Tawûsî Melek
Tawûsî Melek | |
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Lord of this World, Leader of the Heptad | |
Member of the Heptad | |
Other names | Tawûsî Mêran |
Venerated in | Yazidism and Yarsanism |
Symbols | Peacock, Light, Rainbow, Sencaq |
Region | Kurdistan[1] |
Ethnic group | Kurds (Yazidis and Yarsanis)[2] |
Festivals | Yazidi New Year, sometimes also called Cejna Tawûsî Melek (Feast of Tawûsî Melek)[3] |
Part of a series on the Yazidi religion Yazidism |
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Tawûsî Melek[a] (Kurdish: تاوسی مەلەک, romanized: Tawûsî Melek, lit. 'Peacock Angel')[4][5][6][7] is one of the central figures of the Yazidi religion.[8][4] In Yazidi creation stories, before the creation of this world, God created seven Divine Beings, of whom Tawûsî Melek was appointed as the leader. God assigned all of the world's affairs to these seven Divine Beings, also often referred to as the Seven Angels or heft sirr ("the Seven Mysteries").[8][9][10][11]
In Yazidi beliefs, there is one God, who created Seven Divine beings, the leader of whom is Tawûsî Melek, the Lord of this World, who is responsible for all that happens on this world, both good and bad.[12] According to religious tradition, the nature, with its phenomena of light and darkness, is from one source, which is the Lord of this World, Tawûsî Melek. Qewl passages emphasize Tawûsî Melek's power on the earth, in the sky, sea, on the mountains, and their residents, that is, his power exists in all parts of nature, whether celestial or terrestrial.[13]
Religious significance
Tawûsî Melek in Yazidi beliefs and mythology
The
In Yazidi religious folk beliefs, Tawûsî Melek is described as eternal and an eternal light (Tawûsî Melek herhey ye û nûra baqî ye), and in Yazidi mythology, when Tawûsî Melek descended to earth, the seven colours of the rainbow transformed into a seven-coloured bird, the peacock, which flew around every part of earth to bless it, and its last resting place was in Lalish. Hence, in Yazidi mythology, the rainbow is linked with Tawûsî Melek and it is believed that he shows his blessing with the sign of rainbow.[13]
The first Wednesday of Nîsan (Eastern April) every year is believed to coincide with Tawûsî Melek's descending to the earth as light for the renewal of life on earth, adorning of the nature and renewing of the year; therefore, it became a holy day and is the day on which the Yazidi New Year (Sersal) takes place. On the eve of the feast, 365/366 lamps are lit as the symbol of the descending of Tawûsî Melek to the earth. This number also corresponds to the number of the days in the year.[13]
Yazidi accounts of the creation differ significantly from those of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), since they are derived from the Ancient Mesopotamian and Indo-Iranian traditions; therefore, Yazidi cosmogony is closer to those of Ancient Iranian religions, Vedic Hinduism , Yarsanism and Zoroastrianism.[15][16]
Symbolism of the Peacock in religious life
In Yazidism, the Peacock, which Tawûsî Melek is symbolised with, is believed to represent the diversity of the World,[17] and the colourfulness of the Peacock's feathers is considered to represent of all the colours of the nature. The feathers of the peacock also symbolize sunrays, from which comes light, luminosity and brightness, and the peacock opening its feathers of its tail in a circular shape symbolizes the sunrise.[13] Consequently, due to its holiness, Yazidis are not allowed to hunt and eat the peacock, ill-treat it and utter bad words about it. Images of the peacock are also found drawn around the sanctuary of Lalish and on other Yazidi shrines and holy sites, homes, as well as religious, social, cultural and academic centres.[13]
In Yarsanism
In
The term dowre may refer to a period of time that started with the Essences (zāt) of the Divine and of members of the two Heptads manifesting or incarnating themselves as humans. It also refers to a stage in humanity's religious development. The first and initial dowre was the stage of Shari'at, where the Islamic Law was or is in charge and guiding everyone. This dowre is believed to have begun at creation and concluded with Muhammed, the Truth (Haqiqat) is thought to have existed during this stage, but had not yet been perceived. Following the dowre of Shari'at were the intermediate dowres of Tariqat, i.e. the 'Path' of a mystical Order, and Ma'refat, i.e. Esoteric Knowledge. The former was marked by the development of mystical brotherhoods that allowed people to start learning about esoteric truth. These stages were succeeded by the present dowre of Haqiqat, which is marked by Sultan Sahak's arrival. The dowre of Haqiqat is the phase of development in which the advanced mystic fully has perceived the esoteric Truth. Yarsanis are thought to be living in this dowre, however, the same is not true for all humans, and most outsiders are still believed to remain in the dowre of Shari'at or the intermediate dowres of Tariqat and Ma'refat.[21]
Accusations of alleged devil-worship
Further accusations were derived from narratives attributed to Melek Taûs, which are actually foreign to Yazidism and probably introduced by either Muslims in the 9th century or
Furthermore, Yazidis do not believe Tawûsî Melek to be a source of evil or wickedness.[8][9][10] They consider him to be the leader of the archangels, not a fallen angel.[8][10][23][24] In Mishefa Resh, Tawûsî Melek is equated with Ezrayil or Ezazil.[5]
See also
- Sultan Ezid
- List of angels in theology
- List of Yazidi holy figures
- List of Yazidi holy places
- List of Yazidi settlements
- Yazidism
- Yazidis
- Yarsanism
Citations
- ^ also known as Melekê Tawûs and Tawûsê Melek.
- S2CID 235526110. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Yazidis". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- OCLC 1007841078.
- ^ a b "Sembolîzma teyran di Êzîdîtiyê de (1)" (in Kurdish). Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ OCLC 1329211153.
- S2CID 246596953.
- ^ "مەھدى حەسەن:جەژنا سەر سالێ دمیتۆلۆژیا ئێزدیان دا". 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
- ^ OCLC 233145721.
- ^ ISBN 9780199340378. Archivedfrom the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ OCLC 931029996.
- OCLC 1007841078.
- OCLC 1262669198.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ S2CID 246596953.
- OCLC 233145721.
- ISBN 9781780743097p. 221
- ^ Omarkhali, Khanna (2009–2010). "The status and role of the Yezidi legends and myths. To the question of comparative analysis of Yezidism, Yārisān (Ahl-e Haqq) and Zoroastrianism: a common substratum?". Folia Orientalia. 45–46.
- ^ Pirbari, Dimitri; Grigoriev, Stanislav. Holy Lalish, 2008 (Ezidian temple Lalish in Iraqi Kurdistan). p. 183.
- ISBN 978-1-108-58301-5.
- ^ Omarkhali, Khanna (January 2009). "The status and role of the Yezidi legends and myths. To the question of comparative analysis of Yezidism, Yārisān (Ahl-e Haqq) and Zoroastrianism: a common substratum?".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ The Yaresan : a sociological, historical, and religio-historical study of a Kurdish community (Berlin : Schwarz, 1990) p. 75
- ^ OCLC 1158495389.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Hamzee (1990), p. 75.
- ^ OCLC 919303390.
- ^ OCLC 888467694.
- ^ Li, Shirley (8 August 2014). "A Very Brief History of the Yazidi and What They're Up Against in Iraq". The Atlantic.
- ^ Jalabi, Raya (11 August 2014). "Who are the Yazidis and why is Isis hunting them?". The Guardian.
- ^ Thomas, Sean (19 August 2007). "The Devil worshippers of Iraq". The Daily Telegraph.
- ISBN 978-3-828-86547-1, Section 16
- ^ "Who Are the Yazidis, the Ancient, Persecuted Religious Minority Struggling to Survive in Iraq?". National Geographic. August 9, 2014. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
General bibliography
- OCLC 931029996.
- OCLC 233145721.
- Rodziewicz, Artur (December 2016). OCLC 233145721.
- Sfameni Gasparro, Giulia (April 1975). Feldt, Laura; Valk, Ülo (eds.). "I Miti Cosmogonici degli Yezidi". OCLC 50557232.
- Sfameni Gasparro, Giulia (December 1974). Feldt, Laura; Valk, Ülo (eds.). "I Miti Cosmogonici degli Yezidi". OCLC 50557232.
- Hamzee, M. Rezaa (1990), The Yaresan : a sociological, historical, and religio-historical study of a Kurdish community, Islamkundliche Untersuchungen (75)
External links
- Media related to Melek Taus at Wikimedia Commons
- The Yaresan : a sociological, historical and religio-historical study of a Kurdish community / M. Reza Hamzeh'ee. Berlin : Schwarz, 1990