

exis-

tence

of

demons and

devils.

Perhaps

it

is

the

nature

of man

to

believe

in the

supernatural

and

in

the

existence

of

evil

beings.


27/164

2.

DjINN

The

demons

of

the

Arabic

world

are

called

djinn,

a name which

means

covert

or

darkness.

These

fearful, crafty,

mischievous,

and

destructive

beings,

the

Arabs

say,

were

created

out

of

fire thou-

sands of

years

before

Adam.

The Arabs

believed

in these

demons long

before

the

time

of

Mohammed

(around

600

A.D.).

To

them

the djinn

(singular,

djinnee)

were

usually

invisible,

but

they

were

capable of

assuming

various

forms at

will, especially

those

of

snakes,

lizards,

and

scor-

pions.

25


28/164

26

Demons,

Devils, and

Djinn

These

djinn could

be

very dangerous

to

man. In

ancient

Arabia

a

man named

Harb,

the

grandfa-

ther of the

supreme

ruler,

the Khalif Mu awiya,

and

a

companion began

to

clear

some marshland

for

cultivation. They

set

fire

to

the

marsh and

flushed

many white serpents

out

of the burning

weeds.

Immediately

thereafter

both

men

died,

The

devil

as

a serpent.

Demons and

djinn

were

thought

to

take

the

shapes ofmany

different

creatures


29/164

DjiNN

27

and

everyone

believed

that

the

snakes

were

djinn,

who had

killed

the men

for

disturbing

their

home.

Many

other

stories told

of

men

who had

been

car-

ried oflF or killed

by

these evil

djinn,

as

they

were

known

to

be

physically

very

powerful.

Sometimes

they

rode

upon

ostriches

in

the desert;

sometimes

they

stayed

near

grazing

lands,

thus

preventing

the cattle from

drinking.

Often

they

lurked

in

lonely

places.

An

Arab clan of

Mecca once

suflFered

so

many

disasters perpetrated

by the devil

djinn (drinking

all the

water, killing

the

vegetation,

pulling

down

camels' feet)

that

they

decided

on

revenge.

The

men

marched

out

and

killed

as

many

snakes,

bee-

tles,

and

other crawling things

as

they

could. They

killed

so

many

crawling things that

the

djinn were

forced

to

sue for

peace

and agreed

to

stop

their

diabolical

behavior.

The ancient

Arabs

believed

that there were

vari-

ous

classes

of

djinn;

among

these

the

most

danger-

ous but inferior

of

all

were

the

female ghul

(or

ghool).

These evil djinn ate

men,

and could

appear

in

the

form of

a

human being,

or in the

shape

of

various

animals. Usually

they

were

described

as

hideous

monsters. An ancient poet

spoke

of how

a

ghul

came

one

night

to

a

fire

which

he

had

built.

The

man, fearing

danger,

cut

ofi'her

frightful

head,

a

cat's head but with

a

forked

tongue.

This

ghul

also

had

legs

like

those

of

a

premature

baby,

all


30/164

28

Demons,

Devils, and

Djinn

limp

and

skinny,

and her skin

was hairy like

a

dog's.

The ghul

generally

lay in

wait

at

some

place

where

men would come.

Sometimes

she

enticed

them

to her lair;

sometimes

she

even

robbed

graves

and

fed

on

corpses.

Another

type

of

demon

in

the ancient

Arab

world

was the

sealdh (or saalah). This djinnee

was

found in

the forests, and

when it captured

a

man

it

made him

dance, while

the demon played with

him

as

a cat

plays

with

a mouse.

In the islands of

the

Red

Sea

and the Persian

Gulf

lived

another

demoniacal

being,

the delhdn,

which

had the form of

a

man

and rode

an ostrich.

This creature

ate

the flesh

of men who had

been

cast

ashore

from

shipwrecks. Many Arabs

believed

that

when

a delhdn attacked

a

ship

the

mortals

might

fight,

but

all the

delhdn had to do was

utter

a

mighty

cry which made the human beings fall on

their

faces

—

then they were

easy

victims.

With

the coming of

Islam,

the

Moslem faith,

Arabs

began

to believe that

there

could

also

be

good

djinn

(these were

djinn

who accepted

the

Islamic

religion)

as

well

as

the

diabolical.

The

primitive

superstitions of

the

ancients

were gener-

ally

accepted

by

the

Mohammedans,

not

only

in

Arabia,

but

throughout

the

expanding Moslem

world,

as

that

religion

spread

east

across

the

Eu-

phrates

and

west

into

Africa and

the Caucasus.


31/164

DjiNN 29

The

Moslems

believed

that

God made

diflFerent

species

of intelligent

beings:

angels

who were

created

of light, men

who

were

created

of the

dust

of the earth,

and the

djinn.

There

were

five orders

of

djinn:

the jann,

the

djinn,

the sheytdns

(or

devils),

afreets,

and

marids.

The

chief of

the

evil

djinn

was

the

fallen

angel,

Iblis,

the Prince

of

Darkness,

who had five

sons:

Teer,

who brought

about calamities, losses,

and

injuries;

El-Aawar,

who encouraged debauchery;

Sot,

who

suggested

lies;

Dasim, who caused

hatred

between man

and

wife;

and

Zelemboor, who hov-

ered over places of

traffic,

creating

mischief of all

kinds.

These

wicked

demons live in the

lowest

firmanent of

the heavens

(in

the air)

and

haunt

caves, wells, the

woods,

the

hilltops,

and the

wil-

derness.

They have the power

of

taking

on

any

shape they

like,

thus

becoming

visible to

humans.

They

can take

the

form of

serpents,

scorpions,

lions,

wolves,

jackals.

They

can

even

take

posses-

sion of living

people,

from

whom they

then

have

to

be exorcised

by

charms

and

incantations.

It is

believed that all

djinn

belong to

one of

three

areas:

the

land, the sea,

and the

air. In

Arab

legend

it has

been

stated

that

the

djinn

comprise 40

troops

of

600,000

djinn

each.

The

djinn are

of

three

basic

shapes. One kind

have

wings

and

fly;

another

are

snakes

and

dogs;

and the

third

move

about

like

men from place

to

place.

In

human

form,

they

may


32/164

30 Demons, Devils,

and Djinn

assume

the

size

of

an

ordinary

manjj or

they

may

appear

as

giants.

If

they are

good djinn,

they

are

extremely

handsome;

if

they

are

evil

spirits,

they

are

hideous. Djinn

can

become

invisible

at will,

suddenly

disappearing

into

the

earth

or

air

or

even

through

a

solid

wall.

Good

djinn are

friendly

to

men,

and

they

live

all

over

the earth and in

the

space above

the earth.

They inhabit

rivers,

wells, ruined

houses,

even ov-

ens;

they

can be

found in

baths, marketplaces,

crossroads,

and the

sea.

Because

the

djinn

are in

the

waters,

often

when the Arabs

pour

water

on

the ground,

or

enter

a bath, or

let down

a

bucket

into

a well,

they

say Destoor, or

Destoor

yd

mubarakeen

( Permission,

or

Permission,

ye

blessed ),

so

that

the

good

djinn will

not be

oflFended.

The

good

djinn

are Moslems

and the

oth-

ers

are

infidels. The

good djinn assiduously

per-

form

their

religious

tasks

—

prayers, almsgiving,

fasting,

and

the

pilgrimage

to

Mecca

—

although

they

are

generally

invisible

to

human

beings

at

the

time.

The

evil djinn

are

capable of almost anything,

from

carrying

oflF

beautiful women

to

standing

playfully

on

roofs

of

houses and throwing

down

bricks

and

stones

on

passers-by.

Evil

djinn

often

take

over

uninhabited

houses, and

woe

be

it

to

the

human

being

who

tries

to move into

such

a

house.

These

djinn

also steal provisions from

inhabited


33/164

DjINN

31

houses.

When

people

lock

their

doors

and

cover

the

breadbasket

or

anything

containing

food,

they

sometimes

appeal

to the djinn:

In

the

name

of

God,

the Compassionate,

the

Merciful,

and

hope

that

the demons

will

leave

their

household

goods

alone.

Some

of the

evil

djinn

work hand-in-hand

with

Arab fortune tellers. The djinn

go up to

the

low

heaven

and listen

to

the conversation

of the

angels

which

deals with

the predestined

actions

of man-

kind

(predestination

is an Islamic belief) and then

report

on future

events

to

the

fortune

tellers.

If

the

angels detect

these

evil djinn, they hurl shooting

stars

at

them

from

heaven.

That

is

why

when

an

Arab

sees a

shooting star

(meteorite)

he

often

shouts

out:

''

May

Go

d

t

ransfix the

enemy of

the

faith. Evil

djimT^e sometimes

killed

by

other

^mn,

and

even sometimes

by men.

Since

they

were created

of fire,

it

circulates

in

their veins

and

spews

forth

when

they

are

fatally

wounded,

con-

suming

them

to

ashes.

Man

must always beware

of

the

evil

djinn,

for

they

can

even

manipulate

natural

phenomena.

The

zoba'ah,

a

huge,

tall

pillar

of a

whirlwind

which

raises sand and dust

across

deserts

and

fields,

is

believed

to

be

caused

by

the

flight

of an

evil

djinnee.

When

the

zoba'ah

is

seen,

an

Arab can

only

defend

himself

from the

djinnee

by

exclaim-

ing,

'Allahu akbarr ( God

is

most

great ),

or

call


34/164

32

Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn

out,

''Hadeed

Hadeedr

Clvonllvonr) or

''Hadeed

yd mashoom '*

C^Tonl

thou unlucky ). As

with

the^

demons

and devils

of other lands, the

djinn

are

suppossed to dread iron.

Evil djinn can

work along with

a

superior

devil

to

perform

satanic

magic. They can

help

discover

treasure,

and

they

can

help

possess

people

who

are

then paralyzed, or die,

or are afiFected

with

a great

passion for certain objects, or

even transformed

into brutes

and

birds.

Men can summon djinn

by

means of talismans or

certain invocations, and the

mastery

of these

is

an

art

of

the

Arab

world.

In

the

lore

of

the

occult,

the

most

renowned ruler of

the

djinn

was

King

Solo-

mon

of Israel

(973-933 B.C.),

who, said

the

ancient

students

of the occult, had absolute

power

over

these

spirits after

the angel

from

heaven gave

him

a

magical

seal

ring

composed of

brass

and

iron,

and

engraved with

*'the

most great

name

of God.

With

the

brass

portion of the

ring Solomon

stamped

out orders

to

the good

djinn;

with the

iron

portion

he

stamped out

orders

for the

demons.

Solomon's

power

was

supreme,

not

only over

the

djinn

whom

it is

said

he ordered

to

help

build

the

temple

of

Jerusalem, but

over the winds,

over

wild

beasts,

and

over

birds.

These

stories

come

from

Arab

sources,

not Hebrew.

Solomon

was

one

of

the

many

biblical

figures who

loomed

large

in

Moslem

religious

history.


35/164

DjiNN

33

It

was

a

rare

man

like

Solomon

who

could

con-

trol

the

djinn;

most of

the

peoples

of

the

early

Arab

world, and

the

world

which

later

embraced

Mo-

hammedanism,

believed

in

and

respected

these

oflFspring

of

fire,

placating

the

good and

the

evil

djinn

who

were ever

present

in

their

lives.


36/164

3.

Spirits

in Ancient

Babylonia

and

Assyria

In

ancient

Babylonia

and

Assyria,

the

land

be-

tween

the

two great rivers, Euphrates and

Tigris

(which

now

comprises parts of Iran and

Iraq), the

people

lived in

constant fear of demons.

Long

before the

birth

of

Christ,

gods

and goddesses

were

closely

associated

with

the activities

of

demons.

Sickness

and all

bodily

suflFering

were

attributed

to

demons,

and that

belief

was

transmitted through

the

ages

to

much later

civilizations.

The

demons of

the

Fertile

Crescent

had

two

34


37/164

Spirits

in

Ancient

Babylonia and

Assyria

35

methods

of

entering

a

human

body:

either

they

came

in of their

own

accord, or they

came because

they

had been called

by

sorcerers

who

had

the

power

to

bewitch.

But no

matter

what method

the

demons

used to

enter

a

body,

gods and

goddesses

could

drive

them

out. The

deities

were

very

touchy

about demons.

They

were

sometimes

ofiFended

by

individual human beings, or

by the

very

fact

that

human sorcerers had the power

to

send the

demons into human beings. Whatever the

case, to

stay

healthy

one

had

to

have

the

good

will

and

approval of the deities.

If one became ill

the

people

believed

it

was

surely because

the

gods

had

been

angered

by

some

sin

and had

sent

the

de-

mons

into

the body. A

headache,

a

cramp, a shoot-

ing pain,

a

high fever

—

all were

attributed

to

de-

mons.

The

pains were only

symptoms;

what

had to

be

done

was to

force the

demon

out

of the

body.

The demon must be

exorcised.

It

was

impossible

to

know

just

where

and

when

the demons

lurked;

they were

ordinarily

invisible,

but they

could

assume

a

human

or

animal

shape,

or

a

mixture of the

two.

They

could

slide

through

doors

and hide in

out-of-the-way

places,

waiting

to

pounce upon victims.

The

people

of

these

ancient

lands

knew

the

demons

were

cruel,

horrible-look-

ing,

bloodthirsty,

fearful,

dreadful

creatures.

Any

poor human

being

who was

at

all

dijfferent

physi-

cally from

other

human

beings

had

to

beware,

for


38/164

36

Demons, Devils,

and Djinn

people

believed

the

demon

might

well

have

as-

sumed that

human form. Giants and dwarfs,

the

crippled and the

deformed,

and

even

human

be-

ings

with

a

cast

eye

could

be

charged

as demons.

A series

of incantations,

used to

appeal

to

the

gods

to

drive

out

the demons, was found in the

library

of

Ashurbanapal,

once

King

of Assyria

(668-

626

B.C.). These

formulas

were

important

to

the

Assyrian

devil. Symbolic

representations

of the

devil

were

some-

times in

the form

of

a

known

animal and

sometimes

in

part

human,

part

animal

form


39/164

Spirits in Ancient

Babylonia

and

Assyria 37

people,

for

not

only did

they

contain

a

systematic

classification

of all

the demons,

but

a

large

number

of

them were

used

in

rites

to

exorcise

the demons.

These

were

not

original

with

the Assyrians,

but

adapted

from

peoples

long

dead,

the

Babylonians

and

men of Ur, that

most

ancient of Fertile

Cres-

cent

cities.

In

these

incantations,

demons were listed

and

defined:

there

were

many

difi'erent

types

and they

had

many difi^erent

names,

but

they

all

had

very

special

functions.

For example, labartu, a

dreadful

monster

with

a

swine

sucking

at

her breasts, was

the

demon

who

threatened

the

life

of

a

mother

at

childbirth. A

whole group of

demons

were known

collectively as

ashakku:

they

caused

all

kinds

of

wasting diseases.

Headache

with

fever

was

caused

by the demon

tVu.

(The demon

and

the

disease

were considered

to

be

one

and the

same.)

Akh^

khqzu

was

the seizer

(causing

convulsions),

and

his

name

was

also

the

name

for

jaundice.

Rabisu

was the

one lying in

wait.

Labasu

was

the

over-

thrower:^

etimmu

was

the

gKost

suggesting

de-

mon identification

with

the

dead

who

returned

to

plague

the living,

and

namtar

was

pestilence.

In Babylonia and

Assyria a

group

of

seven

de-

mons

had

great

renown.

Mention

of

them

fre-

quently

occurs

in

texts,

and

they

are

depicted

on

monuments.

They

are

described

on

one

cuneiform

tablet

as

follows:


40/164

38

Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn

Seven, they

are

seven.

In

the

deep

they

are

seven.

Settling in heaven

they are

seven.

In

a

section

of

the

deep

they

were

nurtured;

Neither male

nor female

are they,

Destructive

whirlwinds are they.

They

have no

wife,

they

produce

no

ofiFspring.

Mercy and

pity

they

know not.

Prayer

and

petition they

hear not.

Horses raised in the mountains are

they.

Hostile

to

Ea

are they.

Throne

bearers of the

gods

are

they.

To

hem

the way they

set

themselves up in the

streets.

Evil

are they, they are seven, twice seven

are

they.

(The

Ea

mentioned

was

the

god

of

humanity and

was considered the

friend

of

mankind.)

Here

is

the

description

of

the

demon

ti'u,

the

demon

of head troubles and fevers:

The

head disease roams

in the

wilderness,

raging

like

the

wind.

Flaming

like lightning, tearing along 'above

and

below.

Crushing him

who

fears

not his

god

like

a

reed.

Cutting

his sinews like

a

khinu-reed.

Maiming

the

limbs

of him

who

has not a

protecting

goddess,


41/164

Spirits

in

Ancient

Babylonia

and Assyria

39

Glittering

like

a

star

of

heaven,

flowing

like

water,

Besetting a man lik^

a

whirlwind,

driving

him

like

a

storm;

Killing that

man.

Piercing another

as

in

a

cramp.

So

that

he

is

slashed

like

one

whose

heart has

been

torn out.

Burning

like

one

thrown into the fire.

Like a wild

ass

whose

eyes

are clouded.

Attacking

his life, in league with

death.

So

is

Ti'u,

who is

like

a

heavy storm whose

course

no

one

can

follow

Whose

final goal no one knows.

These ashakku, the

group

of

demons

that

caused diseases, were

invisible and

could be

found

anywhere:

He stands

at the

side

of

a

man, without

anyone

seeing him.

He sits

at

the side of

a

man,

without

anyone

seeing

him.

He

enters

a house,

without

anyone

seeing

his

form,

Ha

leaves

a

house,

without

anyone

observing

him.

Because demons

were

so

ever

present

in

these


42/164

40

Demons,

Devils,

and

Djinn

lands,

it

became

important

to

know

how

to

exor-

cise

them,

and

the

ancients'

literature

is

filled

with

manuals

and

textbooks

to guide

the priests

in

their

difficult

tasks. Always

demons

were

a very

real

and

constant

source of

dailger

to

all

mankind.

A drawing

of

the head

of

an

evil

demon


43/164

4. Modern

Spirits

OF THE

Middle

East

The

ancient

lands

of

the

Middle

East

have

always

been

the

home

of

hundreds

of

demons,

genii,

ghuls, afreets,

and

other

supernatural

creatures.

Who has not

heard of

Aladdin

and

his

magic

lamp

or

the

genii

of the

many

other

tales

of the

Arabian

Nights?

These

are

stories

and

legends,

but

in

truth

the

natives of these

lands

believed

that

magic

was

a

matter of everyday

occurrence,

and

it

has

been

so

right

up

to

the

present

time.

Early

in this

cen-

tury

a

traveler,

making

his

way

through

the

deserts

41


44/164

An

early

drawing

of a

devil


45/164

Modern Spirits

of the

Middle

East

43

of

Egypt,

came

to

a

palm

plantation

with

a

small

village

around it,

near

Qasr

Dakhl.

In

this

oasis,

the

traveler

found

a

group

of

Arabs

discussing the

story of

a

foreigner

named

Rohlfs,

who

was

remembered

well

by many

of

the

natives.

None

of

the Arabs

knew

where

the foreigner

had

come

from or where he

later

went;

everyone

knew

the

tale, however)

Rohlfs had visited

the oasis many

years

before,

coming

to

Dakhl

to

dig

for buried treasure

in

the

Der

el

Hagar,

a

stone

temple near Qasr

Dakhl.

Rohlfs

had

employed

many

men for

the excava-

tion, but

since

the treasure

was

guarded

by

an

afreet

(a

spirit)

the

Arabs

were

unable

to

find

it.

They dug

and

dug,

but

still

no

riches.

Rohlfs be-

came

very

angry and

very

disappointed at

spend-

ing

so

much time

and eflFort

without

finding

the

treasure. One

day he decided

to

outwit

the afreet.

He sent

all the

men

out

of

the

temple,

who

then

gathered

together

and

sat

on

the

ground

a

short

distance

away.

Rohlf

took

a

black

man

into

the

temple with

him,

and

for some

time

the

men

wait-

ing

outside heard

and saw

nothing.

Then

there

were

loud

cries

for help,

and

piercing,

frightening

shrieks

came

from

the

temple.

The

men

outside

smiled, knowing that

the

afreet

was

getting

his due

from

Rohlfs,

who

surely had

a

lucky

talisman

with

him.

There

was

a

silence,

then

the

men

heard a

crackling sound,

and dense

clouds

of

black

smoke


46/164

44

Demons,

Devils,

and Djinn

arose

from

the

temple.

This

continued

for

some

time. Finally

Rohlfs

came

out

of

the

temple with

a

smile

of happiness

on

his face.

He

told the

assem-

bled

men

that

he

had

at

last

found the treasure and

invited them

to

come with him

to see

it.

All

the

men

were

very excited

—at

last they

would

have

the

riches.

Entering

the

temple

again,

the

men

saw

that

Rohlfs

had

found the

opening

to a

chamber,

a

trap

door

over

a

flight of

steps

which

led down into a

vault

that

was

filled

with

silver and

gold,

and

dia-

monds and

jewels

of

all

kinds. The men looked

about

for the black man

who

had

gone into the

temple with Rohlfs, but they could not

find him. In

their

searches

they found the

glowing embers

of

a

great

fire,

and in

the ashes was

a

charred skull.

Rohlfs

had sacrificed the black

man

to

the afreet

Those in the oasis all knew that

Rohlfs had

loaded his caravan of camels

with the

riches,

had

ridden

oflF

into

the

desert,

and

was

never

seen

again.

In the

desert

lands in

modern

times the

Arabs

believe

so

much in

the

supernatural that

almost

every

village has

its

sheykh

el

afreet

—ruler

of spir-

its.

It

is

debatable whether these

sheykhs

actually

believe in

their own powers,

but

they

have the

respect of the Arabs and are much

sought

after

to

foretell

the future or

to

guide

people to

buried

treasure.


47/164

Modern

Spirits

of

the

Middle

East

45

The

future

is

foretold

by

magic,

in

which

the

sheykhs call the

spirits,

the

genii.

This

ceremony,

a

mandal, is

really

the

practice

of

clairvoyance

by

the

means of

a

pool

of

ink.

One traveler in

the

Libyan

desert

(William

Jo-

seph Harding

King,

who chronicled

his

adventures

in

Mysteries

of

the

Libyan

Desert)

witnessed

such

a

mandal, and although

this aflFair

was

a

total fail-

ure,

the tale illustrates

the

firm

power

of

magic

over these people.

First the sheykh

el

afreet,

a

burly man with

tiny

eyes

in

a

large

flabby face,

came to

visit

the house

where

the

mandal would

be

held.

He

climbed

up

the

stairs

to

the

roof of

the

house,

muttering

incan-

tations and

carrying

a

stafi^ in one

hand.

He

spoke

of the need for

a

bright sun,

and no

wind,

condi-

tions

he

said

were

necessary

if

he

were

to

conduct

a

proper mandal.

He

approved

of the

conditions,

but

said

that

for the ceremony

he

would need

a

young

boy

to

play the

part

of

the

tahdir,

the

one

who gazes

into

the

magic

mirror

at

the

seance.

There had

to

be

many

diS^erent

kinds

of

incense

and

perfume

used

in this

magic

and

it

was

of

ut-

most

importance

to

use

the

correct

kind.

The

sheykh said he

must

have

just

the

right

kind

of

incense

to

use

in

the

dawa

—

the invocation

—

for

otherwise

the

genii

would

become

so

angry

that

they

might

kill

the

sheykh

or

even

destroy

the

whole

house.


48/164

46 Demons, Devils,

and Djinn

The

sheykh

el afreet

left

and

returned the

next

day,

carrying

his

staflF and his rosary

beads. He

sat

down

and

drank

a cup of tea, looked over

the

young boy who had been provided

for

the

mandal,

and

approved

of him.

Then the sheykh called

for

a

brazier in which

to

start

a

charcoal fire, and

some

paper

and

ink.

With

these

he

went

into a

room

which

had been cleared

for

him.

Carefully

he

closed the door and the

shutters,

so

that

the light

in the room

was

very

dim,

went

over

to

the

darkest

corner of the room, and

sat

down on

a

black

sheep-

skin with

the brazier placed beside him. He asked

everyone

to

leave

the room while he carried

out

the initial ceremonies. For some time there

was

silence,

and

a

faint

smell

of

incense

floated

out

from the room. Then muttering could

be

heard

and

an occasional

shout

as

the

sheykh

invoked

the

spirits.

After

about ten minutes the

magician

called

out

that

he

was

ready

for

the visitors

to

enter

and

that

the

young

boy

should

be

brought

in

to

him.

The

sheykh directed the youth to

sit cross

legged on the sheepskin rug in front of

him.

First, the boy was directed

to

hold

out

his

right

hand,

and the magician drew in ink the

khatim

—

the

seal

—

on the

palm

of the

boy's

hand.

Then

he

placed

a

piece

of

paper

on which

there

was

writing

on

the

boy's forehead,

licking the paper to

make it

adhere

to the skin. The paper slipped

away, so the

sheykh

tucked

the

top

edge

of the paper

under

the


49/164

Modern

Spirits

of the

Middle

East 47

rim

of

the

boy's

cap.

Then

the

sheykh

put

a

large

blot of ink

in the

center

of the

square

khatim

on

the

boy's

palm, and

he

directed the

youth

to

gaze

into

the pool

of ink

there

and

to

fear

nothing.

Next

he

began

his

incantations

to

the

afreet. He

re-

peated

them over

and over,

his

body swaying

back

and

forth.

During

his

appeals

to

the

spirit,

some-

times

his

voice was

almost

a

whisper,

sometimes

it

rose

to a

deafening

shout,

louder and

then

softer,

louder

and softer, faster and

faster. The

magician

swayed

back

and

forth,

the

perspiration now

roll-

ing down

his

face.

From time

to

time as

he chanted

he

dropped

pieces

of incense

into the

earthenware

dish that

he

was

using

as a

brazier.

The

smoke

rose

around the boy,

and

the

air was

sickly

sweet

with

the

smell of the

burning

perfumes.

The visitors

at

the

mandal

had

not

seen

the

slip

of

paper on

the

boy's

forehead,

but

on

it

was

writ-

ten the

following: We

have

set

forth

your

proposi-

tions,

and

according

to

the

Koran

we

beg

our

Prophet

Mohammed to

answer

our

prayer.

The

incantations

the

sheykh

had

chanted

to

bring forth the

spirit

were:

'Toorsh,

toorsh,

Fiboos,

fiboos, Sheshel,

sheshel,

Koftel,

koftel,

Kofelsha.

Each of

the

four

repeated

names

also

formed

one

side

of

the

frame

of

the

square

khatim

which

was

drawn

on

the

palm

of

the

hand.

Kofelsha

was

a magic

word.

The

invocation

which

had

been

whispered

and


50/164

48

Demons,

Devils, and Djinn

shouted

over

and

over

could

be

translated

as

fol-

lows:

Descend this

day.

Oh Celestial

Spirits,

so

that

he

here

may

see you

with

his own

eyes

and talk

to you

with

his own mouth

and

set

before you

that

which

he desires. Descend quickly,

and

without

delay,

this

very

minute.

I

call

on

you

in

the

name

of

Solo-

mon,

in

the

name

of

Allah

the

clement and gra-

cious,

to obey

and

to

submit yourselves

to

my or-

ders

for

the

love

of

Allah.

The

last

part

of

the incantation

was

untranslat-

able:

Zaagra

zagiran

Zaafiran

hafayan

nakeb,

Zaagra

Zagiran

Zaafiran hafayan

nakeb, aaagra

aagiran

zaagiran

hafayan

nakeb.

Interspersed

throughout

these

incantations

were

loud

shouts of

Maimum,

which

was

inter-

preted

to

be

the

particular

spirit

the

sheykh

was

calling

upon.

From time

to

time

the

sheykh examined

the

boy

closely

to see

how

efiFective

the

magic

had been.

Finally

deciding

that the ceremony

would

soon

come

to

an end,

the sheykh grew more

excited,

chanting

at

an

ever faster

pace,

suddenly

dropping

his

voice, then

shouting. Finally, exhausted,

he

leaned

back

against the

wall

and stopped

the

cere-

mony.


51/164

Modern

Spirits

of

the

Middle East

49

Wiping

his

damp

face,

he

turned

to

the

boy

and

asked

him

to

say the word

atare.

''Atare,

said

the

youth.

Now,

tell me what

you

see

in

the ink,

com-

manded

the

sheykh.

The

boy

stared and

stared, and

was silent.

Finally

he spoke:

Nothing.

,^The sheykh had

not

been able

to

get

the spirits

under

his control

when

he

summoned them.

He

apologized

to

his

audience,

but

was

not

dismayed.

He

would try

again

another

time.

The

important

point is

that in

the

Middle

East,

belief

in

the

sheykh

is

so strong

that

the failure had in no

way

diminished

his

power

or

the

faith

of

the

people

in

the

processes

of the

mandal.


52/164

5.

Chinese

Kuei

For

thousands

of years the

Chinese

believed

in

the

yin

and

yang

theory of

nature.

The

yin encom-

passed

the

evil:

the earth,

the moon, evil spirits

(the

demons

or

kuei),

darkness, and the female sex.

The

yang

were

the

good:

the heaven,

the sun, fire,

light,

and

the

male sex.

The kuei

were

every-

where:

in

water,

forest,

soil,

air,

and

mountains.

They

were in all

kinds of

animals:

in

wolves,

foxes,

dogs,

cats, tigers,

fish, birds,

and snakes.

They

could

be

in

clothes,

furniture,

old trees, or stones. A leaf

50


53/164

Chinese

Kuei

51

blowing

in

the

wind

could

be

a

kuei.

Some

of

the

demons

ate

men;

others

were gigantic

with horned

foreheads,

long

fangs, and

fuzzy

red hair. They

came in

every shape

and size, and

could

even

be

human in form.

Everywhere

one

turned a

kuei

could

be

lurking.

These

demons

were

responsible

for evil and

misfortune.

They

hid in

ponds

and

rivers

to

entice

people in and

drown

them.

They

could

bring

famine

and poor crops,

cause

a

mother

to

die

at

childbirth,

strike

down

a

whole

city of

people,

and

bring

all

kinds of

disease.

Faced with such possible disaster from the

kuei,

it was important

to

find

methods

to

keep them

away

or

drive

them

out of the body.

The

customs

that

arose

in

dealing

with

the

kuei afi'ected

all of

Chinese life

just

as

much

as

did the

more

formal-

ized religions. Appeal could

be

made to

the

gods

by carrying

images of

the

deities

in a

procession

through

the streets. Firecrackers

and

gongs,

which

were

associated

with

the good,

virile,

yang

could

be

set

ofi*

and

bonged.

Since the

kuei

loved

dark-

ness and hated light,

the

blood

and head

of the

cock, which heralded

the

coming

of

morning

sun,

was

often

used

in rites to

ward

oS^ the kuei.

Magic

characters and

symbols

written

on

paper

were at-

tached

to

the doors;

charms

and

amulets

were

dis-

played.

Mirrors were

put

on

the

foreheads

of

chil-

dren

so that

when

the

demon

saw

the

reflection

of

his ugly

being he

departed

quickly.


54/164

52

Demons,

Devils,

and Djinn

These customs began

thousands

of

years

ago,

and many of them existed into the nineteenth

and

twentieth centuries.

Justus

Doolittle,

a

mid-nineteenth-century

ob-

server,

noted hundreds of

rituals

in

his

two-volume

Social

Life

of

the Chinese

—

some of

them

were

very

complicated

—

practiced

by

the

Chinese

peo-

ple

to

ward

oflF demons

and evil

spirits.

Take

the

question

of the

marriage

ceremony:

one custom

calls

for

the visit of the

new

bride

to

her parents

on

the third

d

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Demons, Devils and Djinn by Olga Hoyt

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