Legends of the Fire Spirits

Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar by Robert W. Lebling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are only two books written about the Djinn that are widely available for Western audiences . This book and another called “The Vengeful Djinn” . I am going to recommend that you read this book. Robert Lelbling tackles the subject of the Djiin both in-depth and broadly. This book goes into the history of the Djin that predates Islam. The author covers the demons and spirituality of the civilizations that came before The Muslim Arab civilization. Such cultures would include Mesopotamians , Hebrews, Egyptians, Greek and Romans. The book also surveys a wide array of Islamic countries where the Djin have been know to appear.. Every Muslim country in North Africa, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Jordan Arabia , Yemen, Nigeria and Zanzibar all have Djinn stories.

The origin of the Djin predates Islam and were thought to have been started uder the Sumerians who believed in their share of night Demons. When the Chaldeans from the Arabian peninsula took over they brought with them an even deeper belief of Demons.
The Mesopotamians believed in lilin or night demons that drained the blood of humans and fornicated with them. This is where Lilith arose from. Another demon discussed was Pazuzu the demon of the south west wind. With him came disease and pestilence. The Djin are made of hot wind or smokeless fire. Their bodies are not dense like ours. Angels are made of light while we humans are made of clay.

Demonology went even further with Greeks and Romans who believed that everyone had a daimon that was for good and a daimon that was for bad. In Islam this translated to a Quarin for males and Quarina for females. Quarinas also cause discord between husband and wife and function much like Lilith did. The Romans also believed in Gennii or Genus that was in charge of watching an area. The Djion to watch areas. Some Djin live underground while others hover in the air. Many live in cave, latrines, graveyard and other desolate places.

There are several types of Djinm. Ghouls are flesh eaters and raid grave yards at night. They are also known to marry men. Shaitans are the offspring of Iblis. Ifrits stay with a person like a guardian angel and feed off blood. THE worst Djin are the Marids, who hate humans with a passion.

As noted before the Djin used to have control over the earth until God created man which everyone ws supposed to worship except that Iblis and the Djin would not have it. The Djin were driven from the planet by the angels and only a few remnants of them were left behind. Later on they formed a resistance on an island. Iblis lead them and changed his name to Azazil.

There are some good Djin that try to help people and who believe in Islam. THera re some that are Jews and Christians . In Andalusia they were knows for protecting Sufi saints and giving knowledge to people like Paracelsus and Pope Sylvester.. The book delineates some herbs like Dragon’s Blood and Asfoetida that help keep the Djinn away.
If you are interested in learning about the Djin and from knowledgeable Middle eastern sources then this is your book. No New Age hooey.




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