Kurdish Satanists? The Yezidis, Lucifer's rainbow & the peacock cult

[Niemand]

Pavaangyal.jpg (22.04 KiB) Viewed 426 times

Hated and persecuted by their Muslim neighbours, do the Yezidis worship Satan or are they a valid religion? What is their curious link to the modern LGBTQIA+ movement?

Intro
The Yezidis are a group I've been dimly aware of for some time, but know little or nothing about. The lack of sources in the west don't help. Their religion is strange, fascinating and perhaps sinister.

Anyone who has followed recent Middle Eastern events closely can't fail to notice the Kurds. Assad of Syria persecutes them. Turkey persecutes them. Saddam Hussein of Iraq persecuted them. Other countries such as Iran/Persia have persecuted them. The Kurds are arguably the largest stateless nation in the world and may number as many as 45 million, bigger than many European nations or Canada. Like the Irish and Basques, they have notable paramilitary movements which has fought against various governments.

Most Kurds are Muslims, but a few up in remote areas belong to a weird little group called the Yezidis. I first became aware of the Yezidis many years ago, and read about how they venerated the peacock and angels. More recently, I read on an LDS forum how someone had been teaching some Yezidis in the USA – normally the idea of an angel bringing a new faith created a barrier, but these Yezidis apparently took it in their stride during the missionary discussions.

I don't know a great deal about the Yezidis, even today, but their existence raises a lot of questions. Are they victims of unjustified Muslim prejudice? Are they really devil-worshippers? Is their rainbow angel and their peacock symbol an eerie foreshadowing of modern movements in the west? Can we learn anything from them? Is their religion a mishmash of others? Personally, I suspect Yezidism is the native nature religion of the Kurds, with some Islamic and other elements thrown in. Recent atrocities against them:

https://www.nrc.no/news/2018/december/f ... e-yazidis/

Name and locations
This group goes by several names:
* Yezidi with numerous spelling variants (included for the search algorithm): Yazidi, Yazidism, Yezidism, Yazīdī, Yezīdī, Azīdī, Zedī, Izadī, Êzidî, Yazdani, Azidi, Zedi, Izadi, Ezidi etc.
* Sharfadin
* Dasinî
* Miletê Tawûsê Melek (the nation of Tawuse Melek or the Peacock Angel)

The origins of the Yezidi name is disputed, and may come from a caliph or a phrase meaning "servant of the creator". Although I haven't seen this commented on elsewhere, the word Yezidi resembles some of the names given to Jews in various parts of the world. This is probably a coincidence, but it is worth flagging up. Maybe its origins lie with Kurdish Jews who went apostate.

Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yazidi

primarily in northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, the Caucasus region, and parts of Iran.

Wikipedia:

The majority of Yazidis remaining in the Middle East today live in Iraq, primarily in the governorates of Nineveh and Duhok.

Yezidi grave in Germany. Note the Islamic style name.

There are about a million Yezidis and most (700K) live in Iraq. There are thousands in Russia, Germany (a whopping 200K thanks to its longterm immigration policies, mostly from Turkey), the USA (10K), Syria (10K) etc.

Because the history of the Yezidis is complex, I am not going to discuss most of it here. There is some info online about this.

Beliefs

Yezidi temple

I'll deal with their scriptures in the replies.

The Satanic claims revolve partly around the angel cult in Yezidism. EndlessQuestions' thread on the Left Hand (Occult) path briefly mentions the Yezidis as possible devil-worshippers.
viewtopic.php?p=1366186&hilit=Yezidi#p1366186

Okay, quotes from Chapter One of "Lords of the Left-Hand Path", which may or may not be rubbish...

Let's start with the Table of Contents:

Part way down that list we find:

Islam and the Left-Hand Path 66
The Assassins and the Old Man of the Mountain 68
The Yezidi Devil Worshippers 69

Ouch! This notoreity comes partly from Islam. In the Koran, it is claimed that Satan (Iblis) refused to bow to Adam under Allah's command, and was punished for it. A similar idea occurs among the Yezidi sect, but with a twist... In their version, the Peacock Angel or Tawûsî Melek whom they revere, refused to bow to Adam, because he thought it was a test of loyalty to God/Allah himself who was the only one to be venerated. This puts a more positive spin on things, but it also suggests that Tawusi Melek is one and the same as Satan. (The Ethiopian Christian scripture 3 Meqabyan also claims Satan wouldn't bow to Adam, so this must have been an old and widespread tradition. The Ethiopian version may even predate the Koran, but they don't like Satan either!)

Adam_and_the_Angels_watched_by_Iblis.jpg (102.93 KiB) Viewed 426 times

Iblis (Satan) refuses to bow to Adam, the Muslim version

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Yazīdī mythology says that they were created quite separately from the rest of humankind, being descended from Adam but not from Eve, and as such they seek to keep themselves segregated from the people among whom they live. Marriage outside the community is forbidden.

Two things to observe here.
* Firstly, the two seed idea, which pops up in some Christian traditions including the LDS. Note that they say that they are not descended from Eve, which has profound implications.
* Secondly, their in-marriage practice and segregation resembles other Middle Eastern sects such as the Druze, but also the Jews. (I suggest that there are hints that this may be a Jewish sect gone rogue above.)

Yezidism seems to incorporate many other religions. Among those suggested are Judaism, Christianity, Islam especially of the Shia variety, Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, native Paganism, Nestorianism, Gnosticism, Buddhism, Hinduism and other lesser known religions in the region. There are hints of a kind of gnostic background or Deism in that a creator/demiurge has abandoned the world and handed it over to angels. Wikipedia:

The Yazidi myth of creation begins with the description of the emptiness and the absence of order in the Universe. Prior to the World's creation, God created a dur (white pearl) in the spiritual form from his own pure Light and alone dwelt in it. First there was an esoteric world, and after that an exoteric world was created.

Before this, seven angels were created, one of which is Tawuse Melek or the Peacock Angel (and possible Satan figure). The seven (arch)angels are in line with some Judeo-Christian traditions plus Zoroastrianism's aspects of Ahura Mazda (their supreme being). The other six archangels are referred to some Yezidi traditions as Cibrayîl (Gabriel), Ezrayîl (Azrael), Mîkayîl (Michael), Şifqayîl (Zadkiel/Hasdiel), Derdayîl (Sarathiel? Sariel?), Ezafîl (the Islamic Israfil?), and Ezazîl (Azazel)
The world was handed to them and their leader the Peacock Angel.Britannica again:

The Yazīdī cosmogony holds that a supreme creator god made the world and then ended his involvement with it, leaving it in the control of seven divine beings. The chief divine being is Malak Ṭāʾūs (“Peacock Angel”), who is worshipped in the form of a peacock. Malak Ṭāʾūs has often been identified by outsiders with the Judeo-Christian figure of Satan, causing the Yazīdīs to be inaccurately described as Devil worshippers. An important role in Yazīdī worship is played by bronze or iron peacock effigies called sanjaqs, which are circulated from town to town. Tradition holds that there were originally seven sanjaqs; it is thought that at least two still exist.

The peacock is an interesting choice. Its tail feathers are multicoloured and the rainbow is also used among the Yezidis as a symbol of Tawusi Melek (the Peacock Angel). This may be the remnants of a very pagan animal cult/totem, or it may be something more sinister. Wikipedia

when Tawûsî Melek descended to earth, the seven colours of the rainbow transformed into a seven-coloured bird, the peacock, which flew around every part of earth to bless it, and its last resting place was in Lalish. Hence, in Yazidi mythology, the rainbow is linked with Tawûsî Melek and it is believed that he shows his blessing with the sign of rainbow

In Judeo-Christianity, the rainbow is associated with God's promise after the Flood. More recently, the rainbow has become the symbol of the gay and lesbian movement and diversity. It is curious that it is linked here with a being who is arguably Satan. The Bible says Satan may turn up as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), as his name Lucifer (light-bearer) implies. And what is the rainbow but light divided through distortion? Satan also considers himself Lord of this World. While I doubt most Yezidis consciously worship Satan, and would adamantly deny doing so, there are some very odd aspects to their religion which appear to link the Peacock Angel with him. Britannica:

The breaking of divine laws is expiated by way of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, which allows for the progressive purification of the spirit. Sheikh ʿAdī, the chief Yazīdī saint, is believed to have achieved divinity through metempsychosis. Heaven and hell are also included in Yazīdī mythology.

So transmigration/reincarnation (like the Druze), apotheosis/eternal progression and acceptance of realms like Heaven and Hell. The archangels can incarnate into human beings, usually noted Yezidi religious leaders. They have complex food taboos, which again leads me to suspect there may be some Jewish influence here. The caste system suggests some Hindu influence, and there are influences from all over. Britannica

The Yazīdī belief system is highly concerned with religious purity, and so Yazīdīs follow a multiplicity of taboos governing aspects of daily life. A variety of foods are forbidden, as is blue clothing. The word Shayṭān (Satan) is not pronounced, and other words with a phonetic resemblance are also avoided. Contact with outsiders is discouraged, and for that reason Yazīdīs have in the past sought to avoid military service and formal education. A strict caste system is observed.

Yezidi temple in Armenia, the world's largest.

Wikipedia (it is unclear how X is supposed to be pronounced here). Hints of sun-worship (facing east like our chapels), fire-worship (resembling Zoroastrianism), but are they monotheistic or not? The seven archangels suggest henotheism, and they also have hints of a trinitarian/triadic view of God elsewhere

Yazidis believe in one God, whom they refer to as Xwedê, Xwedawend, Êzdan, and Pedsha ('King'), and, less commonly, Ellah [Allah/El] and Heq. According to some Yazidi hymns (known as Qewls), God has 1,001 names, or 3,003 names according to other Qewls. In Yazidism, fire, water, air, and the earth are sacred elements that are not to be polluted. During prayer Yazidis face towards the sun, for which they were often called "sun worshippers".

Huffington Post's article makes some different claims. It says they do not believe in Hell (contradicted by other sources and the same article), and that they believe Tawuse Melek/Peacock Angel created the world's flora and fauna. It says the Yezidis baptise and circumcise. More predictably, they reaffirm the statement that Yezidis are not devil worshippers.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ ... _n_5671903

He [Tawuse Melek] was then thrown into Hell, until his tears of remorse quenched the fires and he became reconciled to God. He now serves as an intermediary between God and humanity.

Or are we misreading this?

According to the Rev. Prof Patrick Comerford, a lecturer at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, "In early Christianity, the peacock symbolized the Resurrection and immortality because it was believed its flesh does not decay." This characteristic, as well as the peacock's brilliant colors, may factor into this understanding of the angel.

I'll try and summarise some content on their scriptures below in the replies. Unfortunately I haven't read their works except for excerpts.

This is part of my ongoing series on Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical works:
I have also incorporated a few threads on on religions related to Christianity. In the context of Tawuse Melek's cult, the ones on 3 Meqabyan, the Koran and Zoroastrianism are probably the most relevant.

1 Esdras inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1343974

2 Esdras (the most relevant book in the Apocrypha?) inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1344302

1 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69454

2 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69468

3 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69496

4 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69515

Book of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy/Jeremiah
viewtopic.php?t=69433

Book of Tobit inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1341501

Apocryphal additions to Esther inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1343414

Bel and the Dragon (quoted in full, KJV; inc audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?t=69261

Prayer of Azarias and Hymn of the Three Children (quoted in full KJV, inc. audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?p=1341611

Book of Judith and the Book of Mormon, inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?t=69402

Book of Susanna inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?t=69386

Wisdom of Solomon
viewtopic.php?t=69469

Book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
viewtopic.php?t=69412

Prayer of Mannases (aka Mannaseh; quoted in full KJV, inc. audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?t=69263

Psalm 151 (quoted in full, NRSV)
viewtopic.php?t=63875

Four Apocryphal Psalms - 152, 153, 154, 155
viewtopic.php?t=69985

Epistle to the Laodiceans (NT, quoted in full Wycliffe's translation, )
viewtopic.php?t=64025

The Book of Odes - this is an Eastern Orthodox work of limited interest, but included for the sake of completeness.
viewtopic.php?t=69470

The Gospel of Nicodemus or Acts of Pilate, as tested on Mennonites
viewtopic.php?t=69760

Outside the Western and Eastern Orthodox Canon...

The Ethiopian canon. This includes brief info on the books of Sinodos, Ethiopian Clement, Ethiopian Covenant, and Didascalia as well as a list of other works in the canon.
viewtopic.php?t=69540

The Book of Enoch
viewtopic.php?t=69577

Book of Jubilees (Apocrypha) aka the Little Genesis or Leptogenesis - Cain, Moses, Enoch, Nephilim
viewtopic.php?t=69548

1 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon), another lost book?
viewtopic.php?t=69855

2 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon), - the return of Tsirutsaydan
viewtopic.php?t=69971

3 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon) a Question of Satan, another lost work?
viewtopic.php?t=70277

3 Corinthians (Armenian canon)
viewtopic.php?t=69567

Other works
The Shepherd of Hermas - inspired literature or pagan trash?
viewtopic.php?t=69650

The Epistle of Barnabas (NT Apocrypha) - link between OT and NT, or not?
viewtopic.php?t=69679

1 Clement: Papist propaganda or a window into the early church?
viewtopic.php?p=1368842

2 Clement: Inclement Gnosticism?
viewtopic.php?t=70327&hilit=Clement

The Didache or Teachings of the Apostles
viewtopic.php?t=69698

The Two Apocalypses of Peter: Guides to the universe or sadism? The ancient Apocalypse of Peter and the Arabic Apocalypse of Peter.
viewtopic.php?t=70682

A post on the Restored Branch, an English LDS microsect and its canon which includes works from the Nag Hammadi and Gnostic texts: these are the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Phillip, the Gospel of Truth (sic), the Letter of the Apostle Paul, the Sophia (Wisdom) of Jesus the Christ, the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles and the Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip.
viewtopic.php?t=70413

And
Antilegomena: the books which barely made it into the Bible - Revelation, Esther, Song of Songs, James etc
viewtopic.php?p=1350652

Is Q canonical? How about the Gospel of Thomas? The answer's more complicated than you think.
viewtopic.php?t=69715

The LDS Bible Dictionary on Lost Books and non-canonical works referred to in the Bible.
viewtopic.php?t=69805

On other interrelated religions:
The Samaritans, their canon and its significance
viewtopic.php?t=69905

My thread about the Koran, and its use of figures from the Bible, the Apocrypha and extracanonical material. How useful a source is the Koran itself? Does it have any real extra information on Biblical figures? This is something of work in progress.
viewtopic.php?t=70169

Was Zoroaster/Zarathustra a lost prophet of God? Some surprising links between this largely forgotten figure and Judaism, plus the Gathas.
viewtopic.php?t=65938

[Niemand]

https://www.yezidisinternational.org/ab ... /religion/

One of the important facets of the Yezidi religion is their belief in reincarnation. Reincarnation essentially means that the soul is imperishable, is not destroyed and changes body after death. In Kurmanji, the Yezidi
language, they call it Kiras Guhorin (changing of garments). Reincarnation is applicable to even the Gods and implies that one’s personal God is not greater but equal to others. That makes the Yezidis the most peaceful community in the middle east. [Sic] The concept of reincarnation is spiritually intertwined into the Yezidis from an early age.

Yazidis believe that the Seven Holy Beings are periodically reincarnated in human form, called a koasasa.

A kind of family sealing:

Each Yezidi during his life undergoes a ritual wherein they become bonded spiritually to a brother and sister of their faith from a family different from the one they are born into.The spiritual sibling relationship is established to assist the Yezidi soul into next life. According to Yezidi beliefs, one’s heavenly brother and sister will be waiting to assist one’s soul when one departs from this world, and act as guide for the soul through their journey in the spiritual world... With hell extinguished and together with reincarnation, the Yezidis believe that the soul is born again and again into perfection till it merges into heaven, based on a concept which is akin to Karma.

This is almost identical to the Koran's account except the angel in question is not condemned:

The archangels obeyed except for Tawûsê Melek. In answer to God, Tawûsê Melek replied, “How can I submit to another being! I am from your illumination while Adam is made of dust.” Then God praised him and made him the leader of all angels and his deputy on the Earth.

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.

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.

Multiple floods:

the Garden of Eden era corresponds to a Golden Age of wisdom and prosperity that once covered the planet. After this time of great spiritual light humankind increasingly resorted to self-serving behavior and darkness set in. A series of floods were then released to cleanse the Earth, the most recent of which occurred about 6,000 years ago

[Robin Hood]

I don't know much about the Yezidis. I would be surprised if their presence amongst the Kurds was the reason for Muslim states persecution. The Kurds are simply disliked by everyone in the region that isn't a Kurd.
The Muslims also mercylessly persecute the Bahai's. They just don't tolerate any apostate religion.

[Niemand]

I don't know much about the Yezidis. I would be surprised if their presence amongst the Kurds was the reason for Muslim states persecution. The Kurds are simply disliked by everyone in the region that isn't a Kurd.
The Muslims also mercylessly persecute the Bahai's. They just don't tolerate any apostate religion.

The Kurds are mostly mountain people which means that they were probably some of the last to become Muslim. They have never managed to organise themselves into any coherent political structure, even in Iraq. I know they gave the British Empire trouble and that the RAF did some of its earliest bombing raids against them.

I think the Yezidi religion is a pagan cult which has been overlaid by all the various religions which have strayed into the area, including some form of Muslim-derived Satanism which has somehow worked its way in there. (It parallels some movements in the west which try and claim Lucifer/Satan is somehow the "real" Saviour of mankind.) They're probably not evil people in general but they have picked up some dubious beliefs.

I used to go to school with a Bahai brother and sister. I particularly remember the sister. Very good looking blonde, but a probable sociopath. I don't think either of them practice anymore. I dislike the globalist aspects of the Bahais, but don't think they deserve anything like the persecution the Iranians give them. (They are right in the sense God gives continuing revelation, unlike the Muslims.) Some people I know go to interfaith events, and there is nearly always a Bahai there, even though they're thin on the ground. They're big into that. Some of them even claim Joseph Smith was a prophet.

[Robin Hood]

I don't know much about the Yezidis. I would be surprised if their presence amongst the Kurds was the reason for Muslim states persecution. The Kurds are simply disliked by everyone in the region that isn't a Kurd.
The Muslims also mercylessly persecute the Bahai's. They just don't tolerate any apostate religion.

The Kurds are mostly mountain people which means that they were probably some of the last to become Muslim. They have never managed to organise themselves into any coherent political structure, even in Iraq. I know they gave the British Empire trouble and that the RAF did some of its earliest bombing raids against them.

I think the Yezidi religion is a pagan cult which has been overlaid by all the various religions which have strayed into the area, including some form of Muslim-derived Satanism which has somehow worked its way in there. (It parallels some movements in the west which try and claim Lucifer/Satan is somehow the "real" Saviour of mankind.) They're probably not evil people in general but they have picked up some dubious beliefs.

I used to go to school with a Bahai brother and sister. I particularly remember the sister. Very good looking blonde, but a probable sociopath. I don't think either of them practice anymore. I dislike the globalist aspects of the Bahais, but don't think they deserve anything like the persecution the Iranians give them. (They are right in the sense God gives continuing revelation, unlike the Muslims.) Some people I know go to interfaith events, and there is nearly always a Bahai there, even though they're thin on the ground. They're big into that. Some of them even claim Joseph Smith was a prophet.

Some Bahai's will accept Joseph Smith as a Seer, but not a prophet. In the Bahai faith a prophet is perfect and sinless.
A Seer is not on the same level as a prophet, but is considered to be inspired by God.

[dreamtheater76]

I’m glad you brought this up. A few years ago I heard a caller on local radio station in Utah KTALK speak about this very subject. I remember it clearly because it was something I was completely unaware of. Because of the lack of information I didn’t know where to start looking on any of this.
Thanks for sharing.

[Rubicon]

The Kurds are mostly mountain people which means that they were probably some of the last to become Muslim. They have never managed to organise themselves into any coherent political structure, even in Iraq. I know they gave the British Empire trouble and that the RAF did some of its earliest bombing raids against them.

I'm quite interested in the Kurds. According to Hugh Nibley (whose argument and documentation I find to be convincing on this subject), Abraham was a Kurd and came from Ur of the Kurdees (not Ur of the Chaldees, in southern Iraq near Basra, as most scholars and people think). There was a northern Ur in Syria referenced in the Ebla tablets (per Nibley), and there was a pronunciation shift of "l" to "r" that makes Chaldees/Kurdees a possibility. I think the Kurds are a special people with a lot of competency and national "something" there.

In my mission in northern Germany in the mid 90s, we weren't allowed to teach anyone from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon (because of the risk to missionaries, investigators, and families. This was only a few years before 9-11, and the Hamburg cell was the perpetrators there) or Israel (because of agreements made to bring in the Jerusalem Center. The third in command in Kurdistan was baptized right before I was transferred to my last area (the sisters didn't understand where he was from). I'm glad he was baptized, because he was a good convert. His German was good, and he integrated well into the ward, and he was a serious student of the restored gospel. People (many scary people) visited him throughout the day and conferred with him, and when they buzzed to be let in, he would put away his scriptures and pictures (Jesus, the temple, etc.) and tell us "These people coming up you would call terrorists. They cannot ever know that I was baptized, or you are dead, I am dead, and my family back home is dead." And they had a dark feeling about them, with dark eyes.

I used to tease him by saying I couldn't find Kurdistan on a map. "It's right there!" he would say, point to near Mosul. "That says Iraq," I would tease him.

I hope they get their independence from Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq and are an independent country some day.

[Rubicon]

I don't think Yazidis are Satan worshippers. They have a pagan theology focusing on angels, but I think it's far from worshipping the angel cast out of heaven.

They are famed for the beauty of their women, and have been subjected to unspeakable rape from Muslims, who want blue-eyed Yazidi women. They are a very closed, secretive community, like the Druzes in Lebanon.

[Niemand]

I don't think Yazidis are Satan worshippers. They have a pagan theology focusing on angels, but I think it's far from worshipping the angel cast out of heaven.

The problem is that there are connections between Tawuse Melek (the Peacock Angel) and Satan:
* He was the angel who refused to bow to Adam. In both Islamic and Ethiopian Christian lore, this is said to be Satan.
* He took over the Earth after the Creator (Demiurge) walked away.
* He was in Hell, but his tears put the fire out.
* He claims to be intermediary rather than Jesus Christ.
* His use of the rainbow.
* Yezidi refusal to use the word Satan (or variants), which is a kind of insult against the Devil, meaning the Adversary.
* We can deduce from one of the lists who Tawuse Melek is not: Gabriel, Azrael, Michael, Zadkiel etc.

But do the Yezidis deserve the terrible things which have happened to them? A firm no. The recent treatment of Yezidi women in Syria is barbaric.

I think Lucifer's paw prints are on a lot of this religion, but its followers are not knowingly following evil. Lucifer does not usually use direct deception, but prefers to sugar the pill.

Most of their doctrine is oral and unwritten.

They are famed for the beauty of their women, and have been subjected to unspeakable rape from Muslims, who want blue-eyed Yazidi women. They are a very closed, secretive community, like the Druzes in Lebanon.

A lot of the pictures I've seen of them show blue eyed people. I suspect they're probably very inbred as the Samaritans and Druze are. The Samaritans have got to the point where the endogamy has had to stop, because there are too few.

I'm planning on writing on the Mandaeans (which I can find some info on) and the Druze (which I can't really). I suspect there is an ancient connection between the Druze and the Yezidis, since they have some similar influences. Druze, Yezidis and Mandaeans all have a gnostic influence too.

[Niemand]

I think NBC's logo is very well designed, and distinctive. It was obviously meant to show off colour television in the old days. But I post it here because it is another example of the link between the peacock and the rainbow.

[Niemand]

Vice is a pretty crappy news source, which pretends to be indy media (it's not), but this ìs one of their better articles and a few bits of info can be gleaned from this article which quotes from their scriptures. It makes one key mistake. Yezidis do not refer to the Peacock Angel directly as Satan.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/gq8mxx/ ... epe-is-172

The parallels between the Peacock Angel and the Satan we’re more familiar with can be baffling—Melek Taus is God’s most important angel, his commander-in-chief in this world, which was also his original role in the Abrahamic traditions. He’s also a fallen angel who rebelled against God and was subsequently cast into Hell; but in the Yazidi cosmology, after 40,000 years his tears quenched Hell’s flames and God forgave and reinstated him.

The Yezidi religion seems to rely more on the oral tradition than anything being written foen

This hints at the complex, ambiguous, almost human quality of Melek Taus. In the Mishefa Re, the holy book the Yazidis believe to be his revealed word, he tells us:

“I give and take away; I enrich and impoverish; I cause both happiness and misery … All treasures and hidden things are known to me; and as I desire, I take them from one and bestow them upon another.”

The conundrum of free will, as also found in modern Mormonism.

“I allow everyone to follow the dictates of his own nature, but he that opposes me will regret it sorely.”

The Peacock Angel grants free will and knowledge, but in this version of the Eden story, Gabriel tells Adam to eat from the tree, but the Peacock Angel suggests eating grain to him instead.

One of Melek Taus’ symbols is fire, and he can illuminate as well as burn. He’s responsible for granting mankind knowledge and free will, and in an intriguing twist on the familiar Garden of Eden story, he first initiates Adam with forbidden fruit:

“[God] commanded Gabriel to escort Adam into Paradise, and to tell him that he could eat from all the trees, but not of wheat. Here Adam remained for a hundred years […] Melek Taus visited Adam and said, ‘Have you eaten of the grain?’ He answered, ‘No, God forbade me.’ Melek Taus replied and said, ‘Eat of the grain and all shall go better with thee.’”

You can’t convert or intermarry into Yazidism. They’re a people set apart, a distinct ethnic group who’ve always lived in a corner of the Turkey-Iraq borderland that folk memory across the wider region recalls as the location of the Garden of Eden. All very well, you might say—the Garden of Eden’s just a myth. But have you heard of Gobekli Tepe? ... These giant stones formed a large circular sacred site that had mysteriously been buried under tons of earth in distant antiquity, the rocks adorned with beautiful carvings of snakes, boars and strange bird-gods that the Yazidi swear they easily and instantly recognise as depictions of Melek Taus and their other angels.

The wheat species first domesticated in ancient European and Asian agriculture all descended from a common ancestor: “einkorn” wheat, which just happens to be the very same indigenous species of these ancestral Yazidi heartlands. Which makes the small detail of Satan bringing Adam knowledge by introducing him to grain rather than apples in the Yazidi version of the Eden story suddenly seem very significant... So, the Yazidis are descended from the original inhabitants of the garden of Eden and worship a bird-god called Satan, who brought mankind out of the Stone Age with the forbidden fruit of agriculture, right? Who knows.

Latest Apocrypha
The First and Second Books of Adam and Eve (the Conflict with Satan)
viewtopic.php?t=70846

[Good & Global]

Neimand have you considered how the angel closely resembles another name?

Melek = Moloch, Molech, Molek? This was the god they sacrificed the children to in the Old Testament.

It is often represented by a statue of an owl so a bird god too. I would look at Yezidi I am almost certain I have heard something like that somewhere and it was related to the same sort of worship.

Tawûsî = Peacock
Melek = Angel

This angel comes down to earth to have power over it and help man.

Additionally, their doctrine - angel made it so there is no hell, reincarnation and they worship the sun.

http://yazidis.info/en/news/85/religion ... wuse-melek

[Niemand]

Neimand have you considered how the angel closely resembles another name?

Melek = Moloch, Molech, Molek? This was the god they sacrificed the children to in the Old Testament.

It is often represented by a statue of an owl so a bird god too. I would look at Yezidi I am almost certain I have heard something like that somewhere and it was related to the same sort of worship.

Tawûsî = Peacock
Melek = Angel

This angel comes down to earth to have power over it and help man.

Additionally, their doctrine - angel made it so there is no hell, reincarnation and they worship the sun.

http://yazidis.info/en/news/85/religion ... wuse-melek

I hadn't thought in terms of Moloch, but I was going down a different line. "Melek" resembles the Semitic word for "king". I wondered if that was the root. "Tawusi" vaguely resembles the Indo-European words for "god" (Latin "deus", Greek "theos", Modern Welsh "duw", Sanskrit "deva".) I'm sure some linguist would probably quibble over both these derivations.

There are multiple spellings of Tawusi Melek as you've probably noticed. Yezedism seems to be primarily an oral religion not a written one like ours.

Kurdish is an Indo-European language, not Semitic. That means it's distantly related to English, and Hittite, but that wouldn't stop some Semitic words crossing over. (As they have in English.) I know next to nothing about the Kurdish language.

There are quite a few bird gods. I suppose that makes sense as birds can fly, so early people's would have admired them for that alone. Maybe not peacocks so much, as they can barely fly!!! In classical mythology, the owl is the symbol of Athena/Minerva (goddess of wisdom, and patron of Athens). The peacock is the symbol of Juno/Hera, the wife of Jupiter/Zeus, king of the Roman/Greek gods. Juno/Hera frequently got annoyed with her husband because he was philandering with various human women and would punish them. Greece and Rome did once rule the Kurdish region so this isn't as far fetched as it sounds. I think Yezidis have roots that go way back.

Göbekli Tepe which is in Kurdish country, in the SE of Turkey, is one of the oldest known towns in history and heavily features bird gods. It seems to have been old when Egypt was young. Egypt had numerous bird headed gods. Another place which does is Easter Island, where there are a lot of bird glyphs.

[Niemand]

Some info on etymologies etc from the Irish Times. There are one or two mistakes in these quotes.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/m ... -1.1894940

Some say they are descended from Yazid bin Muawiyah (647-683), the second of the Umayyad dynasty of Islamic caliphs, and others say the name Yazidi comes from the Old Iranian yazata (“divine being”). But Yazidis believe their name comes from the word Yezdan or Ezid, meaning “God,” and simply means “worshippers of God”

Others say Daasin, the name Yazidis use for themselves, is derived from the name of a diocese in the Nestorian Church, the ancient Church of the Assyrians in the Mesopotamian region.

I suggested above that there maybe some link up with Judaism. Here it is suggested there is a Christian connection.

Children are baptised at birth by a priest, circumcision is often practised, and a form of Communion with blessed bread is shared at weddings.

In early Christianity, the peacock symbolised the Resurrection and immortality because it was believed its flesh does not decay. But another name for Malak Tawous is Shaytan, the name in the Koran for Satan. Yet Yazidis are forbidden to speak the name Shaytan, and hold that the source of evil is in human hearts.

Yezidis do not call him Satan, but rather refuse to that name.

Yazidis believe they are descended from Adam alone through his son Shehid bin Jer, born without Eve as his mother. Every Yazidi is born into either a priestly or lay family and inter-marriage between the castes is prohibited. The priestly families form two groups – the sheikhs who preside at major religious festivals and the pirs who officiate at births, marriages and funerals. But this caste system is about religious duties rather than privilege or wealth.

Yazidis traditionally believe in the reincarnation or the transmigration of souls, which they liken to changing clothes so that the soul can attain spiritual purification. But, like the neighbouring Alawis and Druze, it is not possible for outsiders to convert to Yazidism – one must be born a Yazidi.

Latest Apocrypha etc
The Book of Gad the Seer, a work referred to in the Old Testament which may have been preserved by a small group of Jews in India. Some of its content is stunning including references to a sacrificed lamb who is sent by God and the future tribulation.
viewtopic.php?t=71421

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: are these lost books of the founders of each Tribe of Israel or a later forgery?
viewtopic.php?t=71314

The Ascension of Isaiah, visions of Christ and Antichrist
viewtopic.php?t=71598

The Book of the Cock – an unfortunately named gospel still in current use in Ethiopia.
viewtopic.php?t=71338

The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, an early endorsement of Paul or a forgery?
viewtopic.php?p=1400884

Celtic legends about the Bible, including the visits of Biblical figures to western Europe, the Michael Line, Holy Grail/Arthurian legend, and Pontius Pilate. Discusses the Lost Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles (the Sonnini Manuscript), Magna Tabula Glastonia, writings of Nicephorus, Leabhar Gabhala/Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of Settlements), the Mabinogion etc. Also discussed the modern Kolbrin Book and the Gospel of Kailedy, plus the ideas of William Comyns Beaumont.
viewtopic.php?t=71061

[Wolfwoman]

Fascinating stuff.

I thought the story of Adam and Eve putting their seed into a jar and seeing what comes from it to be interesting. So they have their own kind of immaculate conception or virgin birth story with the boy child being found in Adam’s jar. Who did the boy marry, I wonder?
And how did Eve put her seed into a jar, since ova can pretty much only be taken out surgically or aspirated out with a needle.
The immaculate conception of Mary was that she was created and conceived without sperm, so it’s an opposite story to that.

The thing about not wearing blue was interesting too. I remember learning that blue either did not exist in our world anciently or it was not recognized as a separate color and did not have a name.
And one of the sources I was learning about it from had to do with Azazel who is also supposed to be a fallen Angel in some religions.

[fractal_light_harvest]

Pavaangyal.jpg

Hated and persecuted by their Muslim neighbours, do the Yezidis worship Satan or are they a valid religion? What is their curious link to the modern LGBTQIA+ movement?

Intro
The Yezidis are a group I've been dimly aware of for some time, but know little or nothing about. The lack of sources in the west don't help. Their religion is strange, fascinating and perhaps sinister.

Anyone who has followed recent Middle Eastern events closely can't fail to notice the Kurds. Assad of Syria persecutes them. Turkey persecutes them. Saddam Hussein of Iraq persecuted them. Other countries such as Iran/Persia have persecuted them. The Kurds are arguably the largest stateless nation in the world and may number as many as 45 million, bigger than many European nations or Canada. Like the Irish and Basques, they have notable paramilitary movements which has fought against various governments.

Most Kurds are Muslims, but a few up in remote areas belong to a weird little group called the Yezidis. I first became aware of the Yezidis many years ago, and read about how they venerated the peacock and angels. More recently, I read on an LDS forum how someone had been teaching some Yezidis in the USA – normally the idea of an angel bringing a new faith created a barrier, but these Yezidis apparently took it in their stride during the missionary discussions.

I don't know a great deal about the Yezidis, even today, but their existence raises a lot of questions. Are they victims of unjustified Muslim prejudice? Are they really devil-worshippers? Is their rainbow angel and their peacock symbol an eerie foreshadowing of modern movements in the west? Can we learn anything from them? Is their religion a mishmash of others? Personally, I suspect Yezidism is the native nature religion of the Kurds, with some Islamic and other elements thrown in. Recent atrocities against them:

https://www.nrc.no/news/2018/december/f ... e-yazidis/

Name and locations
This group goes by several names:
* Yezidi with numerous spelling variants (included for the search algorithm): Yazidi, Yazidism, Yezidism, Yazīdī, Yezīdī, Azīdī, Zedī, Izadī, Êzidî, Yazdani, Azidi, Zedi, Izadi, Ezidi etc.
* Sharfadin
* Dasinî
* Miletê Tawûsê Melek (the nation of Tawuse Melek or the Peacock Angel)

The origins of the Yezidi name is disputed, and may come from a caliph or a phrase meaning "servant of the creator". Although I haven't seen this commented on elsewhere, the word Yezidi resembles some of the names given to Jews in various parts of the world. This is probably a coincidence, but it is worth flagging up. Maybe its origins lie with Kurdish Jews who went apostate.

Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yazidi

primarily in northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, the Caucasus region, and parts of Iran.

Wikipedia:

The majority of Yazidis remaining in the Middle East today live in Iraq, primarily in the governorates of Nineveh and Duhok.

Yezidi grave in Germany. Note the Islamic style name.

There are about a million Yezidis and most (700K) live in Iraq. There are thousands in Russia, Germany (a whopping 200K thanks to its longterm immigration policies, mostly from Turkey), the USA (10K), Syria (10K) etc.

Because the history of the Yezidis is complex, I am not going to discuss most of it here. There is some info online about this.

Beliefs

Yezidi temple

I'll deal with their scriptures in the replies.

The Satanic claims revolve partly around the angel cult in Yezidism. EndlessQuestions' thread on the Left Hand (Occult) path briefly mentions the Yezidis as possible devil-worshippers.
viewtopic.php?p=1366186&hilit=Yezidi#p1366186

Okay, quotes from Chapter One of "Lords of the Left-Hand Path", which may or may not be rubbish...

Let's start with the Table of Contents:

Part way down that list we find:

Islam and the Left-Hand Path 66
The Assassins and the Old Man of the Mountain 68
The Yezidi Devil Worshippers 69

Ouch! This notoreity comes partly from Islam. In the Koran, it is claimed that Satan (Iblis) refused to bow to Adam under Allah's command, and was punished for it. A similar idea occurs among the Yezidi sect, but with a twist... In their version, the Peacock Angel or Tawûsî Melek whom they revere, refused to bow to Adam, because he thought it was a test of loyalty to God/Allah himself who was the only one to be venerated. This puts a more positive spin on things, but it also suggests that Tawusi Melek is one and the same as Satan. (The Ethiopian Christian scripture 3 Meqabyan also claims Satan wouldn't bow to Adam, so this must have been an old and widespread tradition. The Ethiopian version may even predate the Koran, but they don't like Satan either!)

Adam_and_the_Angels_watched_by_Iblis.jpg
Iblis (Satan) refuses to bow to Adam, the Muslim version

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Yazīdī mythology says that they were created quite separately from the rest of humankind, being descended from Adam but not from Eve, and as such they seek to keep themselves segregated from the people among whom they live. Marriage outside the community is forbidden.

Two things to observe here.
* Firstly, the two seed idea, which pops up in some Christian traditions including the LDS. Note that they say that they are not descended from Eve, which has profound implications.
* Secondly, their in-marriage practice and segregation resembles other Middle Eastern sects such as the Druze, but also the Jews. (I suggest that there are hints that this may be a Jewish sect gone rogue above.)

Yezidism seems to incorporate many other religions. Among those suggested are Judaism, Christianity, Islam especially of the Shia variety, Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, native Paganism, Nestorianism, Gnosticism, Buddhism, Hinduism and other lesser known religions in the region. There are hints of a kind of gnostic background or Deism in that a creator/demiurge has abandoned the world and handed it over to angels. Wikipedia:

The Yazidi myth of creation begins with the description of the emptiness and the absence of order in the Universe. Prior to the World's creation, God created a dur (white pearl) in the spiritual form from his own pure Light and alone dwelt in it. First there was an esoteric world, and after that an exoteric world was created.

Before this, seven angels were created, one of which is Tawuse Melek or the Peacock Angel (and possible Satan figure). The seven (arch)angels are in line with some Judeo-Christian traditions plus Zoroastrianism's aspects of Ahura Mazda (their supreme being). The other six archangels are referred to some Yezidi traditions as Cibrayîl (Gabriel), Ezrayîl (Azrael), Mîkayîl (Michael), Şifqayîl (Zadkiel/Hasdiel), Derdayîl (Sarathiel? Sariel?), Ezafîl (the Islamic Israfil?), and Ezazîl (Azazel)
The world was handed to them and their leader the Peacock Angel.Britannica again:

The Yazīdī cosmogony holds that a supreme creator god made the world and then ended his involvement with it, leaving it in the control of seven divine beings. The chief divine being is Malak Ṭāʾūs (“Peacock Angel”), who is worshipped in the form of a peacock. Malak Ṭāʾūs has often been identified by outsiders with the Judeo-Christian figure of Satan, causing the Yazīdīs to be inaccurately described as Devil worshippers. An important role in Yazīdī worship is played by bronze or iron peacock effigies called sanjaqs, which are circulated from town to town. Tradition holds that there were originally seven sanjaqs; it is thought that at least two still exist.

The peacock is an interesting choice. Its tail feathers are multicoloured and the rainbow is also used among the Yezidis as a symbol of Tawusi Melek (the Peacock Angel). This may be the remnants of a very pagan animal cult/totem, or it may be something more sinister. Wikipedia

when Tawûsî Melek descended to earth, the seven colours of the rainbow transformed into a seven-coloured bird, the peacock, which flew around every part of earth to bless it, and its last resting place was in Lalish. Hence, in Yazidi mythology, the rainbow is linked with Tawûsî Melek and it is believed that he shows his blessing with the sign of rainbow

In Judeo-Christianity, the rainbow is associated with God's promise after the Flood. More recently, the rainbow has become the symbol of the gay and lesbian movement and diversity. It is curious that it is linked here with a being who is arguably Satan. The Bible says Satan may turn up as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), as his name Lucifer (light-bearer) implies. And what is the rainbow but light divided through distortion? Satan also considers himself Lord of this World. While I doubt most Yezidis consciously worship Satan, and would adamantly deny doing so, there are some very odd aspects to their religion which appear to link the Peacock Angel with him. Britannica:

The breaking of divine laws is expiated by way of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, which allows for the progressive purification of the spirit. Sheikh ʿAdī, the chief Yazīdī saint, is believed to have achieved divinity through metempsychosis. Heaven and hell are also included in Yazīdī mythology.

So transmigration/reincarnation (like the Druze), apotheosis/eternal progression and acceptance of realms like Heaven and Hell. The archangels can incarnate into human beings, usually noted Yezidi religious leaders. They have complex food taboos, which again leads me to suspect there may be some Jewish influence here. The caste system suggests some Hindu influence, and there are influences from all over. Britannica

The Yazīdī belief system is highly concerned with religious purity, and so Yazīdīs follow a multiplicity of taboos governing aspects of daily life. A variety of foods are forbidden, as is blue clothing. The word Shayṭān (Satan) is not pronounced, and other words with a phonetic resemblance are also avoided. Contact with outsiders is discouraged, and for that reason Yazīdīs have in the past sought to avoid military service and formal education. A strict caste system is observed.

Yezidi temple in Armenia, the world's largest.

Wikipedia (it is unclear how X is supposed to be pronounced here). Hints of sun-worship (facing east like our chapels), fire-worship (resembling Zoroastrianism), but are they monotheistic or not? The seven archangels suggest henotheism, and they also have hints of a trinitarian/triadic view of God elsewhere

Yazidis believe in one God, whom they refer to as Xwedê, Xwedawend, Êzdan, and Pedsha ('King'), and, less commonly, Ellah [Allah/El] and Heq. According to some Yazidi hymns (known as Qewls), God has 1,001 names, or 3,003 names according to other Qewls. In Yazidism, fire, water, air, and the earth are sacred elements that are not to be polluted. During prayer Yazidis face towards the sun, for which they were often called "sun worshippers".

Huffington Post's article makes some different claims. It says they do not believe in Hell (contradicted by other sources and the same article), and that they believe Tawuse Melek/Peacock Angel created the world's flora and fauna. It says the Yezidis baptise and circumcise. More predictably, they reaffirm the statement that Yezidis are not devil worshippers.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ ... _n_5671903

He [Tawuse Melek] was then thrown into Hell, until his tears of remorse quenched the fires and he became reconciled to God. He now serves as an intermediary between God and humanity.

Or are we misreading this?

According to the Rev. Prof Patrick Comerford, a lecturer at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, "In early Christianity, the peacock symbolized the Resurrection and immortality because it was believed its flesh does not decay." This characteristic, as well as the peacock's brilliant colors, may factor into this understanding of the angel.

I'll try and summarise some content on their scriptures below in the replies. Unfortunately I haven't read their works except for excerpts.

This is part of my ongoing series on Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical works:
I have also incorporated a few threads on on religions related to Christianity. In the context of Tawuse Melek's cult, the ones on 3 Meqabyan, the Koran and Zoroastrianism are probably the most relevant.

1 Esdras inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1343974

2 Esdras (the most relevant book in the Apocrypha?) inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1344302

1 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69454

2 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69468

3 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69496

4 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69515

Book of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy/Jeremiah
viewtopic.php?t=69433

Book of Tobit inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1341501

Apocryphal additions to Esther inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1343414

Bel and the Dragon (quoted in full, KJV; inc audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?t=69261

Prayer of Azarias and Hymn of the Three Children (quoted in full KJV, inc. audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?p=1341611

Book of Judith and the Book of Mormon, inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?t=69402

Book of Susanna inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?t=69386

Wisdom of Solomon
viewtopic.php?t=69469

Book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
viewtopic.php?t=69412

Prayer of Mannases (aka Mannaseh; quoted in full KJV, inc. audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?t=69263

Psalm 151 (quoted in full, NRSV)
viewtopic.php?t=63875

Four Apocryphal Psalms - 152, 153, 154, 155
viewtopic.php?t=69985

Epistle to the Laodiceans (NT, quoted in full Wycliffe's translation, )
viewtopic.php?t=64025

The Book of Odes - this is an Eastern Orthodox work of limited interest, but included for the sake of completeness.
viewtopic.php?t=69470

The Gospel of Nicodemus or Acts of Pilate, as tested on Mennonites
viewtopic.php?t=69760

Outside the Western and Eastern Orthodox Canon...

The Ethiopian canon. This includes brief info on the books of Sinodos, Ethiopian Clement, Ethiopian Covenant, and Didascalia as well as a list of other works in the canon.
viewtopic.php?t=69540

The Book of Enoch
viewtopic.php?t=69577

Book of Jubilees (Apocrypha) aka the Little Genesis or Leptogenesis - Cain, Moses, Enoch, Nephilim
viewtopic.php?t=69548

1 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon), another lost book?
viewtopic.php?t=69855

2 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon), - the return of Tsirutsaydan
viewtopic.php?t=69971

3 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon) a Question of Satan, another lost work?
viewtopic.php?t=70277

3 Corinthians (Armenian canon)
viewtopic.php?t=69567

Other works
The Shepherd of Hermas - inspired literature or pagan trash?
viewtopic.php?t=69650

The Epistle of Barnabas (NT Apocrypha) - link between OT and NT, or not?
viewtopic.php?t=69679

1 Clement: Papist propaganda or a window into the early church?
viewtopic.php?p=1368842

2 Clement: Inclement Gnosticism?
viewtopic.php?t=70327&hilit=Clement

The Didache or Teachings of the Apostles
viewtopic.php?t=69698

The Two Apocalypses of Peter: Guides to the universe or sadism? The ancient Apocalypse of Peter and the Arabic Apocalypse of Peter.
viewtopic.php?t=70682

A post on the Restored Branch, an English LDS microsect and its canon which includes works from the Nag Hammadi and Gnostic texts: these are the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Phillip, the Gospel of Truth (sic), the Letter of the Apostle Paul, the Sophia (Wisdom) of Jesus the Christ, the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles and the Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip.
viewtopic.php?t=70413

And
Antilegomena: the books which barely made it into the Bible - Revelation, Esther, Song of Songs, James etc
viewtopic.php?p=1350652

Is Q canonical? How about the Gospel of Thomas? The answer's more complicated than you think.
viewtopic.php?t=69715

The LDS Bible Dictionary on Lost Books and non-canonical works referred to in the Bible.
viewtopic.php?t=69805

On other interrelated religions:
The Samaritans, their canon and its significance
viewtopic.php?t=69905

My thread about the Koran, and its use of figures from the Bible, the Apocrypha and extracanonical material. How useful a source is the Koran itself? Does it have any real extra information on Biblical figures? This is something of work in progress.
viewtopic.php?t=70169

Was Zoroaster/Zarathustra a lost prophet of God? Some surprising links between this largely forgotten figure and Judaism, plus the Gathas.
viewtopic.php?t=65938

Great post. Thank you for posting! Interesting about the NBC logo stuff too.

[larsenb]

I don't think Yazidis are Satan worshippers. They have a pagan theology focusing on angels, but I think it's far from worshipping the angel cast out of heaven.

The problem is that there are connections between Tawuse Melek (the Peacock Angel) and Satan:
* He was the angel who refused to bow to Adam. In both Islamic and Ethiopian Christian lore, this is said to be Satan.
* He took over the Earth after the Creator (Demiurge) walked away.
* He was in Hell, but his tears put the fire out.
* He claims to be intermediary rather than Jesus Christ.
* His use of the rainbow.
* Yezidi refusal to use the word Satan (or variants), which is a kind of insult against the Devil, meaning the Adversary.
* We can deduce from one of the lists who Tawuse Melek is not: Gabriel, Azrael, Michael, Zadkiel etc.

But do the Yezidis deserve the terrible things which have happened to them? A firm no. The recent treatment of Yezidi women in Syria is barbaric.

I think Lucifer's paw prints are on a lot of this religion, but its followers are not knowingly following evil. Lucifer does not usually use direct deception, but prefers to sugar the pill.

Most of their doctrine is oral and unwritten.

They are famed for the beauty of their women, and have been subjected to unspeakable rape from Muslims, who want blue-eyed Yazidi women. They are a very closed, secretive community, like the Druzes in Lebanon.

A lot of the pictures I've seen of them show blue eyed people. I suspect they're probably very inbred as the Samaritans and Druze are. The Samaritans have got to the point where the endogamy has had to stop, because there are too few.

I'm planning on writing on the Mandaeans (which I can find some info on) and the Druze (which I can't really). I suspect there is an ancient connection between the Druze and the Yezidis, since they have some similar influences. Druze, Yezidis and Mandaeans all have a gnostic influence too.

Don't forget to peruse what Nibley had to say about the Mandaeans. As I recall, he thought they followed what he called the Rhekabite (sp?)movement, characterized by Jews/Israelites who were led out of Israel for the Lord's purposes, much like Lehi. I.e, they had Israelitish origins. And in their case, they were moved into the marshlands of southern Iraq.

They also have their own scriptures, apparently.

[Peeps]

This is compelling:

[Bonhoeffer]

The Kurds are mostly mountain people which means that they were probably some of the last to become Muslim. They have never managed to organise themselves into any coherent political structure, even in Iraq. I know they gave the British Empire trouble and that the RAF did some of its earliest bombing raids against them.

I'm quite interested in the Kurds. According to Hugh Nibley (whose argument and documentation I find to be convincing on this subject), Abraham was a Kurd and came from Ur of the Kurdees (not Ur of the Chaldees, in southern Iraq near Basra, as most scholars and people think). There was a northern Ur in Syria referenced in the Ebla tablets (per Nibley), and there was a pronunciation shift of "l" to "r" that makes Chaldees/Kurdees a possibility. I think the Kurds are a special people with a lot of competency and national "something" there.

In my mission in northern Germany in the mid 90s, we weren't allowed to teach anyone from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon (because of the risk to missionaries, investigators, and families. This was only a few years before 9-11, and the Hamburg cell was the perpetrators there) or Israel (because of agreements made to bring in the Jerusalem Center. The third in command in Kurdistan was baptized right before I was transferred to my last area (the sisters didn't understand where he was from). I'm glad he was baptized, because he was a good convert. His German was good, and he integrated well into the ward, and he was a serious student of the restored gospel. People (many scary people) visited him throughout the day and conferred with him, and when they buzzed to be let in, he would put away his scriptures and pictures (Jesus, the temple, etc.) and tell us "These people coming up you would call terrorists. They cannot ever know that I was baptized, or you are dead, I am dead, and my family back home is dead." And they had a dark feeling about them, with dark eyes.

I used to tease him by saying I couldn't find Kurdistan on a map. "It's right there!" he would say, point to near Mosul. "That says Iraq," I would tease him.

I hope they get their independence from Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq and are an independent country some day.

That sounds fascinating! We had a young man in our ward who served in Turkey and he spoke of teaching many Syrian refugees who would take the messages of what they learned back to Syria to teach others there. Who knows if that was actually true but it’s what he shared with us. The mission was closed while he was there & missionaries were sent somewhere else without their families even knowing.
We also have a sister in our ward whose parents were the last mission presidents in Iran before the Americans were taken hostage. She was there as a youth with them.

[Rubicon]

My daughter recently served in thae Alpine mission (S. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein), and those same restrictions no longer exist. But, that was 30 years ago.

[Niemand]

I don't think Yazidis are Satan worshippers. They have a pagan theology focusing on angels, but I think it's far from worshipping the angel cast out of heaven.

The problem is that there are connections between Tawuse Melek (the Peacock Angel) and Satan:
* He was the angel who refused to bow to Adam. In both Islamic and Ethiopian Christian lore, this is said to be Satan.
* He took over the Earth after the Creator (Demiurge) walked away.
* He was in Hell, but his tears put the fire out.
* He claims to be intermediary rather than Jesus Christ.
* His use of the rainbow.
* Yezidi refusal to use the word Satan (or variants), which is a kind of insult against the Devil, meaning the Adversary.
* We can deduce from one of the lists who Tawuse Melek is not: Gabriel, Azrael, Michael, Zadkiel etc.

But do the Yezidis deserve the terrible things which have happened to them? A firm no. The recent treatment of Yezidi women in Syria is barbaric.

I think Lucifer's paw prints are on a lot of this religion, but its followers are not knowingly following evil. Lucifer does not usually use direct deception, but prefers to sugar the pill.

Most of their doctrine is oral and unwritten.

They are famed for the beauty of their women, and have been subjected to unspeakable rape from Muslims, who want blue-eyed Yazidi women. They are a very closed, secretive community, like the Druzes in Lebanon.

A lot of the pictures I've seen of them show blue eyed people. I suspect they're probably very inbred as the Samaritans and Druze are. The Samaritans have got to the point where the endogamy has had to stop, because there are too few.

I'm planning on writing on the Mandaeans (which I can find some info on) and the Druze (which I can't really). I suspect there is an ancient connection between the Druze and the Yezidis, since they have some similar influences. Druze, Yezidis and Mandaeans all have a gnostic influence too.

Don't forget to peruse what Nibley had to say about the Mandaeans. As I recall, he thought they followed what he called the Rhekabite (sp?)movement, characterized by Jews/Israelites who were led out of Israel for the Lord's purposes, much like Lehi. I.e, they had Israelitish origins. And in their case, they were moved into the marshlands of southern Iraq.

They also have their own scriptures, apparently.

I will cover them at some point but it will have to be second hand because there isn't much information about them and I haven't read their books myself.

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