Dybbuk
Dybbuk - in kabbalah and European Jewish folklore, is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person, escaped from Gehenna, a Hebrew term very loosely translated as "hell". The word "dybbuk" is derived from the Hebrew דיבוק, meaning "attachment"; the dybbuk attaches itself to the body of a living person and inhabits it, and must be exorcised by a prescribed religious rite. According to belief, a soul which has not been able to fulfill its function in its lifetime is given another opportunity to do so in the form of a dybbuk.
See also
- Kabbalah
- Ibbur
- Gilgul neshamot
- Qliphoth
- The Dybbuk (a play by S. Ansky).