WORSHIPPERS OF SATAN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 15, 15 December 1932, Page 8

WORSHIPPERS OF SATAN.

A STRANGE SECT. PROBLEM IN IRAK. Tlie recommendation of the Committee of the League on the Syro-Iraq f rontier that the whole of Jebel . Sinjar should be included in the boundaries of Iraq brings into prominence the troubles of the Yezidis, or Devil Worshippers, of whom ■ there are about 36,000 in that area (writes a contributor to the London Times). Iraq is full of queer sects, but none is more curious than that of the Yezidis, whose internal dissensions revolve round the question of who shall be their spiritual leadef, or Mir. The origin of these Devil Worshippers— Devil propitiators would be a more correct term —is wrapped in secrecy. They are generally called a tribe, though the anthropologist is as much at sea with them as is the student' of comparative religions. They live in two distinct areas. In the Jebel ninjar, south-west of Mosul, and right out in the desert, is one section, numbering about 18,000. Most of the other Yezidis live in the mountain villages north of Mosul. A REBEL FROM HEAVEN. Their religion is an extraordinary hotchpotch of Zoroastrianism (the ancient religion of Persia), Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They derive their English name from the fact that they consider Satan (Shaitan), who in their eyes is a supernatural being ruling earth with the approval of God, a power to bo propitiated with prayers and ofierings. The Supreme Being Himself is too remote for direct worship. So much in awe of Satan do these Yezidis stand that they may not pronounce his name, nor any word that begins with the sibilant ‘sli” of Shaitan (Satan). They visualise _ the Devil, who, it should be emphasised, is for them not the Spirit of Evil, but the Spirit of Power, through an image (saniaq) called Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. This is the most secret object of their ritualistic practices, although it is an exaggeration to assert that it has never been seen by an Unbeliever. ... Satan in their opinion is only one of seven spirits created by the Supreme BeS the other angels being the sun, moon stars, water, and so on. He, they say, was cast out .from Heaven for rebelled against God, but eventually 6 he repented, was forgiven, w a laC€d Go y d G e 0 yen leased" 8 the world" to him for 10,000 years, of which some 6000 have elapsed. THE PEACOCK ANGEL. Tmzether with a medley of strange , ,• Forid practice the Yezidis revere 'nllv the P old Testament, the. New

venerate Jesus Christ —“Melek Isa” they call Him—but place Him second, next to “Melek Taus,” the Devil. The most prominent feature of tire religion is the worship of the Peacock Angel, which represents none other than the Devil. There are said to be seven of these bronze peacocks in existence, one of which is kept permanently at the shrine of Sheikh Adi, while the others are carried round on circuit from village to village by men called gawwals, the fourth caste in the Yezidi hierarchy. On the exhibition of these peacocks, revenue as well as worship is forthcoming. Authority to carry them is therefore a matter of some material importance. The main subject of all the dissension at the present time among the Yezidis is that of the collection and the control of funds which the Yezidi faithfully subscribe for the upkeep of their shrines and places of pilgrimage. It would bq a pity if before the final disappearance of this picturesque community no definite decision were reached on their origin, their race and their religion.