Yazidi religion and Gnostic Christianity

[cybrxkhan]

Actually, I'm also curious to know if any sacred scriptures of Zoroastrians have been published because I heard that they had a sacred scripture that was translated a long time ago but some people wondered if i was genuine because they felt like it was unimpressive.

Zoroastrian scriptures should be pretty easy to find, they're all over the place in Iranian studies. Now apparently we don't even have a majority of the original Zoroastrian scriptures, but we do have enough. Just search the Gathas or Avestas for starters.

 

[Jehoshua]

The Zoroastrians have the avesta which is a compilation of various ancient sources in the avestan language, including some things alleged to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, and a large number of middle Persian texts like the Denkard (acts of religion) Bundahisn (primordial creation) and Mainog-i-Kirad (spirit of wisdom). As has been mentioned though, a lot of Zoroastrian sacred literature is lost.

 

[NovaKart]

I read this recently about Yezidi from Turkey along with Syriacs thinking of returning to villages in Turkey. There are just a few Yezidi left in Turkey, I think just a few hundred. The number of Syriacs is very small as well.

I don't know how this would work out. Returning to a village after decades of living in Europe has got to be hard. People just aren't used to the lifestyle anymore, especially the children who had never lived there.



http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/4/turkey4993.htm

BATMAN, Turkey's Kurdish region,— Work has begun for the return to Kurdistan of members of the Kurdish Yazidi and Syriac communities who were forced to flee their villages during the conflict of the 1990s. Yazidis and Syriacs took refuge in various European countries at that time, but now wish to return home. Ali Atalan, a former MEP for the German Left Party, and the party's Peace Spokesperson, said feasibility studies have been initiated to pave the way for the return of Yazidis and Syriacs. Atalan said they were making efforts to create the possibility for these ancient communities of Mesopotamia to return home as a result of the ongoing process of resolution.

Work has begun to encourage communities that were forced to leave during the 1990s to return by establishing modern settlements within the scope of the Democratic Autonomy project.

Ali Atalan said: "In Batman, and the area between Mardin and Midyat in particular there are adjacent Yazidi and Syriac villages that have been evacuated. We are carrying out feasibility studies in these areas for the return of the inhabitants in an organised way. It is essential that these villages be reconstructed, not just physically but also as regards the social, cultural and economic infrastructure. The current political conditions in Kurdistan encourage this, and the introduction of the Metropolitan Municipality gives responsibilities to that authority."

The Yazidi belief system should be officially recognised

Altan stressed that the biggest obstacle to the return of the Yazidi community was the authorities' refusal to recognise their belief system, adding: "The Yazidis have been here for thousands of years and they have resisted all the ostracism, persecution and massacres they have been subjected to. The Alevi and Yazidi beliefs should be recognised by the state. The authorities should also compensate the people for their losses."

The uniqueness of the culture will be protected

Atalan said they hoped the Yazidis woiuld be able to recreate their unique culture on their return, adding: "By returning the Yazidis will avoid being assimilated in Europe. The Kurdish Freedom Movement and local governmentwww.Ekurd.net must support the village return project. Roads, electricity, water and educational and modern social facilities will be created. Agricultural expertise will also be brought in. Our aim is to construct a modern life while protecting the original values of the Yazidi and Syriac culture."

'Come back, do not be afraid'

Altan emphasised that no obstacle remained to the Kurdish Freedom Movement implementing the philosophy of democratic autonomy, calling on Yazidis and Syriacs living in the diaspora: "Do not be afraid". He said: "I want to say that the Yazidis will make a great contribution to the regions where we are running local government. There is no one here who will harm you. We must ensure people return because the philosophy of democratic autonomy has begun to live."

By Ferhat Arslan - ANF

 

[plarq]

In CK2 game term, Yazidi is a Sunni heresy.

 

[Princeps]

In CK2 game term, Yazidi is a Sunni heresy.

Yeah but it's not IRL.

 

[NovaKart]

I was reading more about the origins of the Yezidi religion. It's tied up some in politics.

In the 1880s the French Consul identified the Sheikh Adi, who is sort of the founder of the Yezidi religion, with Adi ibn Musafir. He was a Sufi leader who was born in Lebanon and traveled to Hakkari in Turkey. This is a bit strange because I'm not sure how many Yezidi were even in Hakkari. I think most were in Tur Abdin, now Mardin, in Anatolia and in parts of northern Iraq, mostly around Mosul. I don't know how his tomb ended up in Lalish, just north of Mosul. Actually according to Yezidis he is not the founder exactly because they say their religion existed before him but he was instrumental in the current form of the religion. The wikipedia article is strange because it says he resided in the mountains of Hakkari in the region north of Mosul. Hakkari is in modern Turkey and is pretty far to the northeast of Mosul so I don't know if they're talking about different mountains that have the same name or what.

This idea was accepted by many Yezidi to identify their religion with Sunni Islam and make it more acceptable to their neighbors. Mosul in particular is a predominately Sunni area even though the majority of Iraq is Shia, mostly in the south.

With the rise of Kurdish nationalism, the Yezidi religion was connected with Zoroastrianism and called the original religion of the Kurds. This is what Barzani has said and the PKK as well. However, the differences between Zoroastrianism and Yezidism are pretty obvious and there seems to be little to die them together other than an association with Kurds who speak an Iranian language.

The book that I read on this topic didn't have anything to say about Christianity. It did mention some Yezidi were promoting a Sumerian origin, which is rather bizarre and I don't know the justification behind that. Yezidis I have met seem to be more positive about Christianity than Islam and I've heard of some cases of them marrying Christians although that's not really allowed. The positive feeling probably comes from them normally living near Assyrian Christians, who also live around Mosul in large numbers and also in Tur Abdin and having a shared history of persecution.