Some Beliefs among the Egyptian Peasants with Regard to 'afrt

Author(s): Winifred S. Blackman

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Folklore, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Jun. 30, 1924), pp. 176-184
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1256490 .
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176
Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
SOME BELIEFS AMONG THE EGYPTIAN PEASANTS WITH
REGARD TO
'afr~it.
MOST
of the material utilized for this article was
gathered
during
the
past
winter
(1923),
when I was in
charge
of the
Percy
Sladen
Expedition
to
Egypt,
the
Royal Society
also
contributing
a
supplementary grant
towards the
expenses
of
the season's work.
Conspicuous among
the various
supernatural beings
who
figure
in the beliefs of the
Egyptian peasants
are the
'afdrit.
The
word
'afrit (pl. 'afdrit)
is
usually
translated
"
devil
"
or
"
demon
"
as distinct from the
ginn, who, properly speaking, represent
the
good spirits.'
As a matter of fact the two words
ginn
and
'afrUit seem,
at
any
rate
among
the
peasants,
to be
interchange-
able,
and
may
denote either benevolent or malevolent
beings.
The educated
Egyptians
sometimes translate the word
'afrit
as "
fairy,"
2
These
beings
are believed to have been created
many
thousands of
years
before the
appearance
of
Adam,
and
are made of fire.
They may
be the chosen assistants of bad
people
who wish to harm
others,
and
they may,
of their own
accord,
enter into one
who,
at
any
rate at the
moment,
is
doing
something wrong, thereby laying
himself
open
to such
posses-
sion.
The
'afdrit can, however,
be controlled
by magicians,
of
whom there are
many
in
Egypt,
and to whom
people
who are
afflicted
by 'afdrit always apply.
These
magicians
are often
men of benevolent
character,
who utilize their
powers
on behalf
of those who suffer.
Many
illnesses are
put
down to
possession
by
an
'afrit,
so that the
magician
is
frequently
called
upon
to act
as " medicine-man."
The
'afdrit
are
supposed
to live under the
earth,
where
they
have an
organised society,
with a
king
at their head. They
sometimes
haunt
springs
and
wells,
and
may
also be found in
the
desert,
as well as in the narrow
paths
which wind about
1
See Lane,
Modern
Egyptians,
London
(1895), pp.
231 et seq.
2
For a learned
exposition
on the
meaning
of these two
words,
see
Lane's translation of the Arabian
Nights,
London (1883), vol. i. pp. 26 f.
(Notes
to
Introduction.)
Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
177
through
the cultivation.
Being
made of
fire, they naturally
can be found in their native
element,
and woe betide a man or
woman who throws
anything
on to the household fire without
giving
due
warning
to the
'afdrit
who
may
be
present
in it.
These
beings
are
usually
invisible to all but
magicians, though
they may
sometimes
appear
to the
ordinary
individual in
human
or,
more
often,
animal form.
Again, they may
be seen
by
animals when invisible to human
beings. Therefore,
when a
donkey
refuses to
pass
a certain
spot
in the desert or
cultivation,
his rider knows that an
'afrit
bars the
way,
and he
usually
has'
to dismount and
forcibly
lead his
donkey past
the
danger
zone.
Some of the
magicians
who control these
'afdrit
are believed
to be themselves married to one of them. It is a well-known
belief,
not
only
in
Egypt,
but in some other countries as
well,
that a man can
marry
and have children
by
an
'afrita.
A man
thus married will never disclose the
fact,
but it becomes known
among
his
relations, who,
on
looking
for him in his accustomed
place
where he
sleeps
at
night,
will sometimes find that he has
disappeared.
This is now believed to be the case with a
magician,
who is well known to
me,
and who lives in a small
village
in
Asyfit
Province. His relations have
constantly urged
him to
marry,
since for a man to remain unmarried is looked
upon
as more or less a
disgrace among
the
Egyptian peasants.
This
magician
has
always
refused to take to himself a
wife,
and has
put
off the entreaties of his
family
that he would
marry.
Accordingly they
now believe that he has an
'afrita
as his
wife,
as he sometimes is not found at
night sleeping
on his mat at
home. Such a
supernatural
wife assists her husband in all his
work as a
magician, indeed,
his
powers
are often
attributed
entirely
to the assistance he receives from his wife
beneath the
earth.
A
magician
can make these
'afdrit appear
before
him,
and he
can issue orders to their
king,
which.the
latter has to
obey.
His
equipment usually
consists of
incense,
and
sometimes water as
well,
which are used with the
accompanying
recitation of
charms,,
or
magical
sentences. Most
magicians possess
books,
usually
in
manuscript
written out
by themselves,
containing
numbers
of charms in the form of
magic squares
and sentences
for
M
178
Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
repetition.
The
magician
mentioned above had several such
books to be
employed
on-various occasions. For
example,
he had
with
great
labour collected and written out
magical
cures and
protections
for those troubled in
any way by
'afarit,
and
among
other
manuscripts
in his
possession
was
one
which he
designated
the
"
Book of Adam."
Besides
controlling
the
'afdrit,
this
particular magician
could
likewise discover
by magical
means where hidden treasure
lay,
and could also cure a child
suffering
from
nightmare,
this
complaint being
attributed to an
'afrit. Indeed,
one could
with truth call him the
village
"
medicine-man,"
as he was
resorted to in all cases where the cause of illness was obscure.
All such cases he is stated to have
definitely cured,
whereas the
visits to the doctor had been of no avail.
The
following
are a few
examples
of the deeds of modern
Egyptian magicians,
collected
by
me
during my sojourn
in
Asyilt
Province this
year. They
are translated as
literally
as
possible
from the Arabic. The names of the
people
concerned
and the
villages
in which
they
live are
suppressed,
in deference
to their
feelings,
as most of them are still
living,
and it was a
great
concession that the cases were described to me at all.
A
young
man in a certain
village
in
Asyfit
Province became
very angry
with his wife one
night
while she was
sitting
in
front of the fire
cooking
the
evening
meal. In his
anger
he
took a
pottery
bottle of water
(called
a
kulleh),
and struck her
with it. In
doing
this he broke the
bottle,
and the water and
some of the
pieces
of
pottery
fell into the
fire, putting
it out.
The next moment he heard a voice
saying
to
him,-"
You have
broken the head of one of
my children,
so I will come into
you
"
(i.e.
"
possess you ").
The man therefore became mad and
began
to tear at his own face and to strike all those who came near
him. Some of his
relations, seeing
the terrible state he was
in, proceeded
to bind his hands
together
behind his back and to
tie his
feet
together by
the
ankles,
to
prevent
his
doing
further
harm to himself or
anyone else;
but he continued to
cry
out
and to
speak meaningless
words. His relations took him to one
doctor after
another,
but
they
could do him no
good,
and he
continued in the same condition of violent madness.
Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
179
At
last,
after
remaining
in this state for three
months, they
went to see a certain
sheikh,
who was known to be of a charitable
character,
and
begged
him to cure the unfortunate
man, pleading
also that he was
very poor.
This sheikh has
(for
he is still
alive)
many
books of
enchantments,
i.e. charms for
curing
various
ailments,
and for
dispelling
and
controlling
'afdrit,
etc.
The sheikh listened
sympathetically
to their
pleading,
and
consented to visit the
sufferer,
but he told them that
they
must
first
bring
him a small
piece
of one of the
garments belonging
to the madman.
They
went home and returned
shortly
with
a
piece
of the man's
galabiyeh,
on which the sheikh wrote some
magic
words. After
doing
this he told the anxious relations
that the man was
possessed by
an
'afrit, and, according
to his
promise,
he
accompanied
them to the madman's house.
Here he found the
patient
with his hands tied behind his
back and his feet bound
together by
the ankles with
strong
cords,
while he
lay
on the
ground
covered
with a blanket. The
sheikh
began
to burn some incense in a
dish,
and to read some
of the
magic
sentences from his book of incantations.
Upon
this the madman tore asunder the cords which bound
him,
and
began striking
out
right
and left. The sheikh then asked him
why
he behaved in this
way,
to which the
'afrit, speaking
through
the
madman, replied
"
you
have an unclean woman in
the
room,"
3
for there were
many people present.
On
hearing
this the sheikh was
very angry,
for no unclean woman must ever
be
present
on such
.an
occasion,
and he ordered all the
people
to leave the
room,
with the
exception
of a few of the man's male
relations.4
When the crowd had
departed,
the madman became
quiet,
and the sheikh continued to burn incense and to recite
magic
sentences.
At last the
'afrit spoke
to the
sheikh,
who told him to leave
the man. The
'afrit replied (of
course
speaking through
the
SA
menstruous woman is
always regarded
as unclean.
4
Those who have seen
anything
of
peasant
life in
Egypt
will know
what crowds collect on the
slightest excuse,
usually offering conflicting
advice at the
top
of their voices. On such an occasion as the one
recounted
above,
the room where the
patient lay
would
probably
be
packed
with
sympathisers
and
eager sightseers.
i 8o Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
man),
"
from what
part
of his
body
shall I leave him ?
May
I come out
through
one of his
eyes,
which will then become
blind,
as a
punishment
for his
breaking
the head of one of
my
children ?
"
The sheikh
replied
that he would not
permit
him
to do
this,
but that he was to come out of the
big
toe of one foot.
The sheikh then
placed
a kulleh on the
ground,
and said to the
'afrit,
"
I shall know that
you
have left the man if
you
knock
over this kulleh."
Presently,
as he was
reading
his
incantations,
the sheikh saw
a few
drops
of blood
fly
from the man's
big
toe towards the
kulleh,
which was
immediately flung
with a crash
against
the
wall. The madman then sat
up
and
said,-"
Where am I? and
who are
you
?
"
After a while he
recognised
all his
relations,
whom he had not known
during
the whole
period
of his madness.
They
asked him where he had
been,
to which he
replied,-"
I
have been
among
the
'afdrit."
Since that
day
he has been
perfectly sane,
and is now
living
happily
in his native
village.
The
following
is an account of the
punishment
meted out to
a
bad-tempered
wife.
Wrongdoing,
as
already stated,
is
sup-
posed
to render a man or woman more liable to
possession by
an
'afrit.
There was a woman who lived in an
'ezbeh
5
in
Asyfit Province,
who had a
very
violent
temper.
One
day
her husband was
angry
with her for some
wrong thing
she had
done, upon
which
she lost her
temper
as usual. At
midnight during
the
following
night,
when her
husband, was, according
to his
custom, sleeping
with the flocks in the
field,"
and his wife was
sleeping
at
home,
a
negress appeared
before the latter. The woman felt the
negress
catch hold of her
wrists,
and draw her out of the house.
The
negress
then
spoke
to
her,
and told her that she had behaved
very badly
to her husband. On hearing
this the woman
became
6
An 'ezbeh is a small settlement,
usually consisting
of the landlord's
large
house, with the small mud houses of the
fellhin
built near
it.
6
The
shepherds
collect their flocks into zerebas (Arabic, ziriba, pl.
zarlyib)
at
night.
The zerebas are made of bis (dried dura stalks),
and
the
shepherd
with his watch-dogs sleeps with the flocks, usually sheep
and
goats,
to
protect
them from thieves. The buffaloes and cows
are
usually
taken home at
night by
the women and children.
Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
181
very angry,
but the
negress replied,-"
You are
wrong, you
are
always annoying your husband,"
and she struck the woman
on her chest and vanished.
The
woman
then re-entered her
house,
and the next
morning
she was
speechless
and unable to walk. When she was
spoken
to she
merely laughed,
and struck out with her arms and kicked.
She remained in this condition for three
months, during
which
period
she was taken to see three different
doctors,
not one of
whom could do
anything
for her.
At last her relations heard of a celebrated
magician
who lives
in a
neighbouring village,'
and
they
went to him and
begged
him to do
something
for the
woman,
but he refused.
Again
they
came to him and entreated him to
come,
and
again
he
refused.
Nothing daunted, they
came for a third
time,
and fell
down and kissed his
feet, imploring
him to come to their aid.
After this he felt he could not refuse their
request,
and he
promised
them that he would come to see the woman on the
following evening.
Meanwhile he told them
they
must
bring
him a
piece
of the
woman's
dress,
or the handkerchief she wore on her head.
They
brought
the latter
article,
and the sheikh retired into his
private
room, carrying
the handkerchief with him. He wrote certain
magic
words or sentences on the
handkerchief,
and burnt incense
in a
dish,
while he recited charms from his book of
incantations.
Presently
an
'afrit appeared
before
him,
and the sheikh asked
him which of the
'afdrft
possessed
the
woman, saying
that if he
did not tell him he would burn him and his
people.8
The
'afrit
replied
that he would
go
to the
king
of the
'afdrit
and
speak
to
him about it. Then the
'afrit
asked the sheikh to read a charm
to dismiss him, which he did.9
7 The same
magician
as in the former
story.
8 Similar threats were uttered
by
ancient
Egyptian magicians against
denizens of the
spirit-world.
For
example,
in one of the Turin
Papyri
the
magician
threatens to " throw fire into Busiris and burn
up Osiris,"
if his demand is not fulfilled.
(See
A. H. Gardiner's art. "
Magic
"
(Egyptian) 7,
(I),
in
James Hastings, Ency. of
Rel. and
Ethics.)
9
The
'afdrit
are called
up
and dismissed
by
the recitation of these
magic formulae.
Without such recitations
they
can neither
appear
nor
disappear.
182
Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
After this another
'afrit appeared
and told the sheikh all he
wanted to
know, including
the name of the
possessed woman,
and the name of her
mother,
in order that the sheikh
might
know
that he was not
deceiving
him. After he had found out all he
wanted to
know,
he dismissed this
'afrit
also.
On the
following evening
some of the woman's relatives
arrived at the sheikh's house and conducted him to the woman.
When he arrived he dismissed all the
people,
with the
exception
of the woman's mother. As he entered the room in which
the
possessed
woman
lay,
the
'afrit, speaking through
the
woman,
cried out-"
Why
have
you
come ?
Why
have
you
come?
Why
have
you
come? Leave me! Leave me!
Leave me !
"
The
magician
then called for a dish in which to burn
incense,
and he wrote a charm on a
piece
of
paper
which he threw into
the middle of the
burning incense,
at the same time
reciting
some of his incantations. At
length
the woman
lay quiet,
and,
after further
recitations,
the
'afrit spoke again through
the
woman,
and said-" How shall I come out of her ?
May
I do
her some
injury,
as she has behaved
badly
to her husband ?
She is
going
to have a
child,
let me
injure
the child in her
belly."
The sheikh
replied
"
No,"
that he would not
permit it,
but that
she was to come out of the woman's little
finger
of her left hand.
The
woman,
after the sheikh had thus
spoken, began
to shake
all
over,
the
magician
meanwhile
continuing
to recite his
magic
sentences.
Soon
after,
the woman sat
up,
restored to her
right mind,
and
her mother kissed her. The woman said-" Where am I ? "
Her mother
replied-"
You are in
your
house." The woman
who had been
possessed
had her
speech completely restored,
and,
this
joyful intelligence being
communicated to the
people
waiting outside,
the women
began
the
zagharit.10
The sheikh then wrote a charm for the woman to wear as a
protection against 'afdrit,
but he refused all offers of
money,
for he is a rich man. The woman has had no return of this
affliction.
10
Cries of
joy,
such as are raised at
weddings
and other festive
occasions.
Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
183
The
following
account of an adventure with an
'afrit
was
given
to
my
informant
by
the man to whom it
happened.
He swears
to the truth of it. The man in
question, previous
to his
experi-
ence recounted
below,
had no belief in
'afarit.
One
day,
how-
ever,
when he was
returning
home from his
field,
he heard a
sheep bleating.
On
looking
to see whereabouts the animal
was,
he found a
large sheep,
covered with
very
thick wool. The man
got
off his
donkey
and went
up
to the
sheep, and, seeing
that
it was such a fine
animal, and, moreover,
that it had no
owner,
he
picked
it
up
and mounted his
donkey again, carrying
the
sheep
in front of him. As he rode
along,
he
fingered
its thick
wool,
and said to himself-" When I
get
home I will cut off
your wool,
and make a
good
blanket for
myself
out of it."
11
While he was still
riding
towards his house he looked
down,
and to his astonishment he saw that the
legs
of the
sheep
had
grown
so
long
that
they nearly
touched the
ground.
On
observing
this he was so
frightened
that he
jumped
off his
donkey,
and the
sheep suddenly
vanished.
Presently
he heard
a voice which said-" You
thought you
were
going
to cut the
wool off
me,
did
you,
and make a blanket for
yourself
out of it 1
Do
you
not know that I am one of the
'afarit
in whom
you say
that
you
do not believe ?
"
At this the man was
terrified,
and
now he
always goes by
a different
path
to and from his field.
He is also a firm believer in the
'afdrit.
Another instance of the
'afdrit punishing
a
wrong-doer
is
given
in the
following account,
the
boy,
who is the
subject
of
the
tale, having
been
always very
troublesome and
lazy
at his
work in school.
It
may
be well to
explain
here that it is the custom
among
the
Copts
for some of the men and
boys
to
gather together every
evening during
the month of
Kiyahk,
which
begins
on the
9th
or ioth
December,
to recite
passages
from the
Bible,
and some
special prayers
in
Coptic, by
heart. Thus
engaged they
remain
in the church all
night
till
daybreak,
when the
priest
comes for
the service.
Coptic boys acquire
a
smattering
of the ancient
11
Weaving
is done in the
village
in which this man lives. On
passing
through
its
narrow,
tortuous streets men can be seen at
every
turn
busily spinning
wool.
184
Some
Beliefs among
the
Egyptian
Peasants
language
when at the school of the
'arif,
the officiant who leads
the
singing
in church.
One
night during
the month of
Kiyahk
the
boy
alluded to
above was in the church with a number of his
companions,
reciting
in
Coptic
certain
passages
from the Bible.
He
left the
church for a few
minutes,
and on his
way
back he saw a
very
fine
donkey standing
in the
open space
in front of the church.
The
sight
of this
donkey proved
to be irresistible to
him,
and
he
immediately
mounted
it, and, digging
his heels into its
sides,
he
urged
it to
go
faster and
faster,
round and round the
open
space.
All of a sudden the
donkey began
to
grow
taller and
taller,
till it reached the
height
of about five metres. It then
suddenly vanished,
and the
boy
fell to the
ground,
where a
stone struck one of his
eyes
and
destroyed
the
sight.
As he
fell he heard the
'afrit saying
to
him,-"
Don't come here
again.
If
you do,
I will
injure you."
Up
to the
present
time the
boy,
who is now a
grown
man,
has never dared to return to this church for fear of the
'afrit.
His work necessitates his
travelling
about from
village
to
village,
where he is
doing good
business. He told
my
informant this
story himself,
and swears to the truth of it.
The stories related above were
imparted
to me as a
great
favour,
as such
proceedings
are
naturally regarded
as more or
less
private,
if not to the
individual,
at
any
rate to the
village
community
as a
whole,
and
foreigners
do not find it
easy
to
get
at
anything
like reliable information.
The
'afdrit
and the beliefs attached to them enter into the
lives of the
peasants
at
every
turn. It must be remembered
that the
fellhin
are a
very
nervous and emotional
people,
which
may
well account for the firm hold such beliefs have
over them.
WINIFRED S. BLACKMAN.
MYTHOLOGY OF THE GUARAYO INDIANS.
THE
Guarayo
Indians are a tribe
living
on the confines of
Bolivia on the eastern side of the Andes. In times
past
the