An Arabian Night

Dear Soul-just-over-the-horizon,

Last night I read your mother the Arabian Night story about The fisherman and the Ifrit.

An Ifrit is something/someone we don't hear or see too much around here. (Being in Chicago, we don't see too many fishermen either, when you get right down to it, save for the guys who stand at along the concrete shorelines of lagoons hoping to snag some bottom feeders, but I digress....)

Wikipedia defines Ifrits as:
supernatural creatures in Arabic and Islamic folklore. They are in a class of infernal Jinn noted for their strength and cunning. An ifrit is an enormous winged creature of fire, either male or female, who lives underground and frequents ruins. Ifrits live in a society structured along ancient Arab tribal lines, complete with kings, tribes and clans. They generally marry one another, but they can also marry humans. While ordinary weapons and forces have no power over them, they are susceptible to magic, which humans can use to kill them or to capture and enslave them. As with the jinn (genii), an ifrit may either be a believer or unbeliever, good or evil, but he is most often depicted as a wicked and ruthless being.

One of the funniest parts of that definition for me is the part where it says: "They generally marry one another, but they can also marry humans." It isn't often that you hear definitions of supernatural characters defined by who they can and can't marry. Would a marriage to a human draw a larger crowd than your average Ifrit-to-Ifrit affair? Would you send out invitations by winged messenger?

Now, this particular Ifrit in the Arabian Nights is not a pleasant soul and threatens to kill the fisherman, until the fisherman figures out an ingenious way to get the Ifrit back into the bottle: by appealing to the Ifrit's pride. "Ifrit, how in the WORLD did you ever fit into that tiny bottle? You, who stand so tall? In this tiny bottle? I just can't imagine how that could be?" At which point, the Ifrit who wants to show that he can do ANYTHING becomes smoke and slips back into the bottle, which the wily fisherman then re-corks.

My main reason for mentioning this Ifrit is not to introduce you to supernatural creatures (you'll encounter many of those in the English language when you're little) but to provide a little advice, that if you ever find yourself in a tough spot, in some conflict or confrontation with a human being (or Ifrit, I suppose) -- it often makes sense to appeal to their Pride. Human beings, like Ifrits, are very fond of their pride. The Greeks called it the sin of hubris. And you will discover many stories of hubris in all kinds of myths and legends. (And there's that old saying: Pride goeth before a fall.)

In general, you'll learn (probably the hard way) that the unpleasant people of the world very often suffer from a feeling that they are really INFERIOR or that they have to put on a bit show and show how BIG they are. (I have a sneaking suspicion you may think that of me on some of my lousier days, though I'm hoping we keep that to a minimum. Both of us.)

It's good to have a healthy sense of humility. Not to the extent of putting yourself DOWN (we'll talk about being "pusillanimous" some other time), but understanding that it's an awfully big world, and there are an awful lot of pretty amazing people -- and for the most part, most of them are trying to do the best they can with what they have.

It's tricky: you really ARE a great and amazing soul. (We will tell you this often when you are not pooping and crying (and you never know, your mom may do it even then; she's like that.)) We are all great and amazing souls; but those who truly have a sense of their worth and place in the universe, they don't have to ASK for validation from anyone else. And better still, no one can take it away with stupid insults or put downs.

You need to always remember you are a holy and beautiful creation. If we were all a little more comfortable with that truth, we wouldn't go around trying to bring others down or trying so hard to impress others who have trouble believing their own divine spark.

Bottom line: watch out for Ifrits and humans. Especially at weddings.