Shaetin

Shaetin are a cosmological and spiritual concept of the Hamalfite Folk belief and adapted by the Ayba'dhja Asiaha'wabha to describe and designate beings and elements best described as being "evil" in origin. Shaetin may also take on the guise of creatures or beings akin to the Djinn but with an over all malevolent purpose. In either case, anything that embodies the concept of Shaetin is considered over-all destructive and uncontrollable by man or any living force, as the nature of the Shaetin is to destroy life and physical existence. Later year intellectuals such as Jamal Abu ad-min have described the abstract non-spiritual concept of Shaetin as the entropic decay of the universe, where-in it exists as a force that destroys or removes material or spirit from the perceivable realm.
As a living entity, Shaetin are creatures born from Hell who come to the perceivable world of man to corrupt and conquer it. Most often they do not have the ability to physically interact with it, all other spaces filled by Djinn. However home can be found in the recently or ancient deceased of the world, as corpses are not occupied by either the spirit of the living or the Djinn. In Hamalfite belief improperly prepared bodies of the dead can become an invitation for the possession of the Shaetin and their consumption of the once-living soul within and utilization of its Barakih to rise and hunt the currently living to construct a hell army.
== In Hamalfite Legends ==
In folk tales Shaetin often appear as a singular entity encompassing the sort of concepts that would impede an individual's journey through life and health in the after-life. If not out-right possessing corpses seeking to slay stray herdsmen or lone travelers, the Shaetin have oft times appeared as a ghost to tempt or mis-direct an individual. Promising gold of fortune they often tempt the hero or villain away from righteousness and into the path of destruction, the murder or wasteful butchering of herds may occur or the desolation of a tribe or family's life-style to send them down a long road of suffering until their death on the hope that their lifeless bodies would help in raising additional spirits from Hell to the physical realm.
Shaetin have often been defeated in this case by the heroes. Vanquishing them by way of silver, mirrors, fire, or sunlight.
The weakness of the Shaetin is written as being that of purity or brilliance and they often shy away from exposure to sunlight. Silver and mirrors are regarded as being a source of purity to repel the Shaetin, but to not destroy them. Fire is also invoked as a method to exorcise the evil spirits from a body, it may not destroy the spirit but it can cast it from its vessel or deter it from fear of being burned: hence its use in funeral ritual.
=== Depiction ===
In these stories the Shaetin are depicted often as being cunning and mischievous, but they are all around cowardly. They also act gluttonous, overly proud and arrogant, cheap, swindlers, lustful, and lazy.
=== On Funerals ===
The impact of the Shaetin and their observed impact on the physical manifestation of the walking dead by Hamalfite scholars has long sired a culture that practices cremation to dispose of the dead. Burial is never considered, and all bodies must be totally destroyed. This goes in-hand with the concept of releasing an individual or animal's spirit and/or Barakih as to not be used and devoured by the impish spirits so they may ascend to heaven or enter into reincarnation if the Goddesses/Gods permit.
Additional disposal practices are also carried out as inspired by the fear of the Shaetin. After death if a body can not be burned then it must be hacked to pieces. Large enough openings and dismemberment of the corpse allows the slow escape of the soul as well as turns the corpse into useless matter for the Shaetin. Some communities or groups approach the method further, feeding the dismembered bodies of the dead to vultures or the sea where the gestation of animals or the workings of sea-water may break down the final parts.
In any case the body must be totally destroyed.
== As an Abstraction ==
Later philosophical and theological movements within the Hamalfite communities have adapted the idea of Shaetin as an abstract concept, either as an explanation of certain phenomenon or as a moral and ethical classification of action and thought. In this case shaetin is referred to as not a proper-noun.
As an abstract concept to be classified as shaetini a means, method, action, or thought must be in nature destructive to one's self or others. This effects a wide-range of areas dependent on an individuals ethical politics. The act of war might be considered shaetin as well as the ultimate use of magic in many forms. Natural phenomenon may be thought of as shaetin and the entire realm and process of dying is shaetin.
The concept may be the same as or different from the concept of Mim'nwa - forbidden - but is certainly related.
== Monsters associated with the activity of Shaetin ==
=== Ghuul ===
The ghuul - or ghoul - are the most common manifestation of Shaetin in the physical world, or are most often drawn to be connected with it. On the possession of a recently or long-deceased full body the Shaetin spirit resurrects the corpse as a Ghuul. The process during which it can transpire varies on condition or location of the body. Commonly its accepted a corpse left out in the open and in the dry sun will be susceptible to being transformed into a Ghuul more rapidly than others.
The practiced idea of the span of time it takes for a body to transformed into a Ghuul is believed to be four to six days. Magi in preparation of bodies for funerals make the preparation and rituals of readying the dead for cremation during a three-day span, where at the height of the third day the body is carried out onto a pyre or atop a Tower of Silence and burned or dismembered for the crows.
Bodies left out for an unknown period and have yet to rise like Ghuuls are either left to sit to confirm the completion of the possession or promptly dismembered.
The belief in this time-frame is that though the body is dead leaving the soul feeble and incapable, it can use the life accumulation of Barakh to sustain itself long enough to remain in the physical vessel until it can be released; whether through fire or physically dismembering the corpse. During the four-six days it fights Shaetin over the body, the natural dichotomies of their magics negating one another until eventually the soul weakens and is devoured by Shaetin.
Atop this, it's thought that leaving a body out in the light or in a silver-clad room may delay the encroachment of Shaetin or even deter it completely. However since these means are considered physical they are not held as being perfect against the spiritual world, whether good or evil.
=== Ifrid ===
The physical manifestation of the Ifrid is a mythological and an observable curiosity among scholars. Possessing no features of any single animal the Ifrid is thought to be an amalgamation of any piece of matter, living or dead. Some theorize that they are bound together by some form of fungus that continues to break down the body of the possessed matter to create highly-flammable sulfuric compounds and are known to be explosive.
Category:New Voldrania Category:Haisonuuna Category:Religion