Al Karisi (Albasti) is a terrifying female demon in Kurdish, Turkish, and Iranian folklore that threatens postpartum mothers and newborn babies. She is believed to wear red garments, have long tangled hair and nails, and enter birth chambers at night.
She is said to try to steal the mother’s liver or swap the baby. For protection, iron objects (knives, scissors), garlic, onions, and blue beads are placed in the birth room, lights are kept burning, and the woman is never left alone for forty days. The Al Karisi belief — a mythological explanation for postpartum fever — is a very ancient tradition that lives across a vast geography from Central Asia to Anatolia.
