Who is a Yezidi? Yezidi nationality: roots, faith

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Yezid is a nationality whose historical homeland is Mesopotamia. They 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 bygone millennia. According to another version, the emergence of this faith is associated with a mixture of pre-Islamic beliefs and Sufi teachings with Christian gnostic views.

Who are the Yezidis

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

The latest 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 considers the nationality of his people unique, categorically denying kinship with the Kurds. Now at the international level they are 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 thisthe discovery served as one of the important factors in maintaining national security. The reason for this is the removal from Armenia of a serious threat to have a reputation as a country with a "Kurdish factor".

But still, many researchers insist on a connection by nationality "Kurd - Yezidi". For example, N. Y. Marr believes that Yezidism is a Kurdish religion, which was practiced by most of the Kurds before they converted to Islam.

Yazidi nationality: roots

The origin of the name of this people is also a controversial issue. According to the first version, the word "Yazid" has Persian roots and means "god" in translation. The second version says that the name of the people comes from the names of the geniuses of goodness and light, one of the main characters of the Zoroastrian teachings. Adherents of the third version claim that it came from the name of Caliph Yazid, who was the son of Caliph Moavia. But, as you know, consonance does not always mean the relationship 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 murderer Caliph Yazid.

One thing is clear: this nationality is one of the most ancient. This people is doing everything possible to preserve their identity, language, rituals, traditions and holidays. Yezidis - nationality (photo below) is very close-knit and cheerful.

Lalesh - the main shrine of the Yezidis

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

Feast of "Aida Ezid"

The main holiday of this people falls in mid-December. It is called "Aida Ezida". It is considered the day of reconciliation. Celebrated on the second Friday of December. The last three days before the holiday are the time of the strictest fast. Until the sun sets, it is forbidden to eat, drink anything, smoke. Thursday evening, confessors and laity spend at the clergy, singing religious hymns and dancing. Friday is the day of visiting fellow nationals who have recently lost someone close to them. A week after "Aida Ezid" comes another important holiday - "Aida Shams", considered the day of the Sun. The ceremonial preparation for it is almost the same.

Hidir Nabi Holiday

Khidyr Nabi is a holiday that all Yazidis revere. Nationality, faith, way of thinking - all this, according to this people, should be the main choice of every person. And Khidir Nabi is the name of a patron angel who helps fulfill righteous desires in case of the right choice. Nabis is the patronlovers, reunites the halves of one whole. On a holiday, every young guy and every girl should eat s alty cakes in order to see their fate in a dream. For experts, some similarity with the holiday of St. Sargis, which exists among Armenians, is obvious.

New Year

Like many ancient peoples, the Yezidis keep the chronology not from winter, but from spring, or rather, from April. New Year coincides with a national holiday celebrated on the first Wednesday of the month. The history of its origin is connected with the name of Malak-Tavus - the servant of God, who directly fulfills the will of the Supreme Almighty. Malak-Tavusa is translated as King-Peacock. Under this name, Ezrael is revered among the Yezidis, as the highest among the seven angels created by the Almighty. He is considered a fallen angel. He is identified with Lucifer in Christianity and Shaitan in Islam. It was this belief that caused many neighboring peoples to have the impression of the Yezidis as "devil worshippers". Who knows… Nationality (the Yezidis, in any case, definitely do not belong to this category) can hardly be called such, because there are many friendly and good traditions in the religion itself. They themselves are sure that at the end of time there will be a reconciliation between God and the fallen angel. Because of this, it is strictly forbidden in the Yezidi religion to curse Satan. By the way, representatives of other religions often zealously criticize this faith for this. The eve of the holiday for women is the time to bake a big ritual cake (gata). Its shape is rounded, prepared from rich dough. Interestingly, inside the Ghats of the Yezidisbeads are baked. The oldest woman in the family leads the whole process. At the onset of the holiday, the main man of the family distributes gata to all relatives. Whoever receives a piece with beads will be lucky all year. Also, this people associates another belief with April: April is, as it were, the “bride” of all other months, so the Yezidis have a strict taboo on holding weddings in April; also, you can’t build a house, cultivate the land, change your place of residence.

Yazidis and Armenians

Yezid is a nationality numbering tens of thousands of representatives in Armenia. The relationship of these peoples to each other has been formed since ancient times. They have always been friendly peoples. They are connected by similar fates, 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 their persecutors. Many Yezidis subsequently settled in Eastern Armenia.

Armenia is the only state where there are educational institutions that study the Yezidi language. There are about 23 of them. In the country, several publishing houses publish textbooks and fiction in the Yezidi language. There is a fund that promotes the development of Yezidi science and art.

Yazidi settlements were badly damaged during the devastating earthquake that hit Armenia in 1988. On the recommendation of the then Prime Minister of the USSR Nikolai Ryzhkov, who visited the disaster zone, many of them(approximately 5,5 thousand people) moved to the Krasnodar Territory.

Although it is sad to note, but we are, according to the classic, "lazy and incurious." And even today, they are far from being fully aware of such an ancient people as the Yezidis living side by side with us. Much of the information is inaccurate and vague. But one thing is certain. Yezidi is a nationality whose representatives managed to pass all the tests, while retaining their historical appearance and identity. And it's worth it.

Yazidi traditions

Yazidis are characterized by a caste-theocratic structure of society. This means that they can only marry a member 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 cannot become clergy.

According to the Yezidis, they are the chosen people, and this is a hereditary factor, that is, it is passed on from older generations to younger ones.

There is practically no written evidence about the history of the formation and development of their faith. Their scriptures, too, were almost never fully reflected on paper. They cherished their faith very much 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 religion, texts of prayers, religious rites - all this has been passed from mouth to mouth for many centuries.

Sacred texts

A few scriptures do exist. The religious teaching itself is expounded on the pages of two sacred books - Jilva and Mashafe Rash. The first is the "Book of Revelation", the second is the "Black Book". Their contents are unlikely to be understood by a representative of another religion, because the books are written in the southern Kurdish dialect.

Because of the same fear of the Gentiles, the Yezidis included so many secret wisdoms in their writing that not a single stranger could make out their texts.

Prohibitions and regulations

The Yezidi creed forbids a lot to its followers. Only following all the prescriptions and prohibitions throughout life allows you to remain a true adherent of religion.

The most numerous are food prohibitions. There are also many taboos in appearance. You cannot, for example, wear blue clothes.

Also known prohibitions associated with the elements: fire, water and earth. Most likely, the roots of these prescriptions lie in the Zoroastrian teaching, which forbids defiling the above elements.

Opening of a new place of pilgrimage in Armenia

Recently, a very important event for the Yezidis took place in Armenia, which brought together a large number of pilgrims from different countries. They opened a new place of pilgrimage near Aknalich village in Armavir region. It was this event that caused September 29 (opening day), according to the order of the National Council of the Yezidis of the whole world, to be celebrated by these people as the Day of the Yezidis Pilgrimage. The temple received a name consonant with the main sanctuary of the Yezidis, whichlocated in Northern Iraq, Lalish.

The purpose of the delegation was also to visit the memorial of the victims of the Armenian genocide in Tsitsernakaberd, where in 1915-1918. more than 1.5 million Armenians were exterminated, among whom there were quite a few representatives of the Yezidi nationality.

What is a nation without a sanctuary in its native land. The new temple is the first place of worship for the Yezidis outside of Kurdistan. It can accommodate 30 people and is shaped like a Yazidi cone-shaped sanctuary. The material for the construction was brick, and the top of the building was lined with marble. Nearby is a refectory that can accommodate 2,000 people.

One of the significant events of recent times in the society of the Yezidis was the holding on June 30, 2008 in Yerevan of the conference of the Yezidis of the world, which was attended by believers from all over the world. It was there that a call was made for 2 million Yazidis from all over the world to unite in order to preserve and pass on to the descendants of history, religion, traditions, and art. "All the Yezidis of the world, join us - hola, hola, hola, hola Sultan Yezide sora!" This is the credo and the main goal of the Yezidis.

This ethnic group survived not only due to the fact that most of the representatives occupied hard-to-reach territories in mountainous areas. For centuries, the Yezidis held the line and defended themselves from numerous conquerors, which made it possible to preserve the religion of their ancestors to this day.

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