Paranormal Creatures discussion

Hey Guys,
This topic is about Djinns or genies. I don't know much about this kind of creature so one of the group members, who has written several books on genies and has offered free copies to interested group members, has said that she will help me out with this one. Mina Khan
Her books are A Tale of Two Djinns and The Djinn's Dilemma

Hmm Genies..facinating. I'm interesting in knowing more.

Hi! I'm Mina Khan and my stories are based on the djinn mythology I grew up with in South East Asia. I'll try to post information here in bite-size pieces and will try my best to answer any questions you have :)

Looking forward to djinn-tastic discussions! :D

I'm interesting in knowing one thing that I have wondered for a while. Are djinns born djinns or does something happen to a human/ other kind of creature that makes them one?

So what are djinns? And how do you even pronounce the word?

“Djinn,” pronounced "gin" like the liquor, are also known as jinn, jinni or genie and basically refer to same thing. They are super-natural creatures made from “smokeless flames” with deep roots in Arabic mythology that preceded Islamic culture and spread far into Asia and Africa.

Cool!

S.K.N. wrote: "I'm interesting in knowing one thing that I have wondered for a while. Are djinns born djinns or does something happen to a human/ other kind of creature that makes them one?"

Great question S.K.N.

According to the djinn mythology I grew up with, God first created angels, then djinns and finally humans (erm, even the wildlife came before the humans). In other words, djinns are sort of trial beings created before humans and the two have many things in common.

Both djinns and humans have free will and can be good or bad, they can fall in love and raise families, or be vengeful and destructive. The only thing is, they feel emotions more strongly than humans. So when they fall in love, they fall hard. Unfortunately, they can also hit back harder.

Very interesting. Do they look like humans? I'm pretty sure they don't look like the Aladdin genie... blue and... really big :P

S.K.N. wrote: "Very interesting. Do they look like humans? I'm pretty sure they don't look like the Aladdin genie... blue and... really big :P"

LOL! When I say djinn or genies most people think of Aladdin or I Dream of Jeannie.

Actually, djinns supposedly change shapes -- they can be humanoid, or assume the form of an animal or sometimes be like shadows, or even be invisible.

It is probably because there is just so little about djinns.
Would they be confused with shapeshifters? In books/ movies would it be possible that the two creatures would get combined by accident where the wrong thing got attributed to the wrong character

Out of curiosity, Mina: in your series does the Islamic story of Iblis come into play? (That being that Iblis - essentially the Devil - was neither angel nor man, but was actually a disobedient djinn and his refusal to bow before "the new kid" led to his rejection of Allah's works and placement as the Adversary.) Again, just wondering. XD

S.K.N. wrote: "It is probably because there is just so little about djinns.
Would they be confused with shapeshifters? In books/ movies would it be possible that the two creatures would get combined by accident ..."

Of course, books and movies have creative license, and every writer (of books or scripts) adds their own twists and interprets the foundation myths through their own personal and cultural lenses.

(LOL, I'm in the middle of teaching a writing class...so have been thinking about this quite a bit. Can you tell?)

Kaine wrote: "Out of curiosity, Mina: in your series does the Islamic story of Iblis come into play? (That being that Iblis - essentially the Devil - was neither angel nor man, but was actually a disobedient dji..."

Hi Kaine! Iblis is such an uber cool story -- yes he was a djinn (being of smokeless fire), but he attained a very high position in the heavenly hierchy...however his refusal to bow to Adam (a being of clay) was his downfall.

I'm using this story in the trilogy I'm working on at the moment. However, for my published stories I focused on establishing djinns as parallel beings to humans.

One of my pet peeves is when I see representations of djinns simply as bad in books & movies -- that just doesn't do justice to the complexity of their nature.

Where did the whole wishes come from? Is that a part of the Djinn legend and are all Djinn(genies) required to grant three wishes?

Justin wrote: "Where did the whole wishes come from? Is that a part of the Djinn legend and are all Djinn(genies) required to grant three wishes?"

Hmm not really sure where exactly the three-wishes thing came from, but it's a trope that's been in use for a long time in Middle Eastern mythology.

I think it's a lot like the European tradition of the hero/ine on his/her quest meeting unfortunate souls (people/animal), doing favors and getting a favor in return. Djinns would, in many stories, grant wishes to the person who released them from imprisonment.

Why 3? Well, again 3 is an old fairy-tale tradition -- heroes faced three tests, there are three brothers, three choices etc.

That's why I love Jung/Campbell assertion that heroic myth is universal. While the telling gets changed from culture to culture, there are some story elements that appeal to all humans.

Mina wrote: "I'm using this story in the trilogy I'm working on..."

*wrings hands, Mr. Burns style* Excellent. You'll have to tell us when it comes out. (I'm a sucker for "Devil" stories, what can I say.)

Kaine wrote: "Mina wrote: "I'm using this story in the trilogy I'm working on..."

*wrings hands, Mr. Burns style* Excellent. You'll have to tell us when it comes out. (I'm a sucker for "Devil" stories, what can..."

Lol! I'll make sure to do that...but you could start reading one of my other stories while you wait ;D

So where do djinns live?

When I first started sharing my djinn stories in writing contests and such, I remember a judge dinged me because my story didn't fit mythology -- that is, my djinn didn't live in a bottle.

Okay, here's my 2 cents: djinns don't choose to live in bottles, lamps & rings. They are only in such things if they've been magically trapped there.

According to the stories I grew up with, djinns live in a parallel dimension to humans and have their own cities, architecture and political structure.

You should have told him that your story wasn't a Christina Aguilera song.
And I do remember I think from Arabian nights that the bottle, lamp, etc. stuff would be, as you said, magically trapped. Forcing them to do the whole "3 wishes" thing.

S.K.N. wrote: "You should have told him that your story wasn't a Christina Aguilera song.
And I do remember I think from Arabian nights that the bottle, lamp, etc. stuff would be, as you said, magically trapped...."

Lol! Love your come back S.K.N. ;D

Mina wrote: "S.K.N. wrote: "You should have told him that your story wasn't a Christina Aguilera song.
And I do remember I think from Arabian nights that the bottle, lamp, etc. stuff would be, as you said, mag..."

My come backs seem to get me in trouble a lot ;) Still I couldn't resist. I believe he was trying to stuff you in a box but we all know that it is far better to be outside it.

S.K.N. wrote: "My come backs seem to get me in trouble a lot ;) Still I couldn't resist. I believe he was trying to stuff you in a box but we all know that it is far better to be outside it. ..."

Truth, my friend! :)

Perhaps because I've always been somewhat vague on what Andrew/Ulato really is (at least until I finish Son of the Morrigan and nail down 100% that he's officially a faerie, anyway), I'm now picturing him wearing capris and a middy top, performing Genie in a Bottle. My brain hurts. This is your fault, Shay. ;)

Lol. I have a terrible habit of doing that to people ;)

Lol, yeah that song got stuck in my head too...thanks S.K.N. ;) Sorry, I have been MIA for a bit, but had to get a my new book ready for release. This time it's dragons...so excited!

Dragons? Well I think they count as paranormal. I see a new thread coming soon