The Yazidi (also Yezidi, Êzidî, Yazdani, ایزدیان, Եզդիներ, Езиды) are a Kurdish endogamous ethno-religious community who practice an ancient syncretic religion linked to Zoroastrianism and early Mesopotamian religions.[11][12][13] They live primarily in the Nineveh Province of northern Iraq, a region once part of ancient Assyria. Additional communities in Armenia, Georgia and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s, their members having migrated to Europe, especially to Germany.[14] The Yazidi believe in God as creator of the world, which he has placed under the care of seven holy beings or angels, the chief (archangel) of whom is Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. In Zoroastrian-like tradition, the Peacock Angel embodied humanitys potential for both good (light) and bad (dark) acts, and due to pride temporarily fell from Gods favor, before his remorseful tears extinguished the fires of his hellish prison and he reconciled with God. Some followers of other monotheistic religion jokingly or mistakenly re-cast the Peacock Angel as the unredeemed evil deity Satan[15][16], which has incited centuries of persecution of the Yazidi as devil worshippers by some followers of these religions. Persecution of Yazidis has continued in their home communities within the borders of modern Iraq, under both Saddam Hussein and fundamentalist Sunni Muslim revolutionaries.[17] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 12:57:55 +0000
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