Melek Taus

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The angel Melek Taus is symbolized by a peacock.

Melek Taus ( "Angel Peacock") or tausi Melek ( Kurmanji Tawus-e Melek ) is in the faith of Yazidi one created by God angel with a blue peacock symbolized. According to Yazidi mythology, God created the angel Melek Taus out of his light in the shape of a seven-colored rainbow. Melek Taus is one of seven archangels of the Yazidis. The peacock is the angel's symbol and symbolizes his beauty and the rule over the six other angels. Melek Taus has particular reverence among the Yazidis as a mediator between Creator and earthly people. The Yazidi New Year festival is dedicated to him in his honor, every year on this day he is supposed to come to earth once. As the first of seven angels, he created the world as well as Adam and Eve on God's behalf . Since Melek Taus refused to kneel before Adam, as God demanded, he was raised to the position of supreme angel and governor and administrator of the earth. This instruction was a test because God's first commandment was that the seven angels should worship only him. Thus Melek Taus does not symbolize evil in Jesidism and is also not an angel who has fallen out of favor.

According to a creation myth, Melek Taus was involved in the creation of Adam . According to this, Yazidis are descended from Adam alone and not, like the rest of the world, from Adam and Eve. The command to endogamy is justified religiously with this chosen position .

Since the Yazidis religion mainly uses oral rather than written sources, it is difficult to make precise statements about the faith of all Yazidis. According to one idea, Melek Taus could be identified with the archangel Asasel , who fell out of favor with God, but regretted his presumptuousness and atone for it in hell . There he put out the fires of hell with his tears and his guilt was forgiven. On the other hand, many Yazidis identify Melek Taus with the archangel Jebrail (Gabriel). It is controversial whether the stories about Melek Taus, which identify him with Asazel or other diabolical figures of the Abrahamic religions , were not subsequently circulated by Christians or Muslims, as some of their features contradict the basic idea of ​​the Yezidi faith.

Symbolism of the peacock

The different old, mainly orally handed down traditions of Yezidism do not give a uniform picture of the beliefs and there is no unifying theology , which is why the ideas of Melek Taus have to be interpreted. The peacock is regarded as divine and represents the angel Melek Taus, created by God out of pure light. The angel can be understood as identical to the peacock or he appears in the peacock. Further symbols for Melek Taus are the sun and the Toka Ezî, also Toka Tausî Melek, a long white shirt that God put on the angel as a sign of his loyalty.

In Asia the peacock is very common as a symbol and represents rulership and beauty. The peacock is the national bird of India and the Mughal emperors owned a peacock throne . Many Yazidis wear gold chains in the shape of a peacock.

Yazidi burial ground at the Hannover-Lahe city ​​cemetery with a peacock symbolizing Melek Taus in the display case on the grave.

Incarnations

According to Yazidi belief, Sheikh ʿAdī is considered the most important incarnation of Melek Taus . The Yazidis worship seven sacred bronze or iron figures are considered to be incarnations of Melek Taus and Sanjak ( sanǧaq ) are called.

Identification with the devil

Since the 16th century, Christians and Muslims increasingly identified Melek Taus with the figure of Satan , known from their respective religions. The fact that Yazidis knew no form of evil reinforced the belief that the Yazidis, or members of a Yazidi branch, secretly worshiped the devil . In addition, it is considered an insult to Yazidis to pronounce the word "Shaitan" ( devil ) - not, however, contrary to what Christians and Muslims often claim, because this is the name of their god, but because it is considered blasphemous, also an opposing force to God just to consider. Many myths about Melek Taus as a rebelling angel or seducer of Adam also contradict the basic features of Yezidism and may have been brought into circulation by Muslims in the 9th century or missionary Christians at the beginning of the 20th century. However, there are parallels to the Koranic narrative of the devil and Melek Taus' refusal to bow to humans. In the Koran, it is Iblis who becomes Satan after he refuses to prostrate himself to man. He then becomes the personification of evil for many Muslims. Melek Taus, however, is honored for his refusal, since it was God's first commandment not to prostrate himself to anyone but God. However, Islamic influences from Sufism , especially through ʿAdī ibn Musāfir , can be demonstrated in this idea . In some Islamic traditions, a peacock is also considered to be Iblis' helper. While in the black book of the Yazidis Melek Taus is actually identified with Asasel, Melek Taus is mostly identified with the angel Gabriel.

See also

literature

  • RHW Empson: The Cult of the Peacock Angel. A Short Account of the Yezîdî Tribes of Kurdistân. Witherby, London 1928 ( digitized ).
  • Isya Joseph: Devil Worship. The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz. Badger, Boston 1919 ( online at archive.org).
  • Peter Lamborn Wilson , Karl Schlamminger: Weaver of Tales. Persian Picture Rugs / Persian tapestries. Linked myths. Callwey, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-7667-0532-6 , pp. 30–45 ( The Devils / The Demons ), here: p. 31 (“Malek Ta'us”, a peacock angel).

Web links

Commons : Melek Taus  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ From Arabic ملك, DMG malak  'Engel' ( Hans Wehr : Arabic dictionary for the written language of the present and supplement. 4th, unchanged. Edition. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1977, p. 822, column 1 [instead الملاءك]) and Arabic طاووس, DMG ṭāwūs , also Arabic طاؤوس, DMG ṭā'ūs  'peacock', derived from Arabic طوس, DMG ṭawwasa  'decorate' (H. Wehr: Arab. Dictionary, p. 517, see also p. 499).
  2. ↑ Hayrî Demir: The Esidian Creation Myth, Part III. In: lalish-dialog.de. Laliş Dialog e. V. (i.G.), accessed on January 4, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Sean Thomas: The Devil Worshipers of Iraq. In: Daily Telegraph . August 19, 2007, accessed September 1, 2014.
  4. ↑ a b c Ursula Spuler-Stegemann : The angel peacock . To the self-image of the Yezidi. In: German Association for Religious Studies (Hrsg.): Journal for Religious Studies . 5th year, no. 1 . De Gruyter, 1997, ISSN  0943-8610 , doi : 10.1515 / 0026.3 ( yeziden-colloquium.de [PDF; 260 kB ; accessed on October 22, 2018]).
  5. ↑ a b Halil Savucu: Yeziden in Germany: A religious community between tradition, integration and assimilation. Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag, Marburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-828-86547-1 , section 16.
  6. ↑ Simone Langanger ( Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum / State Documentation): Minorities in Armenia: the Yazidis (= ÖIF country information. No. 7). BM.I / Austrian Integration Fund. August 18, 2010, p. 11 ( ec.europa.eu [PDF; 267 MB; accessed on October 22, 2018]).
  7. ^ Peter Nicolaus: The Lost Sanjaq. In: Iran and the Caucasus. Volume 12, No. 2. Brill, Leiden November 2008, ISSN  1609-8498 , pp. 217-251, doi: 10.1163 / 157338408X406029 .