The jinn of Moroccan ethnography

Record summary

Edward Westermarck’s Ritual and Belief in Morocco, published in 1926, is a major identifiable record of Moroccan beliefs concerning jinn, spirits and interactions with the unseen world. Some jinn traditions include shapeshifting, animal forms and movement through the air, making the work relevant to comparisons with later reports of anomalous beings. Its value lies in documenting belief, ritual practice and narrative categories rather than validating supernatural creatures. Researchers should inspect the particular passage and local informants because Westermarck’s categories reflect early twentieth-century ethnographic methods.