Editing Bajoran (section)

===Pagh Wraiths===

The '''Pagh Wraiths''' (also spelled Pah Wraiths), Bajoran for Soul Wraiths, are the enemies of the [[Prophet (Star Trek)|Bajoran Prophets]]. Bajoran religious texts state that the Pagh Wraiths once resided in the Celestial Temple (the [[Bajoran wormhole]]) alongside the Prophets and, like them, are non-corporeal beings. However, they were expelled from the Celestial Temple and banished to the Fire Caves on [[Bajor]]. According to ancient Bajoran texts, the Pagh Wraiths were "false Prophets". Whereas the Prophets are analogous to angels or even gods, the Pagh Wraiths are analogous to demons.

Similarly to Christianity's [[Satan]], Kosst Amojan ("The Evil One") was a Prophet who was forced out of the Celestial Temple after a failed attempt to seize control, with the other Pagh Wraiths, which are similar to fallen angels in Christianity. In several other incidents, the Pagh Wraiths attempted to leave their physical prison (the "Caves of Fire") and return to take control of the Celestial Temple, but none of these attempts succeeded. There continues to be a minority group on Bajor who worship the Pagh Wraiths as the True Prophets, but they are generally shunned as outcasts and heretics. Despite this, the [[cult]] of the Pagh Wraiths became more popular on Bajor as an alternative religion to that of the Prophets, after many Bajorans felt the Prophets had abandoned them due to the closure of the wormhole. For a time, Dukat even formed his own Pagh Wraith cult on the abandoned space station [[Empok Nor]], with himself as leader.

Like the Prophets, they are able to induce visions in corporeal beings, appearing as familiar figures as the Prophets do in such visions. The Pagh Wraiths long for revenge against the Prophets who cast them out of the Celestial Temple (the wormhole), even going so far as to possess the bodies of corporeal beings to further their goals:

[[Keiko O'Brien]], wife of [[Deep Space Nine (space station)|Deep Space Nine]]'s Chief of Operations [[Miles O'Brien (Star Trek)|Miles O'Brien]], was briefly possessed by a Pagh Wraith in a nearly successful attempt to destroy the Prophets (episode: "[[The Assignment (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|The Assignment]]"); Miles instead directed the energy charge at Keiko O'Brien which destroyed the evil spirit and freed his wife.

In the episode "[[The Reckoning (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|The Reckoning]]", the Emissary ([[Benjamin Sisko]]) released a Pagh Wraith and a Prophet from an ancient artifact. These beings fought on the Gates to the Celestial Temple (the space station Deep Space Nine). In the fight, a Prophet possessed the (willing) body of Kira Nerys while the Pagh Wraith possessed the (unwilling) body of [[Jake Sisko]].

In "[[Tears of the Prophets]]"; [[Dukat (Star Trek)|Gul Dukat]] unleashed a Pagh Wraith from an ancient relic that possessed his body. While possessed, Dukat proceeded to kill [[Jadzia Dax]] and use the [[Bajoran Orb|Orb of Contemplation]] on Deep Space Nine to enable the Pagh Wraith to re-enter the wormhole and seal the entrance. However, when Sisko found the Orb of the Emissary some months later (in "[[Shadows and Symbols]]"), the wormhole reopened, and the Pagh Wraith was again cast out.

In the series finale, "[[What You Leave Behind]]", Dukat and [[Winn Adami]] attempt to free the Pagh Wraiths from their prison by deciphering an ancient text written in the Book of the Kosst Amojan which acts as a key. Winn, who had briefly abandoned her faith in the Prophets after she had a vision from the Pagh Wraiths, ultimately undergoes a change of heart, but she is killed by Dukat as she tries to stop him. The wraiths are defeated when, with help from the Prophets, Sisko casts himself, Dukat and the Kosst Amojan into the Fire Caves, destroying the ancient book; Dukat is trapped forever with the Pagh Wraiths while Sisko becomes part of the Prophets.