Who is the Yezidi? Ethnicity: roots, faith

Yezid is a nationality whose historical homeland is Mesopotamia. These are direct descendants of the ancient Babylonians. The religion itself is called "Yezidism" and is a kind of echo of the state religion of Ancient Babylon, which has its roots in the long-gone millennia. According to another version, the origin of this faith is associated with the confusion of pre-Islamic beliefs and Sufi doctrine with Christian Gnostic views.

Who are the Yezidis?

The nationality of Yezidi is mainly prevalent in the territories of Iraq, Turkey, Syria, but people of this religion also live in Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and some countries of Europe.

The latest data on the numbers indicate the presence of 0.3-0.5 million Yezidis. There is a generally accepted view that they are a separate group of Kurds. But each Yezidi nationality of its people considers unique, categorically denying kinship with the Kurds. Now, at the international level, they were recognized as representatives of a separate ethno-confessional group. A significant role in this was played by the efforts of the Orientalists of Armenia, for whom this discovery served as one of the important factors for preserving national security. The reason for this is the withdrawal from Armenia of a serious threat to have a reputation as a country with a "Kurdish factor".

But still many researchers insist on the connection of the "Kurd-Yezid" by nationality. For example, N. Ya. Marr believes that Yezidism is a Kurdish religion that most Kurds professed before accepting Islam.

Ethnicity: roots

The origin of the name of this people is also a contentious issue. According to the first version, the word "Yezid" has Persian roots and in translation means "God." The second version says that the name of the people comes from the names of geniuses of good and light, some of the most important heroes of the Zoroastrian doctrine. Adherents of the third version assert that it occurred on behalf of Caliph Yazid, who was the son of Caliph of Moab. But, as you know, consonance does not always mean the kinship of concepts, so the latest version has many opponents. There are other reasons why the Yezidis themselves do not want to believe in the connection of their nationality with the name of the bloodthirsty assassin of Caliph Yazid.

One thing is clear: this nationality is one of the oldest. This people does everything possible to preserve their identity, language, rites, traditions and holidays. Yezidis are a nationality (the photo is located below) very close and alive.

Lalish - the main shrine of the Yezidis

Most of the shrines are located in the territory of Northern Iraq. The largest is Lalisha Nurani. In the people it is called the luminous or sacred Lalesh. It is the duty of every Yezidi to make a pilgrimage to this place at least once in a lifetime. If we draw parallels, then we can say that the significance of Lalesh is commensurable with the importance of Jerusalem for Christians, Mecca for Muslims or Mount Fujiyama for Shintoists. Lalish is the location of the tomb of Sheikh Adi ibn-Muzaffar, who is considered the founder and reformer of this religion.

Holiday "Aida Ezid"

In the middle of December the main holiday of this people is necessary. It is called Aida Ezida. It is considered a day of reconciliation. It is celebrated on the second Friday in December. The last three days before the holiday is the time of the fastest fasting. Until the sun goes down it is forbidden to eat, drink anything, smoke. On Thursday evening, the confessors and laypeople hold priests singing religious hymns and dancing. Friday is a day of visiting fellow nationals who recently lost someone close to them. A week after "Aida Ezid" another important holiday comes - "Aida Shams", considered the day of the Sun. Ceremonial preparation for it is almost the same.

Holiday "Hıdır Nabi"

"Hıdır Nabi" is a holiday that all Yezidis honor. Nationality, faith, way of thinking - all this, in the opinion of this people, should be the main choice of each person. And Hıdır Nábi is the name of the patron angel, helping the fulfillment of righteous desires in case of a right choice. Nabi is the patron saint of lovers, reunites the halves of one whole. On the holiday every young guy and every girl should eat salty cakes to see their fate in a dream. For specialists it is obvious that there is some similarity with the holiday of St. Sargis, which exists among the Armenians.

New Year

Like many ancient peoples, Yezidis do not count from winter, but from spring, or rather, from April. The New Year coincides with the national holiday, celebrated on the first Wednesday of the month. The history of its origin is connected with the name of Malak-Tavus - servant of God, who directly fulfills the will of the Supreme Supreme. Malak-Tavus translates as Tsar-Peacock. Under this name, the Ezidis are worshiped by Ezrail, as the highest among the seven angels created by the Most High. He is considered a fallen angel. He is identified with Lucifer in Christianity and Shaitan in Islam. It is this belief that has caused many neighboring nations to have an impression of the Yezidis as "devil-worshipers." Who knows ... Nationality (Yezidis, at any rate, do not belong to this category) can hardly be called such, because in the confession of a lot of friendly and good traditions. They themselves are sure that at the end of time there will be a reconciliation of God with the fallen angel. Because of this, the Yezidi religion is strictly forbidden to curse Satan. By the way, often representatives of other religions zealously criticize this faith for this. The eve of the feast for women is the time to bake a large ritual pie (gatu). Its shape is round, prepared from a dough. Interestingly, inside the ghats of the Yezidis bake beads. The oldest woman in the family leads the whole process. On the offensive of the holiday, the main man of the family distributes the gat to all relatives. Whoever gets a piece of beads will be lucky the whole year. Also, with April, another belief is associated with this people: April is like a "bride" of all other months, so the Yezidis have a strict taboo on holding weddings in April; Also it is impossible to be engaged in building of the house, cultivation of the earth, to change a residence.

Yezidis and Armenians

Yezid is a nationality that has tens of thousands of representatives in Armenia. The attitude of these peoples to each other was formed from ancient times. They were always friendly people. They are linked by similar destinies, because both of them in the struggle for their faith were subjected to persecution and deprivation, which forced them to leave their historical homeland, fleeing persecutors. Many Yezidis subsequently settled in the territory of Eastern Armenia.

Armenia is the only state where there are educational institutions studying the Yezidi language. There are approximately 23. In the country, several publishing houses issue textbooks and fiction in the Yezidi language. There is a fund to promote the development of Yezidi science and art.

Yezidi settlements suffered very badly during the devastating earthquake that occurred in Armenia in 1988. On the recommendation of the then Prime Minister of the USSR Nikolai Ryzhkov, who visited the disaster zone, many of them (about 5,5 thousand people) moved to the Krasnodar Territory.

Although it is sad to celebrate, but we, according to the classic, are "lazy and uninvolved." And even to date, they are far from fully aware of the ancient Yezidi people living side by side with us. Many of the information is inaccurate and blurred. But one thing is for sure. Yezid is a nationality, whose representatives managed to pass all the tests while preserving their historical appearance and originality. And it's worth a lot.

Traditions of the Yezidis

For the Yezidis, the caste-theocratic system of society is characteristic. This means that they can only marry a representative of the same caste. Marriages with people of other religions are prohibited at all.

Priests from generation to generation choose the same path of life. Moreover, representatives of other castes can not become clergymen.

In the opinion of the Yezidis, they are the chosen people, and this is a hereditary factor, that is, passed from the older generations to the younger ones.

There is practically no written evidence about the history of the formation and development of their faith. Their sacred script also almost never completely reflected on the paper. They very much cherished their faith and believed that it was very difficult to keep written sacred texts from the hands of the Gentiles. And they can reveal the mysteries of their traditions and rituals. Historical facts about the people, canons of worship, texts of prayers, religious rites - all this has been passed from mouth to mouth for many centuries.

Sacred texts

A few scriptures still exist. The very religious teaching is set out on the pages of two sacred books - Gilva and Maskhafe Rush. The first is the Book of Revelation, the second is the Black Book. Their content is hardly understandable to a representative of another religion, because the books are written in the South Kurdish dialect.

Because of the same fear of the heterodox, the Yezidis placed in their writing so many secret wisdoms that no foreigner could disassemble their texts.

Prohibitions and prescriptions

The doctrine of the Yezidis forbids its followers very much. Only following all the injunctions and prohibitions throughout life allows us to remain a true adherent of religion.

The most numerous are food prohibitions. In appearance, there is also much taboos. You can not, for example, wear blue clothes.

Also known are bans related to the elements: fire, water and earth. Most likely, the roots of these prescriptions lie in the Zoroastrian doctrine, which prohibits the desecration of the above-mentioned elements.

Opening of a new pilgrimage site in Armenia

Recently, a very important event for Yezidis took place in Armenia, which was attended by a large number of pilgrims from different countries. Near the village of Aknalich in the Armavir region they opened a new pilgrimage site. It was this event that caused the September 29 (opening day) according to the order of the National Council of Yezidis all over the world, now these people are celebrated as the Yazidi pilgrimage day. The temple received the name, consonant with the main sanctuary of the Yezidis, which is located in northern Iraq, Lalish.

The delegation also visited the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide on Tsitsernakaberd, where in 1915-1918, More than 1.5 million Armenians were exterminated, among which there were quite a lot of representatives of the nationality of the Yezid.

What a nation without a sanctuary on its native land. The new temple is the first cult object of the Yezidis outside of Kurdistan. It can accommodate 30 people, in shape resembles the Yezidi cone-shaped sanctuary. The material for the building was brick, and the top of the building is faced with marble. Nearby there is a refectory, accommodating 2 thousand people.

One of the most significant recent events in the Yezidi community was the June 30, 2008 Yerevan conference of the Yezidis of the world, which was attended by believers from all over the world. It was there that the call was called for 2 million Yezidi from all over the world to unite, in order to preserve and pass on to posterity the history, religion, traditions, art. "All the Yezidis of the world, join - hola, hola, hola, Sultan Yezide sora hola!" So the creed and the main goal of the Yezidis sounds.

This ethnos survived not only because most of the representatives occupied hard-to-reach territories in the highlands. Over the centuries, the Yezidis held their defenses and defended themselves against numerous conquerors, which allowed preserving the religion of their ancestors to this day.

To summarize, it should be said that Yezidism is faith, Yezid is a nationality. Muslims are not a nationality, but a commitment to religion (Islam), so the identification of these concepts is not correct.