The
Shedim is a
hairy and
horned wild species of
Jewish demons.
Shedim are said in the
Talmud to
eat and
drink like
human beings and have basically human features, but with lolling
tounges snd wide mouths.(
Compare the
Mazzikin,who are often
invisible and always harmful, and the
Lilin, who are
winged; see
Lilith in
domicile.) The
Shedim are reffered to in the
bible as
unclean spirits and were later
relegated in
folk lore to
woods and
various other
uninhabited places.
Lore
The Shedim are only found during the night, usually they can be observed drinking and dancing under the moon light. If a traveler should happen to stumble upon these creatures by chance there is a good chance that person may benefit greatly from this encounter. One such encounter was recorded this way:
There once was two humpbacked brothers who lived together outside of town. One of the brothers had grown so impatient with his other brother that he left to build his own house. So eventually this brother found himself out in the forest alone, since it was late (and he was really tired) he laid down to sleep in the forest. At about midnight a commotion nearby woke him up, and he saw a large party of Shedim dancing and making great noise.
As soon as the Shedim saw him they grabbed him and pulled him into their wild dance. Scared, he did exactly like the demons did, making the same sounds and attempting the same steps and wicked leaps. They were delighted and invited him back, but when they sensed his hesitation, they demanded a pledge. He offered to leave various items of clothing or possessions but they would have none of it. "Give us your hump," they said in unison. Then with no fuss they took it and disappeared.
When the now humpless brother returned to his old home, his brother demanded to know how he had gotton rid of his hump. So the humpless brother recounted the tale... The envious brother set out that night to do the same thing, he laid down to sleep, and danced and screamed as his brother did with the Shedim. At the end of the night the Shedim were again delighted, they said he had kept his word and returned his pledge . So when this brother came back he now had two humps: one on his back and one on his chest. Dispelling and disarming techniques:
Usually spitting three times will drive away the Shedim, also making the gesture known as "to fig" (bending the thumb and inserting it between the index and second finger then making a closed fist) will powerfully repel and infuriate the Shedim(but can provoke retalitory gestures). Both the Shedim and the Oni usually show merciful vulnerability to human trickery.
More demons:
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