Yezidism--its Background, Observances, and Textual Tradition PDF Download

Author: Philip G. Kreyenbroek
Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
The Yezidi faith has fascinated and tantalized a number of Western scholars since the mid-19th century, but actual knowledge of the Yezidi tradition has remained relatively limited. During the late-20th century a corpus of Yezidi sacred hymns has come to light, which had previously been transmitted orally, and did not exist in written form until the late 1970s. These texts have offered a more detailed insight into the beliefs, observances, and background of the faith.

Author: Philip G. Kreyenbroek
Publisher: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag
ISBN: 9783447053006
Category : Kurds
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
Until the late 20th century the West was unaware of the existence of an extensive corpus of Yezidi religious texts. These were traditionally transmitted orally, and were kept secret from outsiders. It was not until the 1970s that a few Yezidi intellectuals began to commit these texts to writing. These first publications included only specimens of the most prestigious genres, which for a time were thought to be representative of Yezidi religious literature as a whole. It was later discovered, however, that this literature was far richer. Furthermore it became clear that an understanding of Yezidi oral culture as a whole was indispensable for a proper understanding of the religious texts.The present work offers the reader a representative selection of the main genres of Yezidi religious texts, with translation and commentary. The texts are intended, moreover, to cover the topics most often addressed in the Yezidi religious tradition.The first introductory chapter aims to introduce the reader to the Yezidi community's history, aspects of its religion, and its social structures and institutions. The next chapter focuses on some of the implications of the oral transmission of this literature and on its contents, especially the sacred history of Yezidism. The third chapter discusses aspects of orality and the transition to written culture, questions of performance and reception, and the formal characteristics of the various types of texts.

Author: Rezan Shivan Aysif
Publisher: Universitätsverlag Göttingen
ISBN: 3863955145
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
Yezidis are a religious minority living in Kurdistan as the native land. They also live in Transcaucasia and in other countries as diaspora communities such as Russia and Western Europe and particularly in Germany. Their shared language is Kurmanji-Kurdish dialect. Yezidism is a cultural and religious system based on ancient religious traditions and it has roots in some ancient Iranian religions, Mesopotamian cultures and Sufism. Generally, it is regarded as a way to understand life, not an acquired dogma. In addition, each of monotheism, gnosticism, orthopraxy and the holiness of elements of nature play a central role in its traditions. What is more, its religious beliefs and practices have been preserved through oral traditions, which can be considered as a religious literature that has its own forms and categories such as Qewl, Beyt and Qeside, etc. Lalish which is located in Kurdistan is the Yezidis’ holiest place in the world. This book contains a detailed study of describing and analyzing the considerable role that the elements of nature, notably the four elements: fire, water, earth and air/wind play in Yezidism, in its religious beliefs and practices, and on the basis of the religious poetic texts and living religious traditions. The fieldwork of the study was carried out in Yezidi areas in the Kurdistan region of Iraq which is the centre of their religion.

Author: Christine Allison
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136746552
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
The Yezidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority, neither Muslim, Christian nor Jewish. Their ethnicity has been disputed, but most now claim Kurdish identity. Their heartland, including their holiest shrine, is in the Badinan province of Northern Iraq, and it is the communities in this area which are the main focus of this book. Their highly

Author: Philip G. Kreyenbroek
Publisher: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag
ISBN: 9783447060608
Category : Yezidiler- Avrupa- Tarih
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Yezidism is a minority religion that is largely based on tradition rather than scripture. In the homelands - Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Transcaucasia - its world-view is closely connected with local culture, and most easily understood in that context. From the 1960s onwards, an increasing number of Yezidis from Turkey, Iraq and Syria were forced to migrate to Western Europe. After the fall of the Soviet Union many Yezidis from Armenia and Georgia moved to Russia and the Ukraine. This work addresses the question of differences in perception of the religion between Yezidi migrants who grew up in the homeland and those who were mainly socialised in the Diaspora. It is based on extensive qualitative research among Yezidis of different generations in Germany and Russia.

Author: Birgül Açikyildiz
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857720619
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
Yezidism is a fascinating part of the rich cultural mosaic of the Middle East. The Yezidi faith emerged for the first time in the twelfth century in the Kurdish mountains of northern Iraq. The religion, which has become notorious for its associations with 'devil worship', is in fact an intricate syncretic system of belief, incorporating elements from proto-Indo-European religions, early Iranian faiths like Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, Sufism and regional paganism like Mithraism. Birgul Acikyildiz here offers a comprehensive appraisal of Yezidi religion, society and culture. Written without presupposing any prior knowledge about Yezidism, and in an accessible and readable style, her book examines Yezidis not only from a religious point of view but as a historical and social phenomenon. She throws light on the origins of Yezidism, and charts its development and changing fortunes - from its beginnings to the present- as part of the general history of the Kurds. Her book is the first to place Yezidism in its complete geographical setting in Northern Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Transcaucasia. The author describes the Yezidi belief system (which considers Tawusi Melek - the 'Peacock Angel' - to be ruler of the earth) and its religious practices and observances, analysing the most important facets of Yezidi religious art and architecture (including funerary monuments and zoomorphic tombstones) and their relationship to their neighbours throughout the Middle East. Acikyildiz also explores the often misunderstood connections between Yezidism and the Satan/Sheitan of Christian and Muslim tradition. Richly illustrated, with accompanying maps, photographs and illustrations, this pioneering book will have strong appeal to all those with an interest in the culture of the Kurds, as well as the wider region.

Author: Tobias Churton
Publisher: Watkins Media Limited
ISBN: 1780283849
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 497

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Book Description
At last, the unexpurgated, true story of the amazing Aleister Crowley—philosopher, poet, artists, writer, magus, explorer, parapsychology—and spy. Packed with fresh research and previously unpublished ‘Crowleyana.’ For 100 years, Aleister Crowley’s true achievements have been suppressed and his true character defaced in a campaign of vilification unparalleled in British history. Until now, Crowley’s life has not been written—it has been written over. Tobias Churton is a world authority on Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and Gnosticism. In writing Aleister Crowley, he enjoyed complete access to all Crowley’s restricted papers, unpublished letters and personal diaries kept in a trust at London’s Warburg Institute and in the Ordo Templi Orientis archives. Ninety percent of the authentic material here has never before been published.

Author: Uwe Bläsing
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004302069
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 710

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Book Description
This unique collection of essays by leading international scholars gives a profound introduction into the great diversity and richness of facets forming the study of one of earth’s most exciting areas, the Iranian and Caucasian lands. Each of the 37 contributions sheds light on a very special topic, the range of which comprises historical, cultural, ethnographical, religious, political and last but not least literary and linguistic issues, beginning from the late antiquity up to current times. Especially during the last decennia these two regions gained greater interest worldwide due to several developments in politics and culture. This fact grants the book, intended as a festschrift for Prof. Garnik Asatrian, a special relevance. Contributors: Victoria Arakelova; Marco Bais; Uwe Bläsing; Vahe S. Boyajian; Claudia A. Ciancaglini; Johnny Cheung; Viacheslav A. Chirikba; Matteo Compareti; Caspar ten Dam; Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst; Kaveh Farrokh; Aldo Ferrari; Ela Filippone; Khachik Gevorgian; Jost Gippert; Nagihan Haliloğlu; Elif Kanca; Pascal Kluge; Anna Krasnowolska; Vladimir Livshits; Hirotake Maeda; Irina Morozova; Irène Natchkebia; Peter Nicolaus; Antonio Panaino; Mikhail Pelevin; Adriano V. Rossi; James R. Russell; Dan Shapira; Wolfgang Schulze; Martin Schwarz; Roman Smbatian; Donald Stilo; Çakır Ceyhan Suvari; Giusto Traina; Garry Trompf; Matthias Weinreich; Eberhardt Werner and Boghos Zekiyan

Author: Lloyd Ridgeon
Publisher: Gingko Library
ISBN: 1909942316
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 617

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Book Description
Javanmardi is one of those Persian terms that is frequently mentions in discussions of Persian identity, and yet its precise meaning is difficult to comprehend. A number of equivalents have been offered, including chivalry and manliness, and while these terms are not incorrect, javanmardi transcends them. The concept encompasses character traits of generosity, selflessness, hospitality, bravery, courage, honesty, truthfulness and justice--and yet there are occasions when the exact opposite of these is required for one to be a javanmard. At times it would seem that being a javanmard is about knowing and doing the right thing, although this definition, too, falls short of the term's full meaning. The present collection is the product of a three-year project financed by the British Institute of Persian Studies on the theme of "Javanmardi in the Persianate world." The articles in this volume represent the sheer range, influence, and importance that the concept has had in creating and contributing to Persianate identities over the past one hundred and fifty years. The contributions are intentionally broad in scope. Rather than focus, for example, on medieval Sufi manifestations of javanmardi, both medieval and modern studies were encouraged, as were literary, artistic, archaeological, and sociological studies among others. The opening essays examine the concept’s origin in medieval history and legends throughout a geographical background that spans from modern Iran to Turkey, Armenia, and Bosnia, among both Muslim and Christian communities. Subsequent articles explore modern implications of javanmardi within such contexts as sportsmanship, political heroism, gender fluidity, cinematic representations, and the advent of digitalization.

Author: Brendan O'Leary
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812206088
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
"There is no reason why America's withdrawal from Iraq should be as dishonest as its intervention has been judged to be."—Brendan O'Leary, from the Preface Both the American people and Arab Iraqis have voiced their overwhelming desire to see U.S. troops removed from the country. How to Get Out of Iraq with Integrity argues that the U.S. military intervention in Iraq must come to an end. But it must come to an end in a judicious, pragmatic, and orderly fashion. In this book, Brendan O'Leary spells out why that withdrawal can begin to occur now, why it is in the best interests of the United States and the Iraqis that withdrawal occur, and why Iraq can function as a federation once the U.S. military has left the country. How to Get Out of Iraq with Integrity provides an in-depth analysis of the new Iraqi constitution, an evaluation of the political goals and powers of the major ethnic and religious groups that will constitute the new Iraqi state, and an assessment of the regional realities of a Saddam-less Iraq. With a viable constitution and other institutional structures already in place, Iraq is poised for a future as a sovereign state. If U.S. leaders facilitate the remaking of Iraq as a federation with four or more regions instead of a recentralized state, the United States can begin successfully to remove its forces. Propelled by this incisive and bold argument, How to Get Out of Iraq with Integrity provides the foundation for the incoming presidential administration to do just that, without betraying U.S. commitments to Arabs, Kurds, or democracy. To make his case, O'Leary draws on his extensive background as constitutional advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government, the European Union, and the United Nations, along with expertise in constitutional design and ethnic reconciliation in Northern Ireland and South Africa.