I see a lot of confusion here on this topic, and I admit I’m confused, as well.
I’d like to hear about the differences, if any, between demons and djinn.
From what I’ve seen and read so far, it appears that djinn seem to be more localized to the Middle East. If so, could they be related to spirits of the land somehow? Or, if they are found in other places, are they seen as demons or evil spirits rather that djinn?
I’ve seen some impressive videos on YT in which people claim to have filmed hauntings by djinn, and of course, you have to wade through all the BS to find the few that may be authentic. In those, I see that there is often fire involved, like fires starting for no reason, balls of fire flying around a room, etc. Could they be fire spirits, more akin to an elemental, or something much more advanced?
If you have an answer to this, please provide the source of your information if you can. I’d like to delve into this a bit deeper.
Thank you. That gives me a little background on where they allegedly come from, but I’m still not clear on the nature of the djinn compared to what we call demons. (I also hesitate to trust a source that calls it a myth in the first place.)
Still you got to start somewhere in order to compare sources and their contents. You don’t have to trust anything blindly, but a starting point is a starting point. Have fun.
My question wasn’t which one I should use. The question was whether anyone knew the difference between the two and had a source they could point me to.
Even their own mythology isn’t clear on the difference. In some Islamic texts,for example, the word is used as a collective pronoun for all supernatural creatures, so it is are often used in the context of djinn/devils/demons, equating them as one and the same. Other texts, however, refer to the djinn as a distinct class of being.
According to wikipedia, even in pre-Islamic cultures the djinn were seen sometimes as malevolent demons of the desert, and other times as nature deities.
I personally would class them differently, simply because they feel different to me from most demons.
My first summoning of the djinn filled me with fear, and the only way I can describe it in words is to say they made my skin crawl and quite simply felt creepy.
I’ve not come across the scare factor the djinn exude with any other being.
I’ve worked with Hargrove books, as well as Baal Kadmon (spelling ?) and a few others.
Thank you for the reply. Very interesting. I guess I was getting close thinking they may be more of a nature spirit than what we in the West might call a demon. Perhaps even more of a desert type entity, something that may even be related to Set(?)
Have you come across any stories of positive djinn?
Djinn originate from mesopotamia, they were never likened to demons til Islam, djinn were originally akin to nature spirits. Demons while existed in Mesopotamia as well, were seen akin to messengers and punishers for the Gods.
But they were never related to Set, they are more related to Inanna and one of her brothers.
They are not localized. I feel like they are entities like the watchers. They all have different things that they can help you with. They are not dark or light.
Ah, that makes sense that they would have been demonized by a religion. Nature spirits makes sense to me since such spirits can be QUITE nasty when they wish.
The reason I thought Set might somehow be related is due to his desert storms and chaos links. Sounds very djinn-like to me, but Inanna does make more sense.
Yeah djinn were related more to smokeless fire that was akin to the sun, they were very solar in nature in terms of their ‘element’ which ties back to Inanna/Ishtar and Shamesh/Utu.
Djinn in pre-Islamic lore were mostly viewed as nature spirits or deities on occasion. They have ancient Mesopotamian origins and entities such as the Apkallu and Lamassu are said to be in the flying class of genii.
Demons and djinn do have commonalities and they do overlap a bit in a sense that the Shedim and Se’irim are classed as both demons and djinn. However, if you do more in-depth research they align more with nature and even the Persians take note that they are very similar to the faery.
I also want people to take note that anything that is characterized as malevolent in most cultures are considered to be demons (I am in no way saying that demons are evil or harmful, but that is just what they are collectively considered to be in multiple cultures).
Djinn are addressed in two different ways and that is because they are not characterized as being purely harmful. In fact, that is the reason why the Shaitan (in pre-Islam the Ghul) are a thing, they are a distinction between the other tribes of djinn to express to people that not all of them are out to get them (in fact, some djinn were considered to be protectors of the people such as the Lamassu).
