The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies (20 page)

They Must Pay Tributes to the Devil

In chapter 5, we noted that the djinn who serve a djinn king must
pay him a tribute once a century. There are different kinds of tributes, but one of the most commonly cited is a human soul, which
the djinn ensnare with enticements of physical pleasures, money,
and power.

In fairy lore, fairies must pay a tribute to the devil every seven
years, usually one of their own who is chosen by the devil himself.
To avoid this terrible payment, stories tell of fairies kidnapping a
human infant or sometimes a young child and offering it instead.

The famous story about Thomas the Rhymer, a Scottish laird
and poet who lived in the thirteenth century, features this element
of the Devil's tribute. According to the Ballad of True Thomas,
which circulated in various versions through the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, the handsome Thomas was kidnapped by the
Queen of Elfland, who became infatuated with him. For seven
years, he enjoyed himself in the beautiful realm of the elves. Toward the end of the seventh year, the fairies grew worried, for the
devil's tithe was soon due, and they feared that the devil would
choose Thomas because of his good looks. Reluctantly, the Queen
of Elfland sent Thomas back to the Land Above (earth), and bestowed upon him the gift of prophecy.

They Have Supernatural Powers

Djinn and fairies possess supernormal strength and the power to be invisible at will. They can levitate themselves and whatever they carry and fly through the air. They materialize, pass through walls and solid objects, and can vanish into thin air. A woman in Ireland told Evans-Wentz about fairies, "When they disappear they go like fog; they must be something like spirits, or how could they disappear in that way?"12
Fairies especially do not like to be seen by humans, and will punish those who accidentally espy them. Evans-Wentz tells the story of an Irish man who noticed a group of small fairies playing hurley while he was watering his cow. They saw him watching them, and immediately beat him so badly he could barely speak. During the night, however, they took pity on him and rubbed his face with a magical ointment to heal him.13
In other stories, fairies will temporarily or permanently blind the person who sees them, by striking them across the eyes.

One of the most famous powers attributed to both djinn and fairies is the ability to grant wishes: as the imprisoned djinn is bound to grant three wishes to whomever frees him, fairies grant wishes to humans who do them good deeds. For example, an Irish story tells of a woman who finds a fairy dog in a state of exhaustion. She takes it home and nurses it back to health. Eventually the fairies find out where their dog is and come to fetch it. In gratitude, they ask the woman if she would like a dirty cow yard or a clean cow yard. She answers "dirty," because a cow yard would have to be empty in order to be clean. The fairies multiply the number of cattle she owns.

Djinn wishes seldom work out well, and fairies have been known to rescind their wishes, owing to their capricious nature. A com mon story in fairy lore is of the fairy bride who bestows wishes and
favors upon her human husband as long as certain conditions are
met. If the conditions are broken-no matter how long they have
been married-the fairy spouse and all the wishes, usually goods
and livestock, vanish back into fairyland. Sometimes, the punishment seems impulsively devised. For example, fairies will pay for
services rendered by humans, but with odd conditions, such as "do
not look at your money until you get home." Of course the foolish person peeks at the money to see how much he has been given.
Immediately, the money turns to something worthless, like dead
leaves or ash.

Both djinn and fairies have supernatural healing abilities, and if motivated, may use them for our benefit, sometimes even granting us powers. Fairies sometimes give powers as an outright gift. Djinn are more likely to use powers as bargaining items in pacts, an exchange of favors for a soul.

They Are Masterful Shapeshifters

The djinn assume any form they wish, from animals to humans to angels. It is thought that instead of whispering to people directly, Satan will instead appear in human form, though usually with a strange-sounding voice or an indescribably strange appearance. Likewise, djinn may appear in front of humans and inform them of their nature, but they have been known to lie, often claiming to be angels. Sometimes they call themselves "invisible men" or they claim to be from the spirit world."14
The "invisible men" perform miracles in order to look like servants of Allah, and some of them aid the infidels against Muslims.
'I

Fairies also can assume any form they wish. They often shapeshift into extremely attractive humans, especially when trying to lure a man or woman as an object of romantic desire. In Ireland, a story is told about fairies who assumed the forms of flies to engage in great battle among themselves. When the battle was over, the number of dead "flies" could have filled 16

They Live in a Subterranean World

The djinn prefer to live in caves, holes, and other remote locations where they will not be bothered by people. In chapter 5, we saw the case of the man who was hiking and stepped on the "roof" of a hole occupied by a small man who may have been a green djinn. The description of the tiny man and his home in the ground might also be interpreted as a fairy emerging from his underworld den.

If mortals enter a djinn abode, they become trapped unless the djinn take pity and permit him to find his way out.

Fairies live beneath the ground in a secret land where they, too, will not be disturbed. The doorway to their world is often in a mound or fort, called a howe or knowe in Scotland, and a rath in Ireland. The doorway-akin to an interdimensional portal-is usually closed to mortals, but the occasional person may accidentally stumble through. Once through the door, the unlucky traveler becomes lost to the physical world, and is unable to find a way out without help. While in the fairy realm, people are subjected to fairy time, which is much slower than the way time passes for us normally. If the trapped people succeed in returning to the Land Above (as the mortal world is called), they may be shocked to find that their families and everyone they knew are long dead, while for them it would seem that only a week or two had passed.

Sometimes fairies forcibly bring people to their realm, such as
in the case of Thomas the Rhymer. Sometimes they grant access to
people they like. In 1692, a Scottish minister named Robert Kirk
of Aberfoyle was said to have been given repeated entry to the fairy
realm. He enjoyed great favor until he broke one of their cardinal
rules by traveling into the court of the evil fairies. As punishment,
he was sentenced to permanent captivity in the fairy realm.

The area of Cnoc Meadha in western Ireland was renowned as
a fairy stronghold. Inside the hill was reputed to be an entrance to
their underground realm, where cave-like excavated passages led to
the palace of Finnbheara, the king of the Connaught fairies.

Some fairies live among rocks, and some like to live in mines.
Mine fairies are called kobolds, knockers, and Tommyknockers,
and are heard knocking away in the tunnels with their hammers.
Sometimes they help miners, and sometimes they hinder them.

There are few descriptions of the djinn world; those who have
been there describe it as a horrific, terrifying place. Fairyland, on
the other hand, is usually described as beautiful and pleasant, with
a dreamy, ethereal quality to it. All who live there have nearly eternal youth. However, the evil fairies of Irish lore, such as members of the Unseelie Court (Unblessed Court), live in a dark and
gloomy realm.

Fairies who live in dismal places often glamorously disguise them
if they are able to entice humans into them. A Welsh story concerns an elderly couple whose maid disappeared, and was believed
to have been abducted by the fairies. When the maid gave birth,
fairies summoned the elderly woman to come to their realm and
attend her. She was led to a cave that opened into a fine and beautiful bed chamber. She was given a magical ointment to rub on the
infant's eyes, and was cautioned not to let any of it touch her own
eyes. She accidentally touched her left eye with the ointment:

And now a strange thing happened: with the right eye she saw everything as before, gorgeous and luxurious as the heart could wish, but with the left eye she saw a damp, miserable cave, and lying on some rushes and withered ferns, with big stones all round her, was her former servant girl, Eilian. In the course of the day, she saw a great deal more. There were small men and small women going in and out, their movements being as light as the morning breeze. 17

When the old woman was returned to the mortal world, she was warned not to tell anyone that she could see fairies. Every day she saw them, moving invisibly in the world right next to humans. One day she spied Eilian's husband stealing from the market and she confronted him. He took a bulrush and struck her left eye, blinding it for the rest of her life. Her fairy sight was gone.

They Are Territorial of Their Turf

Both djinn and fairies prefer privacy and do not appreciate humans trespassing on their territory, especially their homes. Both are found in remote areas-the caves, holes, and deserts characteristic of the Middle East, and secluded lakes, mountains, caves, forests, and glens elsewhere in the world.

Fairies are especially fond of certain kinds of trees on their turf, including elder, oak, ash, blackthorn, and hazel. They guard them jealously, and woe betide the person who cuts them down.

A cottager in Ireland once tried to cut a branch of a sacred elder tree that was hanging over a saint's well. The fairies who looked after the tree became angry. Twice they stopped the man by sending him a false vision that his house was burning. He raced home, only to find nothing amiss. He should have realized fairies were
intervening, but he was determined to cut the branch, and he succeeded on his third try. Again he had a vision that his house was burning, and he went home. He found his cottage burned to the ground.18

Similarly, but with less harsh consequences, is a story about Heart Lake near Sligo, Ireland. The lake was renowned as a portal fairies used to travel between worlds. A group of men once tried to drain the lake, but stopped when they had visions of their homes burning down. Like the cottager, they went rushing home, only to find everything intact. However, they had the sense to stop, and they left the lake alone."

An example with dire consequences concerns a man foolish enough to violate fairy turf and insult them as well. Around 1920, plans were made to clear land for a hospital in Kiltamagh, Ireland. Among the trees to be cut down were two hawthorns everyone locally knew belonged to the fairies. Not one of the residents would touch the hawthorns, so the task fell to a man from out of town. When warned that the fairies would punish him if he cut the trees down, he angrily replied, "I'll be back, never fear, and to hell with your bloody fairies!" That night, the man suffered a stroke and was crippled. He died within a year. He returned to the town as he had vowed-but in a coffin. The hospital was built, but it never opened.2o

The invisible paths that fairies use for their travel in the mortal world are called fairy tracks. It is especially risky to disturb them by building something upon them. The fairies will come right through the structure and create poltergeist-like phenomena, such
as sudden openings and closings of doors and windows. Furthermore, the occupants will sicken, their crops will fail, and their animals will die. Z'

They Engage in Tricks and Acts of Malevolence

Both djinn and fairies punish people who displease them in many
ways. Punishment may be slight, in the form of mischievous tricks
that in older times meant things like stealing firewood, spooking
livestock, or hiding lamp oil. In modern times, these creatures
continue their pranks, affecting electricity in houses and interfering with lights, appliances, computers, and car batteries.

More serious punishments can adversely affect the health of
people, animals, and crops. In the most extreme cases, djinn and
fairies are not above murder. Acts of aggression against humans are
usually the result of provocation, but some will strike on a whim.

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.