Do the Yezidis Worship the Devil?

Repost from the old site. This is a very, very long piece, so be warned. But the subject, the Yezidi religious group, is extraordinarily complex, as I found out as I delved deeper and deeper into them.

They are still very mysterious and there is a lot of scholarly controversy around them, mostly because they will not let outsiders read their holy books. However, a copy of their holiest book was stolen about 100 years ago and has been analyzed by scholars.

I feel that the analysis below of the Yezidis (there are various competing analyses of them) best summarizes what they are all about, to the extent that such an eclectic group can even be defined at all. The piece is hard to understand at first, but if you are into this sort of thing, after you study it for a while, you can start to put it together. There are also lots of cool pics of devil and pagan religious art below, for those who are interested in such arcana.

The Yezidis, a Kurdish religious group in Iraq practicing an ancient religion, have been accused of being devil worshipers by local Muslims and also by many non-Muslims.

The Yezidis appeared in Western media in 2007 due to the stoning death of a Yezidi teenage girl who ran off with a Muslim man. The stoning was done by eight men from her village while another 1000 men watched and cheered them on. Afterward, there has been a lot of conflict between Muslim and Yezidi Kurds.

As Western media turned to the Yezidis, there has been some discussion here about their odd religion. For instance, though the local Muslims condemn them as devil worshipers, the Yezidis strongly deny this. So what’s the truth? The truth, as usual, is much more complicated.

The Yezidis believe that a Creator, or God, created a set of deities that we can call gods, angels or demons, depending on how you want to look at them. So, if we say that the Yezidis worship the devil, we could as well say that they worship angels. It all depends on how you view these deities.

In the history of religion, the gods of one religion are often seen as the devils of another. This is seen even today in the anti-Islamic discourse common amongst US neoconservatives, where the Muslim God is said to be a demonic god, and their prophet is said to be a devilish man.

Christian anti-Semites refer to the Old Testament God of the Jews as being an evil god. Orthodox Jews say that Jesus Christ is being boiled alive in semen in Hell for eternity.

At any rate, to the Yezidis, the main deity created by God is Malak Taus, who is represented by a peacock. Although Yezidis dissimulate about this, anyone who studies the religion closely will learn that Malak Taus is actually the Devil.

On the other hand, the Yezidis do not worship evil as modern-day Satanists do, so the Satanist fascination with the Yezidis is irrational. The Yezidis are a primitive people; agriculturalists with a strict moral code that they tend to follow in life. How is it that they worship the Devil then?

First of all, we need to understand that before the Abrahamic religions, many polytheistic peoples worshiped gods of both good and evil, worshiping the gods of good so that good things may happen, and worshiping the gods of evil so that bad things may not happen. The Yezidis see God as a source of pure good, who is so good that there is no point in even worshiping him.

In this, they resemble Gnosticism, in which God was pure good, and the material world and man were seen as polluted with such evil that the world was essentially an evil place. Men had only a tiny spark of good in them amidst a sea of evil, and the Gnostics tried to cultivate this spark.

This also resembles the magical Judaism of the Middle Ages (Kabbalism). The Kabbalists said that God was “that which cannot be known” (compare to the Yezidi belief that one cannot even pray to God).

In fact, the concept of God was so ethereal to the Kabbalists that the Kabbalists said that not only was God that which cannot be known, but that God was that which cannot even be conceived of. In other words, mere men cannot not even comprehend the very concept of God. A Kabbalist book says that God is “endless pure white light”.

This comes close to my own view of what God is.

Compare to the Yezidi view that God “pure goodness”. The Yezidi view of God is quite complex. It is clear that he is at the top of the totem pole, yet their view of him is not the same as the gods of Christianity, Islam, Judaism or of the Greeks, although it is similar to Plato’s conception of the absolute.

Instead, it is similar to the Deists. God merely created the world. As far as the day to day running of things, that is actually up to the intermediary angels. However, there is one exception. Once a year, on New Years Day, God calls his angels together and hands the power over to the angel who is to descend to Earth.

In some ways similar to the Christian Trinity of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost, the Yezidis believe that God is manifested in three forms.

An inscription of the Christian Trinity, the father, or God, as an old man with a beard; Jesus, a young man, and the Holy Ghost, here depicted as a winged creature similar to Malak Tus, the winged peacock angel. Compare to Yezidi reference for Šeiḫ ‘Adî, Yazid and Malak Tus (Father, Son and Holy Ghost)

 

The three forms are the peacock angel, Malak Tus; an old man, Šeiḫ ‘Adî (compare to the usual Christian portrayal in paintings of God as an old man with a long white beard); and a young man, Yazid (compare to the usual Christian paintings of Jesus as a healthy European-looking man with a beard and a beatific look – a similar look is seen in Shia portraits of Ali).

Since there is no way to talk to God, one must communicate with him through intermediaries (compare to intermediary saints like Mary in Catholicism and Ali in Shiism). The Devil is sort of a wall between the pure goodness of God and this admittedly imperfect world.

This is similar again to Gnosticism, where the pure good God created intermediaries called Aeons so that a world that includes evil (as our world does) could even exist in the first place. On the other hand, Malak Tus is seen my the Yezidis as neither an evil spirit nor a fallen angel, but as a divinity in his own right.

One wonders why the Malak Tus is represented by a bird. The answer is that worshiping birds is one of the oldest known forms of idol worship. It is even condemned in Deuteronomy 4: 16, 17: “Lest ye corrupt yourselves and make a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air.”

More likely, the peacock god is leftover from the ancient pagan bird-devil gods of the region. The ancient Babylonians, Assyrians both worshiped sacred devil-birds, and carvings of them can be seen on their temples. The Zoroastrians also worshiped a sort of devil-bird called a feroher.

A winged demon from ancient Assyria. Yezidism appears to have incorporated elements of ancient Babylonian and Assyrian religions, making it ultimately a very ancient religion. Note that devils often have wings like birds. Remember the flying monkey demons in the Wizard of Oz?

 

The pagan Phoenicians, Philistines and Samaritans worshiped a dove, and the early monotheistic Hebrews condemned the Samaritans for this idol-worship. The pagans of Mecca also worshiped a sacred dove. Pagan Arabian tribes also worshiped an eagle called Nasar.

What is truly odd is that peacocks are not native to the Yezidi region, but instead to the island of Sri Lanka. The Yezidis must have heard about this bird from travelers and incorporated it into their religion somehow.

In the Koran, both the Devil and the peacock were thrown out of Heaven down to Earth, with the Devil and the peacock both suffering similar punishments. So here we can see Islam associating the peacock with the Devil also.

In popular mythology, peacocks tend to represent pride. Note that the Koran says that the Devil was punished for excessive pride (compare with a similar Christian condemnation of excessive pride). Peacocks are problematic domestic fowl, and tend to tear up gardens, and so are associated with mischief.

The Yezidis revere Malak Tus to such a great extent that he is almost seen as one with God (compare the Catholic equation of Mary with Jesus, the Christian association of Jesus with God, and the Shia Muslim association of Ali with Mohammad).

Malak Tus was there from the start and will be there at the end, he has total control over the world, he is omniscient and omnipresent and he never changes. They do not allow anyone to say his name, as this seems to imply that he is degraded. Malak Tus is the King of the Angels, and he is ruling the Earth for a period of 10,000 years.

They also superstitiously avoid saying an word that resembles the word for Satan. When speaking Arabic, they refuse to use the Arabic shatt for river, as it sounds like the word for Satan. They substitute Kurdish ave instead. Compare this to the Kabbalist view of God as “that which can not even be comprehended (i.e., spoken) by man.

In addition to Malak Taus, there are six other angels: Izrafael, Jibrael, Michael, Nortel, Dardael, Shamnael, and Azazael. They were all at a meeting in Heaven when God told them that they would worship no one other than him. This worked for 40,000 years, until God mixed Earth, Air, Fire and Water to create Man, as Adam.

God told the seven angels to bow before Adam, and six agreed. Malak Taus refused, citing God’s order to obey only Him. Hence, Malak Taus was cast out of Heaven and became the Archangel of all the Angels. Compare this to the Christian and Muslim view of the Devil, the head of the angels, being thrown out of Heaven for the disobedience of excessive pride.

In the meantime, Malak Taus is said to have repented his sins and returned to God as an angel.

So, yes, the Yezidis do worship the Devil, but in their religion, he is a good guy, not a bad guy. They are not a Satanic cult at all. In Sufism, the act of refusing to worship Adam (man) over God would be said to be a positive act, one of refusing to worship the created over the creator, as in Sufism, one is not to worship anything but God.

The Yezidis say that God created Adam and Eve, but when they were asked to produce their essences, Adam’s produced a boy, but Eve’s was full of insects and other unpleasant things. God decided that he would propagate humanity (the Yezidis) out of Adam alone, leaving Eve out of the picture. Specifically, he married Adam’s offspring to a houri.

We can see the traditional views of the Abrahamic religions of women as being sources of evil, tempters, sources of strife, conflict and other bad things. The Yezidis see themselves as different from all other humans. Whereas non-Yezidis are the products of Adam and Eve, Yezidis are the products of Adam alone.

Eve subsequently left the Garden of Eden, which allowed the world to be created. So, what the Abrahamic religions see as man’s greatest fall in the Garden, the Yezidis see as mankind’s greatest triumphs. The Yezidis feel that the rest of humanity of is descended from Ham, who mocked his father, God.

Compare this to the Abrahamic religions’ view of women as a source of corruption. Christians say that Eve tempted Adam in the Garden of Eden, causing them to be tossed out. In Islam, women are regarded as such a source of temptation and fitna (dissension) that they are covered and often kept out of sight at all times. In Judaism, women’s hair is so tempting to men that they must shave it all off and wear wigs.

The Yezidis say they are descended directly from Adam, hence they are the Chosen People (compare to the Jewish view of themselves as “Chosen People”).

Yezidism being quite possible the present-day remains of the original religion of the Kurds, we must acknowledge that for the last 2,000 years, the Yezidis have been fighting off other major religions. First Christianity came to the region.

As would be expected, the Nestorian Christians of Northern Iraq, or “Nasara” Christian apostates, as an older tradition saw them, hold that the Yezidis were originally Christians who left the faith to form a new sect. The Nestorians and other ancient Christian sects deny the human or dual nature of Jesus – instead seeing him as purely divine.

This is in contrast to another group also called “Nasara” in Koran – these being the early Jewish Christian sects such as the Ebionites, Nazarenes and Gnostics, who followed Jesus but denied his divine nature, believe only in the Book of Matthew, and retained many Jewish traditions, including revering the Jewish Torah, refusing to eat pork, keeping the Sabbath and circumcision.

Mohammad apparently based his interpretation of Christianity on these sects. The divinity of Jesus was denied in the Koran under Ebionite influence. The Koran criticizes Christians for believing in three Gods – God, Jesus and Mary – perhaps under the influence of what is called the “Marianistic heresy”. At the same time, the Koran confused human and divine qualities in Jesus due to Nestorian influence.

Finally, the Koran denied the crucifixion due to Gnostic influence, especially the apocryphal Gospel of Peter. The local Muslims, similarly, hold that the Yezidis are apostates, having originally been Muslims who left Islam to form a new religion.

There is considerable evidence that many Yezidis were formerly Christians, as the Christian story holds. Šeiḫ ’Adî, one of the tripartite of angels worshiped by the Yezidis, was a Sufi Muslim mystic from Northern Iraq in the 1100’s. He attracted many followers, including many Christians and some Muslims who left their faith to become Yezidis. Yezidism existed before Šeiḫ ’Adî, but in a different form.

Šeiḫ ’Adî also attracted many Persian Zoroastrians, who were withering under the boot of Muslim dhimmitude and occasional massacre in Iran. Šeiḫ ‘Adî (full name Šeiḫ ‘Adî Ibn Masafir Al-Hakkari) was a Muslim originally from Bait Far, in the Baalbeck region of the Bekaa Valley of what is now Eastern Lebanon.

He came to Mosul for spiritual reasons. He was said to be a very learned man, and many people started to follow him. After he built up quite a following, he retired to the mountains above Mosul where he built a monastery and lived as a hermit, spending much of his time in caves and caverns in the mountains with wild animals as his only guests.

His followers were said to worship him as a God and believed that in the afterlife, they would be together with him. He died in 1162 in the Hakkari region near Mosul. At the site of his death, the Yezidis erected a shrine and it became one of the holiest sites in the religion. However, Šeiḫ ’Adî is not the founder of Yezidism, as many believe. His life and thought just added to the many strains in this most syncretistic of religions.

The third deity in the pseudo-“Trinity” of the Yezidis is a young man named Yezid. They say they are all descended from this man, whom they often refer to as God, as they sometimes refer to Šeiḫ ’Adî. In Šeiḫ ’Adî’s temple, there are inscriptions to both Šeiḫ ’Adî and Yezid, each on opposing walls of the temple. In a corner of this temple, a fire, or actually a lamp, is kept burning all night, reminiscent of Zoroastrianism.

There is a lot of controversy about what the word Yezid in Yezidi stands for. The religion itself, in its modern form, probably grew out of followers of Yazid Ibn Muawiyah Ibn Abu Sufyan, the 2nd Caliph in the Umayyad Dynasty of Caliphs. Yazid fought a battle against Mohammad’s grandson, Hussayn, in a battle for the succession of the Caliphate.

Hussayn’s followers were also the followers of Ali, the former caliph who was assassinated. The followers of Hussayn and Ali are today known as the Shia. The Sunni follow in the tradition of the Umayyads. In a battle in Karbala in 680, Hussayn and all his men were killed at Kufa and the women and children with them taken prisoner.

To the Shia, Yazid is the ultimate villain. Most Sunnis do not view him very favorably either, and regard the whole episode as emblematic of how badly the umma had fallen apart after Mohammad died.

Nevertheless, there had been groups of Sunnis who venerated Yazid Ibn Muawiyah Ibn Abu Sufyan and the Umayyads in general in northern Iraq for some time even before Šeiḫ ’Adî appeared on the scene. Šeiḫ ’Adî himself was descended from the Umayyads.

Reverence for Yazid Ibn Muawiyah mixed with the veneration of Šeiḫ ’Adî in the early Yezidis. It was this, mixed in with the earlier pagan beliefs of the Semites and Iranians discussed elsewhere, along with a dollop of Christianity, that formed the base of modern Yezidism. But its ultimate roots are far more ancient. Yezidism had a base, but it was not yet formed in its modern version.

Here we turn to the etymology of the word Yezidi. It is possible that the figure of “Yezid”, the young man-God in the Yezidi trinity, represents Yazid Ibn Muawiyah. By the mid-1200’s, the local Muslims were getting upset about the Yezidis excessive devotion to these two men. In the mid-1400’s the local Muslims fought a large battle against the Yezidis.

To this day, the top Yezidi mirs are all related to the Umayyads. Muslim scholars say that Yezid bin Unaisa was the founder of the modern-day Yezidis. Bin Unaisa was one of the early followers of the Kharijites, an early fanatical fundamentalist sect that resembled our modern-day Al Qaeda and other takfiri Salafi-jihadi terrorists. Bin Unaisa was said to be a follower of the earliest Kharijites.

These were the first Kharijites. Early split-offs from Ali’s army, they took part in the Battle of Nahrawan against Ali’s forces outside Madaen in what is now the Triangle of Death in Iraq. In 661, the Kharijites assassinated Ali, one of the penultimate moments in the Sunni-Shia split.

At some point, bin Unaisa split from the Kharijites, except for one of their early followers who were following a sect Al-Abaḍia, founded by ‘Abd-Allah Ibn Ibad. He said that any Muslim who committed a great sin was an infidel. Considering his fundamentalist past, he developed some very unorthodox views for a Muslim.

He said that God would send a new prophet to Persia (one more Iranian connection with the Yezidis), that God would send down a message to be written by this prophet in a book, and that this prophet would leave Islam and follow the religion of the Sabeans or Mandeans. Nevertheless, he continued to hold some Kharijite beliefs, including that God alone should be worshiped and that all sins were forms of idolatry.

In line with this analysis, the first Yezidis were a Kharijite subsect. The fact that bin Unaisa said that the new prophet would follow Sabeanism implies that he himself either followed this religion at one time or had a high opinion of it.

Muslim historians mention three main Sabean sects. They seemed to have derived in part from the ancient pagan religion of Mesopotamia. They were polytheists who worshiped the stars. After the Islamic conquest, they referred to themselves as Sabeans in order to receive protection as one of the People of the Book (the Quran mentions Jews, Christians and Sabeans and People of the Book). One of the Sabean sects was called Al-Ḫarbâniyah.

They believed that God dwelt within things that were good and rational. He had one essence but many appearances, in other words. God was pure good, and could not make anything evil. Evil was either accidental or necessary for life, or caused by an evil force. They also believed in the transmigration of souls (reincarnation).

It is interesting that the beliefs of this sect of Sabeans resemble the views of modern Yezidis. So Yezîd bn Unaisa believed in God and the Resurrection Day, he probably respected angels and the stars, yet he was neither polytheistic nor a true follower of Mohammad.

At the same time, he lined himself up with those People of the Book who said that Mohammad was a prophet, yet did not follow him (in this respect, he was similar to Western non-Muslims who acknowledge Mohammad as the prophet of the Arabs).

Although most orthodox histories of the Yezidis leave it out, it seems clear at this point that Yezîd bn Unaisa was the founder of the Yezidi religion in its modern form and that the Yezidis got their name from Yezîd bn Unaisa. This much may have been lost to time, for the Yezidis themselves say that Yezidi comes from the Kurdish word Yezdan or Êzid meaning God.

After naming their movement after Yezîd bn Unaisa, the Yezidis learned of Šeiḫ ‘Adî’s reputation, and become his followers, along with many Muslims, Christians and Iranians.

Like their founder, the Yezidis believe in God and the Resurrection, expect a prophet from Iran, revere angels and stars, regard every sin as idolatry, respect Mohammad as a prophet yet do not follow him and at the same time pay no attention to Ali (recall that the early Kharijites assassinated Ali). Being opposed to both Mohammad and Ali, bn Unaisa is logically despised by both the Sunni and the Shia.

The fact that the Yezidis renounced the prophet of the Arabs (Mohammad) while expecting a new one from Iran logically appealed to a lot of Persians at the time. Hence, many former Zoroastrians, or fire-worshipers, from Iran joined the new religion, surely injecting their strains into this most syncretistic of religions.

There is good evidence that many Yezidis are former Christians. The Yezidis around Mosul go by the surname of Daseni, of Dawasen in the plural. It so happens that there was a Nestorian diocese in Mosul called Daseni, or Dasaniyat. It disappeared around the time of Šeiḫ ’Adî. The implication is that so many of its members became Yezidis that the Diocese folded.

Furthermore, many names of Yezidi villages are actually names in the Syriac (Christian) language, more evidence that many Yezidis are former Christians.

Adding even more weight to this theory, the Yezidis retain two Christian customs – the baptism and the Eucharist.

The Yezidis must baptize their children at the earliest possible age, and the priest puts his hand on the child’s head as he performs the rite. Both customs mirror the Christian baptism precisely. When a Yezidi couple marries, they go to a local Nestorian Church to partake of the Eucharist. The cup of wine they drink is called the cup of Isa (Jesus). The Yezidi have great respect for Christian saints and houses of worship, and kiss the doors and walls of churches when they enter them.

When a Yezidi woman goes to the home of her bridegroom on wedding day, she is supposed to visit every every religious temple along the way, even the churches. On the other hand, Yezidis never enter a mosque. Sadly, the Yezidi reverence for Christianity is not returned by the Eastern Christians, who despise the Yezidis as devil-worshipers.

They revere both Jesus and Mohammad as religious teachers, not as prophets. They have also survived via a hefty dose of taqqiya, or dissimulation, in this case pretending outwardly to be some species of Shia Muslims.

This is common for minority faiths around the region, including the Alawi and Druze, who have both proclaimed at the top of their lungs that they are Muslims and have hidden to the aspects of their religion which would cause the Muslims to disown them at best or kill them at worst. The primary Islamic influence on the Yezidis is actually Sufism, not Shiism per se.

There are traces of other religions – Hinduism may possibly be seen in the five Yezidi castes, from top to bottom – Pir, Shaikh, Kawal, Murabby, and Mureed (followers). Mureeds are about on a par with Dalits or Untouchables in Hinduism. Marriage across castes is strictly forbidden, as it has been disapproved in India.

On the other hand, pre-Islamic Iran also had a caste system, and the base of the Yezidi religion seems to be derived from Persian Zoroastrianism. The Yezidi, like the Druze and the Zoroastrians, do not accept converts, and like the Druze, think that they will be reincarnated as their own kind (Druze think they will be reincarnated as Druze; Yezidis think they will be reincarnated as Yezidis).

The Yezidis can be considered fire-worshipers in a sense; they obviously got this from the Zoroastrians. The Yezidis say, “Without fire, there would be no life.” This is true even in our modern era, if we substitute “electrical power” for fire, our lives would surely diminish. Even today, when Kurdish Muslims swear on an oath, they say, “I swear by this fire…”

Many say there is a resemblance between Malak Taus and the Assyrian God Tammuz, though whether the name Malak Taus is actually derived from Tammuz is much more problematic. Tammuz was married to the Assyrian moon goddess, Ishtar. But this connection is not born out by serious inquiry.

Ishtar the Goddess of the Moon, here represented as a bird goddess. Worship of birds is one of the oldest forms of pagan idolatry known to man. What is it about birds that made them worthy of worship by the ancients? The miracle of flight?

Where do the Yezidis come from? The Yezidis themselves say that they came from the area around Basra and the lower Euphrates, then migrated to Syria and then to Sinjar, Mosul and Kurdistan. In addition to worshiping a bird-god, there are other traces of the pre-Islamic pagan religions of the Arabs in Yezidism.

They hold the number seven sacred, a concept that traces back to the ancient Mesopotamians. The Yezidis have seven sanjaks, and each one has seven burners of the flame. Their God created seven angels, and the sculpture carved on the temple of Šeiḫ ’Adî has seven branches.

The Sabeans, another ancient religion of Mesopotamia who are now called star-worshipers by their detractors, also worshiped seven angels who guided the courses of seven planets – it is from this formulation that our seven days of the week are derived. In the ancient religion of Assyria, Ishtar descended through seven gates to the land of no return. The ancient Hebrews likewise utilized the number seven in their religion.

An ancient seven-armed candelabra, a symbol nowadays used in the Jewish religion, with demonic sea monsters drawn on the base.

The Yezidis worship the sun and moon at their rising and setting, following the ancient Ḥarranians, a people who lived long ago somewhere in northern Iraq. Sun-worship and moon-worship are some of the oldest religious practices of Man. The ancient pagans of Canaan worshiped the Sun.

At the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the religion practiced there had little in common with Talmudic Judaism of today. For instance, the horses of the Sun were worshiped at that temple (see II Kings 25: 5, 11). The ancient Judeans, who the modern-day Jews claim spiritual connection with, actually worshiped the “host of heaven” – the Sun, the Moon and the Planets. So much for “the original monotheists, eh?

In Babylonia, there were two temples to the Sun-God Shamas.

Another pre-Islamic Arab pagan belief is the belief in sacred wells and sanctuaries that contain them. The springs contain water that has curative powers. The holy water found at the Zamzam Well in Mecca is an example; even to this day, Muslims bottle the water and carry it off for this purpose. Often sacred clothes are used to make these pilgrimages, because ordinary clothes are thought to contaminate the holy site.

In pre-Islamic days, when the pagans circled the rock at the Kaaba, they were completely naked. In Islam, men and women are supposed to remove their clothing and wear a special garb as they circulate around the rock. In Mandeanism, both men and women go to the Mishkana, or tabernacle, take off their clothes, and bathe in the circular pool. Emerging, they put on the rasta, a ceremonial white garment.

At the temple of Šeiḫ ‘Adî, there is a sacred pool. The Yezidis throw coins, jewelry and other things into this pool as offerings. They think that Šeiḫ ‘Adî takes these things from time to time. And they must remove their clothes, bathe, and wear a special garment when they visit the holy valley where this temple resides.

The ancient Arabs also worshiped trees. There were sacred trees at Nejran, Hadaibiya and Mecca. The pagans hung women’s ornaments, fine clothes, ostrich eggs, weapons, and other items.

Similarly, the Yezidis also worship trees. They have their favorite trees, and sick people go to these trees and hang pieces of cloth on them, hoping to get well, and believe that whoever takes one of these down will get sick with whatever disease the person who hung the cloth had.

An inscription of a sacred tree from Ancient Babylonian civilization. Trees were worshiped not just in ancient Arabia; they were also worshiped in Mesopotamia.The Christian Trinity combined with the pagan Tree of Life, in an interesting ancient Chaldean inscription that combines pagan and Christian influences. The Tree of Life was also utilized in Kabbalism, Jewish mysticism from the Middle Ages. Nowadays the symbol is used by practitioners of both White and Black Magic. Radical Islam is committing genocide once again on the Christians of Iraq, including the Chaldeans.

Yet another Tree of Life, this time from ancient Assyria, an ancient civilization in Mesopotamia. The concept of a tree of life is a pagan concept of ancient pedigree.

The ancient Meccans used to worship stones. At one point the population became so large that they had to move out of the valley where the Kaaba resided, so when they formed their new settlements, they took rocks from the holy place and piled them outside their settlements and made a sort of shrine out of these things, parading around the rock pile as they moved around the Kaaba.

In Palestine, there were sacred wells at Beersheba and Kadesh, a sacred tree at Shekem and a sacred rock at Bethel. As in animism, it was believed that divine powers or spirits inhabited these rocks, trees and springs. This tradition survives to this day in the folk religion of the Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese.

The Yezidis also have certain stones that they worship. They kiss these stones in reverence. When the Yezidis reach the goal of their pilgrimage or hajj, they become very excited and start shouting. After fasting all day, they have a big celebration in the evenings, with singing and dancing and gorging on fine dishes.

This hajj, where they worship a spring under Šeiḫ ‘Adî’s tomb called Zamzam and then climb a mountain and shoot off guns, is obviously taken from the Muslim hajj. Mecca has a Zamzam Spring, and pilgrims climb Mount ‘Arafat on hajj.

The shouting, feasting, singing, dancing and general excitement is typical of a pagan festival. The non-Yezidi neighbors of the Yezidis claim that Yezidis engage in immoral behavior on this hajj. No one knows if this is true or not, but if they do, it may be similar to the festivals of the Kadeshes discussed in the Old Testament, where people engaged in licentious behavior in their temples.

Although the Yezidis have a strict moral code, observers say that they allow adultery if both parties are willing. That’s pretty open-minded for that part of the world.

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49 thoughts on “Do the Yezidis Worship the Devil?”

    1. Yeah thx LS. It was fascinating writing this piece. I thought I figured out the Yezidis when I wrote the first piece, but it turned out I didn’t really understand them at all. Turns out hardly anyone understands them! So I got Yezidi fever and started reading up on them. I thought I finally figured out what they were all about when I wrote this piece, but even as I wrote this piece, I kept getting confused. Finally, as I wrote it more and more, the pieces started fitting together a lot better. I’m still not sure I understand the Yezidis! If you asked me to write about them in 500 words or less, I might not be able to do it!

      1. i been reading some things you have written, some are true, but most thing are just twisted. i have proper information on Yezidis 🙂 they are not devil owrshipers at all, people need to learn more abnout them rater then jump to conclusions. i understand why people would thikn they are devil worshipers, i asure you, we are not.

  1. Interesting post but I have to correct certain points –
    a ) The Quran does not mention anything about a peacock being thrown out together with the devil. Therefore to argue that Muslims associate the peacock with evil ( on the basis of what the Quran supposedly teaches ) is untenable.
    In fact, the Quran does not associate any animals with evil. Every living things, the Quran says, are created by God.
    b ) how the Quran sees Jesus.
    Considering that Muhammad was not aware who the Ebionites, Nestorians and Gnostics were, it is a little far-fetched to say that the Quranic view of Jesus was influenced by them ( if one is to argue that Muhammad was the author the Quran, as non-Muslims obviously believe )
    Indeed, the Quran presents its own arguments to support its position.
    c ) Islam does not regard women as the cause of dissension and that is why ” they are covered and kept out of sight”.
    Firstly, Muslims, male or female, are commanded to dress modestly. The only difference is that Islam considers the aurah for the women to be more than men.
    There is nothing in the Quran or hadith that says that women are to dress modestly because they sexually distract men. Rather, it is for their modesty.
    Indeed, the Quran commands Muslim men to lower their gaze and guard their private parts. Similarly, it commands Muslim women the same.
    Secondly, Muslim women were never always kept out of sight.
    It must shocked many people to know that for centuries Muslim women were teachers to men, where they preached openly in houses and mosques.
    Among the examples –
    1) Sheikha Nafisa who was one of the teachers of Imam Shafi ( he sat in her circle during the height of his fame ) ;
    2) Sitt al-Wuzara was known for her acclaimed mastery of Islamic laws, and delivered lectures on religion in Damascus and Egypt
    3 ) Karima al-Marwaziyya (d.1070 AD) who counted among her students the male scholars al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d.1036 AD) and al-Humaydi (d.1095 AD).
    4 ) Zaynab of Harran (d.1289 AD), whose lectures attracted a large crowd of students, teaching them the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the largest known collection of hadiths.
    5 )’Amra bin ‘Abd al-Rahman. Among her students, was Abu Bakr ibn Hazm, the celebrated judge of Medina, who was ordered by the caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz to write down all the prophetic traditions known on her authority.
    6 ) Umm al-Khayr Amat al-Khaliq (1408-1505), who is regarded as the last great hadith scholar of the Hijaz held classes on the hadiths.
    7) The famous historian of Damascus, Ibn Asakir (1106-1175) had 80 women teachers.
    8) The great Muslim male scholar Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti studied the Risala of Imam Shafi with Hajar bint Muhammad.
    9 ) Afif al-Din Junayd, a traditionist of the ninth century AH, read the Sunan of al-Darimi with Fatima bin Ahmad ibn Qasim.
    10 ) Zaynab bint al-Sha’ri (d.524/615-1129/1218). She studied hadith under several important traditionists, and in turn lectured to many students – some of who gained great repute – including Ibn Khallikan, author of the well-known biographical dictionary Wafayat al-Ayan.
    11) Juwayriya bint Ahmad. ‘Some of my own teachers,’ said the scholar Ibn Hajar ( 1372-1448), ‘and many of my contemporaries, attended her discourses.’
    12 ) A’isha bin Abd al-Hadi who for a considerable time was one of Ibn Hajar’s teachers, was considered to be the finest traditionist of her time, and many students undertook long journeys in order to sit at her feet and study the truths of religion.
    If Islam indeed teaches that women are the agents of dissension, certainly these women and so many like them would not have the opportunity to learn and then to teach.
    These Muslim women were very visible. They were never kept out of sight. To be educated and then to educate others, it would have been impossible for them to be cloistered in their homes, and indeed they were not.
    It may be surprising to learn that Muslim women, in many periods throughout Muslim history, were teachers of men in matters of religion. Yes, great Muslim male scholars were the students of even greater Muslim female scholars.
    What’s happening now in many Muslim societies such as in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan where women are concerned obviously do not reflect the teachings of Islam. History has testified to that.

    1. u know what fuck all u mother fucker that think yezidi r devil worshiper we belive god fuck who ever wrote this post i wish i can see you an really fuck you up for saying all this all wrong n your muslim mooohamad is the real devil an we are special r people to this planet onces we leave here the world will end watch this and will god will punish a all guys for saying this about at judgment day

    2. Glad you responded to this allegations raises by the authors. It seems the authors understood little of islam, anything at all

  2. You wrote : ” Great, Islam needs to get back to that. ”
    While I understand and appreciate what you’re saying, the correct thing to have said is ” Great, Muslims needs to get back to that.”
    This is because what Islam teaches are always there – in the Quran and in the authentic Hadiths – Islam has not therefore changed.
    At fault is the Muslims of today who failed to understand Islam as it should be understood, or otherwise failed to practice it as it should be practiced.

  3. Them Yezidis are pretty freakin interesting people, I would say at the least. So if your not born a yezidis, you cannot join them huh, well isn’t that very ego minded, they seem to think they’re so pure or something, in any region of the world there has always been mixed blood. I love reading about them tho, there ancient beliefs is good, good to see their still around

    1. It’s better than the ego-mind of those who try to convert others. Anyone who believes they have the only way has nothing.

  4. That’s some crazy shit but how come CNN or tthe government doesn’t know about the Yezidi people and if they did for being the oldest world religion do you think they hold powers or secrets of freemason or any solutions to the 2012 theory although I heard the yezidies say it is 2029,

  5. Today there is many teachers as women, It may be surprising to learn that Muslim women, in many countries, as Lebanon …as throughout Muslim history, are teachers of men & women, in matters of religion, even in mosques, but be aware : A man is not as a woman in many different sides. The mixed “sex” is dangerous for “many feelings’. A mosque is not a “dancing place” or a “pub” to meet… Yes, great Muslim male scholars were the students of even greater Muslim female scholars. The Prophet’s wife, A’esha, was the greatest teacher after His death, the fault today is not of Islam but of Muslim &&&&&& the “MEN’S WORLD” !

    1. Indeed, in Malaysia and Indonesia today, it is common to see female Islamic scholars teaching and talking about Islam to mix audiences. In Malaysia for example they include Dr Sharifah Hayati Syed Ismail, Ustazah Siti Norbahyah Mahmood and Dr Fatimatuz-Zahrah.
      Some people would say that this is the progressive side of Islam or Islam is getting progressive. In actuality, this has always been a part of Islamic history.

        1. As am I, and hoping that Muslims as a whole will understand Islam better especially by looking at our history as a community – a community within which there is a place for everyone, regardless of religion, gender, class etc

  6. im very keen on the assyrian tree of life illustration you have on this page as a tattoo for myself.Where can i find this,what is the specific name of this illustation??? thankyou

  7. “….Eve’s [essence] was full of insects and other unpleasant things.”
    Reminiscent of Pandora and her jar (mis-translated as “box”) full of winged nasties.

      1. LOL!
        That has to be a newer figure of speech (canning industry), but you are probably onto something re: that type of expression.

  8. I found this article interesting since I am Yezidi myself. First, I should admit that internet is a wonderful tool that helps nations to communicate and pass their heritage to each others, 10 years ago few people knew about Yezidis even in the countries in which they live, now, I am pleased about the fact that people start to acknowledge yezidis believe and attempt to understand then closely rather then proving falsified statement about the reality of this ancient believe.
    I would just like to tell that many information about our belief have been conveyed to you by whether uninformed writers or by radical Muslim writers who attempted to introduce yezidism to readers as devil worshipers or as a group of people who believe in evil, etc. most of the written history about none-yezidi writer tends to lack accuracy, the close nature of yezidis belief made conducting independent and scientific research about them impossible, the mysteries started to encircle yezidism in the past because of this close nature. As Yezidis themselves started to receive education and learn other languages, some started to write about the religion, traditions and the culture of yezidis, this fact has helped changing others understanding about yezidis, however, there is still more to be done.
    I just want to correct the following about the post and some replies;
    1- it is a totally false statement to name yezidis devil worshipers, we do not believe in devil at all, the reality is that devil does not exist in yezidis believe, yezidis believe that humans are the source of good and evil, we believe that humans have the choice to decide the path of their lives, the good path can be taken or the bad one. we also believe that God punished or reward human for their actions. therefore we believe in heaven and hell. One of the differences from other religion is that we believe in soul return and repetitive lives, when the person dies, God weight his/her good actions with the bad ones, and based on that the soul is sent to heaven or hell or returned to earth again, is that person actions were mostly good his/her soul will return to earth and have a good live full of happiness, if that person actions were mostly bad, his/her soul will return to earth to suffer. We believe that the soul never dies, we say the body is from soil but the soul is from the light of God.
    If you have any questions about yezidis feel free to ask me. if you live in Houston I will invite you for a cup of coffee and tell you more about us! thanks all for reading this post.
    Murad
    email: gulana1986@gmail.com

  9. I dont’t understand why would so many people think that yezidi’s are devil worshipers. we are NOT devil worshipers. This “devil worshipers” word’s origionaly came from the muslims. What people need to understand that there is a long history between yezidi’s and muslims. The muslims tried genocide on the yezidi people for hundereds of years. I want to know how many of the who replied to this article who knew if yezidi’s existed. I have been in the U.S. for 12 years now. I have never came across an american person who knew who are yezidi people. I have taken many history class’s at the university and college and non of my history teachers knew who were yezidi’s. i just want to make a fact that non of you people knew about the yezidi people until the article about the yezidi girl who was killed. so its important that you don’t write false info about a religion, which you may have heard of for only a couple of years. I get really offended when i see these kinds of writings. Is there any physical proof that suggest that yezidi’s devil worshipers. It’s all a bunch of opinion and hatred towards a religion. I am not a religious at all, but it bothers me when i see “Yezidi people devil worshipers”.

  10. Please visit us Yezidis people on facebook so you know who we are then hearing from others..
    Group.EzDiEs ArOuNd ThE WoRlD الايزديين حول العالم
    Open GroupAnyone can see the group, who’s in it, and what members post. — Thanks,

  11. Yezidi’s were not made popular by the girl who died in Mosul. They were made popular by Antin Levey who wrote the Satanic Bible. He used his misunderstanding of thier religon to support satanism. What I think is very inrtesting is the Prince of the Yezidi whished Christians in Iraq and throughout the world a wonderful Christmas yesterday publically in a newspaper in Iraq.
    “On the occasion of Christmas and new year’s day my warmest congratulations and good wishes to all the sisters and brothers of Christians in the world and Iraq in General and Christians in particular Kurdistan deepest congratulations and blessings and Almighty God be your days joys and delights and pleasure, enjoy all the security, love and peace and security and to the world the spirit of love and brotherhood, tolerance and coexistence among all.
    Each year, you are a good and may God Aziz order conciliators
    Prince
    Improve happy in Iraq and around the world”
    Prince of the Yezidis
    http://www.sotaliraq.com/mobile.php
    You may have to use a translator for that.
    Pretty good write up Robert. Perhaps you should do some digging on Levey and Crowley connected to the Yezidi.
    Jerry

  12. Haha, some of this things you said at the begining is tru but the most is just not true…sounds like islamic propaganda

  13. I am a yezidi from germany, And i descent from yezidis who were named in history. I didnt knew that there are yezids in america or that other people have interest on my religion

  14. There are many interesting hypothesis on your side, many seem to be logical, I don’t have the time now but I will write more about the Yezidis the upcoming days. Just a few points. We have now proven by genetics that it is not likely that Yezidis of Iraqi Kurdistan are largely of Aramaic/Christian origin. The Yezidi religion show strong similarities to Scythic religion and the very name Yezidi derives most probably from the ancient Iranian term Yazata (written in Avesta) and means “worship worthy”. Tawus (not Tus), the peacecok) is etymologically connected to “Zeus” , “Deus” and is most likely connected to the holy Scythian divine “Tabiti”. With time passing of course the Yezidis absorbed other elements, first other Mesopotamian and later Muslim and Christian elements. Of course this was not the case only in one direction. The Yezidi religion likely influenced ancient Mesopotamian, Zoroastrian and modern Abrahamic religions more than we can imagine.

    1. This is fascinating! Regarding the Scythic origin of Yezidis, I was looking at images of Kurds on Google and some of the children looked Irish, and we are supposed to be of Scythic origin too, although there is no proof as far as I know. It would be interesting to find out!
      As regards being Devil worshippers,Jesus told us we can know what people are by their fruits i.e. their actions and consequences; it’s not the Yezidis who are going round beheading and enslaving people,or trying to commit genocide on any one,so I believe they are NOT devil worshippers but have been scapegoated! My sympathies and prayers are with them!

  15. For the record: speaking as a modern, theistic Satanist: we don’t worship evil either. Read a honest book on the subject, one that doesn’t have axes to grind.

  16. I want to Thank You for the time you spent putting this article together, I found it fascinating. While reading your work I saw some obvious correlations to several things which I have seen in other mythologies. I want to explain my understanding first; my method is based on the works of Max Mueller and George Cox.
    Every mythology no matter where it comes from is based originally on some observed phenomena be it solar, social-human, repetitive natures or wisdom and each culture contains, hidden in their myths, identical parts to foreign myths only with slight variations. For instance, in one, the primary focus will be on an object or a hero whereas in another from a different culture, it will focus on other aspects of that myth as primary with the object and hero still in it but not the primary aspect of it. George Cox proves this many times in his books.
    “Malak Taus” contains two foreign words in the phrase which mean something similar yet entirely different to what you claim Yezidis say. Mulku (Sumerian), Marduk (Babylonian), Melkarte (Phoenician), Melchizedek (Hebrew), Moloch, Michael (Christian) these all mean the same thing;
    “King”
    “Tau” “Taw” “Thau” Sumerian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Celtic;
    “Mark” …as in the sign of the resurrection; the resurrected deity.
    Incidentally, the “Thau” was formed by tying with ropes, a long straight tree trunk horizontally to the point of a much larger oak just below the first branches. It was this giant tree cross that Druids worshiped/prayed before to receive divine inspiration.
    “Once a year, on New Year’s Day, God calls his angels together and hands the power over to the angel who is to descend to Earth.”
    The resurrection of the deity, who is a king; King of the Resurrected: Malak Taus. According to Max Mueller’s theories that would be one way to read the name.
    “…one must communicate with him through intermediaries”
    There is a strange logic in communing with a being who by his teachings shows you the opposite way to be, therefore giving away the divine truths. I applaud this concept if it is in fact what these people believe.
    “What is it about birds that made them worthy of worship by the ancients?”
    They appear to be able to ascend to the heavens so they act as messengers of the gods; this is the same in Egyptian, Celtic, Roman, Greek mythology.
    “Without fire, there would be no life.”
    Prometheus stole the fire from God (read, the spirit of life) which Athena then blew into man, who was formed of clay. In this version it is the Tree of Life which mankind partakes of.
    “…worshiped seven angels who guided the courses of seven planets”
    All cosmogony identical to Christian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian; 1. Sun 2. Moon 3. Mars 4. Venus 5. Jupiter 6. Saturn 7. Mercury which is cognate with the Ogdoad and Hebrew planes who are eight in number when you include heaven, God etc.
    The “peacock angel” is the Phoenician-Egyptian Siri (Phoenix) the bird of creation who touched down to earth and formed all things. It represents creation itself, Ananke and Phanes in the Orphic. Protogonos and Metis as Prometheus in the Greek.

    1. Sorry, I must expound on one point. The seven objects all represent things that move of their own volition therefore they all represent the unseen power of God(s). They are special because they move around. I would conjecture in the Yezidis form the Zodiac itself is the sacred bird as the beast made up from different animal parts, different animals of the Zodiac therefore cognate to Griffon, Zu Bird, Phoenix who “touch down” each evening as pieces of it descend on the horizon. Thanks.

    2. I apparently did not realize that the Hebrew word for messenger, as in being from heaven or angel, is Malakh or Malach. The Wikipedia entry has the Hebrew spelling as a hyphenated Mal’ Akh which is even more telling as ‘Akh’ or ‘Akha’ is the old Egyptian word for “heavenly eagle” perhaps “messenger” interpreted as the “Mist-Eagle” and in Sumerian it is also the same meaning/thing but the current spelling for it is ‘Ukh’ or ‘Ukhu’ both written with an upside-down ‘V’ applied over top of a right-side up one similar in appearance to two pyramids touching eachother or perhaps a reference to the Phoenix meeting Tatjenen (Sun meets Earth causing Genesis). Two sets of two wings over-lapping one another in line form correlates to Sumerian images of angels or divine beings whom always have one set of wings pointed up and outward and another angled downward.
      This sounds like ‘messenger, deity, angel, king’ all rolled into a living being becoming a Hindu understanding of reincarnation; the “King” being an angel or deity incarnated into a living person. Now that is identical to what the Egyptians thought about their Pharaohs. Malak Taus cannot be anything but this concept of a reincarnating deity who becomes human much like the Buddha. As we know from historical dating and breadth or scope of development that these ideas come originally from Hindu-Aryan mythology the what the Yezidis practice or believe cannot be older than the primary religions or it should be more fully developed and understood by the Yezidis themselves.
      It appears they understood the ‘Akhu’ as a heavenly bird and that is where they get the definition of Malak Taus from. ‘Mal’ is the root from whence we form malevolent and equivalent to evil or wrong so one way of deciphering the word “Malak” would be ‘omen’ as a message-messenger which could account for the Arab belief that their deity is the devil or evil.
      Now, in Celtic mythology birds that act as messengers did not bring good tidings for the recipient. Instead they usually forewarned of tragedy or imminent death. In the Celtic form a ‘fairy’ or ‘angel’ or being from the ‘not-world’ can take on or possess any living form so these “birds” are not even thought of as birds but literally messengers from beyond the grave.
      Much as the Greeks thought of the eagle of Zeus or the Roman’s Jupiter; it is the god in bird-form.

  17. I read all your article about Yizdi’s religion, I am afraid to tell you 99% of your writing about this very oldest ancient religion which at the first beginning of creating the earth and sky wrong your knowledge about this religion absolutely was nothing this documentary has to be corrected I am sure you couldn’t speak Kurdish or communication between you and detrmonter was not perfect.
    Let me, I tell you about the Yizdi’s religion
    They are NOT A DVIL worship.
    Not the same with Christianity or Islam or Judaism. Not at all, many scientists believe that lalsh is the garden od eden.

  18. In reading Frances Rolleston’s “Mazzaroth” I encountered more confirmation in translation of the term “Yezidis” relation to “King, Messiah” on page 75 it says ancient Persians had a principle of good and evil called Yezdan and Ahriman. She places this all as part of Zoroastrianism, as coming from Zoroaster himself who claimed that a promised messiah was coming from a virgin after a star was seen and stated that;
    “God has the head of a hawk.”
    “Yezdan” contains two root words “Yez” meaning “The coming forward/forth” and “Dan” an epithet for the word “Lord” meaning the same therefore “Yezidis” with the obvious “Dis” meaning “God, the one, Lord” in Greek would come together as “The coming glory of the Lord” which is cognate to, “Messiah,” or your “Malak Taus.”
    It also says that ancient depictions of an Eagle-headed man were in fact a depiction of this “Messiah” who was then called “Nisroch.” Debunking Ancient Alien’s (the show) claims that the Eagle-headed god was in fact a space alien from Sumeria, it turns out the images they show are not Sumerian at all, they are Persian-Aryan.
    And Lo and behold Wikipedia confirms it;
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisroch

  19. This is the best written article on the subject I have come across…Robert, do you have any articles more specifically on Zoroastrianism, it’s origins, and relationships to other religions be they Abrahamic or Indic?

    1. No Cyrus, I do not. I wish I did. Yes, this was one of my masterpieces LOL. I think I need to put it up on Academia.
      After all that time I spent writing about these damned Yezidis, I am still not sure I understand what they are about!
      At base, though, it is correct for you to be very interested in this correction. Honestly, I feel that Yezidism at its base is an ancient religion with more or less Iranian roots.
      In comparison with Islam, Christianity, Judaism, etc., Yezidism may well be older than all of them. We may be talking about one of the first organized human religions of civilization here, maybe going all the way back to 10,000 years.

      1. ‘Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man’ by Albert Churchward,1910
        pg. 361-362
        “That we are right in our decipherment and contention is proved by a living remnant of past ages who still practice and believe in this cult- viz. the Yezidis, who inhabit the mountains around Mosul in Asia Minor. These people number about 20,000 at the present day. They live among the mountain fastnesses and owe allegiance to one prince. The Turks have never been able to subdue them owing to inaccessibility of their homes. Like their old forefathers in Egypt their priests are all clad in white and each has a wand of office surmounted by a brass bird which is regarded as the most sacred symbol and which these Yezidi say has never been lost. At the entrance of their Chief Temple is the figure of a huge serpent which is looked upon as a symbol of great veneration and each worshiper kisses the serpent before entering the temple.” -end quote
        The brass bird is the Malak Taus or Akha-bird of the Egyptians, this bird symbol correlates strongly to the Eagle totem of Zeus, it was the symbol of royalty for Egyptians, the house of royalty cartouche, as it also was in Sumeria before Egypt.
        The serpent is clearly the symbol of the rotating heavens above at night which is why he later states that all Yezidis religious worship at temple happens only from sundown to sun-up. The serpent corresponds to Budhnya in Hindu, Ouroboros in Greek as well as Python, in fact is represented in Egypt at Pithom as the sacred god of that town, Apep, Apapi, Jormungandr, Izinaga, Campe, Azi Dahaka, Serpentarius, Leviathan, Lotan etc. This is the symbol representing the motions of heaven as resembling a serpent moving along side-by-side across the ecliptic which in ancient Egypt was in fact the horizon as, “Horus-of-the-Horizon.”
        If you watch the stars movement over the course of a year you will find that they, “snake,” up and down across your field of view. This is why Vishnu, “sleeps,” on the back of the serpent as Vishnu is the, “Man,” of heavens; the constellation of Orion. These are universal mythos based on observable phenomena found in all cultures everywhere on the planet in many forms.
        People forget or do not know that early man spoke with logogrammic, pictographic, syllabic symbols and thru international trade these symbols became standardized and ultimately our alphabet.

  20. First of all does the similarity in appearance (blond hair, blue eyes) of the yezidis and the portrayed image of Jesus (mainly european interpretation) hold any significance?
    Remember a day with God is a thousand on earth.
    Whilst resting (sabath) man kind (all races) went about our business. Sorry yezidis your not special or bla bla bla, why do you even believe adam and eve were of a european, arab or asian race?
    FYI; we as humans are all chosen by God , we have each been sent as high priests into the world. Race and tribe apart, only those who love God (the children of God) will be in heaven with him. The children of satan will be in hell with THEIR farther.
    Those who love God obey his word/laws.
    It is after 7 days (about 7000years) that adam was made ( adam and eve WERE NOT the first humans made) adam was the first human given a living soul. This means he was meant to be immortal, but gave death power over him when he sinned. Scientist should give up Almighty God did not walk on earth with adam and eve, the garden of eden is a spiritual place. If these scientist had asked God they would have known and accepted this a long long time ago. You see genesis ch1 and genesis ch2 are two different creation events. Satan had already been thrown out of the heaven (rightly so), before the creation in genesis chapter 2.
    I say this to parents, stop allowing your children to be taught this fake version of creation (how can the blind lead the blind?) read Gods holy word yourself and know/understand the TRUTH. The word of God and the Holy Spirit are the only holy/pure tools we have left.
    To all you chritians, muslims, yezidis, hindus who ever or what ever you believe;
    John 20:29
    Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
    I’m from Sierra Leone and my grandfather once told me that some of the slaves freed from egypt led my moses settled in sierra leone (Bible evidence recalls a river “tatao” I’m not sure on the name) . He told me that there is no such thing as a white “hebrew” that this idea was created by the romans. He said the word etha/hebrew means african/black. What do you think?…what are your opinions? There is a dessert wind that travels around the west cost of africa once a year (dec- feb), in sierra leone we call it “hamartan” he says this wind highlights the rote that moses took. He also said the 40 years in the dessert was 40 years in africa. I’m a accepting kind of person still I am judged for my skin colour ( I am not “Caribbean” or “african- amerian” which I feel just means ex-slave descendants still living in their masters land but I am a AFRICAN born in the africa), is this because as a african, my tribe are abraham’s descendants. In the bible when accused of attempted rape abraham was referred to as “that hebrew” is the current representation “that nigga”. Plus why do black people call them self’s all these different names even though all black people are african (no offence to the arabs and asians who are convinced they are authentic africans. We still love and accept you). I do not want to offend or judge anyone I simply wish to understand and gain knowledge on this matter.

  21. By the time of the late Phoenician city-states, 1,500-500 B.C., a form of mythologizing of kings had developed that was embodied in various names for the, “King-Deity” and they were, Melek, Meleqartes, Melqarte, Melqarth, Melchizedek, Malachi, Malak etc. so this form of worship became a worship of the descent of God into the body of the conqueror-King a sort of warrior Christ. So the angel of Malak Taus or the name itself which means, “resurrected angel” deals with the belief that god will send a messiah to recuse the masses and lead the people.
    The late form shows the cultural intent in the worship; that it is messiah worship but sometimes, as we all know historically, the “angel” turns out to be an Anti-Christ -type figure who brings death and destruction upon his people. I have found no instance where people in ancient times worship the, “death-destroyer” form of God except to invoke him for battles.
    Yezidis are not devil-worshipers.

  22. FACT-ERROR
    “The Zoroastrians also worshiped a sort of devil-bird called a feroher.”
    Farvahar is the symbol of the soul’s flight upwards, by “good thoughts, good words, and good deeds” ones mind elevates higer to the divine.
    It’s also regarded as a guardian angel, recording every thought in life.

  23. Unfortunately, all those who have written about the Yezidi religion did not write only to distort this religion to the world and seen the world that they are Satanists who are in fact lying and every writer produces idea is to read and therefore the Yezidi religion religion peaceful, forgiving and her ritual reserves religion Brahimi, the old term for religious politicization. Yezidis subjected to several times the extermination campaigns at the hands of Islamic invasions and the Persians and the Ottomans and thus resulted in the Kurdish Muslim nationalist who were previously Aesideon and all you have to ask the Kurds about the history of their ancestors and how they became Muslims by the sword and slaughter and captivity. Yazidis worship God and revere is the creation of the universe. Do not believe in the prophets of human beings who have distorted the name of religion and religiosity for the interests of the expansion. Unlike the Yazidi who spend their lives in mysticism and the worship of God alone

  24. Hello, I am a Yezidi Kurdish Girl myself. And you can not imagine how grateful I am for your Post. Maybe it will be interesting for you to hear about this Religion from my Perspective. First of all we really worship the oldiranic Sun God Mithra but under an another Name because of permanently Attacks from monotheistic Worshippers. We perform every well known Ritual of the Mithra Cult until today. And I guarantee you that none of our Rituals are evil or involves Things like Human Sacrifice. This is so stupid. They demonize us in every Single Way. The Mithra Worship is well alive in the Yezidi Community. Actually we had a Yezidi Majority in East Turkey but The Ottomans slaughtered many of us. The Survivors fled to the Mounts of Sinjar and to the Zagros Mountains in Iran. This is the Reason why the Majority of Mithra Followers are actually the Kurds in today’s Iraq and in the Province Kermanshah. You should see the Relief of Mithra there. It’s beautiful. It’s such an important Place for the Kurds there and of course the other Iranians. Even Dr. Kaveh Farrokh admitted that the Mithra Cult is mostly alive in the Kurdish Community today. Last but not least: We are not monotheistic, even when many Fake Yezidi Sites in the Internet claim this. This are Fabrications’ to destroy our Faith. We call Mithra the “Giver of all Live” and he truly is it. The four Elements are holy for us, without them nothing in this World can exist. And they call us evil? It’s even a scientific Fact, but that’s typical for monotheistic Followers. Every Element is a “Xwodan” for us. That’s Kurdish for “Gods”. Our Olders even believe in such Things like Fairies, little People, holy Trees and Forest Spirits. I know that sounds maybe bizarre for you. For example: When my Grandmother was pouring hot Water somewhere no matter where she always send a Warning. When I was little I didn’t understood this of course. Later she explained to me that she has warned the “little People” who live under the ground or the earth. Yep, this is the Religion that the Yezidis Live. And they are destroying us. And I have no Idea why. Many Thanks to you that you looked behind the certains. I send you my kindest Regards. Sincerely, Nesla from Germany.

  25. Basically they are Baal/Moloch worshippers (like jews!). Their trinity represent Mars/Jupiter/Saturn in Astrotheology.
    Baal the fake sun god is known under different names : mithra/dyonisus/poseidon/dagon and as a castrated Saturn it takes the form of the (fake) great goddess: hecate/semiramis/cybele/Demeter/Isis.
    Their trinitarian god Baal is the adversary of the muslim divinity Allah (Ishtar)/the japanese sun goddess Amaterasu.
    It’s very likely that the yezidis share the same origins as the jews in southern russia or ukraine (they, like other kurds are the closest genetic relatives of jews).
    Like jews, their religion is based on secret oral teachings (AKA mysteries), the black book of yezidis is pure crap, they worship the snake and not the peacock. Baal worship is misogynist/pederastic at its core.
    They believe they are born of Adam only, as Eve seed is polluted and can only give birth to abomination. Thus women are inferior and unclean by nature, hence the homosexuality.
    Modern problems are rooted in secret Baal worship.

    1. Nothing to do with Baal. And what do you mean with ‘the same origin with Jews’. Yazidi Kurds are iranic People. The Black Book has no important Meaning under the Yazidi Kurds. The Denunciation Propaganda is strong here. So Sunworship is evil? Please explain. The Sun is the Giver of all Life. Hell, it’s even an scientific Fact. The four Elements are also worshipped. These are the Headstones of our Lives. The Snake is NOT an evil Symbol. In old Mesopotamia the Snake stood for Fertility. Everything changed when the three World religions appeared. The Yazidi Religion is more logically than any other Religion. Starting with the “Red Wednesday” where we celebrate the Arrival of the Spring aka when Mithra brought the Sun to the Earth and therefore the Life to the Winter Solstice, where we celebrate the End of the dark Days. How evil sounds this? The real Root of today’s Problems are the so called “Book Religions”.

  26. hello brother,
    my question is that is there any historical religion which believed in sex in heaven or virgin in heaven, other than Quran ?
    will be pleased to find out

  27. Really enjoyed hearing about the Arab pagans and polythiestic Jews. The peacock is a stunning bird, no wonder it’s seen as piece of heaven on Earth.

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