G is for Ghoul #AtoZChallenge

Can you guess which is the Ghoul?

Origin:  Arabia

Description:  The Ghoul is a variety of Djinn, the offspring is Ibis (Satan.)  They come in a myriad of forms, even as a beautiful woman, but they always have hoofed feet.

Disposition: They dwell in the deserts and attack travelers.  You have one chance to kill a Ghoul.  If you are unsuccessful each blow you deliver will make the Ghoul more and more powerful.  Used as a bogeyman to frighten misbehaving children.

P.S. They feed on corpses.

French Faeries - The Follett #AtoZChallenge

Origin:  Rural areas of Northern France

Description:  Generally the Follett are invisible.  For those who have seen them there are two main descriptions – a tiny old man dressed as a jester or a tiny man dressed in a red coat and britches with long hair and beard brandishing a teeny little sword.  I like that later myself.  Personal preference only.

Disposition:  The Follett are not the friendliest of creatures.  Actually, they are quite nasty.  They invade homes in the French countryside throwing pots and pans and sticks on the residents.  They like to pester spinning women and rub cattle’s skin raw (yeah, weird, but a major concern for a farmer!)  They also like to make crude jokes. 

Now if a person can resist losing their patience and flying into a rage at this vicious little bastard, the Follett will act as a House Faerie, completing chores and tending to the cattle. 

All About Djinns and a Giveaway!!!

And the WINNER is... Dana.  Look for my email, Dana!!!!

Mina Khan, Paranormal Romance Author

We have a special guest this week for Faerie Friday and I couldn’t be more excited.  Mina Khan, Author of A Tale of Two Djinns and The Djinn’s Dilemma, is here to talk about Djinns.  I don’t consider Djinns to be faeries exactly but they are sometimes referred to as such in some of my reference books.  I find that the term faerie, demon or spirit is used almost interchangeably in some texts.  It doesn’t matter what you call them; they are still part of the lore of Middle East and beyond. 


I had intended on writing a post about them at some point, but when Mina said she would be happy to write one for me, I was thrilled.  Who better to talk about them than someone who actually grew up listening to stories about them? 

To add icing to the cake, Mina is giving away 50% of the proceeds of her sale of A Tale of Two Djinns to UNICEF's new Schools for Asia initiative.  So buy a copy for yourself and one for a friend, or ten.  It's for a good cause not to mention a good read!  Check out her reason why this is so important to her on her blog.

Oh, and make sure to leave a comment.  One lucky reader will win a copy of both of her novellas.  Yes, both.  I'm feeling generous.  Contest ends on April 5^th at 12:00 pm EST.  Good luck!

Take it away, Mina!


Usually when I mention I write about djinns, people think I’m talking about the liquor (yes, djinn is pronounced gin), so I quickly add “genies.”

Then people smile and imagine something blue and funny…

Or something saccharine cute…

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. Djinns live in a parallel dimension with their own governing system, cities and architecture. The only time you’ll find a djinn living in a bottle is if they have been imprisoned in it.

What exactly are djinns? They are supernatural powerful beings created from smokeless fire. They are more powerful and more intense than humans. Catching the attention of djinns is often dangerous for humans.

So the djinns of my imagination tend to be dark and dangerous, sexy and otherworldly. I’m happily picturing Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan here:



Um, yeah…what was I saying? Right, djinns…sigh…isn’t he djinn-licious!

 

Part of the reason my idea of djinns is so different is because once I neared puberty I heard djinn stories that carried lessons and warnings intended for young girls. According to many a story, a careless pretty young girl (yes, she would have to be pretty, and careless…virginhood was implicitly implied) who would unfortunately attract the attention of a djinn. The djinn would fall in love. He’d watch her and surprise her with gifts. All very nice, until the girl tried to have a normal life –like get married to a human.

The powerful and insanely jealous and possessive djinn would react by making her speak in different languages, act crazy, or even violent if a human man approached her. In other words, make her entirely unsuitable for marriage.

Lessons: young girls should not walk around with their hair loose, their laughter should not be heard aloud to attract attention and they should be in the house before dusk. Somehow, I never dwelled on the lessons part.

Maybe it was teenage hormones, but the idea of a djinn lover didn’t scare me. I secretly found the idea delicious, and I still do…except now, I share my djinns in my stories.

You can get your very own copy of A Tale of Two Djinns:

Amazon for the Kindle

Barnes & Noble for the Nook

Giveaway Rules:  Leave a comment about the creatures/mythical figures of your childhood that left a lasting impression on you and your email address so I contact you to tell you that you won.  Don’t worry, I won’t use it to sell you Avon products or something. 

I’ll go first:  Bigfoot.  It’s a long story.

About Mina: Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She daydreams of hunky paranormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as stories. Between stories, she teaches culinary classes and writes for her local newspaper. Other than that, she's raising a family of two children, two cats, two dogs and a husband.

She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns, ghosts and monsters. These childhood fancies now color her fiction. Her debut novella, THEDJINN’S DILEMMA was published November 2011. A second novella, A TALE OF TWO DJINNS, came out March 2012. She had a lot of fun writing her djinn heroes.

You can find her at:

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/Mina.Khan.Author

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5234352.Mina_Khan

Blog: http://minakhan.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/SpiceBites

E is for Each-Uisge #AtoZChallenge

Before I get a get to today’s post, I was to remind everyone that you have until Noon EST to enter to win two of Mina Khan’s romantic novellas.  Check it out here.  The winner will be announced later today.

E is for Each-Uisge

E is for Each-Uisge

Origin:  Scotland.  Name means “Water Horse.” They live in the lochs and sea. (I know another Scottish one.  I'll try better next time.  I promise.  Cross my heart.  Hope to die.   But Scottish faerie names are so wonderfully unpronounceable!)

Description:  They often appear as horses.  They trick people into riding them. (I've mentioned before on this blog that riding strange steeds is a bad idea.)  They drag their victims into the depths and eat them.  With the exception of their livers.  They don’t like liver.  Sometimes they appear as handsome young men in hopes of seducing pretty girls.  A girl can spot him by the seaweed in his hair.

Disposition:  They eat people.  Enough said.  And they have green slimy stuff in their hair if that first point doesn’t turn you off.

D is for Daughters of the Sun #AtoZChallenge

Origin:  Okeefenokee Swamp in southeastern Georgia (USA.)  To be honest, I always thought this was a made up name.  Shows you what I know.

Description:  They live on a mysterious island in the middle of the swamp.  They are smoking hot with pretty faces, dark eyes and musical voices.  Only a few people have ever reported seeing them or hearing their laughter filling the air of the swamp.

Disposition: Unknown.  I have to add that some people entered the swamp in search of these beings and didn’t come back.  Interpret that information as you will.

C is for Church Grimm #AtoZChallenge

Phote removed by author

Origin:  England, more specifically Yorkshire

Description:  Usually appears as a large black dog.

Disposition: Powerful portent of death.  This spectral dog stalks cemeteries at night and in stormy weather to keep the devil and malicious spirits from the dead.  The only person who can see the Church Grimm without dire consequences is the minster. 

Interesting factoid:  There was a superstition that the first person buried in a new cemetery would become the spiritual guardian.  In order for this not to happy, a black dog would be killed and buried first in the cemetery. 

B is for Bodach Glas #AtoZChallenge

Origin:  Scotland, name means “Dark Grey Man” or “Little Old Man”

Description:  See above.  Use your imagination.

Disposition: Nasty little bastard.  He has two aspects to his character; a creepy guy who climbs down a chimney and kidnaps bratty kids (nursery bogie) or a powerful portent of death.  Either way, he’s not a great guy to be around.