Aisha Qandisha is one of the most honored and fearsome jinn in Islam (originally from Morocco). She is known as ‘the opener’ and the jinn of rivers.

To view the complete video “She Who Sees The Unknown: Aisha Qandisha (2018)“, please email morehshin@gmail.com

When Aisha possesses men, she creates a crack on their body. She does not take over the host but rather opens them to the outside; to a storm of incoming jinn and demons; making them a traffic zone. She never leaves; she resides in the man to guarantee their utter openness. The only way to stay sane when possessed by her is to participate with her, to listen to her. If one does not open up for this process of destruction and rebuilding, it will result in incurable delirium and madness.

In this video, I use Aisha’s power and possession to revisit a personal love story addressing experiences such as toxic masculinity and emotional abuse which is often a collective experience for many women and femmes; especially focusing on the experiences of women of color in which their anger is often interpreted as “too much” or “negative” and their tears are often invisible in the dominance of white women’s tears and fragility. I think about this video and text as a process for opening, revenge, closure, and healing. I created it as a way of embracing both anger and mourning, using them as a source of agency rather than shame.