Dreams and Shadows

chapter SIX

DJINN AROUND THE CORNER

An excerpt by Dr. Thaddeus Ray, Ph.D., from his book A Chronicle of the Dreamfolk

There are few supernatural creatures so misunderstood and underrepresented in modern myth as the djinn. Like many other popular supernatural creatures (namely angels, demons, and fairies) it is not so much a specific type of creature as it is a class of creatures. Not all djinn are the same. In fact, there seem to be as many different types and kinds of djinn in the world as there are types of fairies, but no one has ever taken the time or care to catalog them. Some have postulated that djinn are simply another type of fairy, while others still believe that they are angels cast out of Heaven, many of whom serve the evil Shaitan (pronounced Satan) who turned his back on God by refusing to serve man. What is known for sure is that each djinn varies wildly from the next, each possessing only a certain specific set of traits that they all share.

Djinn (both the singular and the plural of the word, only rarely dialectally pluralized as jnoun) possess free will and are not, like other supernatural creatures, entirely bound by region, diet, or behavior. They are much like us in that respect. There is no single habitat in which you can expect to find them, or one thing you can expect to find them doing. Unburdened individuals, each one finds his own purpose, worship, or enjoyment on his own terms.

However, there is one thing they cannot do: break an oath of any kind. Once a djinn promises, swears, or even infers that he is promising, he is compelled by every fiber of his being to uphold that promise, even at the expense of his own life. Of course, nothing prevents a crafty djinn from finding and exploiting any loopholes in said oath. Most stories involving djinn tend to focus upon this aspect of oath bending, but in practice it appears to be fairly uncommon.

All djinn love the heat and they love to sleep. No one knows why and the djinn never speak of it, but they have been known to sleep in the desert for years on end if undisturbed. Djinn also love to eat, but suffer physical pain and illness at the slightest touch of salt, and serving one salty foods is a surefire way to earn his ire. Steel and iron similarly repulse djinn, but don’t seem to affect them like the fey. Despite these weaknesses, djinn are creatures of energy, bound by their own laws, and they cannot be killed in a conventional manner. The only known way for one to die is for them to fade away when completely forgotten.

Djinn feed off memory—they are inexplicably bound to it. As long as someone remembers them specifically as an individual (and most important, as a djinn) they live. But if everyone who knows them dies, they begin to starve and will perish within a fortnight—their energy dissipates into the atmosphere, creating one of the most spectacular sunsets you will ever have the privilege to see. This means that as long as he keeps himself out of trouble, a djinn can theoretically live forever. But while they are impossible to kill outright, they may be imprisoned and are often bound by those who wish to possess their power for their own.

At one time the djinn were quite numerous and scoured the earth in search of pleasure, adventure, or spiritual truth. It wasn’t uncommon for someone’s home to be “haunted” by a djinn, the basis of numerous superstitions. For example, not stepping on the threshold of a house originates from cases of people tripping over and awakening sleeping djinn that had passed out in their doorways.

The word djinn evolved from the word janna, meaning “to conceal” or “to hide,” as every djinn can turn invisible at will. Each also has at his disposal a bevy of other abilities. Some can change shape, often taking animal form or a human appearance, though some appear with cloven hooves or the feet of a camel when doing so. Oddly, any attempt to transform into the shape of a beautiful woman will leave the djinn with sideways eyes that run from forehead to cheek. Other djinn can fly; pass through walls; or are possessed of great, inhuman strength. However, the most powerful djinn are those that master the ability to grant wishes.

Wish-granting djinn are actually a very rare and truly powerful lot, able to completely alter the fortunes and fates of men. Even then, they cannot just alter reality of their own free will. A djinn may only summon a wish from the mind of someone else, usually a mortal, and only when certain conditions are met. First, a djinn must bind himself to that mortal, swearing to grant one or more wishes. Second, the mortal must speak that wish aloud. Finally, the djinn must consent and then grant the wish. However, at this point they can make any modifications they want, including tacking on any conditions (how, when, and where, etc.) that were not initially specified in the wish, within the confines of the original oath.

The chief limiting factor of these wishes is that djinn cannot change the past, only the present. Even the future is truly out of their grasp, save for the passing on of blessings or the laying down of curses, both of which seem to obey rules of their own. Otherwise, these djinn can make changes as small as the ownership or manufacture of items to as large as convincing the world of a truth that never before existed—such as the identity of a nation’s ruler. Powerful (and power-hungry) men have long sought djinn for this reason, and many djinn have gone into hiding as a result.

To find a djinn in this day and age is indeed a boon, though woe to the fellow a djinn finds first. One can never know what they truly intend.