W. Blackman, Some Beliefs Among the Egyptian Peasants with Regard to 'afarit

8/12/2019 W. Blackman, Some Beliefs Among the Egyptian Peasants with Regard to 'afarit

1/10

Some Beliefs among the Egyptian Peasants with Regard to 'afrt

Author(s): Winifred S. BlackmanReviewed work(s):Source: Folklore, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Jun. 30, 1924), pp. 176-184Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1256490.Accessed: 11/06/2012 07:07

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.and Taylor & Francis, Ltd.are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and

extend access to Folklore.

http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancishttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=felhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1256490?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1256490?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=felhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancis


2/10

176 Some Beliefs among the Egyptian PeasantsSOME BELIEFS AMONG THE EGYPTIAN PEASANTS WITH

REGARD TO 'afr~it.MOST of the material utilized for this article was gatheredduring the past winter (1923), when I was in charge of thePercy Sladen Expedition to Egypt, the Royal Society alsocontributing a supplementary grant towards the expenses ofthe season's work.

Conspicuous among the various supernatural beings whofigurein the beliefsof the Egyptian peasantsarethe 'afdrit. Theword 'afrit(pl. 'afdrit) s usually translated" devil "or " demon"as distinct from the ginn, who, properlyspeaking, representthegood spirits.' As a matter of fact the two words ginn and'afrUitseem, 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 'afritas " fairy," 2 These beings are believed to have been createdmany thousands of years before the appearanceof Adam, andare made of fire. They may be the chosen assistants of badpeople who wish to harm others, and they may, of their ownaccord, enter into one who, at any rate at the moment, is doingsomething wrong, thereby laying himself open to such posses-sion.The 'afdrit can, however, be controlled by magicians, ofwhom there are many in Egypt, and to whom people who areafflicted by 'afdrit always apply. These magicians are oftenmen of benevolent character,who utilize their powers on behalfof those who suffer. Many illnesses are put down to possessionby an 'afrit, so that the magicianis frequentlycalledupon to actas " medicine-man."The 'afdritare supposed to live under the earth, where theyhave an organised society, with a king at their head. Theysometimes haunt springs and wells, and may also be found inthe 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, seeLane's translation of the Arabian Nights, London (1883), vol. i. pp. 26 f.(Notes to Introduction.)


3/10

Some Beliefs amongthe Egyptian Peasants 177through the cultivation. Being made of fire, they naturallycan be found in their native element, and woe betide a man orwoman who throws anything on to the household fire withoutgiving due warning to the 'afdrit who may be present in it.These beings are usually invisible to all but magicians, thoughthey may sometimes appear to the ordinary individual inhuman or, more often, animal form. Again, they may be seenby animals when invisible to humanbeings. Therefore,when adonkey refuses to pass a certainspot in the desert or cultivation,his rider knows that an 'afritbars the way, and he usually has'to dismount and forcibly lead his donkey past the dangerzone.Some of the magicianswho control these 'afdritare believedto be themselves marriedto one of them. It is a well-knownbelief, not only in Egypt, but in some other countries as well,that a man can marry and have childrenby an 'afrita. A manthus marriedwill never disclose the fact, but it becomes knownamong his relations, who, on looking for him in his accustomedplace where he sleeps at night, will sometimes find that he hasdisappeared. This is now believed to be the case with amagician, who is well known to me, and who lives in a smallvillage in Asyfit Province. His relationshave constantly urgedhim to marry, since for a man to remain unmarried is lookedupon as more or less a disgraceamong 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.Accordinglythey now believe that he has an 'afritaas his wife,as he sometimes is not found at night sleeping on his mat athome. Such a supernaturalwife assists her husband in all hiswork as a magician, indeed, his powers are often attributedentirely to the assistance he receives from his wife beneath theearth.A magician can make these 'afdritappear beforehim, and hecan issue ordersto their king, which.the latter has to obey. Hisequipment usually consists of incense, and sometimeswater aswell, which areusedwith the accompanyingrecitationof charms,,or magical sentences. Most magicians possess books, usuallyin manuscriptwritten out by themselves, containing numbersof charms in the form of magic squares and sentences for

M


4/10

178 Some Beliefs amongthe Egyptian Peasantsrepetition. The magician mentioned above had several suchbooks to be employedon-variousoccasions. For example,he hadwith great labour collected and written out magical cures andprotections for those troubled in any way by 'afarit,and amongother manuscripts n his possessionwas one which he designatedthe " Book of Adam."Besides controllingthe 'afdrit, this particularmagician couldlikewise discover by magical means where hidden treasure lay,and could also cure a child suffering from nightmare, thiscomplaint being attributed to an 'afrit. Indeed, one couldwith truth call him the village " medicine-man," as he wasresorted to in all cases where the cause of illness was obscure.All such cases he is stated to have definitelycured, whereas thevisits to the doctor had been of no avail.The following are a few examples of the deeds of modernEgyptian magicians, collected by me during my sojourn inAsyilt Province this year. They are translated as literally aspossible from the Arabic. The names of the people concernedand the villages in which they live are suppressed, in deferenceto their feelings, as most of them are still living, and it was agreat concession that the cases were described to me at all.A young man in a certainvillage in Asyfit Provincebecamevery angry with his wife one night while she was sitting infront of the fire cooking the evening meal. In his anger hetook a pottery bottle of water (called a kulleh),and struck herwith it. In doing this he broke the bottle, and the water andsome of the pieces of pottery fell into the fire, putting it out.The next moment he heard a voice saying to him,-" You havebroken the head of one of my children,so I will come into you "(i.e. " possessyou "). The man thereforebecame madandbeganto tear at his own face and to strike all those who came nearhim. Some of his relations, seeing the terrible state he wasin, proceededto bind his hands together behind his back and totie his feet together by the ankles, to prevent his doing furtherharm to himself or anyone else; but he continued to cry outand to speak meaninglesswords. His relations took him to onedoctor after another, but they could do him no good, and hecontinued in the same condition of violent madness.


5/10

Some Beliefs amongtheEgyptian Peasants 179At last, after remaining in this state for three months, they

went to see a certain sheikh,who was known to be of a charitablecharacter,and beggedhim to cure the unfortunateman, pleadingalso that he was very poor. This sheikhhas (forhe is still alive)many books of enchantments, i.e. charms for curing variousailments, and for dispelling and controlling 'afdrit,etc.The sheikh listened sympathetically to their pleading, andconsented to visit the sufferer,but he told them that they mustfirst bring him a small piece of one of the garments belongingto the madman. They went home and returned shortly witha piece of the man's galabiyeh,on which the sheikhwrote somemagic words. After doing this he told the anxious relationsthat the man was possessed by an 'afrit, and, according to hispromise, he accompanied them to the madman's house.Here he found the patient with his hands tied behind hisback and his feet bound together by the ankles with strongcords, while he lay on the groundcoveredwith a blanket. Thesheikhbegan to burn some incense in a dish, and to read someof the magic sentences from his book of incantations. Uponthis the madman tore asunderthe cords which bound him, andbegan striking out right and left. The sheikh then asked himwhy he behaved in this way, to which the 'afrit, speakingthrough the madman, replied " you have an unclean woman inthe room,"3 for there were many people present. On hearingthis the sheikhwas very angry, for no uncleanwoman must everbe present on such .an occasion, and he ordered all the peopleto leave the room,with the exception of a few of the man'smalerelations.4 When the crowdhad departed,the madmanbecamequiet, and the sheikh continued to burn incense and to recitemagic sentences.At last the 'afrit spoke to the sheikh,who told him to leavethe 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 knowwhat crowds collect on the slightest excuse, usually offering conflictingadvice at the top of their voices. On such an occasion as the onerecounted above, the room where the patient lay would probably bepacked with sympathisers and eager sightseers.


6/10

i 8o Some Beliefs among the Egyptian Peasantsman), " from what part of his body shall I leave him ? MayI come out through one of his eyes, which will then becomeblind, as a punishment for his breaking the head of one of mychildren ? " The sheikhreplied that he would not permit himto do this, but that he was to come out of the big toe of one foot.The sheikhthen placed a kulleh on the ground, and said to the'afrit, " I shall know that you have left the man if you knockover this kulleh."

Presently, as he was reading his incantations, the sheikhsawa few drops of blood fly from the man's big toe towards thekulleh, which was immediately flung with a crash against thewall. The madmanthen sat up and said,-" Where am I? andwho are you ? " After a while he recognised all his relations,whom he had not known duringthe whole periodof his madness.They asked him where he had been, to which he replied,-" Ihave been among the 'afdrit."

Since that day he has been perfectly sane, and is now livinghappily in his native village.The followingis an account of the punishment meted out toa bad-temperedwife. Wrongdoing, as already stated, is sup-posed to render a man or woman more liable to possession byan 'afrit.Therewas a womanwho lived in an 'ezbeh in Asyfit Province,who had a very violent temper. One day her husband wasangry with her for some wrong thing she had done, upon whichshe lost her temper as usual. At midnight duringthe followingnight, when her husband, was, accordingto his custom, sleepingwith the flocksin the field,"and his wife was sleepingat home, anegressappearedbeforethe latter. The woman felt the negresscatch hold of her wrists, and draw her out of the house. Thenegress then spoke to her, and told her that she had behavedvery badly to her husband. Onhearingthis the woman became

6An 'ezbeh is a small settlement, usually consisting of the landlord'slarge 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), andthe shepherd with his watch-dogs sleeps with the flocks, usually sheepand goats, to protect them from thieves. The buffaloes and cows areusually taken home at night by the women and children.


7/10

Some Beliefs amongthe Egyptian Peasants 181very angry, but the negress replied,-" You are wrong,you arealways annoying your husband," and she struck the womanon her chest and vanished.The woman then re-entered her house, and the next morningshe was speechlessand unable to walk. When she was spokento she merelylaughed,and struckout with her armsand kicked.She remained in this condition for three months, during whichperiod she was taken to see three different doctors, not one ofwhom could do anything for her.At last her relationsheard of a celebratedmagicianwho livesin a neighbouring village,' and they went to him and beggedhim to do something for the woman, but he refused. Againthey came to him and entreated him to come, and again herefused. Nothing daunted, they came for a third time, and felldown and kissed his feet, imploring him to come to their aid.After this he felt he could not refuse their request, and hepromised them that he would come to see the woman on thefollowing evening.Meanwhilehe told them they must bring him a piece of thewoman's dress, or the handkerchiefshe wore on her head. Theybrought the latter article, and the sheikhretiredinto his privateroom, carrying the handkerchiefwith him. He wrote certainmagic words or sentenceson the handkerchief,and burnt incensein a dish, while he recited charmsfrom his book of incantations.Presently an 'afrit appeared before him, and the sheikhaskedhim which of the 'afdrftpossessedthe woman, saying that if hedid not tell him he would burn him and his people.8 The 'afritreplied that he would go to the king of the 'afdritand speak tohim about it. Then the 'afritasked the sheikh to read a charmto dismiss him, which he did.9

7 The same magician as in the former story.8 Similar threats were uttered by ancient Egyptian magicians againstdenizens of the spirit-world. For example, in one of the Turin Papyrithe 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 thesemagic formulae. Without such recitations they can neither appear nordisappear.


8/10

182 Some Beliefs among the Egyptian PeasantsAfter this another 'afrit appeared and told the sheikhall hewanted to know, including the name of the possessed woman,and the name of her mother,in orderthat the sheikhmight knowthat he was not deceiving him. After he had found out all hewanted to know, he dismissed this 'afrit also.On the following evening some of the woman's relativesarrived at the sheikh'shouse and conducted him to the woman.When he arrived he dismissedall the people, with the exceptionof the woman's mother. As he entered the room in whichthe possessed woman lay, the 'afrit, speaking through thewoman, cried out-" Why have you come? Why haveyou come? Why have you come? Leave me Leave meLeave me "The magicianthen called for a dish in which to burn incense,and he wrote a charm on a piece of paper which he threw intothe 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 thewoman, and said-" How shall I come out of her ? May I doher some injury, as she has behaved badly to her husband?She is goingto have a child, let me injure the child in herbelly."The sheikhreplied " No," that he would not permit it, but thatshe was to come out of the woman's little fingerof her left hand.The woman, after the sheikh had thus spoken, began to shakeall over, the magicianmeanwhilecontinuing to recite his magicsentences.Soon after, the woman sat up, restored to her right mind, andher mother kissed her. The woman said-" Where am I ? "Her mother replied-" You are in your house." The womanwho had been possessed had her speech completely restored,and, this joyful intelligence being communicatedto the peoplewaiting outside, the women began the zagharit.10The sheikhthen wrote a charm for the woman to wear as aprotection against 'afdrit, but he refused all offers of money,for he is a rich man. The woman has had no return of thisaffliction.

10 Cries of joy, such as are raised at weddings and other festiveoccasions.


9/10

Some Beliefs amongtheEgyptian Peasants 183The followingaccount of an adventure with an 'afritwas givento my informantby the man to whom it happened. He swearsto the truth of it. The man in question, previousto his experi-ence recounted below, had no belief in 'afarit. One day, how-ever, when he was returning home from his field, he heard asheep bleating. On looking to see whereabouts the animalwas,he found a large sheep, covered with very thick wool. The mangot off his donkey and went up to the sheep, and, seeing thatit was such a fine animal, and, moreover,that it had no owner,he picked it up and mounted his donkey again, carrying thesheep in front of him. As he rode along, he fingeredits thickwool, and said to himself-" When I get home I will cut offyour wool, and make a good blanket for myself out of it." 11While he was still riding towards his house he looked down,and to his astonishment he saw that the legs of the sheep hadgrown so long that they nearly touched the ground. On

observing this he was so frightened that he jumped off hisdonkey, and the sheep suddenly vanished. Presently he hearda voice which said-" You thought you were going to cut thewool off me, did you, and make a blanket foryourself out of it 1Do you not know that I am one of the 'afaritin whom you saythat you do not believe ? " At this the man was terrified,andnow 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 isgiven in the following account, the boy, who is the subject ofthe tale, having been always very troublesome and lazy at hiswork in school.It may be well to explain here that it is the custom amongthe Coptsfor some of the men andboys to gathertogether everyevening during the month of Kiyahk, which begins on the 9thor ioth December, to recite passages from the Bible, and somespecial prayersin Coptic,by heart. Thus engaged they remainin the church all night till daybreak, when the priest comes forthe service. Coptic boys acquire a smattering of the ancient11 Weaving is done in the village in which this man lives. On passingthrough its narrow, tortuous streets men can be seen at every turnbusily spinning wool.


10/10

Documents

W. Blackman, Some Beliefs Among the Egyptian Peasants with Regard to 'afarit