Djinn & Juice!
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Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast of the hosts with the ghosts I'm your host this week, Shea, and with me are: I'm Aaron, and this week I learned graveyards are probably the least haunted areas because ghosts stick around where they died and I don’t think a lot of people die in the graveyard… I'm Steve, and this week I learned that garages are basically blooming onions -- the more you clean them, the bigger they get. Round Table This is your last update before Drag Queen Bingo. Awkwardly this is future Aaron, so I don’t know for sure but bets are good the event is sold out. Hopefully, we’ll see you next year but there is still plenty of time to make a donation that counts towards this year's DQB! Visit WyoAIDS.org to find out more! This Week’s “Beer” Stiegl Radler (Grapefruit) Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg GmbH * Aaron: 9* Steve: 9+* Shea: 10 Haunted Haunts take too. We have all heard of haunted houses and haunted hotels and now a haunted brewery but how about a haunted town, a literal ghostly ghost town. Frozen in time and coated with a layer of ochre desert sand, Al Jazirat Al Hamra is a hamlet of perfectly preserved Ras Al Khaimah history, in the UAE. And dust isn’t the only thing covering the town; it’s shrouded in mystery, surrounded by rumors, and possibly even haunted by ancient ghosts. Jazirat al Hamra, which translates to Red Island, has a reputation for being haunted. Established sometime in the 14th century, the once-thriving fishing and pearl-diving village of over 300 houses and 13 mosques were suddenly abandoned in 1968. And since then, while the rest of the United Arab Emirates has marched to the drums of progress, this little corner of Ras al Khaimah has remained unchanged, protected from modernity, embalmed in myth and mystery. If stories circulating on the local grapevine are to be believed, the village of Jazirat al Hamra is a hotbed of djinn activity. Tales of strange noises, chilling wails, and unexplained apparitions are shared in huddled whispers around majlises and campfires across the country. Maybe this is a reason why most Emiratis and ex-pats tend to stay away from the place. Especially at night. The seaside village established a reputation as a djinn hotspot after its abandonment in 1968. The old village has long attracted nocturnal thrill-seekers to its 300 or so mud brick, concrete, and coral stone buildings, some of which are up to 100 years old and exemplify changing styles of pre-oil architecture. Djinn tourism is a popular UAE pastime, and Al Hamra is the region’s top destination. Djinn, of course, are shape-shifting spirits made of fire and air with origins in pre-Islamic Arabia. They are the inspiration for Aladdin’s genie and have held space in Arab culture for almost as long as Arab culture itself. And yet, having transcended both religion and the physical world, so little is understood about the spirits. Residents insist Al Hamra is djinn free. They want the old village to be known for its dhow-building heritage or for its pearling fleets that roamed Gulf waters until the trade faded away in the 1950s. Djinn stories are denied to visitors, but witness accounts appear in everyday conversation. “They’re afraid now of cars, of people,” said local Saif Rashed, who is about 75.
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