The Peacock Angel keeps the world.
The religion of the Yazidi Kurds: one God who entrusted the world to seven angels, chief among them Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel — a figure outsiders have slandered for centuries, at catastrophic cost to his people. Baptism in white spring water, reincarnation, and Lalish as the holy valley.
DeitiesOne God; seven angels steward creation — Melek Taus at their head
Founded1100 CE · Lalish, northern Iraq
FounderNone — no founding moment
AfterlifeReincarnation — the soul changes its garment
TextsOral qawls; two disputed sacred books
The map
Yazidism’s corner of it — solid lines are descent; dotted lines are resemblance only, ideas held in common across unrelated faiths. Click a node to recenter; ✕ returns here. All 171 faiths →
Melek Taus is God's regent, not his rival.
The Peacock Angel refused to bow to Adam out of pure devotion to God — the story outsiders twisted into slander is, inside, the proof of his fidelity.
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The world is kept by seven angels.
God entrusted creation to the Heptad — remote sovereignty above, angelic administration below.
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Lalish is the world's navel.
Every Yazidi should stand once in the holy valley; its White Spring baptizes, its shrines anchor the cosmos.
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M
Melek Taus — the Peacock Angel.
Chief of the seven, who refused to bow to Adam out of devotion to God alone — the fidelity outsiders twisted into a slander that has cost the Yazidis dearly.
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Pilgrimage to Lalish.
Barefoot in the holy valley, the White Spring's baptism, the knotted cloths at Sheikh Adi's shrine — the cosmos reanchored.
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