By Jeremy D. Wells
Among most folks in the western world, ghosts, UFOs, and cryptids are each a separate type of phenomenon. Hauntings are caused by the spirits of dead people. UFOs are craft from another world. Cryptids, like Bigfoot and sea serpents, represent undocumented wild animals.
However in the Islamic world, and places influenced by their cultures, all of these various encounters could be attributed to a single entity – the djinn.
In her classic treatise on the subject, Demons, Devils, and Djinn, Olga Hoyt states that the very name, djinn, “means ‘covert’ or ‘darkness.’” The djinn – plural of djinnee, where we get the idea of the genie in a magic lamp – are not angels or demons. They are a separate creation, made by God from smokeless fire, according to various resources. Though usually invisible to human eyes, the djinn are capable of taking on any form they choose, but are especially fond, according to Hoyt, of “those of snakes, lizards, and scorpions.”
While Hoyt and other writers describe the djinn as mischievous, trickster types, in the Islamic world they are much more than that. Islamic lore says that while djinn are powerful and long-lived, unlike angels and demons they have the same free will humans have. They can choose to follow Allah, or to reject or ignore the teachings of Mohammed.
But like with the tricksters of faery lore and other traditions, those who attempt to bargain or do business with djinn must be careful. The djinn, like the faery, may be able to grant wishes when tricked or captured, but they will do so maliciously if possible. It’s important to be very specific, and to look for attempts at trickery, when making your wish, lest if backfire on you. Sometimes humans also take djinn spouses, but like with the faery spouses or western lore, these relationships usually have stipulations and – if they are not followed exactly – the spouse may disappear, even taking children with them.
Like faeries, djinn also favor remote, wilderness areas. Some areas, like caves or certain forests, may be associated with the djinn. While this may simply be a manifestation of human anxiety when separated from the rest of civilization, it also parallels with other, more modern incidents. The famous Bell Witch encounters of Tennessee, for instance, are said to have been associated with a cave on the family property – something some visitors to the location still believe. While that phenomenon started like a classic poltergeist case (knocks, scratches, things moving about) it escalated to a trickster like incident, with the disembodied voice of the “witch” sending family members on various wild goose chases in order to banish her. Like the djinn, the Bell Witch also displayed dangerous attributes, reportedly replacing the family patriarch's medicine with poison to end his life after years of torment and trickery. And, like the later Gef the talking mongoose case – and myriad djinn cases – the Bell Witch case included an unidentifiable animal.
That covers hauntings and cryptids, but what about UFOs? As noted earlier, the djinn are believed by Islamic religious scholars to be composed of smokeless flame. In The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agenda of Genies authors Philip Imbrogno and Rosemary Ellen Guiley noted that “Islamic scholars describe the djinn as glowing objects that can change their share and at times take on a physical form.” They further state that djinn are said to be able to communicate without using a voice, by speaking telepathically directly into the head of someone they wish to have a conversation with. “This phenomenon,” they note, “is common not only in cases involving UFO contactees and other paranormal experiences, but also in religious or mystical visions.”
So, could hauntings, cryptids, UFOs – along with faeries, ancient deities and tricksters, and a variety of other unexplained phenomena – really be djinn?
We can’t say for certain, any more than we can say with certainty that ghosts and bigfoot are real. But it could go a long way toward explaining a lot that is currently unexplained.
So, next time you hear an unidentified noise, see a strange light in the sky, or get a feeling of foreboding in a wilderness area – before you go attributing it to ghosts, aliens, or unidentified animals – consider the djinn. Or don’t. After all, they say if you think too much about them, you can attract them to you.