France condemns hate speech against Yezidi community

“It recalls the right of Yazidis to live in peace, security and dignity, in the same way as the other components of Iraqi society.”

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 

 2023/05/03 

Displaced Yazidi women sit in their tent at the Chamishko camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in the city of Zakho in the north of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on May 5, 2022. (Photo: Safin Hamed/AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The French embassy in Iraq on Wednesday strongly condemned recent hate speech targeting the Yezidi community.

“It called for the right of Yazidis (Yezidi’s) to live in peace, security and dignity, in the same way as the other components of Iraqi society,” the statement said.

“It reaffirms France's concrete commitment to the Yazidis in Iraq, whether it be their right to decent living conditions in the region where they have been the target of Daesh's extermination, or in camps where they have sought refuge.”

Moreover, France called on federal authorities and those of the autonomous region of Kurdistan to continue their efforts to improve security, governance and reconstruction in Sinjar.

The French Embassy in Iraq emphasized its “commitment to creating an understanding and a peaceful dialogue between the different components of the Iraqi population and to preserving the country's diversity, one of its main assets.”

Yezidi activists on social media welcomed the statement. “Thanks to the Embassy of France,” Yezidi activist Saad Baber told Kurdistan 24.

“We need such solidarity and statements from the UN in Iraq, the US Embassy, the UK Embassy, and other International missions to stand with Yazidi survivors who are living in fear because of hate speech by religious leaders in Iraq and the Kurdistan region,” he added.

Hunar Kakayi, an activist, documented the hate speech against the Yezidi community on social media and welcomed the French statement in his Twitter page.

“I think the statement by France is good because it should alert security intelligence actors in the KRG about the existence of the Daesh (ISIS) ideology.”

“I believe the KRG government should do more to arrest those who directly threaten national security and disturb the social fabric.”

Read More: French envoy visits Sinjar to supervise construction of future Sinjar hospital

France has supported the Yezidi community since the beginning of ISIS attacks on the religious minority. Moreover, France supports a project to build a hospital in Sinjar.

Social media was abuzz with unverified claims on Friday that Yezidi protestors had attacked and set fire to a mosque.

Following the incident, hate speech and threats against Yezidis escalated on social media, even some applauding ISIS's past atrocities against Yezidi women.

Read More: Iraqi Sunni Endowment confirms no mosques were attacked in Sinjar

The Iraqi Sunni Endowment visited the Rahman Mosque in Sinjar to investigate the incident, and determined that the mosque was not attacked and there was no evidence of any material damage to the mosque.

The return of 25 Sunni Arab families to Sinjar lead to protests by Yezidi’s who claimed the families helped ISIS, during the ISIS genocide of Yezidi’s in August 2014.

The return of displaced Sunni Muslims native to Sinjar has been a concern among the Yezidi community, who accuse them of having facilitated ISIS crimes against them.

The Religion Of The Peacock Angel The Yezidis And Their Spirit World

by Garnik S. Asatrian and Victoria Arakelova

https://archive.org/details/TheReligionOfThePeacockAngel/mode/2up

Preface vii
Part I: The one god 1
1 Malak-Tāwūs: the leader of the triad 9
2 Sheikh ‘Adi 37
3 Sultan Ezid 45
Part II: The Yezidis’ pantheon and the syncretic features of
their religion 51
4 The Yezidi minor deities, saints and holy men 53
5 Aspects of nature and celestial bodies in the Yezidi tradition 109
6 Yezidi religious syncretism 121
 Conclusion 133
Bibliography 135
 Index 145

FROM THE PREFACE

The main religious centre of the Yezidis is situated in the valley of Lalish, the Sheikhan region (north Iraq), where the sanctuaries of most of the Yezidi saints and holy men are located. It is also the centre of Yezidi traditional learning. The seat of the Yezidis’ spiritual leader, the Prince or mīr, is in the nearby village of Ba‘dre. The religion exclusive to the Yezidis constitutes one of the most enigmatic and least investigated phenomena of the Near Eastern non-dogmatic milieu. But it has beckoned increasing attention from scholars of religion studies, certainly more than ever before over the last three decades. Despite multiple references by travellers, missioners, military officers and intellectuals to the existence of this mysterious people, as well as to a number of their peculiar features, customs and rites, more or less fundamental researches on the Yezidi history and religion only started appearing from the 1970s. The close character of this esoteric community and difficulties in interpreting its religious lore – the primary source for the study of the tradition – still remain serious obstacles for scholars of the field. Yet the ongoing publication and translation of the Yezidi lore, its proper interpretation and commentaries – both by traditional connoisseurs and scholars of Yezidism – have facilitated a gradual understanding of the essence of its complicated religious doctrine. Yezidism is a unique phenomenon, one of the most remarkable illustrations of ethno-religious identity, centred on a religion the Yezidis call Sharfadin (see pp. 29–30). The peculiarities of this religious system are not only limited to its syncretism, some elements of which can be traced in Sufism, a number of extreme Shi‘ite sects, substrate pre-Islamic beliefs, Gnosticism and other related traditions surviving from the ancient world, but they also include specific features solely characteristic of the Yezidi faith which define the belonging of its followers to the Ezdikhana (Ēzdīxāna) − the esoteric community of the Yezidis itself. In this case, when providing characteristics of Yezidism in its current state, it is quite legitimate to speak of the unity of both the Yezidi religious identity and Yezidi ethnicity. Historical analyses of various ethno-religious communities in the Middle East and Central Asia have shown that their development has a clearly expressed vector − the drive for ethnicity.3 The dynamics of the development of ethno-religious communities − from religious identity to ethno-religiousness and, finally, to claims of special ethnicity in the modern context − look to be ix preface emerging as a coping stone, or at the very least a crucial paradigm, for explaining the ethnic vector in the development of any ethno-religious community in the long run. On this reading, the ethno-religious group in its process of establishment and development passes through several stages. First of all, it dissociates itself from its own prior religious surroundings, marking a new “dominant” around which a new syncretic doctrine is being formed. This dominant provides the basic religious specificity of the new community. Then a “closing” of the community takes place: a strict endogamy, indeed, becomes a guarantee of preserving the esoteric religious knowledge inside the community. (To a certain extent, endogamy is also determined by hostile surroundings, when outsiders impute the group with distorted doctrines and heresy.) It is specifically endogamy that distinguishes an ethno-religious community, that is, as distinct from any other esoteric group (mystical order and others) which one could join as a member by passing some ritual of initiation. And it is namely endogamy that defines the ethno-religious and thus, in the final analysis, the ethnic vector of the development of a new community whereby religion still remains the main differentiative indicator. The process of the formation of the Yezidis as a separate ethno-religious group took place in the period from the eleventh to the fourteenth century in the region of Sinjar in northern Iraq. The religious dissociation of the Yezidis from the local milieu took place in the very colourful religious scenery of Mesopotamia where different ideas of Islam and Christianity were interlaced with Gnostic ideas and local folk beliefs. In the tightly loyal surrounding of the Sufi ‛Adawīyya order, which became the core of a new community, there arose and developed a fundamentally new syncretic religious doctrine, and one curiously lacking a common dogma in the strict understanding of the term. By preserving a number of elements of mystical Islam, the Yezidis inhaled different and sometimes contradictory elements of many other religious streams in the region they inhabited. They were nourished by various marginal ideas found in their “fertile heretical” surroundings, distant from centres of orthodoxy. Some elements of Yezidism, however, are extremely specific, even unique in the whole new Iranian expanse, so that it becomes impossible to find echoes of them in other doctrines (even if typological parallels are commonly available). These peculiarities turn out, in fact, to be fundamental for Yezidi religious ideology, and have emerged as main indicators of their selfconsciousness, defining the Yezidis and the conceptions of Yezidism as they are in an assortment of shibboleths

THE PEACOCK ANGEL IN THE SPRING 
By E. S. DROWER 

Lecture given on July 31, 1940, 
Brigadier-General Sir Percy Sykes, ly&J.E.,
C.B., C.M.G., in the Chair.

I had an introduction from a Yezidi friend to a young man there,

Rashid ibn Sadiq, and my first call was on him. His father was away

in the Jebel Sinjar, so Rashid did the honours, preparing tea for me

himself as I sat under the pergola in his courtyard. I told him what

I wanted, and he promised to help in every way that he could, and was

as good as his word. He sent there and then for one of the qawwals,

and that evening two of them visited me. I must explain what qawwals

are. They are the third grade of the Yezidi priesthood, and it is they

who travel with the sanjak, the image of the sacred peacock. Their

chief duty is to chant, and their chants are transmitted from father to

son and never written down. They must also be able to play the

shebab and the daff, the sacred flute and tambour. Above the qawwals

are the pirs, and above these the shaikhs. All three orders are heredi¬

tary, and a member may only marry within his own rank. A fourth

hereditary order is that of the faqlrs, who are ascetics and wear next

their skins a black woollen tunic which is considered very holy, also a

sacred thread and belt. Then there is a lay order, the kocheks, who

wear white and are often made custodians of the shrines.

I became friendly with the qawwals, particularly with one of them

who had served in the Levies when he was young. Ever since then

he has polished his teakettle and Primus with Brasso and talked of the

English. When he joined the force he was told that he must cut off

his long hair and beard. He was horrified, and was taken before an

English officer. He explained to this officer mat a qawwal may not

cut his hair, and the Englishman, he told me, " asked me about my

THE PEACOCK ANGEL IN THE SPRING 393

religion, and talked to me as a friend." He was allowed to keep

his hair.

Rashid sent me a Yezidi midwife. She was far from clean, and

her hair straggled over her old face. People called her Mama, or

Hajjia, but my name for her was Sairey Gamp. From her I heard

about childbirth and the customs of Yezidi women at such times. She

took me to a Moslem patient directly the baby arrived, and to a Yezidi

woman who had just had a miscarriage, and at both I learnt a good

deal. No Yezidi woman obliged me by having a baby, but I heard

what happened both from a Yezidi woman and from Sairey. A visitor

told me one day that it was believed in the village that I wanted to take

a photograph of a woman having a baby because women in England

did not have their babies naturally, but by surgical operation. She

brought her daughters to see me. One was a tattooist, and as I had

examined many of the tattooings on Yezidi women I was glad to hear

from her exactly how it was done. A thick paste is made from sheep's

gall, black from olive-oil lamp smoke, and milk fresh drawn from

the breast of the mother of a girl-child if the baby is a boy the punc¬

tures fester. The design is drawn in this and then pricked in with a

needle, or two needles tied together. I noted the most common designs,

amongst which were a comb, the sun, the moon, a human figure called

" the doll," and various forms of cross.

Another of our friends was the headman of the village, a farmer,

who told me many interesting things for instance, of the dance per¬

formed when there is a drought. A boy and girl dance round die

village, and the villagers throw water on them.

We became friendly, too, with a delightful old lady of shaikhly

family, Sitt Gule, who had had a tragic life. She was living here in

exile, and her elder son was in prison because he aided some Yezidi

youths to evade military service by crossing the frontier from the Jebel

Sinjar into Syria. The younger son was imprisoned, too, because a

few months before he had stabbed his sister, who wished to marry out¬

side her caste. She was the only daughter, and he had murdered her

in her mother's presence. Sitt Gule was a very dignified old woman,

who always wore white, and had a hard struggle to keep the household

going, for it consisted of three daughters-in-law, eight children and

two servants. She was broken-hearted about her elder son, and begged

me to help to get him released.

Sitt Gule took me one day to see the shrine of her ancestor, Shaikh

Sajaddin. She told me as we came away, " The angel Gabriel is of our

394 THE PEACOCK ANGEL IN THE SPRING

family, too," in much the same tone as someone might mention that

they were distantly connected with the Duke of Norfolk. The ex¬

planation is that the companions of Shaikh 'Adi are by legend sup¬

posed to have been incarnations of angels, so that she could, quite

legitimately, claim angelic descent.

I must stop telling you about our friends in Baashika and describe

the village itself. Layard mentions the cleanliness of the Yezidis, and

I endorse every word he said. It was a delightfully clean village. No

rubbish was thrown down in the streets, there were no dead dogs or

donkeys left to decay, and, above all, there was no litter. Because few

could read there was no newspaper of any kind, and when one went to

the bazaar, one wrapped one's purchase in a kerchief. There was no

post-office, no telephone or telegraph and no radio; in fact, it was the

most blessed escape from the war that you can imagine. The scent of

flowers and herbs blew through the streets from end to end, and the

spring grass came right up to the village. When we climbed the hills

we could see the plain for miles, and just below, the mound of Tel

Billi, where the Americans were excavating till a year ago.

READ THE REST HERE

https://kurditi.com/upload/files/2019/05/6rRAj2hdRpfk8x1WLlTZ_19_db9fc325eedc9ba010baad71bc560ee8_file.pdf

Garuda, Zu, Pazuzu, Yezidi & Melek Taus (King Peacock)
By Rev. Ariana Clausen – Vélez, HPs

http://www.arianasilver.com/garuda-zu-pazuzu-yezidi-melek-taus-king-peacock/

June 2010 – 19 October 2010

There are many associated connections between these two Gods and the Middle Eastern lands in which are being researched here within, Garuda is a God from both the Hindu and Buddhism, Pazuzu of Assyrian-Babylonian and then we move onto Western Iran which is a number of Yazidi live in the up in the mountains, with their principal Holy site in Mosul, Iraq. One may wonder how these Gods do and these groups connect, well we shall get to that soon enough.

One must understand where we are deriving from and that would be the Fertile Crescent in which were all life began, it was where the Ancient Mighty Ones descended onto the Earth to build up and then create the human race, those who were the first in this were the Sumerian Gods or Ancient Aliens, amoung which one was Pazuzu. As the human race developed and grew Enlil grew weary and wanted to destroy all of humanity due to how they choose to live life, but one this for certain, the Gods created man, but man’s good or evil all steams from one’s own heart and spirit, this is not created by the Gods as the spirit in its purest form does not know evil. When Enlil decided that it was time to remove humanity from the Earth he created the Great Flood in which covered all the Earth and only a chosen few under the protection of Ea, who was one of the Ancient Mighty One’s who was humanity’s creator sent a message to Utnapishtism the true name of Noah and from here, Utnapishtism followed the direction of Ea and build an Ark and filled it with two of every creature being male and female. Once the Great Flood receded and it was once again safe, Utnapishtism and his family were so hungry they sacrificed a bull and prepared it as well as providing an offering to the Ancient Mighty Ones for allowing their lives to be preserved. This act was one that Enlil deemed as worthy and he once again he allowed humanity to flourish, however, this time Enlil along with the others decided it best if humanity did not understand each other and in order to accomplish they had to create three lands in which humanity was to be created on the new Earth. These lands were the Fertile Crescent, Indus Valley, and the Nile Region, three regions, three languages and in this it allowed their secrets to be kept from the masses.

Now, it is not that hard to see where we are going with this connection, Garuda is Hindu from the Indus Valley, Pazuzu is Assyrian-Sumerian from the Fertile Crescent, the Fertile Crescent being modern day Iran and Iraq, where the Yazidi reside and worship and Kurdistan which by the way roughly encompasses the north-western Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges and astrologically, the Ox is the symbol of Tishrei, It is an autumn month of 30 days. Tishrei usually occurs in September–October, corresponding with the Autumn/Fall Equinox and the time when they sacrifice an ox to declare the arrival of fall and to ask for precipitation during the winter in order to bring back life to Earth in the spring.

Now that I have covered a brief history, we can begin discussing Garuda and Pazuzu, beginning with Garuda, Garuda is a Hindu-Buddhism, however, his country of origin is Babylon. His story is one of beauty, turmoil, protection, deceit and courage. Here is his story as it is told in the Dictionary of Ancient Deities, by Patricia Turner & Charles Russell Coulter. In the beginning, Garuda emerged from Brahma’s eggshell. Following his birth, elephants were created from the same substance. In later mythology, as king of the birds, and a demi-god he was hatched from an egg lay by his mother Vinata, one of Daksha’s numerous daughters’. His father is Kasyapa, his brothers are Aruna and Suparnas, and his sister is Sumati. At birth his glow was so beautiful that he was worshipped as an incarnation of Agni. In the Ramayana {an Ancient Sanskrit epic} he appears as the grandchild of Cyena and Cyene, the hawks who carried off Soma, the elixir of the Gods. Another grandmother is Tamra, one of Kasyapa’s mates. In the Mahabharata {one of two sacred Sanskrit epics in Ancient India}, Vinata and Kadru, the mother of the serpents and Vinata’s co-wife, fought. She was enslaved along with Garuda. The serpents promised freedom only if Garuda would bring them the cup of soma. This was not an easy task. He had to extinguish the protection ring of fire surrounding the valuable drink, break through a sharp-spoke revolving wheel, and kill the serpent guards. He succeeded, but as he flew toward the Netherworld, he was pursued by the Gods. Indra caught up with him and a terrific battle ensued. Garuda flew into the serpent’s territory with the ransom. Indra, again, was close behind and another battle occurred. The liquid spilled to the ground and the greedy serpents licked up enough to make them immortal. It is said that the strength they received from the soma caused their tongues to become forked. Indra was able to retrieve the balance of the soma and return it to its rightful place on celestial Mount Meru {is a sacred mountain in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology as well as in Jain cosmology, and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. It is also the abode of Lord is a sacred mountain in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology as well as in Jain cosmology, and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. It is also the abode of Lord Brahma and the Demi-Gods (Devas).

In a variation of this myth, Garuda attempts to fly to the Moon. He encounters numerous obstacles and is involved in a battle with the Gods. The Gods, realizing the strength of their opponent and wishing to maintain ownership of the Moon, reach a compromise by bestowing immortality upon him and appointing him Vishnu’s personal mount. The giant bird watches the Earth from his perch on a heavenly tree. Whenever dragons and serpents appear, he swoops down and devours them; Garuda may be appealed for nullifying poison from snakebites and this is the same as the Peacock they are able to devour snakes and nullify the poison of the snake bite. Generally his colour is green, but can be gold. Emeralds spew forth from his spittle. He has an eagle’s head, which is usually white or gold. Sometimes his face is white and he has red wings and talons. His torso and limbs are like a human male. He is also depicted a Peacock with a long tail. Vishnu and Lakshmi are shown together on Garuda’s back as he wings towards the heavens. Garuda is the symbol of the soaring human spirit. It can also be interpreted that the serpents represent polluted water which are dried up by Garuda, a Solar deity representing the Sun. Garuda’s son Jatayu was the King of Eagles. In the plural form, Garudas are giant birds who feed upon their enemies the Nagas. They can assume human form and in India they are usually shown with small wings and a beak.

Zu is another from Mesopotamia and was a two-headed tempest bird. Zu by nature is evil and he is a trickster and a minor or demi-god and was a God of the Underworld, son to the Goddess Siris, who is a Creator Goddess of the human race. Zu wanting so much control over the human race one night while Enlil was washing stole the Tablets of Fate from Anu, when this was discovered Ea convinced the Goddess of the Womb to conceive and create a Divine and Powerful Hero to overcome Zu and return the tablets to Anu. Zu was known and of rank and because of that was welcomed into the Temple of Enlil, Enlil entrusted the guarding of his Shrine entrance to Zu. When Zu was inside the Temple of Enlil, he showed trust with betrayal which by his nature is evil and removing in Enlilship from the Shrine. The Enlilship are the divine powers that rule all of mankind, Zu, stealing these divine powers that he now conceived to his heart. To do this act Zu also had to take possession of certain objects including the Tablets of Destinies. When Enlil undressed and went into his pool for his daily swim, leaving his paraphernalia unattended. The following occurred: At the entrance of the sanctuary, which he has been viewing. Zu awaits the start of the day, as Enlil was washing with pure water his crown having been removed and deposited on the throne, Zu seized the Tablet of Destinies in his hands, took away the the Enlilship. In doing so, he was to encounter a battle with the Gods, but who instigated this act in the first place?, Ea as Ea was yes, a son of Anu but he was not a legitimate son, so he was allowed to gain succession and this enraged Zu, so he took up to manipulate the situation, gained Enlil’s trust in order to seize the Tablet of Destinies and flee in his Mu [a flying machine].

Now, yet another battle between the Gods commenced, Ninurta was to go out and fight to win and to return the Tablet of Destinies to the Temple of Enlil to his shrine. The offensive that was launched against Zu, as from the Tablets in which Zecharia Sitchin translated; Launch they offensive, capture the fugitive Zu, let thy terrifying offensive rage against him, slit his throat! Vanquish Zu! Let they seven ill Winds go against him, cause the entire Whirlwind to attack him, let thy Radiance go against him, let thy Winds carry his Wings to a secret place, let sovereignty return to Ekur; Let the Divine Formulas return to the father who begot thee. As throughout the battle that was commenced against Zu, in the end Zu fell in a swirl and was vanquished, the Tablet of Destinies returned to Enlil.

Pazuzu now there is little to be found on him, outside of a few resources. Pazuzu is a demon, yet he carries traits of integrity as well. Pazuzu is known as the demon of the South – west winds, which are associated to drought, storms, plagues and pestilence, now, living in Puerto Rico as of late, I would have to say stop blowing it is to damn hot. Pazuzu is Assyrian – Babyloniam, he is the King of the demons and he is depicted as a man with the head of a lion or dog, eagle talons for his feet, he has two pairs of wings, giving him four in total, the tail of a Scorpion and a serpentine penis. Pazuzu is married to Anu’s daughter Lamashtu, Lamastu, who is the Sumerian equal to Lilith ( Senoy, Sansenoy, Samengolph), in fact Pazuzu’s wife is more evil than he, she murders mothers and babies while in the womb, she sucks on their blood. She is of violent temper and when she is on a rampage she will chase domestic animals and accost them with her bare hands. She can sneak into homes easily and she is depicted as a winged animal.

Pazuzu to protect pregnant women from his wife, invoked a talisman of his head to protect expecting mothers, when it is charged and then worn around the neck of the expecting mother, this will protect both mother and child during pregnancy, similarly to protect mothers’ and child from Lilith the expectant mother is given a horn in gold to wear to protect mother and child during pregnancy. Pazuzu, is invoked to protect from plague, storms, drought, famine, pestilence, protection over pregnant women and their unborn children. As he himself is an evil spirit, he so too can drive away evil spirits and protect humans from misfortune. When working with him, remember to give offerings, thanks and light for him to see, he honours those who honour him as with any spirit in which one works with correctly. Within certain spectrums of the Occult and within training only a small percentage understand the true nature of the forces of evil, in many cases it is simply evil because one does not understand and lacks the knowledge needed to work with such entities. When working with Pazuzu as well as with any demon force, first it is best to know what you are doing and second to understand that evil drives away evil, that is to say when one has been cursed, hexed, become fascinated [to have been given the evil eye], or having had black magic put on you, your best defence is the same nature in which has been used against you in the first place. This is how it is done, simply.

In an article I came across on the internet about Pazuzu, the author besides using references and introductions from the Exorcist as well as the Old Testament and another work, History of the Devil, went further, he mentioned the numerical associations to Pazuzu as well as some of his associated attributes in relation to numerical values and their meanings. This is based on the Cabalistic method of numbers to letters, names and associations, traits, spirits and more.

When reading this section from the article The Demon of the South-West Wind, by Stephen Sennitt the following states [as in relation to comparison with Aleister Crowley’s Beast number 666],

“Interestingly, in relating to Pazuzu to the concept of the Beast, we find his number is 107. Kenneth Grant states that this number is the number of the Angel of Leo, OVAL, the messenger of the Beast. Oval literally means “egg”, and therefore refers to the aeon of the “daughter”, or the aeon of Set, which is still in embryonic form. In many of the world’s ancient theologies, this final aeon is the era of destruction, when the messenger of the Beast, Pazuzu delivers his word: the howl of pestilential desert wind. The ancients may have recognized this word as the dread “great dragon”: ATEM, whose number is 440; it is also the number of “to annihilate”; “cease”, “disappear”, and significantly, “complete”, which may refer to the ending of the cycle, as ATEM is also the Goddess of periodicity, identical to the terrible Hindu Goddess Kali the destroyer [however, Kali is actually a demon and she is a force that is the bringer of peril to all]. It is also interesting to note that 107+333=440. This formula may represent the ultimate blast of devastating wind from the mouth of the Great Dragon, ATEM, and the Beast of the Apocalypse”.

When working with these numbers and double checking them to the Cabalistic Encyclopaedia, by David Goodwin the following is revealed. First we look at the number 107, 107 is indeed the Angel of the fifth astrological house of Leo, 107 being a prime number and the name of the Angel of the fifth astrological house of Leo is called Oel, it may also be spelled Ol and as we look at the two names, Ol means “yoke” which is the centre of the egg, where life transforms and shapes itself into a being, child, or newborn. It is the womb. Ol is ruled by the number of 100 and 100 is the atomic number of fermium [is a synthetic element with the symbol Fm and atomic number 100. A highly radioactive metallic transuranic element of the actinide series, fermium is made by bombarding plutonium with neutrons] and Al which is upper part, on, upon, above, over, to, towards, after, because and Min which is species, kind, and then the number 7 which is of course the number of Arch Angels, the hexagram i.e. the [Star of David] the representation of the phallus and the womb as well, the seven traditional planets, Dagh which means fish, the number of deadly sins and turned around the number 701 which is Intelligence of Will.

In mentioning the number 333 we come to find its name is Shagal which means to be sexually excited to lie with, and to the word Shegal which means Royal paramour, Galash; to lie down, and Aiq Bekar which is the cabala of the nine chambers, a division of Temurah cryptography, the cabalistic theory that words may be related to other words by means of one of several pre-established codes.

ATEM as according to the above article mentioned is associated to the number 440, when in fact it is ruled by the number 441 and 1001, ATEM here means You, Emeth means Truth and the Lord of Triplicity by day for the astrological sign of Pisces [the fish]. Again breaking down this number you would get the number 81 which is the number of squares in the magic square of the Moon, the word Anoki which means I, and the Goetic Demon #53, Camio, Camio is the demon by night of the second decant of Virgo, Virgo being ruled by Mercury on the night side of the signs that Mercury rules, Mercury being a messenger to the Gods. Moreover, the powers in which Camio can aid in are debates, giving understanding to the speech of birds, bulls, dogs, and other animals and of the voice of the waters; foretell the future. Pazuzu depicted as with Wings and the talons on his feet as an Eagle, his head being that of either a lion or dog. Now looking at the number 440, yes, it is recognized by the word Theli which means Dragon, Satan, and the Meth which means dead, the word Tam which means whole, complete, simple, pious, innocent, sincere, mild and perfect, then we have, the word Tom which means wholeness, simplicity, piety, innocence, sincerity, mildness and perfection. When breaking down 440 we come to the number 80, which is the atomic number of mercury, again mercury is the ruling planet of Gemini and Virgo, and Mercury too is the Messenger to the Gods, which is represented with wings, double wings, wings on his cap and wings on his feet.

Now in the last sentence the reference is to the Apocalypse, what really is the Apocalypse? To the Christians, Jehovah, and many other organized religions it means the dead to all life, the second coming of Jesus and the return of the living dead to come before judgment. When actually it means the coming of a new Aeon, Truth, an Awakening the revealing of all those things in which have been hidden, hidden to keep mankind under the organized religions and government control.

The Yezidi, who are they, where did they come from are they the lost line of the divine being? As we shall discover they are an ancient sect in which because of their anonymity and secrecy are called the original devil-worshippers, persecuted much like the witches during the times of the Inquisition and misunderstood due to their secrecy and isolation from society. Are the Yezidi really devil-worshippers, or are they simply those who deny materialism and do not accept the rules of society to control their way of living? Is this the root of all evil? Yes it can be when there is a lack of a connection to something much higher than ourselves. When looking at it from this angle then a large percentage of today’s society would be considered devil-worshippers. Let’s see who the Yezidi really are from the little that is known and or written about them we can see that this culture is far more advanced and learned than many societies are today.

The Yezidi are a Kurdish religion with Near Eastern/Middle Eastern pre-history roots and influences from the archaic Levantine [the crossing of Lebanon, Isreal, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Mesopotamian, Christianity, and Islam a syncretism combination of Zoroastrian, Manichaean, Jewish, Nestorian Christian, and Islamic elements. Its adherents, numbering fewer than 100,000, are found in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Armenia, the Caucasus, and Iran. Most speak Kurdish. They believe that they were created separately from the rest of humankind and segregate themselves from the rest of society. In Yazidi belief, seven angels, subordinate to a supreme but uninvolved God, rule the universe. The belief that God restored the Devil to his position as chief of the angels upon the Devil’s repentance has earned the Yazidi an undeserved reputation as Devil worshipers. Their chief saint is Sheikh ‘Adi, a 12th-century Muslim mystic. Their name derives from Yazid I (c. 645–683), from whose supporters they may be descended. The Elders or those who are learned are called Shaikh (pronounced; shin – yâ – khâ), also used in parts of South Asia to signify Arab descendent lineage. Today, it is used also to denote women of rich families, especially ruling families in the Arab countries.

They have many unique beliefs, such as that the first Yezidi were created by Adam by parthenogenesis separately from Eve. They believe that there was a flood before the flood of Noah. They also have a set of food taboos which include meat, fish, squash, okra, beans, cabbage and lettuce.

The Yezidi are one of three branches, being the minor and most obscure of the three quite separate yet interrelated cults of the yazata, yazd or yezad, the Persian word for “angel” or “angels” which still thrived in certain parts of Kurdistan. In total there are approximately anywhere from 500,000 to 700,000 today as to the 200,000 or less due to the holy war back in the 19th century. The main home for the Yezidi is Mogul, Iraq [northern Iraq] and then throughout the regions of Syria, Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Armenia. In 1832 the Beg Rawmanduz from the Seihan district having united most of Kurdistan and by forcing them out of fear of death to join him and become part of his military brought down upon the Yezidi a holy war, a holy war in which he was going to annihilate the Yezidi devil-worshippers. Beg Rawmanduz was not indiscriminate and besides murdering those who could not get away in time, he also butchered and murdered both the women and children. Because of this act of this massacre the mounds of Nineveh were called “Kuyunjik” “The slaughter of the sheep”. Other persecutions followed with as much brutality as the first there were three known attacks against the Yezidi, in 1847 when the Kurdish chief sent a delegation to the European powers outlining their grievances, interestingly Lord Stratford obtained for them in Constantinople recognition of their religion and exemption from military service. The Yezidi did not believe in war or any acts of military action towards another human being.

But the severest of all persecutions, to which I was on eye-witness, was perhaps the one which the Yezidi of both Šeiḫan and Sinjar suffered in 1892 at the hands of Fariḳ ‘Omar Paša, lieutenant-General of the Turkish Army. This Fariḳ was sent in the summer of 1892 as a special commissioner by the Sultan to accomplish certain definite things in the states of Mosul and Bagdad: to collect twenty years’ unpaid taxes; to induce the Bedouins to exchange their nomadic life for village life; to convert the Yezidis of Šeiḫan and Jabal Sinjar from their idolatry to the true faith. He was a harsh man in his manners and methods. He first invited some of their chiefs to Mosul. They came and listened to what the new Paša had to say. They met him when Mijlis al-Edarah, council of the state, composed of ‘Olama and a few Christians, was in session. In the presence of these noblemen he began to tell them that if they would give up their devil-worship, they would be rewarded with high place and rank, and would please the great Allah. But they answered not. When the Farik saw that his words failed to persuade them, he began to apply the weapon of cruelty. He cast them into prison; some died; others fled; and a few, through the fear of torture and painful death, pronounced al-šehâdah with their lips but not from their hearts. Then he sent an army to their villages, and commanded them to choose between Islam and the sword. ‘Omar Beg, his son, who was commanding the soldiers, directed them to slaughter the men, and take captives the pretty women and girls and marry them. He slew about five hundred men.

As we see similarities for the real reasons in which sects are persecuted, money and land, it is the only way to lay claim to the land and money is by accusing either a specific sect, or person of wrong doing this makes it possible for those accusing of such acts to take over all properties and lands of the group, sect or person, simply because they are different and do not conform to societies mannerism or belief systems.

The Yezidi are people of the country, or heathens. The Yezidi, choose to isolate themselves from the rest of society in order to keep their ways of the hills and mountain regions. The sow their own crops, weave their own linens, dye, wash their clothing in the river, bare children and live a life sheltered from society and any of the modern ways of living. They are uneducated and this is by choice, though as E.S. Drower in his book the Peacock Angel states that in starting to send their children to school, there was one woman who was the daughter of a King and married a Prince of the Yezidi that was educated and later after losing her daughter to malaria left her village and her husband to learn more of the world outside. This act is considered one punishable by death in the Yezidi society.

The Yezidi take seriously the care and preparation for the Ritual in which they honour Sheikh Adi the last incarnate who was known as the Peacock Angel. To entrée the shrine one has to be purified and travel over mountainous regions to get to where his shrine is kept. Travelling through oak woods [the Oak is sacred to Zeus as well, who as we know was married to Hera and the peacock was sacred to Hera], when arriving the pilgrims they must announce themselves prior to entrée the village where the festival shall commence. The Priesthood dresses in all white, while they only greet those special guests and the leader of the Yezidi by kissing them on the hand, while still mounted upon the horses back. Their saint is kept in an inner sanctuary/courtyard in which one must entrée barefoot, for only those priests and guests to attend; there too is an outer courtyard for all others. As well as with all Ancient Traditions if a woman is not clean she is not allowed to entree into this festival, this is also with weddings and the blessings of the newborns to new mothers, for one to entrées unclean is an ill omen and brings unknown evil onto others.

The peacock finds reference in the Greek myth, in the bible, and was known to the pharaoh of Egypt and to the 14th century Europe, where it was roasted and served to in its own plumage.

People descendents of the snake-charmers of Sheikhs Mand and Ruhsit as well as the Median Magi, these are the Magi in which followed the North Star to the birth of the New King Jesus, the King who would save the world and once again bring peace, harmony and fertility to the lands and the Yezidi are the last survivors of this faith of Magi. Within the Yezidi prophecy it is spoken of that Melek Taus will come again within the incarnation of one who shall be named Sheikh Mêdi or Mahdi – an avatar who will bear the blood and power of the ancient spiritual leaders of Media. Their name literally translates to Anglicans and the natures of their beliefs are surrounded by these beliefs which are focused around the indigenous breed of the angelic beings.

Taboos and Forbidden Foods

It is forbidden for them to eat lettuce (khass) because it resembles that of their Prophetess Khassa, the haricot beans, also to use dark blue dye, neither do they eat fish, out of respect for Jonah the prophet, nor gazelles, because these constituted the flock of one’s prophets. The Sheik and his disciples, moreover, eat not the flesh of the cock, out of respect for the peacock; for it is one of the seven Gods before mentioned, and his image is in the form of the cock. The Sheik and his disciples likewise abstain from eating pumpkin. It is, moreover, forbidden to us to make water standing, or to put on clothing while sitting, or to cleanse themselves in the privy as do the Mohammedans, or to perform their own ablutions in their baths. Neither it is not permitted to them to pronounce the names of their God, nor any other name that resembles the name of their God. They as the Muslims’’ do not eat pork for pork is a creature of evil and it is said to have the devil live within its soul, with a great many negative traits as well, as so described by Giordano Bruno in his work “Cantus Circaeus”. As the swine is so described to be the following; A is greedy, B is barbaric, C is inclined to dine, D is hard, E is erroneous, F is fetid, G is fond of fine foods, H is feeble, K is wilful, L is lustful, M is annoying, N is iniquitous, O is lazy, P is insolent, Q is complaining, R is rude, S is stupid, T is bloated, V is base (nature), X is demented, Y is eavesdropping, Z is inconstant, Psi no good unless dead. Then Circe goes onto to say the following about the swine; A is ungrateful, B unclean, C unwise, D unfaithful, E in constant, F impatient, G indiscrete, H rude, I impudent, K reckless, L incautious, M unlucky, N unskilled, O iniquitous, P inhuman, Q hard-hearted, R dishonest, S unhealthy, V intemperate, X base (nature), Y uncultured, Z inhospitable, Psi unmindful.

Mythological Significance

Another sacred creature that is sacred and venerated by the Yezidi is the black serpent; however, in this case the serpent is with poison as are all the serpents the Yezidi work with and charm with the art of fascination and it is with this power that they have control over the serpent.

The peafowl is prominent in the mythology and folklore of the Indian people. The Hindus consider the bird to be sacred because the god Kartikeya (son of the Lord Shiva and Parvati and brother to the god Ganesh) rides on its back. Legends hold that the peafowl can charm snakes and addle their eggs. Peacock always accompanies the images of Lord Krishna. And the beautiful peacock feather is also part of Lord Krishna’s crown.

Both the peacock and the ibis were objects of veneration because they destroyed the poisonous reptiles which were popularity regarded as the emissaries of the infernal gods. Because of the myriad of eyes in its tail feathers the peacock was accepted as the symbol of wisdom and on account of its general appearance it was often confused with the fabled phoenix of the Mysteries. There is a curious belief that the flesh of the peacock will not putrefy even though kept for a considerable time. As an outgrowth of this belief the peacock became an emblem of immorality, because the spiritual nature of man-like the flesh of this bird is incorruptible.

The Peacock Angel, Melek Taus, and Azázel have similar associations by their myths of falling into the world of man. Melek Taus as well as Azázel adds up to the number 26 equalling the number 8, when looking at the number 26 we find that it represents and is the path is between Tiphareth and Hod and corresponds to Ayin and the sign of Capricorn which is represented by the God Saturn and the animal the goat which is associated to Pan in Greek/Roman mythology and the rite of fertility. It is the atomic number of iron which is ruled by Mars the God of war and yet another God who was passionate in his matters of love, iron being a metal in which deflects all negative and dark magic. It is also associated to the Tetragrammaton which is one of the 72 secret names of God and also it is associated to Jehovah and YHVH, and is the number which means to honour; heavy and the liver. So here we see that the Peacock Angel is yet associated to the Christian God in which the Christians do not consider evil, so why the Yezidi would be honouring and worshipping evil when we can clearly see he is not, he is that of Light and all things good. When looking at the number 8 we also see yet another connection, that of the path of the Sephirah, Hod, Splendour it is the octagon, the ogdoad (The Ogdoad were eight deities who were the basis of the Egyptian creation myth during the Middle Kingdom. They were primarily worshipped in Heliopolis, but their aspects of the creation were combined in other areas with existing myths. Each one is a member of a masculine-feminine pair and each pair represents an aspect of the primordial chaos out of which the world was created.

They all came into being at the same time. Nun and Naunet represent the primordial seas, Kuk and Kauket represent the infinite darkness, Hu and Hauhet represent empty space, and Amun and Amaunet represent quintessence, or the secret powers of creation. The gods are usually depicted as men with the heads of snakes, the goddesses as women with the heads of frogs. Together they built an island in the middle of the vast emptiness and the egg that was placed upon it. From this egg, the sun god Atum was born, and he began the process of creating the world while the others withdrew). It is also the number of Sephiroth on the Sufi Tree of Life (to learn more on Sufism go here). It is the atomic number of oxygen which is the source of all living creatures and humanity. It is the word Ahab which means Love, Az meaning Then and Dadh which means breast which is the milk of the mother and all nourishment, lastly the word Vo which means; in itself, in the is, that in it all things are created and given life and breathe.

Also in relation to the Peacock Angel, Azázel is Atziluth who was also formed from the flames of fire and also associated with Garuda as being in the form of a Bird God, and is known as the Divine or Archtypical World, the first and highest of the four cabalistic worlds; he is also known as Olam ha Atziluth. He is associated with the Yod of Tetragrammaton and his secret name is Ab which means Father, his divine names being directly associated with the Sephirtoh are Kether, Chokmah, Binah, Chesed, Geburah, Eheieh, Yeh, YHVH Elohim, El, Elohim Gibor, Tiphareth-YHVH Eloah va Daath, Netzach-YHVH Tzabaoth, Hod-Elohim Tzabaoth, Yesod-Shaddai El Chai, and Malkuth-Adonai ha-Aretz, all these names are associated with Atziluth, his number being 537. 5+3+7=15, the 15th path is between Chokmah and Tiphareth and corresponds to Heh and Aries or Aquarius, one being ruled by Mars, fire and iron and the other by Saturn and the mystic number of the 5th path (Geburah) which is also the magic square of Capricorn (Saturn) which is directly associated with the goat.

The name of Hod which means Splendour; the eighth Sephirah, Aboha the Angel of the third decant of Sagittarius, Aviv which means Spring when they celebrate their New Year and all new life in which comes to life on the Earth. He is also Hehah the 41st name of Shem ha Mephorash which is associated to the 5 degree of Aquarius which is ruled by Saturn, then Hi which means Lamentation and then Och an Olympic Planetary Spirit of the Sun and then finally Yah which is the divine name associated with Chokmah, looking above in the previous paragraph we see that this is one of Atziluth’s divine names.

In his direct connection with the Goetic Demon Alloces he appears as a Solider riding a horse; very red face, like a lion’s, flaming eyes; speaks hoarsely and very big with powers that teach astronomy, and liberal sciences and he gives good familiars, his number being 57. Reversing this number to 75 he is known as Helel which is the brightness, the morning star, Lucifer (Apollo).

In Lev 16: 8-10 it states about Azázal; and then Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goat’s one lot for the Lord and the other for Azázal. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lost fell for Lord, and offer it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azázal shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azázal.

Much like Melek Taus, Azázal also refused to bow down before the Adam inasmuch, also saying he was above all of humanity just as Melek Taus is, and for such refusal he too was thenceforth dubbed “the accursed Satan”, just as Melek Taus is for the same reason, being born of the fire and an Angel and asking why if I am born of fire an Angel, why should I bow down before a son of clay, a mortal man. For this act and this act alone both are “accursed to be called Satan”.

Though knowing from my training and teachings we neither bow down before man either, we hold our heads up high and facing our Gods and the Goddesses for to bow is to be unworthy, and we are NOT unworthy to those who formed and created us out of the water and from that formed us each to be free and individual in all we do, think and say, does this too make us of the Old Religion “accursed”, no it does not.

“Within most Wiccan Traditions it is part of their etiquette to bow before those who are of a higher statue/status then the rest and this is not something in which I had ever felt to be something of anyone’s self worth or dignity, so suffice to say I never adhered to this rule or law within the Wiccan practices”.

An example of this was one year one of my then students had travelled with me and another and this year she was to meet my “True Mother”, the other who was travelling with us (not her teacher), told her she had to bow before my “True Mother” to show respect. Upon our arrival to her home she bowed as advised, but not by myself and my “True Mother” did and said the following; she put her hand gently under her chin and lifted her head to look her in the eyes and said, you NEVER bow before any man, nor the Gods, for I myself am nothing more than a mere ant to the Gods, but you always look to Heavens at them and never turn your head or eyes away from them. You are worthy. This has stuck with me for many, many years and even when I attend a Mass for someone who has passed over and returned home, I never bow my head down nor kneel, I stand up with my head facing the Heavens and my Gods and Goddesses.

In the book of Enoch Azázal is one of the leaders of the Watchers, the Watcher of the North as he is the guardian of the wilderness and the wild and goats all Northern and Southern Elements. Hence where the Church got their depiction of the devil and all evil, the devil and evil was not created by those who practiced/practice the Old Religion, only when the Church came into power did he begin to exist and bring evil and plague to the Earth.

“Book of Enoch, Chapter X: IV – VIII 4. And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dûdâêl, and cast him therein. 5. and place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there forever, and cover his face that he may not see light. 6. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. 8. And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.’

As we find in the Cygnus Mysteries, by Andrew Collins

“http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_cygnus02.htm, “they envisaged the Primal Cause, God himself, as a divine force that resided in the north. This was their kiblah, or direction of prayer, while Sabian feasts honouring the Mystery of the North regularly took place. Was it possible that the Sabian form of worship was a leftover from a much earlier epoch, when the earliest Neolithic temples were built in the same region?

The angel-worshipping Yezidi from Northern Iraq and Syria, and the Shiite sect known as the Brethren of Purity, all of which are descended from the Sabians of Harran.

Most usually it is the Pole Star, also known as the North Star that is the object of their veneration, even though originally this could not have been Polaris, the current Pole Star, due to the process of precession.

The Yezidi depicted Khuda as a bird called anfar, which was seen perched on top of a pole used in private services and called a sanjak. Since the anfar is identified as a dove, it can be equated with the pigeon bird idols venerated prior to the age of Mohammed at Mecca, originally a Sabian shrine.”

Belief in the Evil Eye, but not Evil

The Yezidi believe very much in the power of the evil eye as does my line of tradition the Strega and too ward it off they/we wear various talismans around our neck, arms and fingers yet the Yezidi do the same, however, the children especially the daughters wear more protection than that of their mother/s. In E.S. Drower’s Peacock Angel she speaks of a swift stream in which she was allowed to use for bathing in where there are many mulberry trees that grow there and the Yezidi consider them to be very sacred. The reason this is so, is because it is a tree of protection and strength and is said to have powers to ward off the evil eye and in other traditions in which honour the Old Ways it is crafted into a wand for this purpose, though I do not know if the Yezidi do this as well. When it comes to the evil eye they have few talismans in which they wear and or carry for protection, one such item is that of a small ball of clay in which is made out of the clay from their Saints tomb and then they are placed next to a muddy spring for protection. This is done once a year during the time of the Festival in which all gather to honour by bringing offerings of flowers and taking time in meditation.

When one with the affliction of the evil eye has been afflicted they are taken to a sacred rock cleft where those person/s who are afflicted with the influence of fascination i.e. evil eye deposit their gifts in order to alleviate from their misfortune/s. Those whom are more fearful of the influence of the evil are the Muslims’ and Christians they wear more talismans to ward off the evil eye than the Yezidi, they do this by sewing sacred items onto or into their clothing with blue buttons, which is the colour of the eye in which is hung around the home at the entrances, door knobs and in the windows to prevent the influence of the evil eye. Blue being the colour of the peacock and this is why this colour is used to deflect any influence from the evil eye. However, due this colour being so sacred to Melek Taus the Yezidi do NOT wear this colour at all.

What many do not know and it is not widely taught in today’s Craft of the more Neo – Pagan and New Age Traditions is that Evil has been always used to ward off Evil. When one is influenced by one form of magic that same form of magic is always used as the defence against that magic, this is how evil is destroyed, evil destroys evil.

The peacock and its feathers are widely associated with the evil eye due to the extremely powerful and hypnotic gaze that is has, this is one reason many associate the peacock with evil and the black arts, yet what many do not know is the gaze of a peacock is so powerful it can overpower serpents, this being the only creature that has this ability. Also the peacock is the only creature that other than Garuda has the ability to destroy any serpent that comes into its path.

Blue is the colour in which is given great respect in the Yezidi faith.

The Descendants of Noah

Who was Noah? What was his real name? Where did he really come from? Noah is one of Ea’s creations and Ea’s favourite human, so much so that when the other Gods decided that man had destroyed and misused what they had been taught, Ea warned Noah of this and told him when it would happen, yet also given him specific instructions on how to build such a strong vessel that he and his family would survive the inundation that was to come and wash away all of man and all he had created on the Earth. Noah’s real name is Utnapishtim and he came from the land of older Mesopotamia which was the Fertile Crescent which is today Iran and Iraq this is the true place of the Aryan people.

The people who are of this region many are born of fair skin, blond hair and sea blue eyes and these are the true descendants of Noah/Utnapishtim and these are the people of the Fertile Crescent region. Upon his birth as it was found in the Sumerian texts & Utnapishtim in the Akkadian version, Utnapishtim was in fact a demi-god which would mean that Ea was his Father as he was Ea’s favourite.

When Utnapishtim was born his earthly father Lamech said the following upon his birth; “His body was white as snow and read as the blooming of a rose and the hair on his head and his locks were white as wool, and his eyes were fair. And when he opened his eyes, he lighted up the whole house like the sun, and the whole house was very bright. And thereupon he arose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and conversed with the Lord of Righteousness”. Then Lamech saying; “I have begotten a strange son, diverse from and unlike Man, and resembling the sons of the God of Heaven; and his nature is different, and he is not like us… And it seems to me that he is not spring from me but from the Angels”.

Every year the Yezidi go to the place where Noah’s Ark made landfall after the waters of the deluge subsided to attend the annual sacrifices in which are made to their God by Utnapishtim the offerings of feast and drink.

Lastly, there is similar traits and teachings as well within my path in which the Yezidi had learned from Pythagoras himself in the caverns of the mountains which is where initiatory training took place to insure secrecy, there are also signs of Buddism within the same caverns and the learned of the Persian Magi.

One other is that the Yezidi spelt out over themselves, for they employ enormously long periods of tiem to calculate the age of the world. They say there have been 72 different Adams, each living a total of 10,000 years, each one more perfect than the last. In between each Adam has been a period of 10,000 years, during which no one inhabited the world. The Yezidi believe that the current world race is the product of the last of the seventy-two Adams, making the earth a maximum of 1,440,000 years old.

72 Adams, when looking at this number we see it is the number of quinances in the Zodiac (meaning the number of natures throughout the entire of the twelve signs as broken down by the three faces of each sign). It is also the number of name of Shem ha-Mephorash (Ancient tannaitic name of the Tetragrammaton), the number of Goetic Demons, the number of joints in the human body. It is the name of Ab; the secret name of the World of Atziluth; destiny, thickest, darkness; cloud, it is Advakiel the Archangel of Sagittarius it is Gilgul; revolving; transmigration, reincarnation.

Bibliography:

Bramley, William; The Gods of Eden

Bruno, Giordano; Cantus Circaeus; the Incantations of Circe Together with the Judiciary Being the Art of Memory

Collins, Andrew; Cygnus Mysteries

Collins, Andrew; From the Ashes of Angels; the Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race

Drower, E.S; Peacock Angel; The Mandaeans of “Iraq and Iran Folk-tales of “Iraq”, 1879

Joseph, Isya: Devil Worship: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz

Godwin David, Cabalistic Encyclopaedia

Hall, Manly P: Secret Teachings of All Ages

Resh, Meshaf i; The Black Book

Sennitt, Stephen; The Demon of the South-West Wind (online article)

Sitchin, Zecharia; Divine Encounters

Internet Sources:

http://www.wild-india.com/IndianAnimals/peacock.html

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Yazidis

http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/ogdoad.htm

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_cygnus02.htm

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=593&letter=S

Yezedi In America

I came across this interesting article on the Yezedi, ethnic Kurdish 'Satanists', in Nebraska. Yes Virginia there are ethnic Satanists in America. But not the kind you think. They don't refer to themselves as Satanists. And in fact they are an earlier tradition of the Gnostic religions of the region.

The Yezedi of Lincoln, Nebraska

Avishay Artsy

DECEMBER 8, 2007

When you come up to the north side of a grey duplex, it looks like any other home in this working-class Lincoln neighborhood.

But step inside, and you find men with beards and mustaches sitting cross-legged on pillows and smoking cigarettes. Kawil Hassan offers me a steaming cup of sweet Iraqi tea. He's the unofficial leader of the Yezidi community here, and right now they're all getting ready to celebrate their big holiday.

The Yezidis call their God Ezid, and this week's holiday is also called Ezid. Yezidis say it's to remember when Ezid appeared to them as a bright light in the sky, around 6,000 years ago. That places the founding of their religion well before the Judeo-Christian tradition. This year, Ezid starts at three a.m. on Tuesday with an early meal, followed by a short nap. Kawil's daughter Layla says they won't eat or drink again until sundown.

"We get up around seven a.m., before the sun comes out, and wash our face and pray, she explains, as her father recites the prayer in Kurdish.

Kawil recites the names of the seven angels and their leader, the Peacock Angel. For three days, the Yezidis will fast and pray, asking for forgiveness and for peace. They haven't seen much of the latter. The Yezidis are a religious minority in a rough part of the world, and they keep count of all the times they've been invaded throughout history. Things didn't get any better under Saddam Hussein. Around the time Layla was born, 19 years ago, her father and several other Yezidi men were rounded up by Iraqi police. They put Kawil Hassan in prison for 45 days. There, he says he was beaten, shocked with electrified cables and immersed headfirst in ice-cold water.

"They thought that we were too religious, too connected to our religion, and they would find any excuse to take us, Layla says.

When the first Gulf War broke out two years later, Saddam Hussein began forcing Yezidi men to join his army. Kawil decided to make a run for it. He and his family hid in caves until they could make it across the border into Syria. They lived there for seven years, in a United Nations refugee camp. Layla remembers it well.

"They brought us blankets and they would help us, but still, we didn't have a future… The bread that they brought us was full of bugs and stuff, she says.

They didn't forget their religion and traditions. They still fasted for three days on Ezid.
On the fourth day, Layla and the other children would sing, and dance, and collect candy from the other Yezidis.

"I would get up early in the morning, take one of the bags that we'd get from the store, and visit every camp that was in the village, and I would visit it and ask for candy, she recalls.

Layla's family made it to the U.S. in 1998. But their problems didn't go away. It's hard for them to explain their religious restrictions to people in Lincoln. They don't wear the color blue, because they believe it offends God. They don't eat lettuce. And on the rare occasion their religion makes the news, it's because of something horrible. On one day last August, suicide bombers killed about 300 Yezidis in northwest Iraq. Kawil Hassan watched the coverage on TV and says it was like reliving a nightmare.

Then I came across this comment in another post on the Yezedi. Which helps explain the popular misconception that they are 'Satanists'.

Mr. Beamish the Instablepundit said...

I was at my father's house surfing through his dead tree collection (his library) and I came across a book called Jadoo (1957) an autobiographical work by paranormal researcher John Keel (of Mothman Prophecies fame) and one chapter in that book is entitled "An invitation from the Devil" and is about time he spent among the Yezedi in Iraq.

According to Keel, the Yezedi are highly secretive and will not openly talk about their religion - devil worship - but from glimpses he gathered of it, it is primarily motivated by fear. The Yezedi do believe in God, but do not worship him, having the belief that God is supremely benevolent so no harm can come from not worshipping him. The Devil, on the other hand, being evil, must be kept sated or bad things will happen. They even forbid spitting on the ground to keep from offending Satan, who to them lives underground.

Strangely enough, Keel reported that the Yezedi he encountered all wanted him to stress to others that they were a peaceful people that just wanted to be left alone, that "Satan would take care of them."

It's a interesting read, I hope you can find the book in a library or online somewhere.

That and references by Anton LaVey to them in his Satanic Bible which may have been influenced by John Keel's book Jadoo. Much like tales of Zombies in Haiti were influenced by journalist and occultist William Seabrook's; Magic Island.

As a distant religious belief, many non-Yazidi people have written about them, and ascribed facts to their beliefs that have dubious historical validity. For example, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft made a reference to "... the Yezidi clan of devil-worshippers" in his short story "The Horror at Red Hook". The Yezidis have also been claimed as an influence on Aleister Crowley's Thelema. More notably, Anton Lavey drew upon the Yezidis for his own philosophy, LaVeyan Satanism, (e.g. The Law of the Trapezoid) in the "Satanic Bible" and "Satanic Rituals". In addition; The Order of the Peacock Angel, an obscure secret society based in the London suburb of Putney loosely based its rites on Yezidi beliefs as well.

in The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey refers to the Yazidi as "a sect of Devil worshippers", and interprets their beliefs as follows:

They believe that God is all-powerful, but also all-forgiving, and so accordingly feel that it is the Devil whom they must please, as he is the one who rules their lives while here on earth.

Keel was apparently followed in the footsteps of P.B. Randolph who also got a mysterious invitation from the Sheik Baba, of the Yezedi to learn of their ways. Unlike Randolph who was an accomplished magickian and occultist, Keel was an accomplished stage magician and skeptic who from his experiences became a believer in the paranormal.


The Yezedi's creation mythos sounds strikingly familiar perhaps because their deity Malek Taus has been mistaken for the Fallen Angel of Judaeo-Christian-Isalmic mythology.

No one knows exactly how many Yezedis are left in the world though it’s estimated that 100,000 live here in northwestern Iraq, along the Sinjar Mountains.

The Yezedis are an insular people who have their own customs. They never wear the color blue or eat lettuce.

They have kept their religion alive through oral history and have falsely come to be known as devil worshippers because they are followers of the fallen angel, Lucifer.

The Yezedis, however, believe Lucifer was forgiven by God and returned to heaven. They call him Malek Taus (the peacock king) and pray to him. They do not ever use the word “Satan.”

Yezidi Creation Legend

The Yezidi (Yazidi) cosmology and religion is non-dual. They thus acknowledge an inactive, static and transcendental God who created, or "became", Seven Great Angels, the leader of which was Tawsi Melek, the Peacock "King" or Peacock "Angel".

Leading up to the creation of the cosmos, many Yezidis believe that the Supreme God was originally "over the seas", a notion reminiscent of the Biblical passage: "And the Spirit of God (as seven Elohim) moved upon the face of the waters." While playing with a white pearl, state the Yezidis, their Supreme God cast it into this cosmic sea. The pearl was broken and served as the substance from which the Earth and other planets and stars came into being.

The Supreme God then created or manifested a vehicle for completing the creation of the universe. This was the first and greatest angel, Tawsi Melek, the Peacock Angel. Since Tawsi Melek embodied the power and wisdom of the Supreme God he was easily able to know and carry out His bidding. Six more Great Angels were then created to assist Tawsi Melek in his work.

Soon after the Earth was created it began to shake violently. Tawsi Melek was then dispatched to Earth to stop the planet's quaking, as well as to endow it with beauty and abundance. When Tawsi Melek descended to Earth, he assumed the form of a glorious peacock - a bird full of the seven primary and secondary colors. Landing in a place now known as Lalish, Tawsi Melek transferred his peacock colors to the Earth and endowed it with a rich flora and fauna.

Tawsi Melek then traveled to the Garden of Eden to meet Adam. The first human had been created without a soul, so Tawsi Melek blew the breath of life into him. He then turned Adam towards the Sun, symbol of the Supreme Creator, while stating that there was something greater than a human being and it should be worshipped regularly. Tawsi Melek then chanted a prayer for all humanity to daily repeat to the Creator, and he did so in the 72 languages that were going to be eventually spoken by the 72 countries and races that were destined to cover the Earth.

Then Eve was created. But according to the Yezidis before copulating the primal couple enrolled in a kind of competition to see if either of either of them could bring forth progeny independent of the other. They both stored their seed in a sealed jar and then after an incubation period opened them. Eve's jar was opened and found to be full of insects and vermin, while inside Adam's jar was a beautiful boy-child. This lovely child, known as Shehid bin Jer, “Son of Jar,” grew quickly, married, and had offspring. His descendants are the Yezidis. Thus, the Yezidis regard themselves descendants of Adam but not Eve.

Shehid bin Jer inherited the divine wisdom that Tawsi Melek had taught his father Adam and then passed it down to his offspring, the earliest Yezidis. It is this wisdom that has become the foundation of the Yezidi religion.

And they are getting more recognition because of articles like this.

Armenia’s Yezidis in Geographical

Yezidis, Alagyaz, Aragatsotn Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 1998

My feature article and photographs for Geographical, the magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, were meant to be published in the January 2008 edition, but now it looks like it’s already been published in the December issue. Unfortunately, the full text of the article is not available online yet, but when it is I’ll post another link and an excerpt. Until then, this is what Geographical has for now.

A people divided

Armenia’s Yezidi people practise one of the purest versions of Kurdish culture, but, as Onnik Krikorian discovers, outside forces have riven the small community.

My last published article on Yezidis in Armenia was for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and can be read online here, and many of the transcripts of the interviews I’ve done since 1998 are here. Also, until the full Geographical article can be read online, there’s plenty of posts and links to previous articles on Yezidis in Armenia and Georgia under the relevant category.

Because of America's invasion of Iraq the world now hears more about the plight of the Kurds and the Yezedi in particular not only in Iraq but in Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Iran, etc. Unfortunately for them they are not only a persecuted ethnic minority, but a persecuted religious minority and a politically persecuted one as well as many Yezedi villages support the PKK. Which are now under attack by Turkish forces.

"The syncretic volatility of the region has only been enhanced (as
has our knowledge of these groups) by the ethnic, political and
military tensions that have waxed and waned after the "Great Game"
and most especially since the Gulf War, which brought far more
contact with the Yezidi as a result of Saddam Hussein's Kurdish
purges. Furthermore, the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) has
garnered both support and antagonism from various sectors of the
Yezidi community, and many Yezidi Kurds fled the Turkish - Iraqi
border to Germany where they have their own online and print
magazine [12] - as well as a World Conference [13] to discuss the
intricacies of their metaphysics and social structure. As more
details emerge about their religious history, we may find that
cross-pollination will occur back into the western Hermetic
tradition and its own angelick cultus."
http://www.disinfo.com/pages/article/id1340/pg1/

also
http://www.disinfo.com/pages/article/id1340/pg1/
http://www.disinfo.com/pages/dossier/id985/pg1/

SEE:

The Yezedi

Satan Made Him Do It

Bulgarian Women Abused

My Favorite Muslim

Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani

Antinominalist Anarchism

New Age Libertarian Manifesto

Heresy

Gnosis

Gnostic

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