I recently came across mention in National Geographic of an Iraqi religous sect called the Yazidi. I understand it is an ancient religion and appparently they worship the classical Judeo/Muslim/Christian Angels. I haven’t been able to find too much out about them, aside from some superficial facts (It seems they have dietary prohibitions against eating lettuce and butterbeans.). I am more interested in their religous texts and doctrine. Anybody have the straight dope on the Yazidi religion?
Hadn’t heard about them until I came across this yesterday:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=468225
It’s questionable just how ancient it can be said to be. Although it’s dated back to 2000 BCE by some, who claim it to be the original Kurdish religion, it seems to have picked up elements of everyhing from Zoroastrianism to Islam over the years. There was also a major reformation in the 12th century CE, and its unclear how much ideological continuity there was. Yazidi are unbelievably close-mouthed and exclusionary, so the details of their beliefs are unclear.
Yazidi accept no converts, do not intermarry, even with other Kurds, believe their ancestors to have been separately created from the rest of humanity, and consider that excommunication is equivalent to death in the next world, so you probably won’t be able to find out too much about the Yazidi religion.
It is not true that Yazidi worship angels of the Abrahamic religions, although their subordinate deities are identified with those angels. Their principal belief seems to be a Zoroastrian/Gnostic syncretism, with an impersonal supreme god and seven subordinate created demiurges. The foremost of these demiurges, Malak Ta’us, is identified with Satan/Iblis, giving the Yazidi a wholly undeserved reputation as devil worshippers.
One of the characters in “Top 10”, King Peacock, is apparently a Yazidi because he is said to worship Satan and often calls upon “Melek Taus”. I don’t recall if the word Yazidi is mentioned in the book, but until now I had no idea it wasn’t something that Alan Moore was making up.
malak tâ’ûs means literally ‘peacock angel’. You seem to have confused the words malak ‘angel’ and malik ‘king’.