In ancient Persian mythology, you can find many creatures with supernatural powers. Encountering some of them can bring joy and bliss to your life while seeing others will doom your destiny. These creatures have entered Iranian culture from other cultures, especially Arabs. So reading the story of Persian mythical creatures can be a window to a mysterious yet exciting place.
These stories can make your heart pump harder out of excitement and bring more joy to your dull summer days when you are forced to stay at home and you are bored to death.
If you have opened this page for the first time and have zero ideas about these creatures, let’s check out the first part of this exciting, mysterious, and sometimes horrifying list. Now, you have a little background about what you are going to expect, so before any further ado, let’s get to them.
Table of Contents
Gelim Goosh, The Invisible Elephant-ear People
Have you ever felt that there is too much noise in your head but cannot find the source? There is just nothing for you to see no matter how carefully you look around. This is when I can tell you that you are not crazy. There are probably some Gelim Goosh people everywhere, making noises and keeping you awake. Do not worry; they are just an invisible, annoying, harmless group of people who have cute tiny bodies and huge ears with a low hearing ability which makes them make this much noise!
The only thing they do is to find a nice comfy place and put one ear on the ground as a mattress, sleep on it and cover their body with the other ear. If you do very well and do not disturb them much, the myths say that they will bring happiness and luck to your life. So, the next time you want to nag about loud noises that you hear, remember these Persian mythical creatures.
Davalpa, The Handsome Evil Stucker
While you are walking on the street, especially when you are alone and the area is empty, you may see a handsome man or a very older man that looks so helpless that you just want to abandon what you are doing and go help him. When he notices your attention and interest, he will start talking about how poor and desperate he is, making you feel so bad for him instantly. First, he will mention that he is so sick and no one is home to take care of him; then he will start crying slowly to make you feel heartbroken even more. Finally, when he realizes that he could get enough attention from you, he will ask you to take him to his home while carrying him on your back because his feet are too motionless.
The moment you fall for his grievous nonsense and try to carry him, he will reveal his long strap-like feet and tighten them around your wrist, and will never let you go. You will have to feed him for the rest of your life, and he will not come down even when you are sleeping. The only way to get rid of him is to make him too drunk. This way, he will not have control over his body and will loosen up his legs. This is your moment to make yourself free and run away for your life and probably never help anyone you see on the street!
You may have seen a Davalpa in the Sinbad story. He has shown himself as a poor and helpless old man who begs people to help him go to the other side of the river. Sindbad feels pity for him and tries to help him, but he sticks with Davalpa. You can watch the episode here.
Jen, The Parallel Worlds’s Creature
There is an old story in mythological and religious texts about a creature with a body made of fire called Jinn. Although the existence of jennies is not exclusive to one culture, we can consider them as Persian mythical creatures known as Jen because of the significant role they play in Iranian culture. If you take a look at different stories about jinns, you will face different types of them who have different personalities and effects on people. There are many different types which we will cover the most important ones.
Hamzad
Hamzad or a doppelganger is one of the most significant and interesting types of Jinns, which has various versions in different cultures. In Middle Eastern and Persian-Islamic mythology, people say when a child is born, their doppelganger gets born with them too. The child and doppelganger may never get to know each other, but the connection is always there. A Hamzad is pretty harmless, but when your doppelganger is sad, you will feel sad instantly without knowing the reason and the same thing happens to you while feeling joy without any particular reason.
Ifrit
When it comes to power and strength, Ifrits stand out. The meaning of Ifrit is someone who knocks people out, but it is not just by his/her strength. Ifrits are very clever and famous tricksters, which makes them capable of destroying people. So, if there is a paranormal kidnapping plan, Ifrits are fit for the job, but they may trick you as well! In old stories, Ifrits are the ones who offered Solomon to kidnap Sheba and bring her to him, but a wise old man who knew that Ifrits are not trustworthy did the job himself.
Om-e Sabian
If you travel to the south of Iran and meet with locals, they will mention Om-e Sabian in their stories. If you are with a child, locals will warn you about a Jinn who has a scary face with long sharp teeth and red eyes, but she never shows her true face to others. Instead, she will change her body to a cute animal or a nice lady who is willing to talk to your child, and when she gets close enough to the child, she will turn into the wind and enter the child’s body. That is when the child loses their senses and becomes sick. Locals believe that Om-e Sabian is the cause of epilepsy in children, and they can treat them by doing special ceremonies.
Looloo Khor Khoreh, Persian Kids’ Childhood Nightmare
Being an Iranian kid, you have definitely heard of Loo Loo Khor Khoreh. While doing something naughty, playing with your food, ignoring afternoon nap rules, and other things which were not quite pleasant for parents, they would threaten you with this Persian mythical creature. Loo Loo Khor Khoreh does not have a certain physical appearance. But it can bring an unreasonable fear to the child. Let’s forget about the psychological effects of this creature on children and focus on the stories. The myth says that this Persian mythological creature will take naughty children and eat them. So, children knew that they should follow the rules and do good.
Foolad Zereh, The Evil Persian Achilles
Have you heard of Achilles, the Greek and the Roman hero who got undefeatable by swimming in a special river? In Iranian mythology, one of the Persian mythical creatures who are invulnerable is called Foolad Zereh, but unlike Achillies, he is not a good hero. Instead, Foolad Zereh was a strong young boy with a witch mother who was overprotective. Therefore, she used ancient witchery and spelled his son to make him invulnerable against all the weapons. But, like all other myths, he needed to have a weakness, and in Foolad Zereh’s case, this weakness was a sword called Zomorodnegar.
The story goes with Foolad Zereh kidnapping a gorgeous girl who was the lover of king Amir Arsalan, and imprisoning her in a castle. So, Amir Arsalan got angry, found the sword, and killed Foolad Zereh and his mother to free the girl.
As you can see, there are many similarities between Persian mythical creatures and the mythology of other cultures. Let us know if you have a story in your culture similar to these in the comments.
Source:
Shahab Shabani 
Amin Mahmoudi 
Saman Kohnepushi
Thank you for this amazing post. Iranian has interesting fictional creatures!!!!!
You are welcome