The Human Cohesion Project — 3 March 2025

Like many religious observances, Ramadan is a time when the boundaries between the seen and unseen seem to shift. It is a month of fasting, not just in the physical sense, but also in how one engages with the world, what one consumes mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In the stillness created by fasting, an awareness emerges of things that often go unnoticed.

In Islamic thought, the world is not only inhabited by humans but also by the jinn — beings created from smokeless fire (Quran 55:15), existing in a realm that is neither entirely separate from nor entirely accessible to humans. Across cultures, mythologies speak of such liminal beings: spirits, tricksters, and shadowy figures that dwell at the edges of perception. In a sense, fasting itself places a person at the threshold of such spaces, making one more attuned to what usually remains hidden.

Yet, beyond the mythic, what does the jinn represent in a psychological sense?

Carl Jung wrote about the shadow — the unconscious parts of ourselves that we suppress or refuse to acknowledge. The jinn, in many ways, mirrors this concept. In folklore, they are unpredictable — some helpful, some mischievous, some destructive. But they are also teachers, revealing truths we might otherwise ignore. If one were to approach the idea of jinn symbolically, they could represent the forces within us that we struggle to integrate: the untamed, instinctual, creative, and even chaotic aspects of the psyche.

In Sufi traditions, there is an understanding that working with the unseen, whether as spiritual forces or as aspects of the self, requires discipline, clarity, and sincerity. Fasting, then, can be seen as a way of engaging with these forces. By restraining impulse, one begins to see patterns: What desires arise? What emotions become amplified? What fears or resistances surface?

Rather than banishing the jinn, Islamic tradition speaks of coexisting with them. Psychologically, this can be understood as the work of integration, of recognising one’s own inner jinn without being controlled by it. It is a process of learning how to engage with one’s own instincts, impulses, and hidden potentials in a way that is neither repressive nor indulgent.

As Ramadan unfolds, perhaps the invitation is to notice the unseen, within and without. What energies move through you when hunger sets in? What patterns emerge when silence replaces excess? And what might the shadows within you be trying to reveal?

Ramadan Kareem. May this be a month of deep seeing.

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