The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies (12 page)

The djinni attempts to crush Abu with his giant foot, and right
before he squishes him, the boy calls out to him, saying he is a liar.
The djinni pauses and answers, "What do you mean? Take care
what you say to me!" Abu says that he doesn't believe the djinni
came from the bottle since it is so small and he is so large. They argue, and the djinni proves he was in the bottle by turning himself
back into smoke and reentering it, promising that after he proves
his point, he will kill Abu. When the djinni is completely in the
bottle, Abu quickly reseals the bottle and raises his arm to throw it
back out to sea. The djinni pleads with the young man to set him
free again. From inside the bottle, he promises not to kill him and
will indeed grant him three wishes. He gives his word in the name of the most powerful (Allah), so Abu cautiously opens the bottle.
The djinni resumes his giant form and bows down before the boy.

The rest of the story revolves around the three wishes, two of
which Abu blunders. After the third wish is granted, the djinni lets
out a thunderous roar, "FREE AT LAST!" and flies up into the sky
to rejoin his clan in the djinn world.

Though the above film was created for the silver screen, Middle
Eastern lore also has many stories of fishermen who dredge up mysterious sealed bottles in their nets. The fishermen usually quickly
throw the bottles back into the water without opening them, since
they fear that bottles may be prisons confining nasty djinn.

Organization

Now that we have a basic introduction to the djinn psyche, let's
explore their society.

Djinn Families

Djinn have families much like humans; however, their immediate
family unit is small-usually one child for each set of djinn parents. According to what we discovered, the djinn are able to procreate only once in their lifetime, and male and female djinn can
produce only one offspring. As a result, their population is slowly
dwindling, and their numbers will diminish. Although this may
seem unfair, Islamic teachers will tell you it is the will of Allah and
that humans and djinn may not understand this grand plan, but it
most likely is the way things are meant to unfold.

It is clear in the Qur'an and some written works of Persian origin that mankind is the second race in the universe, the successors of the djinn. We discussed djinn life spans earlier, and want
to relate those points here to progeny: since human life spans are
relatively short and prone to disease, we need to have multiple offspring in order to survive as a species.

According to Buddhist belief, a single human life span is much
too short to reach enlightenment. A person must return in physical
form for many generations before he or she can learn enough about
the universe and the true nature of reality to ascend to a higher
consciousness and be free of the physical body. Although the djinn
apparently do not reincarnate, they have a similar goal, reaching
enlightenment. And just like us, some djinn lose their way and are
on a different path.

A certain amount of caution and care must be used when dealing with djinn families. Djinn parents are very protective of their
children and if you injure or anger any family member-especially
a child-its parents and relatives may seek you out for revenge.
In ancient Persian teachings, it was mentioned how people could
deal with the djinn and give them all the space they require. Readers were also taught not to do certain things that may injure juvenile djinn, such as starting wildfires; throwing old food and human waste into lakes, caves, and the desert; and most importantly,
not building in locations where a family or individual djinni shares
space with our world. As a djinni's emotions are much more intense than a human's, they are volatile and unpredictable in their
reactions to injuries and affronts.

Djinn Clans

Djinn families belong to larger units called clans. The members of
the clans include those who are partially or fully related to the djinn
family. Each clan has a leader, a powerful older djinn master whom
the others obey. Although these clans make for a loosely knit social structure, the clan leader is held responsible for the actions of
its members. In most cases, male djinn are the troublemakers and
break the rules. Female djinn, known as djinniyeh, are responsible
for keeping the family structure intact and are quite serious about
this responsibility, and most are quite protective of their children and immediate family members. Most djinniyeh will not interact with the human race unless provoked, yet are believed to be responsible for most cases of possession in human beings. In Iran and Iraq, most people will avoid isolated caves because they are afraid they might encounter a djinniyeh with her child. The people of these countries believe a djinniyeh will make the first strike-even unprovoked against a person-to protect her child. It's clear that people are afraid of the djinn, and they seem to mistrust us as well, knowing our violent and unpredictable nature.

Djinn Kingdoms

Clans are thought to be ruled by djinn kings who are able to stay in power due to their abilities. In most cases, these djinn rulers are the oldest, wisest, and the most powerful of this ancient race. According to the holy man Phil met in Saudi Arabia, djinn kings can rule over thousands of other djinn.3
The djinn who serve a king must give him tribute once a century. What this tribute consists of is unclear, but according to some legends, it involves some type of energy, and in some Arabic stories, a human soul. This belief is also mirrored in Christianity where minions of the devil will collect human souls in exchange for favors, such as money, power, and sex. The lesser demon is allowed to keep a small portion of the collected soul for itself, but the majority must be given to the master. This similarity is interesting, as some Christian and Muslim beliefs share the same roots. The question is: if you've sold your soul, was it given to a fallen angel or a djinni?

Djinn kings can only be removed from power through assassination, a reason Muslim mystics and holy men believe is evidence the kings rule with an iron fist. The highest king of all the djinn is said
to be Al-Masjid al-Aswad, a member of the order of black djinn.4
In Persian mythology, the djinn color was considered the shade or color of its skin. However, since they lack a definite physical form, skin color is technically irrelevant when identifying a particular type of djinn. From what Phil discovered during his journey to the Middle East, the colors of a djinni's skin were ancient Persians' attempts to classify djinn power rather than describe a physical appearance. In Turkey, ancient drawings that are two thousand or more years old show djinn in half human-half reptilian forms with horns, scaly skin, lizard-like eyes, and claws for hands. This depiction is similar to the Christian description of devils and demons. It is also interesting to note that Islamic art dating from only eight hundred years ago shows the djinn as more human-like. It's not clear why the images have changed over the course of time, but perhaps early Islamic artists were trying to present the djinn in a form people felt was more immediately fear-inducing.

Djinn Classes

There are many names for the djinn classes describing their likes
and dislikes, or where they live. The Qur'an mentions only three
classes: djinn, ifrit, and marid. Other names include jann, ghoul,
shaitans, hinn, nasnas, shiqq, si'lat, and a host of others, depending on the local dialect. In western lore, the ghoul is known as
a cemetery-haunting, cannibalistic, blood-drinking creature. The
hinn are weak djinn, closely related to animals, and prefer to appear as dogs. The ifrit class is cited only once in the Qu'ran, in
reference to a djinni who fetched the Queen of Sheba's throne at
Solomon's command. As a result, scholars are uncertain if the term
"ifrit" definitely refers to a djinn class. The marid are unruly and rebellious. The nasnas are another weak form of djinn, hybrids of
human-like and animal-like forms, and may account for some of
the reported encounters with mysterious creatures throughout history. The shiqq are lower djinn, appearing as half creatures that are
literally only half formed, thus giving them a monstrous appearance. The shaitans are rebellious djinn associated with demonic
forces.

For simplicity's sake, we've classified the djinn according to their
power and behavior. The classification we use is by color, an easier
way to understand this ancient, complex race.

The color order starting with the weakest to the most powerful
is: green, yellow, blue, and black. There is also another group, red,
which will be described separately; they belong to an order that
does not answer to any family, clan, or king-only Iblis.

The only way a djinni can advance in rank and increase in power
is to obtain more knowledge. For example, djinn can manipulate
the matter in the universe by changing the vibration of strings.
This action is much like playing a guitar: the more chords a person
knows, the wider the repertoire. Individual string vibrations determine the type of particles and matter formed, and djinn are able to
change the "notes" of the strings, thus changing one form of matter
into another. This talent for changing matter properties does not
come naturally-just like humans who must learn any profession,
it is a skill, something developed over a long period of time, usually
taught. Some people go through life learning very little, staying on
more or less the same intellectual level and the same is true with
the djinn. A djinn's progression from green to blue is not something that happens naturally; it is earned with a great deal of practice, study, and hard work. Some djinn are tempted to abuse their
power, similar to some people. However, most djinn who achieve
high ranks use their power wisely, since they believe they are responsible for their actions in the face of God and will have to answer for their deeds at the Day of judgment.

Green Djinn

Green djinn have the least amount of power. The majority of green
djinn are young and they usually enjoy acts of mischief and pranks
played on other djinn and humans. There are some older djinn
still at the green level, but for the most part, they keep to themselves and stay away from humans. It's interesting to note that in
the 1960s television series I Dream of Jeannie, the genie was this
green variety, very young and with limited power. As the series progressed, Jeannie became more comfortable performing increasingly
amazing feats of djinn "magic" to make the shows more interesting.

Green djinn can shapeshift into animals and humans and have
the ability to fly. They can also change one form of matter into
another, but their power in this area seems to be limited due to
their lack of knowledge regarding the relationship between matter and energy in the physical universe. A similar example would
be a child trying to build a computer from a kit. The child does
not have the experience and knowledge to complete the task, but
an adult who has studied electronics, engineering, and computers
would be able to assemble the kit's parts and have a working computer in no time because the adult possesses knowledge and experience, and understands how the device works. Although green
djinn are mostly children and young adults, they can be thousands
of years old, and their knowledge of human history and the multiverse is much greater than that of any human being. Green djinn
are characterized as being playful, vengeful, cruel, and sometimes
kind-indeed they are quite temperamental. Among the human
race, it's known that some children are more aggressive, smarter,
and/or stronger than others. Some are better at science, math, engineering, art, and other things. The green djinn also have different levels of power, knowledge, and talents, but like us, are all different. Some human children are cruel and some are kind. We've
all heard about children who use magnifying glasses to burn ants or children who pull the wings off a fly just to see it suffer. Hopefully you'll never encounter a green djinn with the same attitudeto them, you are like that fly!

Green djinn often attempt to come into our world simply to
explore or have fun, and when they do, they may interact with
people of any age. It is an Islamic belief that green djinn live in
holes in the ground. Consequently, you should never dump your
garbage in a hole, or urinate or jump into one, as it might harbor
a temperamental green djinn who won't hesitate to punish you as
it sees fit.

Some holes in the ground lead to a subterranean world and it's
possible they are actually portals that connect the djinn world to
ours. If they are portals to another reality, once you enter, it might
be impossible to find your way out without knowing where the
door is. These portals are not restricted to holes in the ground,
either-similar openings have been reported in outcrops of rock,
the sides of mountains, and occasionally, randomly hanging in
mid-air.

Many Middle Eastern mystics believe that if you jump into a
djinn hole, you'll vanish from our world and enter another plane
of existence. The djinn may offer to show you the way out, but
for a price. A djinni may ask for your soul, or force you to agree to
bring others to the hole so that it can hold you all hostage. They
may also ask that you bring certain types of food, alcohol, or tobacco on a regular basis. It must be noted that although djinn in
their natural state might be composed of plasma, most of them
can take a physical shape for short periods of time. This means
that a djinni is able to take in nourishment by absorbing energy
or consuming food. It's thought that many djinn enjoy the "taste"
of a variety of our everyday foods, especially ice cream and fruits.
Human foods only partially provide subsistence, however: djinn
must get most of their nourishment by absorbing various types of
energy from living things.

THE LITTLE MAN RROM THE HOLE IN THE GROUND

The following account has been in Phil's files for twenty years. At
the time he received it, he didn't know how to classify it. He was
concentrating more on his investigation of the UFO phenomenon,
and the report didn't seem to fit in with his current research. He
filed the report away and forgot about it until much later, when he
went through his old data looking for entity encounters that could
have been djinn sightings. This story involves an unusual being
"popping" out of a hole and engaging in a short conversation with
the witness.