Zagaz
Classification: Djinn
Zagaz is a Djinn held responsible for the deaths of infants. Dr. Françoise Legey, author of The Folklore of Morocco , a medical
practitioner who oversaw hospitals in Algiers and Morocco identifies Zagaz as the spirit of infantile tetanus.
Zagaz is counteracted by magically powerful but extremely poisonous plants like oleander and colocynths. Rituals must be performed
with extreme caution; powders and incense are concocted by skilled shamans, not amateurs or beginners.
Rituals against Zagaz are performed at the end of pregnancy, in the birthing room, and after the birth.
• A powder ground from virtually all the magical and medicinal herbs sold by an herbalist is burned, as the aroma allegedly repulses
Zagaz.
• Powdered colocynths and oleander are sprinkled in the corners of the birthing room, lest he be lurking in the shadows.
• Following birth, the midwife/shaman sprinkles a blend of asafoetida and oleander powder on the placenta, which she then buries
in the cemetery, announcing, "I'm not burying you, Afterbirth. I'm burying Zagaz!"
• A blend of alum and harmala (Peganum harmala, also called Syrian rue) is burned as incense. The mother or midwife passes her
right hand through the smoke three times and then lays her hand on the infant's head.
• The baby is covered with a black veil and the protection of Sidi Mimoun, King of Djinn is invoked.
See also: Djinn; Mimoun, Sidi

Zar

Also known as: Asaid; Asyad; Sar
Zar names a type of spirit, the spiritual tradition focusing on them, and the ceremonies that summon and honor them. Although these
spirits may derive from ancient and once public spiritual traditions, in the twenty-first century, Zar is essentially a woman's secret
spiritual society. Although men participate in Zar—especially in the capacity of musicians but as devotees, too—Zar is dominated by
women. (There are exceptions: in parts of Somalia, local Zar reputedly despise men. They are purely women's spirits.)
Few written records of Zar's history exist. Few will discuss it openly as it is illegal or persecuted in most of the countries where it
isprevalent. At best, it is considered disreputable. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970) actively attempted to eradicate
Zar. Zar devotees try to be discreet or at least as discreet as seven-day rituals involving lots of incense and ecstatic drumming can be.
Attitudes and prejudice against Zar are reminiscent of those commonly expressed against African Diaspora traditions like Santeria and
Vodou but even more so.

Zar may be a sub-species of Djinn. However, in Egypt as elsewhere in the Islamic world, it's very important to avoid
associations between Djinn and Zar because consorting with Djinn is strictly forbidden. An Egyptian euphemism for Zar spirits
is Malayka Ardiyya, "underground angels."

Considering it is a secret spiritual tradition, Zar is extremely widespread, celebrated throughout East Africa, the Middle East, North
Africa and wherever North Africans and Ethiopians have settled. The earliest written records regarding Zar derive from 1870s Egypt. It
is generally believed to have originated in Ethiopia.
• Zar may have been brought to Egypt by Ethiopian slaves in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

• Zar may have been brought home to Egypt by wives of Egyptian soldiers following Egypt's early-nineteenth-century conquest of
Sudan.
From Egypt, Zar radiated through North Africa and the Middle East. But these are mere theories: Zar may have taken other routes,
too. In the polarized Middle East, Zar transcends boundaries. Devotees are mostly Muslim—if only because they are the majority of the
population—but also include Christians, Jews, and those adhering to traditional African religions.
Origins of the name Zar are mysterious and subject to debate:
• It may derive from the Arabic za'er meaning "visitor."
• It may derive from Amharic or another Ethiopian language.
• It resembles Sar a Semitic root word meaning "prince," as in the Hebrew Sarim (a synonym for "angels") or Sarkin (Hausa title
of respect for the heads of Bori spirit houses).
In parts of Sudan, where Zar has been illegal since 1992, Zar refers only to the ceremonies, while the spirits are called
Asaid or
"Masters." (Asaid is often translated as "demons," but that is not its literal meaning.) Some Zar are renowned, at least within Zar circles
and may have countless devotees, similar to the most famous orishas. Others are comparatively anonymous, known only within small
circles, perhaps only to those they possess, similar to a Spiritualist medium's private spirits.
• Among the renowned are Sultan Siad el Bihar, Master of the Seas, and his sister. Saydah.
• In Somalia, Isis and Osiris—called Aysitu and Azuzar, respectively—survive as Zar spirits. Pregnant women make offerings to
Aysitu for blessings of safe childbirth.
Zar announce their interest in a person via what is called possession in English, but the Egyptian term for the phenomenon literally
means "covered" or "clothed." The Zar is envisioned covering the individual, not within her. Symptoms of Zar possession include any or
all of the following:
• Infertility
• Extreme apathy, malaise, or lethargy gradually increasing to the point of illness
• Seizures or convulsions
• Increasingly accident-prone behavior
Illnesses caused by the Zar will not respond to conventional medical treatment. In other words, if someone having these symptoms is
successfully treated by a physician so that the condition is truly healed (not just temporarily contained), then their case did not involve
Zar spirits.
A shamanic Zar specialist is consulted to determine whether the person is possessed. Ritual specialist and victim are both most likely
to be female. Depending on location and language, the specialist may be called a
Kodya, Sheikha, or Ba'alat Zar. (In parts of
Ethiopia, the word Zar refers to the spirits, their ceremonies, and the ritual specialist who mediates with them.) If so, the spirit's desires
must be determined so it can be propitiated and transformed into an ally. Once appeased, negative symptoms like illness, pain,
misfortune, and infertility will dissipate and disappear.
Zar spirits crave. They hunger for luxuries: fine perfumes, fabrics, clothing, jewelry, and food. The way they get them is through
people. Zar also like blood, especially menstrual blood, one reason for their fondness for women. Zar themselves are female, male, and
transgender but all tend to prefer married women, especially bored, frustrated, unhappily married women. Divorced women are
popular, too. Zar have little interest in men and even less in children or virgins.
• Anthropologists who study Zar without accepting the reality of spirits suggest that the whole phenomenon is a bid for attention,
prestige, and goods by these women—a tacit way of making demands without doing so directly
• Alternatively, Zar choose those who mirror their own emotions and desires. Craving spirits are attracted to craving humans. They
are sympathetic and empathetic to them.
A Zar spirit must be identified before it can be propitiated. Different Zar have different desires and needs. Similarly, orishas Oshun
and Oya receive different offerings. Each Zar spirit possesses signature colors, fragrances, numbers, songs, and rhythms.
Zar must be propitiated to prevent them from causing harm. However, the desire also exists to please the Zar, to go
beyond mere propitiation, because then the Zar is transformed into a powerful ally who grants wishes and good fortune, heals,
and provides oracular information.

The identity of the Zar spirit may be established via different methods:
• The spirit identifies itself during ceremonies incorporating ritual possession.
• The Zar, speaking through its host's mouth, negotiates its desires, promising to vacate the woman's body on a specific date

providing that demands are met. Demands usually involve gifts and/or ceremonies.
• The Zar may identify itself to the shaman in a dream. The ritual specialist places an item of clothing belonging to the possessed
woman under her pillow, an invitation for the spirit to communicate with her.
Because the Zar is a disembodied spirit, the gifts are given to the possessed woman who serves as the Zar's proxy:
• If the Zar wants an expensive green silk dress, the woman must wear it for the spirit.
• If the Zar wants French perfume, the woman accepts it on the Zar's behalf.
• If the Zar wants champagne or beer, it receives it via the woman's mouth.
Zar tend to seek finery. Their victim is adorned and enriched, not humiliated. (Hence anthropologists' suspicions.) Zar spirits may
demand that the woman wear a certain perfume or smoke certain cigarettes. They may commission jewelry bearing their own image,
which the woman is then expected to wear. Zar are rebellious spirits, demanding that their hosts be given what is not usually permitted
women in conservative Islamic societies: cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, cosmetics, and wild parties.
In general, Zar are not exorcised, they are accommodated. Most Zar cannot be exorcised. Ignoring them may lead to debilitating
physical or mental illness and ultimately the host's death. Once arrived, Zar rarely leave. They can make life miserable, or an alliance can
be forged. The Zar will loyally protect its host providing its stipulated demands are met.
Dealing with the Zar is more than just a one-time crisis intervention. It is not a matter of just paying them off so they will disappear.
Zar spirits generally don't want a ransom: they want an ongoing relationship:
• The spirit is transformed from pest to guardian.
• The person is transformed from victim to devotee.
A Zar spirit enters into a lifelong contract with its host. (Zar devotees are sometimes referred to as brides.) The woman may be
expected to attend weekly meetings intended to honor and communicate with Zar spirits. (Not all who attend are possessed. As in
Vodou or Santeria, many never experience possession.)
Common elements of Zar ceremonies include dancing, drumming and the dedication of a bird or animal to the Zar, which is sacrificed
and then cooked and eaten by participants. Ceremonies may last a few hours or days. A full Zar ceremonial may last for a week: seven
nights (and days) of dancing, drumming, and ecstatic ritual possession. Each Zar spirit has its own rhythm, tone, or song with which it is
summoned.
A vivid description of a Zar ceremonial is found in Albert Memmi's autobiographical novel Pillar of Salt.

Zar spirits may be received and served via methods other than possession. Zar that are transformed into guardian spirits may be
passed down from mother to daughter. (In parts of Ethiopia, a distinct word— Weqabi—names this transformed spirit.) Zar manifest
somewhat differently in different places. In Sudanese cosmology, Zar are divided into ten main tribes or societies, not dissimilar from the
Bori houses, at least in terms of organization. Each consists of a family of individual spirits with unique personalities. Like lwa, orishas,
and Bori, Sudanese Zar arrive at ceremonies in specific order.
Zar, like Djinn, have religion. There are Pagan, Jewish, Muslim, and Coptic Christian Zar, but unlike Djinn, they do not stick to their
own kind when it comes to humans. A Pagan Zar may visit those of any of the monotheistic faiths and vice versa.
The Zar's own religious affiliation does influence offerings and treatment, though. For example, Muslim Zar are not offered alcoholic
beverages, but others demand it. Muslim Zar are also vulnerable to Koranic exorcisms. As opposed to other more recalcitrant Zar, they
will, theoretically anyway, cooperate and leave in response to proper rituals.
Ritual: Candles are crucial to Zar ceremonies. Rituals must be held by candlelight even if electric lights are available.
Altar: Zar altars usually include henna, incense, and flowers, especially roses.
Offerings: Each Zar has personal preferences, so the following are generalities:
• Zar usually like fruit, cheese, olives, and beer plus perfume and incense, especially frankincense.
• Ethiopian Zar are allegedly inordinately fond of coffee.
• Muslim Zar demand soft drinks, as do most female Zar.
• Non-Muslim Zar may demand alcoholic beverages.
• Ethiopian Zar like magical scrolls and talismans, even those traditionally used to banish spirits. (This may also be their way of
bragging about their inability to be exorcised.) A scroll is made from skin of an animal dedicated to a Zar spirit, then slaughtered
and eaten. Once created, the scroll must be worn by the devotee.

Koranic healing is sometimes prescribed for Zar (and Djinn) but the goal is exorcism, not propitiation. The possessing
spirit is perceived as a demon, not a potential ally. Although based on the Koran, not on Christianity, methods used are not
dissimilar from traditional Christian Fairy exorcisms in Ireland, including beating the possessed human in an attempt to drive
out the spirit.

See also: Bori; Djinn; Fairy; Kel Asuf; Lwa; Mami Waters; Orisha; Oshun; Oya

Zarabanda
Also known as: Sarabanda; Sarabanda Rompe Monte
Classification: Nkisi

Zarabanda is a spirit of iron and an immensely powerful shaman, sorcerer, healer, and warrior. He is a great ally for those seeking
protection, as he is afraid of nothing. Zarabanda may or may not be Ogun. Like Ogun and many other spirits of iron, he objects to the
presence of menstruating women. Even if allied with him, do not make offerings when bleeding. In addition to protection, he is invoked
for help with employment.
M anifestation: He may wear a coat of armor.
Attributes: Ladder, white-handled knife
Altars: Maintain his altars with discretion. They are usually kept within cabinets, not out in the open for casual public view.
Color: Red
See also: Kanayago; Nkisi; Ogun

Zemele

Mother of the Earth
Origin: Phrygia
Once a very important goddess in her own right, Zemele is now overshadowed by her son, Dionysus. The two were venerated
together. When Dionysus was incorporated into the Greek Olympian pantheon, it was as Zeus' son. Zemele, powerful goddess, was
demoted to Princess Semele, Zeus' lover who died after being exposed to Zeus' full glory. The myth that Semele, unlike Hera, was too
weak to handle Zeus' full impact serves to cut Zemele down to size.
After Semele's death, according to Greek myth, Zeus rescued Dionysus, sewed him up in his thigh and served as surrogate mother,
birthing the baby himself. The inconvenient Semele meanwhile was sent to Hades. Dionysus, loyal son, refused to be venerated without
her. His first act upon achieving Olympian status was to bring his mother up from Hades to join him.
Zemele is a chthonic goddess: a goddess who lives within Earth. She was venerated in women's mystery traditions and so little clear
information survives. She may manifest in the form of her sacred creature, a snake.
See also: Dionysus; Hera; Semele; Thyone; Zeusand the Glossary entry for Mystery

Zemi
Also known as: Cemie
Zemi is a Taino word for "spirits." The Taino are an indigenous people of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, encompassing Haiti and the
Dominican Republic. (There were also Taino settlements in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, and elsewhere in the Caribbean.) The most
prominent Zemi spirits include Atabey and Yucahu, but the word refers to all kinds of sacred beings, including ancestors.
Spirits are Zemis, but so are images and objects, which contain and possess the power of Zemis. According to Taino cosmology,
natural objects possess indwelling spirits. These objects are also known as zemis. These include shells and rocks left intact, exactly as
found in nature, but also images formed from fabric, stone, wood, and shells.
Zemis were prized possessions, sacred objects, considered incredibly precious, and their indwelling spirits were venerated. Zemis
possessed gender, unique personalities, and were able to communicate with people. The owner of a zemi could sell it, give it as a gift or
pass it down to a family member as an heirloom. To own the zemi was to have access to the power within. Households traditionally
kept the zemis of all family members on a low table or within a niche.
See also: Anacaona; Atabey; Yucahu

Zemyna
Origin: Baltic
Also known as: Zeme (Lithuania); Zemes Mate (Latvia)

Zemyna, holiest of all Baltic deities, ceaselessly creates and nourishes all life on Earth, including animals, plants, insects, and humans.
Zemyna is Earth, and she is the spirit of Earth's abundance, too. The mother and protectress of the living and the dead, Zemyna does
not bring or cause death: she is a goddess of life, not death. She receives the dead into her body via burial, then transforms death into
new life in an eternal cycle.
Zemyna is the daughter of a primordial pre-Baltic deity called Zemyna of the Marshes or Zemyna of the Swamps.

In traditional pre-Christian Lithuanian religion, all celebrations begin with an invocation of Zemyna. Devotion to Zemyna the Earth
Goddess was primarily maintained by peasants and farmers. She was not particularly significant to the ruling elite who venerated male
spirits like Perkunas. Because of this, Zemyna was somewhat ignored during the transition to Christianity, allowing her veneration to
quietly persist. (It's also hard to eradicate devotion to a deity who is literally always underfoot.) Documents indicate that as late as the
seventeenth century, Zemyna's priestess sacrificed black suckling pigs to Zemyna, which were then consumed by participants during
rustic harvest festivals.
• Zemyna, the life-giver, bestows the power to give life: she has dominion over fertility.
• As a goddess of justice, oaths are sworn on her.

M anifestation: Zemyna is literally Earth, but she also manifests as a woman. She appears each spring in the guise of a beautiful
pregnant woman.
Date: Spring equinox
Color: Black
Tree: Birch
Creature: Black pig

Altar: Although Zemyna is ever-present and may be venerated anywhere, large, flat stones dug into Earth are her traditional altars.

Offerings: Bread, beer, ale: pour generous libations directly onto Earth; bread may be buried in Earth. Offerings to Zemyna are a
component of traditional Lithuanian funerals.
See also: Kybele; Laima

Zephyr
Also known as: Zephyrus
Origin: Greece

Zephyr is the spirit of the west wind, the bringer of pleasant weather, associated with spring. Although he has a reputation for being
the gentlest of the Anemoi wind spirits, he is violent in love. Zephyr is blamed for the death of Hyacinth. After he raped the Harpy,
Podarge, she gave birth to Achilles' horses. His consorts include his sisters, Chloris and Iris, but he also adores young men. Zephyr lives
in a cave in Thrace.
See also: Achilles; Anemoi; Harpies; Hyacinth; Iris

Zeus

Zeus is the king of the Greek Olympian spirits, the wielder of the mighty thunderbolt. Scholarly debate rages as to whether he is an
indigenous Greek spirit or whether he arrived with invading Achaeans in approximately 1200 BCE (partly because there's no consensus
on exactly who the Achaeans are or where they came from).
Various mythic versions of Zeus' birth exist, although in all he is the hunted and protected Divine Child. Various sites competed for
the honor of being his birthplace or the place where he was kept hidden (and the pilgrimage funds that would accrue from this honor).
Depending on the myth, baby Zeus, child of Gaia and Kronos, was nursed by a bear, dog, dove, goat, sow, or bees, all of whom may
or may not be Nymphs in animal guise.
Zeus does not come to power because of his own superior strength and strategizing. His victory is owed to Gaia and her other
children. Zeus received his signature thunder and lightning bolts from the Cyclopes after he liberated them from the pit of Tartarus. A
later rebellion against Zeus led by Hera and Poseidon is ultimately foiled by the hulking presence of Briareus of the Hecatoncheires.
Zeus expands his power via alliances with Gaia's daughters and granddaughters.
Zeus is a voracious spirit: hungry for women, victory, power, and territory. Most of the romantic myths regarding Zeus and his
seduction (or rape) of mortal women, usually described as princesses or queens, are mythic
euphemisms for his mergers with local
goddesses who were then demoted to the rank of mortals, albeit royal.
Zeus' ascendance to power accompanied and symbolizes a social sea-change in which men, especially fathers or patriarchs, are
rulers. For example, although from Demeter and Persephone's perspective, Persephone was abducted, technically this is not the case.
Zeus gave Persephone, his daughter, to Hades, asserting father right. Zeus is a spirit of a new world order: a revolution where the male
contribution to conception was understood as something that must be protected. Worship of Zeus embraces a social change in which
the father is of greater significance than the mother. In the words of Apollo, a mother is just an oven required to prepare the child the
father has placed within until it's done.
Zeus is the lord of paternity. Myths recount his countless, fruitful liaisons with women, mortals and goddesses alike. The point of these
myths isn't just to demonstrate that he's a player; those myths are a promise. Zeus bestows children like divine gifts—and not just any
children, either. His descendents include heroes and the most beautiful woman in the world. Since he sowed his seed so prolifically,
Zeus was also venerated as an ancestral spirit by many people, especially royalty.
Despite images of him sitting high above the clouds on Mount Olympus, Zeus was not a remote spirit but a communicative, oracular
one. One could visit his shrines and solicit his advice. At his ancient shrine in Dodona, oracles were obtained by interpreting the sound of
rustling leaves in his oak grove, understood to be his voice.

There are very few traces of Zeus among the persistent, surviving remnants of Greek Paganism. His role was essentially usurped or
given to God. (Surviving spirits like the Neraida tend to be those for whom Christianity had no true adequate replacement; thus it's the
sexy, wild, magical spirits that people refuse to let go.) However, the concept of God as an enthroned, regal, white-haired, bearded man
may derive from Zeus.
• Zeus can fulfill any request or petition. If he can't do it himself, he will order another spirit to do it for him. However, he is
generally invoked for healing, prosperity, protection, justice, and fertility.

Ellinais, or the Holy Association of Greek Ancient Religion Believers, received official state recognition and on 22 January
2007 was permitted to celebrate the nuptials of Zeus and Hera at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, the first openly
practiced religious ceremonies at Zeus' temple since Paganism was abolished in the fourth century .

Favored people: Those who have been struck by lightning and survived may consider themselves under Zeus' patronage.
M anifestation: Zeus is a notorious shape-shifter. Favorite forms include bulls, snakes, and a distinguished, handsome man in his
prime. Allegedly his true manifestation is a raging, incredibly bright, vivid flame, the equivalent of the flash from an atomic bomb, whose
full impact mortals are unable to withstand (as happens in the myth of Semele).
Iconography: Zeus is usually envisioned as a powerful, curly-bearded man wearing a wreath of oak or olive leaves.
Attribute: Thunderbolt
Color: White
Tree: Oak
Bird: Eagle
Creatures: Bull, wolf, snake, bear
Sacred sites: Mountain peaks in general, places struck by lightning. Lightning indicates Zeus marking his territory. Once upon a
time, altars dedicated to Zeus were erected wherever lightning had struck. The place was then reserved for spiritual rituals only.
• Construction of the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens began in the sixth century BCE It was envisioned as the world's largest
temple and was not completed until the second century CE.
• The Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily, was the largest Doric temple ever constructed.
• The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, whose colossal statue of Zeus was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World.
Offerings: Honey, ouzo, generous portions of Greek food and wine
In addition to his standard manifestation, Zeus also possesses some distinctive paths, which may be venerated independently:

ZEUS LYKAIOS
Zeus Lykaios, "Wolf Zeus" or "Wolfish Zeus," is the patron deity of the rural Greek region Arcadia. His sanctuary atop Mount
Lykaion, "Wolf Mountain" the highest peak of Arcadia, is approximately twenty-two miles away from his sanctuary at Olympia.
Recent archaeological evidence indicates that his ash-heap altar was first used at least five thousand years ago, significantly longer than
Zeus was known in the region.
Human sacrifices to Zeus Lykaios were allegedly still performed during the second century C
E. Greek travel writer Pausanias
described it as a "secret sacrifice" saying that he "was reluctant to pry into the details of the sacrifice; let them be as they are and were
from the beginning." According to legend, one man was transformed into a wolf at each annual sacrifice to Zeus Lykaios. Whether this
means a literal wolf, a werewolf by modern standards, or a euphemism for wolf priests—the original werewolves—is up for speculation.
Spirit allies: Zeus, Leto, Artemis, and Apollo form a wolf pack and may be venerated together.
ZEUS SOTER

Zeus Soter is Zeus the Savior. He is the protector of property. Zeus Soter is venerated in the marketplace and the harbor. His
image is kept in the home for luck and protection. Honey is offered to him, encouraging him to behave sweetly. Sacred site: A statue of
Zeus Soter stood atop the lighthouse at Pharos, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

See also: Apollo; Artemis; Athena; Callisto; Cyclopes; Dione; Dionysus; Europa; Helen of Troy; Hephaestus; Hera;
Heracles; Io; Jupiter; Kronos; Leto; Metis; Nemesis; Neraida; Nymph; Pasiphae; Poseidon; Prometheus; Rhea; Semele; Styx;
Themis; Thetis; Titan; Zemele and the Glossary entry for Path.

Zorya
Also known as: The Auroras; Zaria; Zarya

Origin: Slavic
The Zorya are guardian goddesses, three sisters:
• Zorya Utrennaya, Lady of the Morning Star
• Zorya Vechernyaya, Lady of the Evening Star
• Zorya Polunochnaya, Lady of the Midnight Star
Every morning Zorya Utrennaya opens the celestial gates so the chariot of the sun can emerge and ride through the sky. When the sun
returns home in the evening, Zorya Vechernyaya is waiting to close the gates. Zorya Polunochnaya is the sun's secret lover: she is the
reason he returns home at the end of each day. After the sun sets, he retires to Zorya Polunochnaya's bed. Every night he dies
orgasmically in her arms, but each morning she revives him so the sun can once again ride through the sky.
Sometimes only two, not three, Zorya are depicted. Zorya Polunochnaya is the secret sister, the one who sometimes goes
unmentioned. Zorya Utrennaya is also worshipped independently as a warrior goddess who protects soldiers from injury and
death in battle.

In addition to caring for the sun, the Zorya's other role is to guard the doomsday hound that perpetually menaces the constellation
Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. Should the dog ever break free from his chain and succeed in devouring the little bear, then the entire
universe as we know it is doomed. The Zorya guard individual people, too: Utrennaya and Polunochnaya in particular are venerated
independently as love goddesses. They may be appealed to for romantic assistance.
• The Zorya play a significant role in Neil Gaiman's novelAmerican Gods.
Element: Water
Animal: Horse
Planet: Venus