Ghoul
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Ghool; Ghul; Feminine: Ghula
Ghouls are a lower order of extremely malicious Djinn. They are murderous, treacherous, voracious spirits who will kill and devour humans, and not in the potentially good shamanistic way that serves as initiation. Ghouls are just killers. They are classified as cannibals because of their preference for human flesh.
Ghouls may first have appeared in Egypt or Arabia. They existed long before Islam but now appear throughout the Islamic world, sometimes far from their original territory. Ancient Arabic legends suggest that ghouls took the form of beautiful, shapely women in order to lure travelers. Ghouls haunt burial grounds and cemeteries, where they feed upon cadavers. They linger amid ruins, isolated areas, and in the desert wilderness.
In modern Egypt, the word ghoul may indicate any kind of bloodthirsty cannibal, not necessarily a spirit being.
MANIFESTATION:
Ghouls sometimes manifest as animals and often as “monsters”; they are shape-shifters who will choose their form based on whatever is most likely to entrap victims. Moroccan ghouls frequently appear as hairy giant women with pendulous breasts and goat’s feet. They can transform into young beautiful women, too, when they wish.
SEE ALSO:
Afrit; Aisha Qandisha; Djinn
The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – Copyright © 2009 by Visionary Living, Inc.