Dybbuk

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In Kabbalah and European Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. Dybbuks are said to have escaped from Gehenna, a Hebrew term very loosely translated as "hell." Or may have been turned away from Gehenna due to transgressions too serious for the soul to be allowed there, such as suicide. 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. According to belief, a soul that has not been able to fulfill its function in its lifetime is given another opportunity to do so in the form of a dybbuk. It will leave once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being helped.

[edit] Other Uses

Monster in My Pocket #103 is called Dybbuk.

Dybbuk is the title of a song by popular Japanese singer Gackt.

The characters in the movie "Heart and Souls" though never actually called Dybbuks seem to be patterned after them.

"The Cast Iron Dybbuk" (2005) by Lou Antonelli is a science fiction short story about the soul of a long-dead reptilian creature possessing a mine worker who is a member of the party that accidentally uncovers it. Printed by the Australian publication Andromeda Spaceways In-flight Magazine, it received an honorable mention n the honors list of "The Year's Best Science Fiction" (2006) published by St. Martin's Press, New York, N.Y.