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The Yazidi (also Yezidi, Kurdish: Êzidî, Arabic: يزيدي or ايزدي) are adherents of the smallest of the three branches of Yazdânism, a Middle Eastern religion with ancient Indo-European roots. Yazidis are primarily Kurdish speaking, and most live in the Mosul region of northern Iraq. There are traditional communities in Transcaucasia, Turkey, and Syria, but these have declined since the 1990s, their members emigrating to Europe, especially to Germany.
The term Dasni or Dasny is misunderstood. A large Yezidi-clan/tribe is called Dasni. There are many Yazidis who belong to the tribe, and the two terms are sometimes seen as interchangeable. The Yazidis don’t use it for self-designation.
Satan Worshipers ???
According to the Encyclopedia of the Orient, “The reason for the Yazidis reputation of being devil worshipers, is connected to the other name of Melek Taus, Shaytan, the same name the Koran has for Satan”. Furthermore, the Yazidi story regarding Malek Taus’ rise to favor with God is almost identical to the story of the Islamic angel Iblis, except that Yazidis revere Malek Taus for refusing to submit to Adam, while Muslims believe that Iblis’ refusal to submit caused him to fall out of Grace with God, and to later become Satan himself. However, according to the Kurdish linguist Jamal Nebez, the word Taus is most probably derived from the Greek and is related to the words Zeus and Theos, alluding to the meaning of God. Accordingly, Malek Taus is God’s Angel, and this is how Yazidis themselves see Melek Taus or Taus-e-Malak
Yazidis believe that Melek Taus is not a source of evil or wickedness. They consider him to be the leader of the archangels, not a fallen angel, and therefore comparable to the Christians’ Lucifer, who is likewise considered the leader of the “seven who stand before the Lord” and of all other good angels. Also, they hold that the source of evil is in the heart and spirit of humans themselves, not in Melek Taus. The active forces in their religion are Melek Taus and Sheik Adî. The Kitêba Cilwe (Book of Illumination) which claims to be the words of Melek Taus, and which presumably represents Yazidi belief, states that he allocates responsibilities, blessings and misfortunes as he sees fit and that it is not for the race of Adam to question him. Sheikh Adî believed that the spirit of Melek Taus is the same as his own, perhaps as a reincarnation. He is believed to have said: “I was present when Adam was living in Paradise, and also when Nemrud threw Abraham in fire. I was present when God said to me: ‘You are the ruler and Lord on the Earth’. God, the compassionate, gave me seven earths and throne of the heaven.”
Yazidi accounts of creation differ from that of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They believe that God first created Melek Taus from his own illumination (Ronahî in Kurdish) and the other six archangels were created later. God ordered Melek Taus not to bow to other beings. Then God created the other archangels and ordered them to bring him dust (Ax) from the Earth (Erd) and build the body of Adam. Then God gave life to Adam from his own breath and instructed all archangels to bow to Adam. The archangels obeyed except for Melek Taus. In answer to God, Malek Taus replied, “How can I submit to another being! I am from your illumination while Adam is made of dust.” Then God praised him and made him the leader of all angels and his deputy on the Earth. (This likely furthers what some see as a connection to the Islamic Shaytan, as according to legend he too refused to bow to Adam at God’s command, though in this case it is seen as being a sign of Shaytan’s sinful pride.) Hence the Yazidis believe that Melek Taus is the representative of God on the face of the Earth, and comes down to the Earth on the first Wednesday of Nisan (March/April). Yazidis hold that God created Malek Taus on this day, and celebrate it as New Year’s day. Yazidis argue that the order to bow to Adam was only a test for Melek Taus, since if God commands anything then it must happen. (Bibe, dibe). In other words, God could have made him submit to Adam, but gave Taus the choice as a test. They believe that their respect and praise for Melek Taus is a way to acknowledge his majestic and sublime nature. This idea is called “Knowledge of the Sublime” (Zanista Ciwaniyê). Sheikh Adî has observed the story of Melek Taus and believed in him.
One of the key creation beliefs of Yazidism is that all Yazidis are descendants of Adam rather than Eve. Yazidis believe that good and evil both exist in the mind and spirit of human beings. It depends on the humans, themselves, as to which they choose. In this process, their devotion to Melek Taus is essential, since it was he who was given the same choice between good and evil by God, and chose the good.
Treatment by Muslims
Melek Taus, the peacock angel
Taken From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi#Yazidi_and_Indo-European_gods
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A Deer Park man will spend nine years in prison after he admitted Thursday to tying up three neighborhood children, videotaping them naked and masturbating in front of them.
“Jesus has forgiven me and in time they can forgive me, too,” Russell Back Jr., 52, told Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Nurre.
Nurre sent him to prison for nine years – 50 less than the maximum possible – after prosecutors agreed to drop seven of the charges if Back pleaded guilty to eight charges including kidnapping, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and importuning or sexual touching.
The children Back victimized all were boys under 13.
Taken from and to read more: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080509/NEWS01/805090379/1077/COL02
