It has taken 4,500 years to turn old demons into blue guys signing songs about friendship. It took a few thousand years of city conquering and myth twisting to divorce the old from the new, but thanks to pop culture (and the French), the ancient and terrifying creatures of the desert became docile cartoon characters and spunky blondes engaging in classic television hijinks.
Genies, or Jinn as the Arabic word is Romanised, come from a long line of mythological creatures dating back back to 2400BC. It is said that God had created the first genie out of the ‘fire of a scorching wind’. Jinn are much more than demons or spirits. They’re intelligent, free-willed creatures who live close to nature and are endowed with magical powers. Some are good, some are evil and some are somewhere in-between. We can count on them being tricksters in one form or another, so as a general rule, don’t go out hoping to meet a jinn.
It was the Europeans that actually started stuffing them into bottles. Antione Garland, in fact, added a few self-authored tales which include smash hits such as Ali Baba and the forty thieves and Aladdin.
A group of travellers long ago were searching the Sahara to find a lost city and they had a side quest which was to locate a vessel that supposedly held a jinni imprisoned by King Solomon. The life of Solomon and his God-given jinn-controlling ring is a fascinating topic on its own, but this seems to be the legend that first started shoving genies into small containers.
The container is definately something different, watch out for King Solomon and may wishes come true. Happy caching
Try and place it back the same way please, to help with its longevity and for future cachers to find and enjoy the magic.