The conclusive evidence showing Yezidi to be children of Sarasvati-Sindhu (Hindu) civilization comes from archaeological artifacts discovered in Nausharo (Mehrgarh). The wearing of sindhur at the parting of the hair and on forehead is an age-old Hindu tradition. It is the responsibility of all citizens of the globe to preserve and protect the Yezidi Hindu traditions founded on dharma-dhamma.
Kalyanaraman
| Nausharo: female figurines. Wearing sindhur at the parting of the hair. Hair painted black, ornaments golden and sindhur red. Period 1B, 2800 – 2600 BCE. 11.6 x 30.9 cm.[After Fig. 2.19, Kenoyer, 1998]. |
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HISTORY OF THE YEZIDIS
O YE THAT HAVE BELIEVED IN ME,
HONOR MY SYMBOL AND MY IMAGE,
FOR THEY REMIND YOU OF ME.
KITAB AL-JILWA, CH. V
Mithra sacrificing the Bull, cr. Serge Ottaviani.For centuries, Yezidi believers, have followed the simple command of the Kitab al-Jilwa, also known as The Book of Revelation, to “honor my symbol and my image.”
Who exactly are these people and what is the image that they honor? The answer depends on who is asked.
Amongst their closest neighbors, Yezidis are sometimes known as Devil-Worshippers. Others claim that they are heretical Muslims, or heretical Christians. Still others believe that the Yezidis are an offshoot of the Zoroastrian religion of Persia. The truth is quite complicated, as truth so often is.
The vast majority of Yezidis live in the mountainous region of Kurdistan on the borders of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. As an ethnic group, Yezidis are Kurdish: they live in Kurdistan and speak Kurdish. Yet their religious beliefs are distinct from those of their fellow Kurds.
Generally, historians, anthropologists and sociologists classify the Yezidi as a religious group. Certainly the Yezidis themselves view their religious identity as the single most important defining factor of Yezidism. To be Yezidi, one must be born into the faith – no conversion by an outsider is ever possible. In addition, Yezidis who marry out are usually viewed as no longer belonging to the group.
Yezidis claim that their religion is over 6,000 years old, predating Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This would seem to indicate that those who believe the Yezidi are heretical Muslims or heretical Christians are wrong. At the same time, the Yezidis and Christians of the region have a close bond: In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the Ottoman Empire persecuted the Armenian Christian minority, Yezidis undertook to aid the Armenians as well as other Christians. In more recent years, Iraqi Christians also looked to Yezidis for help when they felt threatened by the Iraqi government.
Who exactly are these people and what is the image that they honor? The answer depends on who is asked.
Amongst their closest neighbors, Yezidis are sometimes known as Devil-Worshippers. Others claim that they are heretical Muslims, or heretical Christians. Still others believe that the Yezidis are an offshoot of the Zoroastrian religion of Persia. The truth is quite complicated, as truth so often is.
The vast majority of Yezidis live in the mountainous region of Kurdistan on the borders of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. As an ethnic group, Yezidis are Kurdish: they live in Kurdistan and speak Kurdish. Yet their religious beliefs are distinct from those of their fellow Kurds.
Generally, historians, anthropologists and sociologists classify the Yezidi as a religious group. Certainly the Yezidis themselves view their religious identity as the single most important defining factor of Yezidism. To be Yezidi, one must be born into the faith – no conversion by an outsider is ever possible. In addition, Yezidis who marry out are usually viewed as no longer belonging to the group.
Yezidis claim that their religion is over 6,000 years old, predating Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This would seem to indicate that those who believe the Yezidi are heretical Muslims or heretical Christians are wrong. At the same time, the Yezidis and Christians of the region have a close bond: In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the Ottoman Empire persecuted the Armenian Christian minority, Yezidis undertook to aid the Armenians as well as other Christians. In more recent years, Iraqi Christians also looked to Yezidis for help when they felt threatened by the Iraqi government.
Yezidi women in the late 19th or early 20th century, Public Domain.These close associations with different types of Christians in a predominantly Muslim area would seem to indicate some connection between the Yezidi and Christianity. Certainly the two belief systems share some customs. Like almost all Christians, Yezidis practice the rite of baptism; immersion in water for purposes of ritual cleansing and as a sign of belonging to the group. In April, no Yezidi may marry; Orthodox Christians tend not to marry in the spring as no marriage can be performed in the fifty days of Lent that precede the Easter celebration. Yezidi women dye eggs in bright primary colors to celebrate the spring New Year festival just as many Eastern Christians do for the spring feast of Pascha (Easter). The color red is emphasized during the
Yezidi New Year festival with women decorating both their houses and family graves with red flowers. In a strange parallel, some Eastern Orthodox communities use only the color red when dying their Easter eggs.
At the same time, some aspects of Yezidism appear to derive from both Judaism and Islam. Like Jews and Muslims, Yezidis do not eat pork or wear pigskin. A number of other Yezidi taboos center on food and clothes: Yezidis cannot eat lettuce, cabbage, okra, pumpkins, or gazelle meat among other foods. They cannot mix elements that are viewed as opposed to each other, just as Jews do not mix meat and dairy. Food laws are common in many religions but it is interesting to note the parallels with the Jewish and Muslim customs.
The Yezidi Fast of Sacrifice clearly grows out of the Jewish God’s demand that Abraham sacrifice his son. At the last minute, God relents, allowing Abraham to replace his son with a lamb. Every February, Yezidis commemorate Abraham’s experience by sacrificing a lamb. Other aspects of the Yezidi origin story have roots in Jewish tradition: Yezidis believe they are descended from Adam but not Eve. According to them, Adam placed his seed in a jar, creating a son and daughter by himself without Eve’s help. These two children are the ancestors of all Yezidis while Jews, Muslims and Christians are descended from the children that Adam and Eve created together.
Yezidi New Year festival with women decorating both their houses and family graves with red flowers. In a strange parallel, some Eastern Orthodox communities use only the color red when dying their Easter eggs.
At the same time, some aspects of Yezidism appear to derive from both Judaism and Islam. Like Jews and Muslims, Yezidis do not eat pork or wear pigskin. A number of other Yezidi taboos center on food and clothes: Yezidis cannot eat lettuce, cabbage, okra, pumpkins, or gazelle meat among other foods. They cannot mix elements that are viewed as opposed to each other, just as Jews do not mix meat and dairy. Food laws are common in many religions but it is interesting to note the parallels with the Jewish and Muslim customs.
The Yezidi Fast of Sacrifice clearly grows out of the Jewish God’s demand that Abraham sacrifice his son. At the last minute, God relents, allowing Abraham to replace his son with a lamb. Every February, Yezidis commemorate Abraham’s experience by sacrificing a lamb. Other aspects of the Yezidi origin story have roots in Jewish tradition: Yezidis believe they are descended from Adam but not Eve. According to them, Adam placed his seed in a jar, creating a son and daughter by himself without Eve’s help. These two children are the ancestors of all Yezidis while Jews, Muslims and Christians are descended from the children that Adam and Eve created together.
Tawus or Taus is depicted as a peacock, Public Domain.So the Yezidis are neither Jewish nor Muslim nor Christian yet their religious practices reflect the influence of all of these belief systems. At the same time, Yezidi beliefs contain elements of much earlier religious beliefs.
Every October, all Yezidis who can, go to the holy city of Lalish in Northern Iraq, where they celebrate the Feast of Seven Days. Each day has its particular celebrations and practices. On the fifth day of the feast, a bull is released from the gates of the religious sanctuary into the city’s streets. Believers chase the bull, herding it uphill to the shrine of Sheik Shem where it is caught, slaughtered and cooked. The meat from the bull is then shared out amongst the pilgrims. This extremely ancient practice has parallels in Roman Mithraism. Mithra is often depicted slaughtering a bull and sharing its meat with the sun. Archaeologists have uncovered several preserved bulls’ heads complete with horns at Catalhoyuk, a Neolithic site in Eastern Turkey dating from about 7500 BCE to 5700 BCE.
Yezidi reverence for snakes and birds may also represent the remnants of much earlier religious beliefs. Middle Eastern gods often appeared in the guise of these animals or as a combination of these animals and humans: the god Horus, one of the oldest in the Egyptian pantheon, was pictured as a man with the head of a falcon. Some scholars contend that the Yezidi caste system as well as a belief in reincarnation may reflect the influence of Hinduism.
The most prominent accusation against the Yezidis, the assertion that they are Devil-worshippers, is the one that garners the most interest. The core Yezidi myth concerning the creation of the world, lies at the root of this accusation.
According to Yezidi myth, God created seven angelic beings, the chief of whom was named Tawus Malik, the Peacock Angel. Tawus Malik, like Lucifer in Jewish and Christian belief, rebelled against God. However, in Yezidism, when God cast Tawus into the fire because of this rebellion, Tawus spent 40,000 years weeping. His tears put out the flames of hell and demonstrated his repentance. Reconciling with God, Tawus was placed in charge of the daily affairs of the world. As God’s underboss, Tawus contains both good and evil, light and darkness. It is this relationship with Tawus, whom Christians, Jews and Muslims identify with Lucifer that has led to the accusations that Yezidis worship the devil.
The Yezidis are not heretical Jews or Christians. They aren’t a sect of Muslims, nor are they Zoroastrians. Finally, they are not devil worshippers in any real sense. Rather they belong to a syncretistic religion that incorporates extremely ancient beliefs and more recent influences. No religion exists in isolation or in a static, unchanging form. Like other religious belief systems, Yezidism has changed and grown as it encounters other, different beliefs.
Victoria Lord received a B.A. in Religious Studies and in Archaeology from Yale University. She has an M.A. in Medieval History from Columbia University. She has a long-standing interest in small religious sects.
Every October, all Yezidis who can, go to the holy city of Lalish in Northern Iraq, where they celebrate the Feast of Seven Days. Each day has its particular celebrations and practices. On the fifth day of the feast, a bull is released from the gates of the religious sanctuary into the city’s streets. Believers chase the bull, herding it uphill to the shrine of Sheik Shem where it is caught, slaughtered and cooked. The meat from the bull is then shared out amongst the pilgrims. This extremely ancient practice has parallels in Roman Mithraism. Mithra is often depicted slaughtering a bull and sharing its meat with the sun. Archaeologists have uncovered several preserved bulls’ heads complete with horns at Catalhoyuk, a Neolithic site in Eastern Turkey dating from about 7500 BCE to 5700 BCE.
Yezidi reverence for snakes and birds may also represent the remnants of much earlier religious beliefs. Middle Eastern gods often appeared in the guise of these animals or as a combination of these animals and humans: the god Horus, one of the oldest in the Egyptian pantheon, was pictured as a man with the head of a falcon. Some scholars contend that the Yezidi caste system as well as a belief in reincarnation may reflect the influence of Hinduism.
The most prominent accusation against the Yezidis, the assertion that they are Devil-worshippers, is the one that garners the most interest. The core Yezidi myth concerning the creation of the world, lies at the root of this accusation.
According to Yezidi myth, God created seven angelic beings, the chief of whom was named Tawus Malik, the Peacock Angel. Tawus Malik, like Lucifer in Jewish and Christian belief, rebelled against God. However, in Yezidism, when God cast Tawus into the fire because of this rebellion, Tawus spent 40,000 years weeping. His tears put out the flames of hell and demonstrated his repentance. Reconciling with God, Tawus was placed in charge of the daily affairs of the world. As God’s underboss, Tawus contains both good and evil, light and darkness. It is this relationship with Tawus, whom Christians, Jews and Muslims identify with Lucifer that has led to the accusations that Yezidis worship the devil.
The Yezidis are not heretical Jews or Christians. They aren’t a sect of Muslims, nor are they Zoroastrians. Finally, they are not devil worshippers in any real sense. Rather they belong to a syncretistic religion that incorporates extremely ancient beliefs and more recent influences. No religion exists in isolation or in a static, unchanging form. Like other religious belief systems, Yezidism has changed and grown as it encounters other, different beliefs.
Victoria Lord received a B.A. in Religious Studies and in Archaeology from Yale University. She has an M.A. in Medieval History from Columbia University. She has a long-standing interest in small religious sects.
http://www.ultimatehistoryproject.com/history-of-the-yezidi.html
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Selected Bibliography on the Yezidis
http://www.personal.ceu.hu/students/09/Eszter_Spat/TheSanjakofthePeacockAngel.htm
The Sanjak of the Peacock Angel
Sanjak: The most important sacred object is the image, or as they call it the sanjak, of Tawusi Melek, that is, the Peacock Angel, fashioned in bronze or copper. (It is also often referred to as Tawus or Tawis.) The Peacock Angel is simultaneously the head of the Angels, the viceroy of God on earth, and the special protector angel of the Yezidis.
According to the tradition there used to be seven sanjaks, which were fashioned by the Peacock Angel himself, after his own image, and these images may be called the holy symbol not only of the Peacock Angel, but of the Yezidi communal identity in general. The seven peacock sanjaks corresponded to the seven Yezidi districts, also known assanjaks (this is expression used by the Ottoman administration to denote a province.) There seems to be some disagreement as to the original identity of these seven geographical sanjaks, but they covered all the territories where Yezidis lived, from Aleppo to Iran and from Iraq to the Moscovy sanjak (the Caucasian mountains.)
Parading of the Peacock: The sanjaks used to be kept in Lalish, the sacred valley of the Yezidis near Mosul, or at other times in the house of the Yezidi Prince at Baadra, also near Mosul. At regular intervals the sanjaks were taken on a tour to visit the Yezidi villages, each one in its own district.
This was called the Parading of the Peacock. The importance of this institution cannot be overvalued. Yezidi faith is an oral religion, it has no books or written texts, and religious lore is transmitted orally from father to son. This transmission, however, is constricted in its nature. Traditionally memorising and reciting the religious texts, hymns and myths, was the task of a special class, the so called qewwals, or singers (reciters) of the sacred texts.
These singers, on the other hand, traditionally resided in the twin villages of Beshiqe-Behzani, yet again near Mosul. Thus the access of an average Yezidi commoner to religious knowledge, or even to religion itself, was very limited. The Parading of the Peacock provided one of the rare opportunities when common Yezidis could get some form of religious instruction.
During such tours, when the village community assembled to pay their respect (and money) to the peacock, theqewels sang hymns and recited mishabets, that is, sermons, explaining Yezidi myths and religious concepts. Thus the Peacock Sanjak used to play, and in some places still plays, a central part in the perpetuation of the Yezidi faith and in maintaining its unity.
The Peacock Sanjak and the Central Power: The sanjaks play an important function in the political structure of the Yezidis as well. Yezidi Mirs, or Princes residing in the Iraqi Sheikhan district, the spiritual centre of the Yezidi world, have consistently maintained their spiritual legitimacy as representatives of the Peacock Angel on the earth. The sanjaks are in their possession, and consequently the alms, offered by the faithful to the sanjaks during the Parading of the Peacock, belong to them, making up a considerable part of the princely revenues.
Just as importantly, the ceremonies which accompany the parading of the Peacock in the Yezidi villages emphasize the prince’s links with the supernatural power of the Peacock Angel, thus strengthening his authority vis-à-vis the believers. Furthermore these tours provide an opportunity to the Prince and Princely family for intervening in the life of the Yezidi communities far from the centre through the intermediary of the qewwals and other dignitaries accompanying the Peacock, who were appointed by the Prince. The choice of the qewwals was very important since they were the main link through which the Prince maintained and strengthened his religious-political authority and popularity among those Yezidi communities settled outside the Sheikhan, on the periphery. The qewwals, in possession of the sanjak, not only reinforced the cult of the Peacock Angel and Yezidi religion in general, but carried out propaganda in favour of the Prince.
Today modern Yezidi communities, especially in the Diaspora, seem to be embracing the image of the peacock as a symbol of Yezidi identity, religion and culture, of “Yezidiness” in one word. Many Yezidi publications in the Diaspora, and most Yezidi websites now carry the image of the peacock.
Armenia: In Armenia a sanjak hitherto believed lost, was recovered at the beginning of the Millenium. Thissanjak is said to have been left behind with a Yezidi sheikh when the I. WW broke out and then carried to safety in Armenia, where it was hidden for long decades. Now it is displayed again and Armenian Yezidis make pilgrimages to venerate it.
Content:
The Yezidis of Iraq
http://www.personal.ceu.hu/students/09/Eszter_Spat/TheSanjakofthePeacockAngel.htm
Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz, by Isya Joseph, [1919], at sacred-texts.com
PART II
THE CRITICAL DISCUSSION OF YEZIDISM
CHAPTER I
THE RELIGIOUS ORIGIN OF THE YEZIDIS
The origin of the devil-worshippers has been the subject of much controversy; but aside from an expression of views, no satisfactory solution of the problem has as yet been reached. The different theories which have been advanced may be classified under four general heads: The Myth of the Yezidis themselves; the tradition of Eastern Christians; the dogmatic idea of the Mohammedan scholars; and the speculative theory of the western orientalists.
I
THE YEZIDI MYTH
The Myth of the Yezidis concerning their origin may be derived from three different sources: from their sacred book, from the appendix of the manuscript, and from actual conversation of travellers with them or with natives dwelling among them. One
noticeable fact is that this tradition assumes the religion of the sect as existing long before the time of their chief saint, Šeiḫ ‘Adî. Al-Jilwah begins with the statement that Melek Ṭâ‘ûs sent his servant, i.e., the Yezidis, that they might not go astray. Starting from this assumption, the writer of the revealed book goes on to trace the origin of the "elect" to the very beginning of human history. He asserts that from the start God created them as a peculiar people of ‘Azazil,i.e., Melek-Ṭâ‘ûs. In the main, this idea finds expression in the oral traditions. But here we have a mass of material so clouded by superstition and ignorance that it is next to impossible to come to any conclusion as to the history of this interesting people. One point the myth repeatedly emphasizes, as an explanation of the origin of the sect, is that it was descended from Adam alone; while the other sects were descended from Adam and Eve. For this reason, the same tradition implies. the Yezidis are nobler than the others. But how they have come to be such unique descendants is a question not easily answered. One account has it that when Adam and Eve disputed as to the generation of the human race, each claiming to be the sole begetter of the race, they finally agreed to put their seed in separate jars and seal them with their own seals. After nine months they opened the jars, and in Adam's jar they found two children, a male and a female. From these two the Yezidis were descended. Another explanation is that from Adam's essence was born Šeher bn Jebr,
of whom nothing is known; and of him, a separate community, which is the sect of Melek Ṭâ‘ûs. We have, moreover, the tradition that the Yezidis are descendants of a son born to Adam of his spittle. Now whether this son be identical with Šeher bn Jebr is not certain. Writing in one of the oriental periodicals, an eastern scholar quotes a Yezidi šeiḫ in a statement which seems to corroborate the tradition that the Yezidis are a noble progeny of Adam; but the quotation differs from the instance previously cited in stating that the quarrel which took place between Adam and Eve led to their separation to places distant from each other a journey of forty days. 1 There, it is said, Adam miraculously gave birth to a son. Distressed by this incident, Eve asked God that she might find favor in her husband's eyes by giving birth to a child. Thereupon, it continues, she begat a very pretty daughter. Attracted by her beauty, Adam married her to his son. Now, the Yezidis, we are told, are the blessed seed of these two children. 2
Not only when the tradition, tracing the origin of the Yezidis as a race, asserts that, as a religious body, they come from a very ancient time; but also when it speaks of them as a nation, it points out their antiquity. On this latter, as well as on the former point, their book and their oral tradition agree. The Yezidis are said to have sprung from a noble personage, the King of Peace, whose name was Na-‘umi, but whom they now call Melek-Miran. 3 The rest of mankind, however, are from the seed of Ham, who
mocked his father. Whom they signified by Na-‘umi or Miran it is hard to say; but it is likely that they regard him as one of the other two sons of Noah. They claim also that the ancient Assyrian kings were members of their race, and that some of the Persian, Roman and Jewish kings were appointed for them by Melek Ṭâ‘ûs. They likewise seem to trace their origin to the prophets and other personages of the Old Testament; as Seth, Enoch, Noah, etc. Their religion furthermore, they assert, antedates Christ. 4
There is still another tradition that traces the devil-worshippers to a different origin. I refer to the statement which Masehaf Reš makes regarding Mu‘awiya, Mohammed's servant. 5 Mu‘awiya was asked by his master to shave his head. While performing the duty, he cut the prophet's scalp, and began to lick the bleeding spot. When he was told that this act would result in his giving birth to a nation which would oppose the followers of his master, Mu‘awiya declared that he would not marry. He was afterwards, however, bitten by a serpent, and was told that he would die unless he married. He therefore consented to marry, but chose an old woman in order not to have children. But she miraculously became a young woman of twenty-five. And from her the God Yezid was born. The story, of course, is a myth, and it is of such a nature that no historic fact can be derived from it. It is further complicated by the fact that this Yezid isidentified with Melek Ṭâ‘ûs; and, in another myth, is represented in form as being half angel and half
nun and as remaining a bachelor long after the marriage of Adam He was, however, finally possessed of a desire to marry, and, unable to marry a mortal's daughter, being himself half angel, sought the assistance of Melek Ṭâ‘ûs, who presented to him an ḥouri, and from this union there sprang a pious people, the Yezidis.
But the devil-worshippers have still another story, which goes to show that Yezid bn Mu‘awiya is not their founder. This myth asserts that they are the progeny of Adam's son who was married to Eve's daughter; that the descendants continued worshiping God and Melek Ṭâ‘ûs without bringing a foreign element into their religion; and that, at first, the sect did not bear the name Yezidis, which, in their own opinion, is a comparatively new appellative. As to how they came to be called by this new name, it is explained that when, in the course of time, some corruption entered the Yezidi religion, there arose a certain Calif by the name of Yezid who wrought miracles. Since then, his followers have been called Yezidis. This Yezid, it is said, is the son of Mu‘awiya bn Sufian, and his mother was of Christian origin. To accomplish his desire, bn Mu‘awiya went to Šeiḫ ‘Adî, who was a learned and devout but cunning person, and had instituted a religious innovation. Yezid, the tradition continues, learned ‘Adî's religion and taught it to his followers; and, from that time on, the sect came to be called after him. 6 But while some, considering this legend as authoritative, venerate
the man bearing the name, others deny all connection with him. 7
The testimony of some travellers offers another explanation of the origin of the sect in question, an account which has perhaps more historical significance than the preceding theories. It is stated that the Yezidis have a tradition to the effect that they came from Baṣrah and from the country watered by the lower part of the Euphrates; that after their emigration they first settled in Syria, and subsequently took possession of the Sinjar Hill and the district now inhabited in Kurdistan. As to the date of their settlement in Mesopotamia, no positive information can be obtained. Some scholars infer that it took place about the time of Tamerlane, toward the end of the fourteenth century. 8 It is related that the devil-worshippers hold that, among their own number, the ancient name for God is Azd, and from it the name of the sect is derived; 9 that the conviction that they are Yezidis, i.e., God's people, has been their consolation and comfort through the ages in their tribulations; 10 and that they have taken many religious observances from different bodies--Mohammedans, Christians, Jews, Pagan Arabs, Shiites, and Sabaians.
Besides these different explanations of the origin of the devil-worshippers as descendants of Adam, of Yezîd bn Mu‘awiya, as being of the colony from the north, as taking their name from Azd, God, there is another account. I refer to a myth which is current among the people of Seistan, an eastern province of
[paragraph continues]Persia, where there are a considerable number of these Shaitan parasts (devil worshippers):
"In former times there existed a prophet named Ḥanalalah, whose life was prolonged to the measure of a thousand years. He was their ruler and benefactor; and as by his agency, their flocks gave birth to lambs and kids miraculously once a week, though ignorant of the use of money, they, with much gratitude to him, procured all the comforts of life. At length, however, he died, and was succeeded by his son, whom Šatan, presuming on his inexperience, empted to sin by entering a large mulberry tree, when he addressed the successor of Ḥanalalah, and called on him to worship the prince of darkness. Astonished, yet unshaken, the youth resisted the temptation. But the miracle proved too much for the constancy of his flock, who now began to turn to the worship of the devil. The young prophet, enraged at this, seized An axe and a saw, and prepared to cut down the tree. He was arrested in this by the appearance of a human being, who exclaimed, 'Rash boy, desist! Turn to me and let us wrestle for the victory. If you conquer, then fell the tree!
"The prophet contended and vanquished his opponent, who, however, bought his own safety and that of the tree by the promise of a large weekly treasure. After seven days the holy victor again visited the tree to claim the gold or fell it to the ground; but Satan persuaded him to hazard another struggle on the promise that, if he conquered again, the amount
should be doubled. This second encounter proved fatal to the youth. He was put to death by his spiritual antagonist, and the result confirmed the tribes over whom he had ruled in their worship of the tree and its tutelary demon." 11
According to this legend, the Šatan parasts are the victims of their young prophet who, as long as he was actuated by a disinterested zeal for religion, was victorious over the principle of evil; but failed as soon as that zeal gave place to a sordid cupidity for earthly treasure.
I have dwelt upon the superstitious theories of the Yezidis themselves regarding their religious origin, not because these theories have an importance in themselves, but because of their bearing upon the views advanced by modern scholars. The scholars have based their theories on some of these conflicting stories without sufficient criticism. I shall dwell upon this more at length later on.
Footnotes
91:1 p. 138 This may be traced to the Mohammedan myth that when the primal pair fell from their estate of bliss in the heavenly Paradise, Adam landed on a mountain in Ceylon and Eve fell at Jiddah, on the western coast of Arabia. After a hundred years of wandering, they met near Meccah, and here Allah constructed for them a tabernacle, on the site of the present Kaaba, S. M. Zwemer, Arabia, p. 17; Aš-Šahrastani, II, 430.
91:2 Anistase: Al-Mašrik, Vol. 2, p. 33.
91:3 Cf. p. 35.
92:4 Cf. p. 34.
92:5 Cf. p. 37.
93:6 Al-Mašrik, Vol. 2, p. 33.
94:7 Scottish Geog. Mag., vol. 14, p, 295.
94:8 Layard: Nineveh and Its Remains, vol. II. p. 254.
94:9 Layard: Nineveh and Babylon, p. 94.
94:10 S. G. M., vol. 14, p. 300.
96:11 Fraser: Mesopotamia and Persia, p. 287.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/asia/sby/sby18.htm
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/profiles/2013/06/20/Armenia-s-peacock-angel-worshipping-Yezidi-begin-to-question-dated-customs.html
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http://www.kurdistanmemory.com/site/english/yezidis.html
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For centuries, the Yezidi peoples of Kurdistan have been practicing their mysterious religion in secret, despite endless persecution and false accusations of devil-worship. In reality, they worship Melek Taus, the benevolent Peacock Angel, alongside a host of other celestial beings and prophets. Behind their faith is a complex and fascinating system of mythology that has continually baffled historians and scholars of religion seeking a concrete categorization of its origin. Contained herein is a selection of what Yezidi texts are currently available, in hopes of providing an honest and unbiased look at the beliefs of this much-misunderstood ethnoreligious group. Contents include: -Kitab Al Jilwah, The Book of Illumination -Meshaf Res, The Black Book of Creation -Hymns -Commentary These texts, while in public domain and available in other formats, are now all collected in print in a straightforward and untainted format, 2009.
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Armenia’s ‘peacock angel’ worshipping Yezidi question dated customs
AFP, Zovuny
Thursday, 20 June 2013
Thursday, 20 June 2013
As she hangs up washing on branches outside her family’s stone home, Liana talks wistfully about her curtailed childhood which ended with marriage at the tender age of 14.
Liana belongs to Armenia’s roughly 40,000-strong Yezidi community, a livestock-herding people who follow their own ancient religion that involves the worship of a peacock angel called Satan.
Their customs are strict and sometimes at odds with the values and practices of the modern world, most notably the tradition of marrying women while they are still in their early teens.
Some within the community, especially the young, are now wanting to break out of the limits of tradition and forge normal lives and careers.
“When I was 14 my parents refused to let me go to school anymore and married me off instead,” Liana, now 23, said, her olive green eyes flickering timidly to the ground.
“But I want my daughters to get an education, become experts in something and live in better conditions,” she said, watching as her six-year-old daughter continued with the household chores.
The Yezidi are the biggest minority group in Armenia -- a largely mono-ethnic country where some 98 percent of the roughly 3.3 million population are ethnic Armenians and the country’s Christian Apostolic Church dominates.
Fierce guardians of their traditions, the Yezidi do not allow outsiders to convert to their faith and ban the eating of lettuce or wearing of anything blue.
Although they speak a form of Kurdish, Armenia’s Yezidi fiercely reject being labeled Kurds and their religion -- which has seen them regarded as “devil-worshippers” by Muslims -- is thought by some to have its origins in the Zoroastrianism of ancient Persia.
The Yezidis do not believe in heaven or hell, and do not regard Satan as evil. In fact, they worship him in the guise of a peacock angel whose name they are forbidden from saying out loud.
Found in Armenia’s western valleys close to Mount Ararat, as well as in their spiritual home in nearby Iraq, along with Syria, Turkey and Georgia, the strongly patriarchal Yezidi forbid girls from talking in the presence of male elders or eating with male relatives.
As was the case with Liana, they have commonly married off their daughters when they are in their early teens, sometimes as young as 12 or 13.
Liana belongs to Armenia’s roughly 40,000-strong Yezidi community, a livestock-herding people who follow their own ancient religion that involves the worship of a peacock angel called Satan.
Their customs are strict and sometimes at odds with the values and practices of the modern world, most notably the tradition of marrying women while they are still in their early teens.
Some within the community, especially the young, are now wanting to break out of the limits of tradition and forge normal lives and careers.
“When I was 14 my parents refused to let me go to school anymore and married me off instead,” Liana, now 23, said, her olive green eyes flickering timidly to the ground.
“But I want my daughters to get an education, become experts in something and live in better conditions,” she said, watching as her six-year-old daughter continued with the household chores.
The Yezidi are the biggest minority group in Armenia -- a largely mono-ethnic country where some 98 percent of the roughly 3.3 million population are ethnic Armenians and the country’s Christian Apostolic Church dominates.
Fierce guardians of their traditions, the Yezidi do not allow outsiders to convert to their faith and ban the eating of lettuce or wearing of anything blue.
Although they speak a form of Kurdish, Armenia’s Yezidi fiercely reject being labeled Kurds and their religion -- which has seen them regarded as “devil-worshippers” by Muslims -- is thought by some to have its origins in the Zoroastrianism of ancient Persia.
The Yezidis do not believe in heaven or hell, and do not regard Satan as evil. In fact, they worship him in the guise of a peacock angel whose name they are forbidden from saying out loud.
Found in Armenia’s western valleys close to Mount Ararat, as well as in their spiritual home in nearby Iraq, along with Syria, Turkey and Georgia, the strongly patriarchal Yezidi forbid girls from talking in the presence of male elders or eating with male relatives.
As was the case with Liana, they have commonly married off their daughters when they are in their early teens, sometimes as young as 12 or 13.
‘A spinster at 18’
Last year when Armenia moved to revise its law on marriage, raising the minimum age of marriage for both boys and girls to 18, representatives of the Yezidi community erupted in protest at what they claimed was an assault on a cornerstone of their culture.
“This is an ancient tradition,” said Aziz Tamoyan, the director of the Yezidi Union in Armenia. “If a girl is not already married by the time she is 18 then she is already considered a spinster.”
In the end, in the face of possible street protests, Armenia’s parliament compromised and the minimum age that girls in the Yezidi community could marry was set at 16.
“When we brought in changes to the law we had to deal with the realities of life,” said lawmaker Agvan Vardanyan, a member of parliament's commission for human rights that drew up the law.
“The Yezidi community guards its traditions very jealously and they have families at a very young age whatever the current laws are at any given time,” Vardanyan said.
“Not to take into account their traditions or their rhythm of life would not be right.”
But not everyone in the Yezidi community thought that an exception should be made for them.
Many in the younger generations are increasingly turning their backs on their ancestors’ way of life by refusing to have many children, herd livestock or wear traditional clothing.
Although the number is still small - just around 100 - Yezidi students are now studying at Armenian universities, said Khdr Hajoyan, the editor of a Yezidi newspaper named after their fabled homeland, Yezidkhana.
“Young Yezidi boys and girls want to go to school, receive higher education and rise up the career ladder,” Hajoyan said.
“Why can’t someone from the Yezidi community here become a member of parliament or a minister?” he asked.
For a growing number of younger Yezidi though, the dream of a better future lies outside the country - and the strict cultural codes of their closed society.
Many have already emigrated to Europe or Russia and ever more are looking to follow them - including Liana and her young family.
“We don’t have a problem with Armenia but I don’t want my daughters to have the same life as their mother has had,” said Aziz, Liana’s husband.
“I don't want them just to be working with cattle all their lives,” he said. “Whatever they want to be, that is for them to decide. I don’t want to interfere.”
“This is an ancient tradition,” said Aziz Tamoyan, the director of the Yezidi Union in Armenia. “If a girl is not already married by the time she is 18 then she is already considered a spinster.”
In the end, in the face of possible street protests, Armenia’s parliament compromised and the minimum age that girls in the Yezidi community could marry was set at 16.
“When we brought in changes to the law we had to deal with the realities of life,” said lawmaker Agvan Vardanyan, a member of parliament's commission for human rights that drew up the law.
“The Yezidi community guards its traditions very jealously and they have families at a very young age whatever the current laws are at any given time,” Vardanyan said.
“Not to take into account their traditions or their rhythm of life would not be right.”
But not everyone in the Yezidi community thought that an exception should be made for them.
Many in the younger generations are increasingly turning their backs on their ancestors’ way of life by refusing to have many children, herd livestock or wear traditional clothing.
Although the number is still small - just around 100 - Yezidi students are now studying at Armenian universities, said Khdr Hajoyan, the editor of a Yezidi newspaper named after their fabled homeland, Yezidkhana.
“Young Yezidi boys and girls want to go to school, receive higher education and rise up the career ladder,” Hajoyan said.
“Why can’t someone from the Yezidi community here become a member of parliament or a minister?” he asked.
For a growing number of younger Yezidi though, the dream of a better future lies outside the country - and the strict cultural codes of their closed society.
Many have already emigrated to Europe or Russia and ever more are looking to follow them - including Liana and her young family.
“We don’t have a problem with Armenia but I don’t want my daughters to have the same life as their mother has had,” said Aziz, Liana’s husband.
“I don't want them just to be working with cattle all their lives,” he said. “Whatever they want to be, that is for them to decide. I don’t want to interfere.”
Last Update: Thursday, 20 June 2013 KSA 07:52 - GMT 04:52
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Bearing the brunt of ISIS, Yazidis carry on with a tale of survival
By Dina al-Shibeeb | Al Arabiya News
Thursday, 16 October 2014
Thursday, 16 October 2014
Iraq’s Yazidi minority, enslaved and driven out by the advance of ISIS in Iraq, represents a story of hundreds of years of survival in a hostile environment.
Some experts say the Yazidis, who are mostly Kurdish speaking people, survived in the mountains of Kurdistan as power moved from the Abassids in Baghdad (750-1517) to the sweeping Mongol invasion in 1258, and finally the Ottomans.
Now, they are facing a ferocious attack from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militant group, which boasted recently about their enslavement of Yazidi women.
Former U.N. diplomat Gerard Russell questions how Iraq came “to have so much religious diversity in the first place” and what “this says about the type of Islam that prevailed there until the 21st century.” Equally important is what is happening to these diverse strands under today’s rising violence in the region.
“Minority sects that have survived millennia are being crushed by jihadist intolerance,” Russell wrote in a recent article published by the London-based think tank Chatham House.
“Figures such as the repentant Peacock Angel, Malak Tawus, whose tears extinguished all seven pits of hell, or the flesh-monster Krun, or the thinly disguised sun-god Sheikh Shams, have a genealogy older than the Quran or the Gospels,” he wrote.
Some jihadist militants denounce Yazidis as “devil-worshippers” due to their reverence of the fallen angel Malak Tawus, who is often identified with Lucifer or Satan.
Mathew Barber, University of Chicago scholar in Islamic studies and Yazidism, said the accusation that Yazidis are devil-worshippers stretches as far back as several centuries.
Like Russell, Barber said there are other aspects of their religion that have made them targets.
“Yazidism is an oral tradition without a written scriptural text, and it is common to hear Muslims say that Yazidis are ‘people without a book’,” said Barber.
He added that the persecution of the Yazidis over the centuries “has often been motivated by political or economic factors, but nevertheless legitimized religiously through fatwas that defined Yazidis as a non-protected people.”
But accounts suggest that early Muslims tolerated other non-Muslims communities, including Yazidis, despite perceived influences from the ancient Persian faith of Zoroastrianism and despite their Buddhist-like belief in perpetual reincarnation.
While Europe saw the extinction of its Cathars, a group which arose in southwestern France in the 11th and 12th centuries and in some ways espoused similar beliefs and practices to the Yazidis, its Middle East counterparts continued.
“The Cathars were crushed by the 20-year Albigensian crusade (1209–1229), waged by the French state; they disappeared from the history books in the early 14th century, while several of their Middle Eastern equivalents have survived over half a millennium longer,” Russell wrote.
Russell added that “the early Muslims were not especially keen to win converts among non-Arab peoples,” who were the majority of the people in the Middle East in the 7th century.
The Abbasids needed the skills and the rich culture of the non-Muslim communities under its rule , making Baghdad a cosmopolitan city that developed into a learning center for the world.
One prominent Syriac pagan, Thabit ibn Qurra, who belonged to the Harranians group which had similar beliefs to the Yazidis, expressed his distaste of Byzantine hostility to paganism to the Abbasids. Ibn Qurra, mathematician, physician, astronomer and translator, was allowed to live in Baghdad in the ninth century where he had the opportunity to develop Pythagoras’s theorem of triangles to its form we use today.
Barber described the 13th century as the “formative period” of Yazidism, making it as to what it is today. After this period, during which the Yazidi homeland in northern Iraq was ruled by Turkic dynasties, Yazidis became the persecuted minority.
“One early figure of the Yazidi community was executed in 1254 by the governor of Mosul. This execution was motivated by political competition with the Kurds of the mountains north of Mosul,” Barber said.
“Persecution of Yazidis as a religious community becomes evident later on,” Barber explained.
“The most significant periods of violence against Yazidis occurred under the Ottomans who conducted multiple military campaigns against their communities between the 17th-19th centuries, often massacring or enslaving civilians,” he said.
Citing the Yazidi tribes’ practice of raiding caravans, “they were often a thorn in the side of the Ottoman authorities,” Barber added.
“After carrying out prolonged military assaults against Mount Sinjar, Yazidi women were carried off by the Ottoman soldiers and sold in slave markets—much as ISIS is doing now.”
The Ottomans also carried out schemes to “forcibly” convert Yazidis to Islam, Barber noted.
Glimpse of light
There were, however, bright glimpses and anomalies to be remembered despite the dark period Yazidis lived through during the Ottoman era.
During the reign of Ottoman Sulaiman al-Qanouni - whose rule lasted from 1520 to 1566, a Yazidi prince was put in charge of both Arbil and Mosul.
However, this golden era did not continue following violent fatwas against the Yazidis.
The late Ali al-Wardi, who is considered to be founding father of Iraq’s social sciences, wrote in his “The Farce of the Human Mind,” that a man named Abu al-Saud al-Amdi asked the mufti or grand religious scholar of Islam during al-Qanouni’s era if Muslims should fight the Yazidis.
Describing Yazidis as “more infidel than the original ones,” the mufti said, according to accounts, that fighting them was permissible in Islam and that Muslims who would carry their Islamic crusade against them were the most devoted.
The mufti also sanctioned selling their women as slaves, according to written accounts.
Back to the present
While Yazidis used to number in the millions, the bulk of the population now lives in Iraq and number around 650,000, in addition to about 50,000 who live in Syria, 40,000 in Germany and 40,000 in Russia.
Mountains, marshes and deserts allowed the Yazidis to hide from the enemy in the ancient times. But fearing death and fleeing ISIS’ wrath, several thousands of Yazidis were stranded on the barren tops of the Mount Sinjar in August, compelling American planes to air drop food aid to them.
Some Yazidis often refer to “72” or “73” massacres against them through the centuries. But Barber says the numbers are merely “symbolic” and no available historical records back them.
“The significance of the number is that it represents the sense of vulnerability that stands at the center of Yazidi identity,” he said.
Last Update: Monday, 20 October 2014 KSA 13:05 - GMT 10:05
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Kurdish woman leads fight against ISIS in Kobane
Agence France Presse, Beirut
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
A Kurdish woman fighter is leading the battle against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadists in the Syrian battleground town of Kobane, a monitoring group and activists said Sunday.
“Mayssa Abdo, known by the nom-de-guerre of Narin Afrin, is commanding the YPG in Kobane along with Mahmud Barkhodan,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
The secular and left-leaning Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) group has been defending Kobane, on the border with Turkey, since ISIS fighters launched an assault on September 16.
The group, the de facto army of the Kurdish regions of north and northeast Syria, is the armed wing of the powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
As is the custom for Kurdish fighters, Mayssa, 40, uses a pseudonym, with hers coming from the Afrin region where she was born that is located like Kobane in Aleppo province.
“Those who know her say she is cultivated, intelligent and phlegmatic,” said Mustefa Ebdi, a Kurdish activist from Kobane.
“She cares for the mental state of the fighters and takes interest in their problems,” he said.
Women traditionally form a major part of Kurdish fighting forces, and they are well represented among Kurdish forces in neighboring Turkey and Iraq.
On October 5, young Kurdish woman fighter Dilar Gencxemis, identified by the YPG by the nom-de-guerre of Arin Mirkan, blew herself up outside Kobane in an attack which reportedly killed dozens of IS militants.
She became the first Kurdish woman suicide bomber since the 2011 start of Syria’s conflict.
Since the withdrawal of government forces from Kurdish areas of Syria in mid-2012, the PYD has set up local councils for Kurds to run their own affairs, with women filling 40 percent of seats.
“Mayssa Abdo, known by the nom-de-guerre of Narin Afrin, is commanding the YPG in Kobane along with Mahmud Barkhodan,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
The secular and left-leaning Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) group has been defending Kobane, on the border with Turkey, since ISIS fighters launched an assault on September 16.
The group, the de facto army of the Kurdish regions of north and northeast Syria, is the armed wing of the powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
As is the custom for Kurdish fighters, Mayssa, 40, uses a pseudonym, with hers coming from the Afrin region where she was born that is located like Kobane in Aleppo province.
“Those who know her say she is cultivated, intelligent and phlegmatic,” said Mustefa Ebdi, a Kurdish activist from Kobane.
“She cares for the mental state of the fighters and takes interest in their problems,” he said.
Women traditionally form a major part of Kurdish fighting forces, and they are well represented among Kurdish forces in neighboring Turkey and Iraq.
On October 5, young Kurdish woman fighter Dilar Gencxemis, identified by the YPG by the nom-de-guerre of Arin Mirkan, blew herself up outside Kobane in an attack which reportedly killed dozens of IS militants.
She became the first Kurdish woman suicide bomber since the 2011 start of Syria’s conflict.
Since the withdrawal of government forces from Kurdish areas of Syria in mid-2012, the PYD has set up local councils for Kurds to run their own affairs, with women filling 40 percent of seats.
Last Update: Tuesday, 14 October 2014 KSA 15:03 - GMT 12:03
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Disillusioned Syrian woman reveals life in ISIS
By Staff Writer | Al Arabiya News
Friday, 10 October 2014
Friday, 10 October 2014
A Syrian woman has revealed how she left her old life and moved to Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), where she joined its all-female Al-Khansa’a brigade.
Khadija – not her real name – told CNN that she used to patrol the streets enforcing ISIS’s strict interpretation of Islam on women.
The brigade, comprising 25-30 members, would lash women for not adhering to “proper sharia clothing.”
Disillusioned with ISIS’s brutality, Khadija, 25, fled to Turkey, leaving her family behind in Syria.
Origins
A former elementary school teacher, she was brought up in a “not overly conservative” family that ensured she received an education.
When the revolution began, Khadija joined the masses in demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
“We’d go out and demonstrate. The security services would chase us. We’d write on walls, have different outfits to change into,” she said. “Those days were great.”
However, when peaceful protests turned violent, Khadija began to lose her “soul” and “humanity” amid the “chaos.”
She added: “You want to tear yourself away, to find something to run to. My problem was I ran away to something uglier.”
Khadija met a Tunisian ISIS fighter online who gradually convinced her to join the group and assured her that its portrayal by the media was inaccurate.
“He’d say, ‘We’re going to properly implement Islam. Right now we’re in a state of war, a phase where we need to control the country, so we have to be harsh’.”
She persuaded her family to move to Raqqa by saying it would be easier to put her siblings back in school there.
A cousin who was living in Raqqa with her husband, who was with ISIS, told Khadija she could join the Al-Khansa’a brigade.
Life in ISIS
Her job satisfied her at first. She was paid $200 a month, received food and was trained in cleaning and firing weapons.
“I felt that I had authority in the streets but then I started to get scared, scared of my situation. I even started to be afraid of myself,” said Khadija.
Her image of ISIS changed after witnessing the treatment of women. “The foreign fighters are very brutal with women, even the ones they marry,” she said.
“There were cases where the wife had to be taken to the emergency ward because of the violence, the sexual violence.”
The breaking point for her was when her commander started pressuring her to marry an ISIS fighter. “After this, I decided no, I have to leave.”
Khadija left a few days before the U.S.- led coalition began its air strikes against ISIS. She was smuggled into Turkey, where the CNN interview took place.
Last Update: Friday, 10 October 2014 KSA 19:13 - GMT 16:13
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http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/profiles/2013/06/20/Armenia-s-peacock-angel-worshipping-Yezidi-begin-to-question-dated-customs.html
Yezidism
Distantly related to the Cult of Angels, Yezidism is a specifically Kurdish religion. Today all Yezidis are Kurds. There was a time when most Kurds were Yezidis. But Yezidis are still considered the living memory and conscience of the Kurds.
Yezidism was long incorrectly described as a kind of Sufism. Yezidis holy men were recognized as Sufis. So were their religious hierarchy, and their prayers. Their pilgrimage to Shaykh Adi's shrine, (Shaykh Adi, 1073 -1162, preached Sufism) which takes place in the second week of October every year, in Lâlesh (North Iraq), was compared to the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Distantly related to the Cult of Angels, Yezidism is a specifically Kurdish religion. Today all Yezidis are Kurds. There was a time when most Kurds were Yezidis. But Yezidis are still considered the living memory and conscience of the Kurds.
Yezidism was long incorrectly described as a kind of Sufism. Yezidis holy men were recognized as Sufis. So were their religious hierarchy, and their prayers. Their pilgrimage to Shaykh Adi's shrine, (Shaykh Adi, 1073 -1162, preached Sufism) which takes place in the second week of October every year, in Lâlesh (North Iraq), was compared to the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Confronted with the ruleing policy of the Ottoman caliphate, the Yezidis were unfairly denonced as Devil’s Worshipers, and fell victim to dreadful massacres over hundreds of years.
Yezidism recently opened up its secrets to the outside world. Its texts, rites and holy places became accessible. Still a mystery surrounds this religion.
But the Yezidi religion has little to do with Islam. For the Yezidis, Xwedê (“The One who created Himself”), the Universal Spirit, created the White Pearl, or the Original Cosmic Egg, and placed it on the back of the bird named Anfar, whom He created as well. But when Anfar took flight, the White Pearl fell off its back, and broke.
On Sunday, the first day of the Creation, Xwedê, in the First Epoch, gave birth to the angel Azâzil, also called Malak Tâwus (The Peacock Angel). Then Xwedê gave birth to another angel every day for the following six days. These seven angels were responsible for the material world, created from the remains of the original pearl.
Yezidis venerate Fire, Sun, Earth, Water and Air. They believe in symbiosis with nature. And they assign the greatest importance to moral principles such as honesty, pacifism and tolerance of other religions.
Contrary to ignorant legend, Yezidis do not believe in the personification of Evil. Good and?Evil coexist under God’s control. Man is solemnly responsible for his actions.? God gave him the ability to think, then to decide.
The Yezidis believe in reincarnation, through which they reach a new level.?But because this, it is impossible to convert to Yezidism. You have to be born a Yezidi. The Yezidis are divided in two different castes, the group of the lawmen “murid”, and he group of the religious men, this one being subdivided into the castes of the Sheikhs and the Pirs. The castes in the Yezidi religion define mainly religious functions.?Contact between the castes being crucial for the preservation of the religion.
Today there are between six hundred thousand and one million Yezidis, mostly in Iraqi Kurdistan (where their holy town of Lâlesh is situated), and in Western Europe. Some other communities are located around Cizre and Mardin in Turkey, Northeastern Syria, Georgia and in Armenia.
The Yezidi Scriptures
edited by Ingrid White
A Rendition of the Sacred Traditions
of the Kurdish Yezidi peoples of Southern Kurdistan (Iraq)
of the Kurdish Yezidi peoples of Southern Kurdistan (Iraq)
http://www.saradistribution.com/yezidiscriptures.htm
