Yezidis In Iraq

[MrRING]

Just found out about this little sect (possibly an offshoot of Zoroasterism) in Iraq that worships Lucifer in the form of a peacock, if I understand correctly. (The idea is that Lucifer relented, rejoined god, and is an earthly agent for good)

They had an article about it in the local paper that had a picture of the door of their holiet site that has a carving of a big black snake on it. It seemed something straight out of Alan Moore's comic world (both Promethia and King Peacock from Top Ten).

Here is some links, but does anybody know anything else about them?

http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/kurdi-almani-kassel/kultur/yeziden/yezidism.htm

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~zarathus/deen33f.html

http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/y/yezidis.html

 

[MrRING]

One of the above quotes is apparently an anti-Yezidis site set up by Zoroasterists.... here is a Yezidis rebuttal:

http://www.geocities.com/shdkt2/yezidi.html


And a quote from it about the earlier article:

"From the point 1 above, we can deduce the racist nature of the article and those who are behind it since it goes out of the way of religious teaching when it dictates the religion of Zoroastrism only to those people who are Zoroastrian by birth.The author has forgotten that Zoroastrism is a faith not a race."

 

[Anonymous]

yezidi

There is a referance to Yezidi in G.I.Gurdjieff's pseudo-autobiography "Meetings With Remarkable Men". As a young man in Alexandropol (Gumri in Armenia) in 1888 he describes how he came across a boy inside a circle, drawn on the ground.
He was unable to leave the circle, however much he tried, and the other boys were making fun of him. Gurdjieff ran up and rubbed out part of the circle. the boy was then able to leave the cirle and made his way home.
He then goes on to say, "The Yezidis are a sect living in transcaucasia, mainly in the region of Mount Arrarat. They are sometimes called devil worshippers."
He also describes that, " if a Yezidi is forcibly dragged out of a circle he falls into a state of catelepsy, from which he recovers the instant he is brought back inside (the circle)."

I have always found this a facinating account, but as to the truth of it, who knows?

 

[DerekH16]

From memory (lacking time to check sources )

Zoroaster (aka Zarathustra) was a priest who worshipped the 'god of light' Mazda, and who took light into a dark place in order to focus his (prayerful) thoughts. This led to Zoroastrians being characterised as 'fire worshippers' (but what other source of light do you have, couple of thousand years BC?)

The Zoroastrians were displaced from their original home in Persia (modern Iran/Iraq) and ended up in what is now northern India, where they are now known as Parsees, I think, and are dying out due to taboos about marrying outside the faith.

Much of their faith seems to be similar to Judaism/Christianity/Islam, in that there's a power for good (light), and a power for evil (dark) (both parts of the same being, iirc...), who will eventually have some type of cataclysmic battle for control of the earth/mankind/the future....

Like I said, all from memory, feel free to put me right,,,,,

 

[Anonymous]

Remember watching a documentary on BBC/C4??? a year or so ago, about a guy travelling though axis of evil type countries - Iraq, Iran, N. Korea and the like.

If memory serves me right (and it doesn't some of the time), he met a group of modern day Zoroastrians in northern Iran still practising their religion.

Can't remember the name of the program.

 

[Jerry_B]

Originally, Zoroastrianism wasn't concerned with aspects of good and evil, but with reality and unreality. In that sense it was decidedly more mystical than other religions.

 

[MrRING]

Found a better site:

The Yezidis

The Yezidis (sometimes spelled Yazidi or Yazdani) are a specific subset of the Kurdish people, about 3 to 5 percent in terms of population, and live in parts of traditionally Kurdish areas currently located in northern Iraq, northeast Syria, and southeast Turkey. They were popularized among esoteric afficionadoes in the 1960s by Anton Szandor LaVey's The Satanic Rituals, in which was presented a supposedly Yezidi ritual. Earlier in the 20th century they were notoriously known as "Devil Worshippers," which appellation endeared them to LaVey and followers of the "Left-Hand Path" ever since -- somewhat innaccurately.

The term Yezidi comes from the ancient Iranian term for angel or divine being -- similar to the Sanskrit concept of the devi or powerful being, somewhat less than a God, but far beyond the powers of ordinary mortals or superbeings. Thus, the Yezidis are better thought of as angel worshippers than devil worshippers -- although the Angel that they worship is indeed Lucifer; and in fact, angels and "devils" are but two variations of the same concept of semi-divine being. (Even the term "devil" comes from the same Sanskrit root devi that can also be an angel.)

Lucifer is known as Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel, to the Yezidis; and in direct contradiction to traditional Christian (even Muslim) theology, he is not viewed as in any way "fallen" or evil. In fact, this Melek Taus is looked upon as a great and mighty Archangel; the Archangel who is responsible for the creation of this mundane sphere out of the pieces of the Primal Pearl or Cosmic Egg. Those familiar with Gnostic creation myths will recognize this story as that of the Demiurge, or material creator -- but again, without the "evil" connotations that myth tends to carry.

The most holy city in the cultural sphere of the Yezidi people is Lalish, located in what is now northern Iraq. It was here that the first great leader and human founder of the religion, Sheik Adi ("Original Sheik") lived and died. He is held in quasi-divine regard himself by Yezidis, some considering him a physical manifestation of Melek Taus much in the way that certain heterodox Muslim mystics see Muhammed as the "Divine Man" or the way that Baha'is speak of Baha'u'llah as a "manifestation" of God. These concepts are cognate with the Indian idea of the avatar, or divine incarnation in human form.

Melek Taus, the Great Archangel of the Yezidis, is generally depicted (as far as outsiders know) in the form of a Peacock symbol, which is also presented in the form of a bronze sculpture revealed to believers during their holy festivals. The major Yezidi holy festival is the weeklong Feast of Lam; it takes place in October, and followers are expected to make the pilgrimage to the tomb of Sheik Adi in Lalish if they are able to. This weeklong holiday is a celebration of the Creation, and takes place around the same time of year that the ancient Zoroastrian and Mithraic celebrations were held. This interesting coincidence may allude to an ancient Mithraic origin of Yezidism, although this point has never been definitively proven. Even more intriguing, Melek Taus' birthday is celebrated in mid-December -- coinciding with the birth-celebration of Mithras and other Solar gods such as Christ. Other indications of Yezidism's origins with ancient solar-cults is in the practice of its followers to prostrate thrice facing the rising sun.

The Yezidi depiction of their God as a bird is unique to their culture (at least in the Middle East), and it is somewhat interesting to realize that the peacock is an Indian bird, not known in the Middle East in historical times. Whether this speaks of an Indian origin of the Yezidis, or a wider range of the peacock in ancient times, is not known. It may even be that the peacock symbol used for Melek Taus was in the most ancient of times another bird more native to the Kurdish region. For instance, another sacred representation used by the Yezidis is the rooster. Both birds may also reinforce the apparent connection between Yezidi religion and ancient Gnosticism and Zoroastrianism.

Part of the ongoing persecution of the Yezidis by Arab governments, especially in Iraq, is to deny them even their separate identity as Kurds; in Iraq, the official policy is to refer to them as "Ummayad Arabs," connecting them (through improper historical data) to a branch of the Arabs rather than the Kurds. This effort to erase Yezidi identity has effected the Yezidi culture considerably, and it is common for higher-class Yezidi to take on Arab dress and language in an effort to conform and protect their property, while lower-class Yezidis continue to hold on to their Kurdish traditions.

Muslims and Christian governments tried many times in history to "convert" the Yezidis to their way of thinking; most of these methods met in failure, at which point violence was sometimes resorted to. The Ottoman government perpetrated several pogroms against the Yezidi people in the 17th through the 19th centuries, eventually driving thousands of them out of their territory and into the Russian Caucasus, where they may have been some influence upon the thought of Gurdjieff, whose Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson depicts as its central character a decidedly "demonic" being who nevertheless appears to have humankind's best interests at heart.


Story

 

[Alexius4]

Regrettably, the Yezidi come in for a lot of stick in Turkey, too. Popularly reputed to be Satanists and slighted by the official ideology as a minority that refuses to be integrated, their ID cards are marked and they come in for discrimination at pretty much all levels.

Their principle scripture was translated (either from Kurdish or Arabic - there are two versions extant) in the 19th or early twentieth century; I read it years back, but regrettably do not have the reference to hand and have forgotton the title and author....

But it does exist....honest

 

[MrRING]

Nobody might know, but I wonder if they are being left alone in Iraq, or if they are being unjustly picked on?

Here is a holy scripture from the above site:

Revelation of Melek Taus

(Qu'ret al-Yezid)

(fragmentary; lost parts marked with brackets)

Wherefore, it is true that My knowledge compasses the very Truth of all that Is,
And My wisdom is not separate from My heart,
And the Manifestation of My descent is clear unto you,
And when it is Revealed to the Children of Adam it will be seen [.......................]
And many will tremble thereby.
All habitations and desert spaces are indeed of My own creation, set forth,
All fully within My strength, not that of the false gods;
Wherefore I am He that men come with their rightful worship,
Not the false gods of their books, wrongly written;
But they come to know Me, a Peacock of bronze and of gold,
Wings spread over Kaaba and Temple and Church, not to be overshadowed.
And in the secret cave of My wisdom it is known that there is no God but Myself,
Archangel over all the Host, Melek Ta'us.
Knowing this, who dares deny?
Knowing this, who dares fail to worship?
[........................]
Knowing this, who dares worship false gods of Koran and Bible?
Knowing this, who shall make that [...............................]?
Know that who knows Me will I cast into Paradisical gardens of My pleasure!
But the Yezid who knows Me not will I cast into affliction.
Say then, I am the only and exalted Archangel;
And I make prosperous whom I will, and I enliven whom I will.
Say then, I alone am to be praised from the Towers of Lalish,
And from the Mountain of Ararat to the Western Sea.
Say then, Let the Light of Knowledge flash forth from the Ziarahs,
Flash forth from the river of Euphrates to the hiddenness of Schambhallah.
Let My sanjak be carried from its safe place into the Temple,
And let all the clans of Yezid know of My Manifestation,
Even Sheikan, and Sinjar, and Haliteyeh, and Malliyeh, and Lepcho,
And the Kotchar who wander among the heathen.


link

 

[MrRING]

England Stole The Black Book!

I was reading this interesting article and it makes an interesting claim:

http://www.tacentral.com/people.asp?story_no=8

The Yezidi never wear the colour blue. They are not allowed to eat lettuce. They do not believe in heaven or hell -- instead they believe in reincarnation, which they call the soul "changing its clothes". They have two holy books, but they believe the only copy of one of them, the Black Book, was stolen years ago and taken to Britain, where, they say, it is kept in a museum.

I wonder if the Black Book they talk about does indeed rest in a museum somewhere....

 

[Anonymous]

Was there not a short article about the Yezidi in FT, about a year or so ago? Went into some of their beliefs and had a picture of their ceremonial buildings in it. I know I am hazy about it, but I'm sure there was.

 

[Kondoru]

Maybe I should change my siggy...

There is one of their secret brass peacocks (it looks like a rooster really) in the British Museum. dunno about any books.

 

[MrRING]

Found a copy of E.S. Drower's PEACOCK ANGEL:Being some Account of Votaries of a Secret Cult and their Sanctuaries online with plenty of pix for people interested in checking it out:

http://www.avesta.org/yezidi/peacock.htm

Though written in 1941, it looks to hold some solid information.

 

[Kondoru]

Its a brilliant book but more of human interest than theological...

 

[byroncac]

Two links that may be of interest:

http://www.michaeltotten.com/

http://egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6160

 

[ramonmercado]

Some justice at last.

A German woman who joined the Islamic State (IS) group has been jailed for nine years for crimes including keeping a Yazidi woman as a slave.

The defendant was also found guilty of crimes against humanity and membership of a foreign terrorist organisation. A court in the western city of Koblenz said the 37-year-old had abused the young Yazidi woman for three years while they lived in Syria and Iraq. It also found she had encouraged her husband to rape and beat the woman.

"All of this served the declared purpose of IS, to wipe out the Yazidi faith," said prosecutors at the start of the trial in January.

In 2014, IS fighters stormed into the ancestral homeland of the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq's Sinjar region and launched what the UN has said was a genocidal campaign.

Thousands of men and boys over the age of 12 were summarily killed after being given the ultimatum to convert or die. Some 7,000 women and girls were enslaved and subjected to brutal abuses.

Among them was the young woman whom prosecutors said the accused, named as Nadine K, and her husband used as a slave from 2016, when they moved to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65981397