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I have recently been privileged to have befriended a member of the Yezidi tribe, which Dr LaVey touched upon in his writings, while on my current tour in Iraq. He has described to me mainly the beliefs of the Yezidi, as that was what I was most interested in. I have also been given his permission to write about all that he shared with me.
I will start out by touching briefly on the origins, which are difficult to record, as it is an orally transmitted religion. The Yezidi speak Kurmanji, Northern Kurdish, although there are evident influences of Christianity, Islam, and Levantine religions. The Yezidi are centered mostly in Mosul, which is in the northern area of Iraq, but are disbursed throughout the Middle East and into Europe. They believe their name has its roots in the word Yezdan, or “God.”
Most of the Yezidi mythology is non-Islamic with visible Sufi influence in their imagery and religious vocabulary and is highly apparent in their literature. One of their holy sites is Lalish, which has its place northeast of Mosul.
The Yezidi believe that God created this world and that he is now being taken care of by Heptad of seven holy beings, or heftsirr, also known as angels. The most notable of the heft sirr is Tawuse Melek, who is the peacock angel.
Dr LaVey stated that the Yezidi were devil-worshippers, but this has been revealed to be an error, considering the lack of information available in the 1960s. The Yezidi have been discriminated against by the Muslims for hundreds of years, and this is one of the reasons why they are considered devil-worshippers. In fact, the Yezidi do not believe in the existence of either the devil or Satan as an anthropomorphic being, they believe that good and evil exists in the heart of man. The Yezidi believe in God as Creator but Tawuse Melek to rule over the Earth. Other forces present in Yezidism, besides Tawuse Melek, are Shiekh Adi, a saint who was born in the early 12th century and died in 1162 ( his tomb is now a major pilgrimage for the Yezidi), and other minor deities.
The creation story is different from that of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Tawuse Melek was the first of seven angels God created of his own illumination and told Tawuse Melek to not bow before any other being. After God created the other six archangels, he told them to bring him dust from the Earth and to build Adam’s body. All the archangels, save Tawuse Melek, obeyed the command. Tawuse Melek, in reply to God, said “How can I submit to another being! I am from your illumination while Adam is made of dust.” God was thrilled with Tawuse Melek and made him the commander of all angels, and ruler of the Earth. The Yezidi believe that Tawuse Melek is God’s representative on Earth and comes down to Earth on the first day of Nisan, or, April, and so they celebrate this day as their new year. They also believe that the order to bow to Adam was a test for Tawuse Melek.
All of the Yezidi believe they are the descendents of Adam and not Eve. They take the view that good and evil both exist in the mind and spirit of man; and that it is man’s choice which path he takes. They also believe in reincarnation and that the Earth was originally created as a pearl and stayed that way for forty thousand years before becoming into its current form.
The Yezidi also have two books of scripture, the Book of Revelation (Kiteba Cilwe), which is kept in the Yezidi village of Ba’idn, and contains five chapters, each chapter decreasing in length. This book records the words of God in the first person. This is the book Dr LaVey put forth in The Satanic Rituals, mistaking it for the Yezidi’s second holy book the Black Book (Mishefa Res). The Black Book is longer than the Book of Revelation and is not divided into chapters, as is the Kiteba Cilwe. The Mishefa Res records the acts of God in the third person, unlike Kiteba Cilwe, which records everything in the first person narrative; it is kept in the village of Qasr ‘tzz at-Din.
This is all that my friend has shared with me so far. As I learn more, I shall report to all those interested on what is uncovered.
I have recently been privileged to have befriended a member of the Yezidi tribe, which Dr LaVey touched upon in his writings, while on my current tour in Iraq. He has described to me mainly the beliefs of the Yezidi, as that was what I was most interested in. I have also been given his permission to write about all that he shared with me.
I will start out by touching briefly on the origins, which are difficult to record, as it is an orally transmitted religion. The Yezidi speak Kurmanji, Northern Kurdish, although there are evident influences of Christianity, Islam, and Levantine religions. The Yezidi are centered mostly in Mosul, which is in the northern area of Iraq, but are disbursed throughout the Middle East and into Europe. They believe their name has its roots in the word Yezdan, or “God.”
Most of the Yezidi mythology is non-Islamic with visible Sufi influence in their imagery and religious vocabulary and is highly apparent in their literature. One of their holy sites is Lalish, which has its place northeast of Mosul.
The Yezidi believe that God created this world and that he is now being taken care of by Heptad of seven holy beings, or heftsirr, also known as angels. The most notable of the heft sirr is Tawuse Melek, who is the peacock angel.
Dr LaVey stated that the Yezidi were devil-worshippers, but this has been revealed to be an error, considering the lack of information available in the 1960s. The Yezidi have been discriminated against by the Muslims for hundreds of years, and this is one of the reasons why they are considered devil-worshippers. In fact, the Yezidi do not believe in the existence of either the devil or Satan as an anthropomorphic being, they believe that good and evil exists in the heart of man. The Yezidi believe in God as Creator but Tawuse Melek to rule over the Earth. Other forces present in Yezidism, besides Tawuse Melek, are Shiekh Adi, a saint who was born in the early 12th century and died in 1162 ( his tomb is now a major pilgrimage for the Yezidi), and other minor deities.
The creation story is different from that of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Tawuse Melek was the first of seven angels God created of his own illumination and told Tawuse Melek to not bow before any other being. After God created the other six archangels, he told them to bring him dust from the Earth and to build Adam’s body. All the archangels, save Tawuse Melek, obeyed the command. Tawuse Melek, in reply to God, said “How can I submit to another being! I am from your illumination while Adam is made of dust.” God was thrilled with Tawuse Melek and made him the commander of all angels, and ruler of the Earth. The Yezidi believe that Tawuse Melek is God’s representative on Earth and comes down to Earth on the first day of Nisan, or, April, and so they celebrate this day as their new year. They also believe that the order to bow to Adam was a test for Tawuse Melek.
All of the Yezidi believe they are the descendents of Adam and not Eve. They take the view that good and evil both exist in the mind and spirit of man; and that it is man’s choice which path he takes. They also believe in reincarnation and that the Earth was originally created as a pearl and stayed that way for forty thousand years before becoming into its current form.
The Yezidi also have two books of scripture, the Book of Revelation (Kiteba Cilwe), which is kept in the Yezidi village of Ba’idn, and contains five chapters, each chapter decreasing in length. This book records the words of God in the first person. This is the book Dr LaVey put forth in The Satanic Rituals, mistaking it for the Yezidi’s second holy book the Black Book (Mishefa Res). The Black Book is longer than the Book of Revelation and is not divided into chapters, as is the Kiteba Cilwe. The Mishefa Res records the acts of God in the third person, unlike Kiteba Cilwe, which records everything in the first person narrative; it is kept in the village of Qasr ‘tzz at-Din.
This is all that my friend has shared with me so far. As I learn more, I shall report to all those interested on what is uncovered.
