The Amityville Ghost
November 20th, 2007, 05:12 PM
Melek Ta'us, which means "Peacock King" or "Peacock Angel" in Kurdish, is the name of the primary deity of Yezidism. He is one of seven angels or lesser deities that emanated forth from the Supreme God before Creation. He is commonly identified by Westerners with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic idea of "Satan," but this is a mistake. While he is certainly understood by the Yezidis to have been a rebel against the Supreme God, the nature and consequences of his rebellion are strikingly different.
From http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/25/1059084215461.html :
The main reason for the persecution of Yezidism, [Bab el-Sheik Kurto Haji Ismail] says, is confusion between its account of the creation and the very similar - but crucially different - Judaeo-Christian-Islamic one.
"God created the seven angels and he told them that they must worship no one else but him," the Bab el-Sheik explains.
"After that, to test the angels, God told the angels that they should pray to Adam, and all the angels obeyed the order but one. The Peacock Angel refused. He said to God, you told us not to pray to anyone but you. And because of that he passed the test, God forgave him and he became the greatest of the Angels . . . it is not true to say that the Peacock Angel broke the will of God. We say that the Peacock Angel passed the test of God, and is the good angel."
Since Melek Ta'us had proven himself, it was to him that the Supreme God gave ultimate authority over the created universe. Yezidi theology has it that the Supreme God only created our world; he has nothing to do with governing it or micro-managing its affairs. This is a task given to Melek Ta'us and the other angels, who serve beneath him.
From YezidiTruth.org:
The Yezidis do not believe that the Peacock Angel is the Supreme God. The Supreme God created him as an emanation at the beginning of time. He was brought into manifestation in order to give the invisible, transcendental Supreme God a vehicle with which to create and administer the universe. Tawsi Melek is thus a tangible, denser form of the infinite Supreme God. In order to assist Tawsi Melek in this important role, the Supreme Creator also created six other Great Angels, who were, like the Peacock Angel, emanations of the Supreme God and not separate from him. When recounting the creation of all Seven Great Angels, the Yezidis often summarize the emanation process as follows:
Tawsi Melek was the first to emerge from the Light of God in the form of a seven-rayed rainbow, which is a form he still today continues to manifest within to them (usually as a rainbow around the Sun). But the Yezidis also claim that Tawsi Melek and the six Great Angels are collectively the seven colors of the rainbow. Therefore, the six Great Angels were originally part of Tawsi Melek, the primal rainbow emanation, who bifurcated to become the rainbow’s seven colors, which are collectively the Seven Great Angels. Of the seven colors produced from the primal rainbow, Tawsi Melek became associated with the color blue, because this is the color of the sky and the heavens, which is the source of all colors.
As "the Lord of this world," Melek Ta'us resembles a benevolent version of the Gnostic demiurge, who is one with all of Nature. In fact, the Yezidi book of Al-Jilwah describes him as being omnipresent, in that "There is no place in the universe that knows not my presence." In the book, Melek Ta'us also says "I lead to the straight path without a revealed book; I direct aright my beloved and my chosen ones by unseen means. All my teachings are easily applicable to all times and all conditions. " Furthermore, "I appear in diverse manners to those who are faithful and under my command."
The Peacock Angel's "chosen ones" do not necessarily have to be Yezidis. They can be people of any ethnicity and any religion. His teachings are timeless and they can be practiced by people of all faiths; they can even be practiced by atheists. He appears and can be worshiped and prayed to under a variety of disguises; the implication is that every religion is somehow dedicated to Melek Ta'us, whether the practitioners realize it or not. But what are the Peacock Angel's teachings?
In Al-Jilwah, the King of the Angels says, "All the books of those who are without are altered by them; and they have declined from them, although they were written by the prophets and the apostles. That there are interpolations is seen in the fact that each sect endeavors to prove that the others are wrong and to destroy their books." He also says, "The books of Jews, Christians, and Moslems, as of those who are without, accept in a sense, i.e., so far as they agree with, and conform to, my statutes. Whatsoever is contrary to these they have altered; do not accept it."
"Those who are without" are people of other religions who curse Melek Ta'us as "the devil." The indication here is that, originally, neither the Bible nor the Talmud nor the Koran contained anything that taught hatred or violence. The message of God and the angels has always been one of love and peace. But later on, Christians, Muslims and Jews altered their own holy texts to justify their hatred for "the Other." For instance, a Biblical verse like "Love thy neighbor" or "Judge not lest ye be judged" is believed to have truly originated from God; but verses like "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" came from the cruel hearts of men, not God. And note that Melek Ta'us speaks of the Abrahamic prophets and apostles with a tone of respect. This indicates that the Peacock Angel's teachings are opposed to the idea of persecuting others because of their differences, much less doing so in the name of the gods.
One of the most important statements in Al-Jilwah is when Melek Ta'us says,
"I allow everyone to follow the dictates of his own nature, but he that opposes me will regret it sorely." First of all, this indicates that each and every individual being that exists will have their own unique nature, which somehow sets them apart from everything that exists. This is just as Melek Ta'us wants it. This means, for instance, that if it is a person's nature to be homosexual, then that is the way Melek Ta'us wants them to be. When Melek Ta'us says, "he that opposes me will regret it sorely," I do not believe he is talking about people who refuse to worship him. I believe he is talking about people who try to fight against their own natures. For example, a homosexual person who tries to force him or herself to be straight will become deeply frustrated with him or herself; they will "regret it sorely."
It would seem the Peacock Angel's teaching is that we are to allow everyone to follow the dictates of their own natures, just as he does. We must not hate or persecute each other for our differences, for it is he that makes each of us different. Since he is one with all of Nature, there is a bit of Melek Ta'us in each of us, and that bit is the thing that makes you you and me me. We must each be true to ourselves, and we must allow each other to be true to ourselves. We must not suppress the things that make us different from each other, but at the same time we must not let our differences get in the way of treating each other right. There is absolutely no concept of "Us versus Them" with Melek Ta'us, and he is about as far away from the Christian-Islamic Satan as you can get.
From http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/25/1059084215461.html :
The main reason for the persecution of Yezidism, [Bab el-Sheik Kurto Haji Ismail] says, is confusion between its account of the creation and the very similar - but crucially different - Judaeo-Christian-Islamic one.
"God created the seven angels and he told them that they must worship no one else but him," the Bab el-Sheik explains.
"After that, to test the angels, God told the angels that they should pray to Adam, and all the angels obeyed the order but one. The Peacock Angel refused. He said to God, you told us not to pray to anyone but you. And because of that he passed the test, God forgave him and he became the greatest of the Angels . . . it is not true to say that the Peacock Angel broke the will of God. We say that the Peacock Angel passed the test of God, and is the good angel."
Since Melek Ta'us had proven himself, it was to him that the Supreme God gave ultimate authority over the created universe. Yezidi theology has it that the Supreme God only created our world; he has nothing to do with governing it or micro-managing its affairs. This is a task given to Melek Ta'us and the other angels, who serve beneath him.
From YezidiTruth.org:
The Yezidis do not believe that the Peacock Angel is the Supreme God. The Supreme God created him as an emanation at the beginning of time. He was brought into manifestation in order to give the invisible, transcendental Supreme God a vehicle with which to create and administer the universe. Tawsi Melek is thus a tangible, denser form of the infinite Supreme God. In order to assist Tawsi Melek in this important role, the Supreme Creator also created six other Great Angels, who were, like the Peacock Angel, emanations of the Supreme God and not separate from him. When recounting the creation of all Seven Great Angels, the Yezidis often summarize the emanation process as follows:
Tawsi Melek was the first to emerge from the Light of God in the form of a seven-rayed rainbow, which is a form he still today continues to manifest within to them (usually as a rainbow around the Sun). But the Yezidis also claim that Tawsi Melek and the six Great Angels are collectively the seven colors of the rainbow. Therefore, the six Great Angels were originally part of Tawsi Melek, the primal rainbow emanation, who bifurcated to become the rainbow’s seven colors, which are collectively the Seven Great Angels. Of the seven colors produced from the primal rainbow, Tawsi Melek became associated with the color blue, because this is the color of the sky and the heavens, which is the source of all colors.
As "the Lord of this world," Melek Ta'us resembles a benevolent version of the Gnostic demiurge, who is one with all of Nature. In fact, the Yezidi book of Al-Jilwah describes him as being omnipresent, in that "There is no place in the universe that knows not my presence." In the book, Melek Ta'us also says "I lead to the straight path without a revealed book; I direct aright my beloved and my chosen ones by unseen means. All my teachings are easily applicable to all times and all conditions. " Furthermore, "I appear in diverse manners to those who are faithful and under my command."
The Peacock Angel's "chosen ones" do not necessarily have to be Yezidis. They can be people of any ethnicity and any religion. His teachings are timeless and they can be practiced by people of all faiths; they can even be practiced by atheists. He appears and can be worshiped and prayed to under a variety of disguises; the implication is that every religion is somehow dedicated to Melek Ta'us, whether the practitioners realize it or not. But what are the Peacock Angel's teachings?
In Al-Jilwah, the King of the Angels says, "All the books of those who are without are altered by them; and they have declined from them, although they were written by the prophets and the apostles. That there are interpolations is seen in the fact that each sect endeavors to prove that the others are wrong and to destroy their books." He also says, "The books of Jews, Christians, and Moslems, as of those who are without, accept in a sense, i.e., so far as they agree with, and conform to, my statutes. Whatsoever is contrary to these they have altered; do not accept it."
"Those who are without" are people of other religions who curse Melek Ta'us as "the devil." The indication here is that, originally, neither the Bible nor the Talmud nor the Koran contained anything that taught hatred or violence. The message of God and the angels has always been one of love and peace. But later on, Christians, Muslims and Jews altered their own holy texts to justify their hatred for "the Other." For instance, a Biblical verse like "Love thy neighbor" or "Judge not lest ye be judged" is believed to have truly originated from God; but verses like "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" came from the cruel hearts of men, not God. And note that Melek Ta'us speaks of the Abrahamic prophets and apostles with a tone of respect. This indicates that the Peacock Angel's teachings are opposed to the idea of persecuting others because of their differences, much less doing so in the name of the gods.
One of the most important statements in Al-Jilwah is when Melek Ta'us says,
"I allow everyone to follow the dictates of his own nature, but he that opposes me will regret it sorely." First of all, this indicates that each and every individual being that exists will have their own unique nature, which somehow sets them apart from everything that exists. This is just as Melek Ta'us wants it. This means, for instance, that if it is a person's nature to be homosexual, then that is the way Melek Ta'us wants them to be. When Melek Ta'us says, "he that opposes me will regret it sorely," I do not believe he is talking about people who refuse to worship him. I believe he is talking about people who try to fight against their own natures. For example, a homosexual person who tries to force him or herself to be straight will become deeply frustrated with him or herself; they will "regret it sorely."
It would seem the Peacock Angel's teaching is that we are to allow everyone to follow the dictates of their own natures, just as he does. We must not hate or persecute each other for our differences, for it is he that makes each of us different. Since he is one with all of Nature, there is a bit of Melek Ta'us in each of us, and that bit is the thing that makes you you and me me. We must each be true to ourselves, and we must allow each other to be true to ourselves. We must not suppress the things that make us different from each other, but at the same time we must not let our differences get in the way of treating each other right. There is absolutely no concept of "Us versus Them" with Melek Ta'us, and he is about as far away from the Christian-Islamic Satan as you can get.