Far Out: Yazidi Religion

Far Out

 

photo credit: www.middle-east-online.com

 Yazidi Religion

Well we finished up our journey of sun signs with Leo and now we are embarking on a new endeavor.  For the weeks to come we will be delving into the different religions and what they believe in, we are going to bust some myths about them, and find out what they are going through in this cruel world where killing in the name of God seems to be an ongoing trend.  This week we are going to talk about a religion called Yazidi.

The Yazidi community is currently hiding out in the slopes of Iraq's Mount Sinjar where they are either fighting off dehydration or death at the hands of a group called ISIS. ( Those guys are a bunch of assholes) The Yazidi are a Kurdish speaking ethnoreligious community based in Northern Iraq who practice a syncretic religion (a combination of different forms of belief and practices).  Their beliefs are passed down by word of mouth by one generation to another.  

The Yazidis are misunderstood as devil worshipers but if you check out a man named Kassem who is the creator of the facebook page "Stop the yezidi genocide" you will be able to get a new perspective on this opinion.  Kassem says "That is not who we are.  We are one of the oldest, most peaceful religions in Iraq and have never had any problems.  We keep to ourselves and accept and appreciate every human being on Earth".

Here are some facts about the Yazidi's beliefs:

Yazidis believe that the world was created by God, who entrusted it to seven angels led by one known as the Peacock Angel, also called Melek Taus.  Melek Taus is represented by the peacock.    Their religion is Monotheistic ( a belief in one God) and non-dualistic (points to the essential oneness, a wholeness that exists here and now, prior to any apparent separation), they also do not believe in Hell.  They believe in internal purification through metempsychosis ( the transmigration of the soul) Yazidis believe that they come directly from Adam alone, while the rest of humanity comes from the lineage of both Adam and Eve.  The reason why some people believe that they are devil worshipers (which come on, they dont even believe in hell so how the fuck are they worshiping a devil?) is because they believe that once God created Adam and Eve, he ordered the angels to bow to his creations.  While the other angels did so, Melek Taus was the only one to refuse because he believed that he should submit to no one but the supreme God.  He was then thrown into Hell until his tears of remorse quenched the fires and he became reconciled with God.  He now serves as an intermediary between God and humanity.  

There is a similar story which is the story of Satan.  In the Islamic tradition Satan is a fallen angel who refused to bow down to Adam out of pride.  For this act, he was banished from Heaven and is now the devil.  Because these stories bear similarities apparently ISIS has taken it upon themselves to try and kill them all. 

Yazidis pray facing the sun at sunrise, noon, and sunset.  Wednesday is their holy day and Saturday is their day of rest.  They try to marry people within their community.

There is no justification for killing innocent human beings because of your own interpretation of their religion.  I think Jarod said it best on the show; "If your religion is telling you to kill people please start with yourself".  Amen.

Thanks for checking out our blog and for more great info on this matter check out our show.  Just scroll down and click play.  Enjoy!

GOOD TALK!!