- published: 10 Aug 2014
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Melek Taus (Kurdish: Tawûsê Melek), also spelled Malik Tous, translated in English as Peacock Angel, is one of the central figures of Yazidi religion. In Yazidi creation stories, God created the world and entrusted it to the care of a Heptad of seven Holy Beings, often known as Angels or heft sirr ('the Seven Mysteries'), preeminent of which is Tawûsê Melek, the Peacock Angel.
Like many aspects of the secretive Yazidi religion, Tawûsê Melek is subject to varied and ambiguous interpretations. The Yazidi Book of Revelation (Ketêbâ Jelwa), an early twentieth-century text written by non-Yazidis but based on Yazidi oral tradition, is purported to contain the words of Tawûsê Melek; it states that he allocates responsibilities, blessings and misfortunes upon humanity as he sees fit and that it is not for the race of Adam to question his choices.
Since the late 16th century, Muslims have accused Yazidis of devil worship due to the similarity between the Quranic story of Shaitan and the account of Tawûsê Melek's refusal to bow to Adam. Whereas Muslims revile Shaitan for refusing to submit to God and bow to Adam, believing that his defiance caused him to fall from God's grace, Yazidis revere Tawûsê Melek for his independence. Accusations of devil worship fueled centuries of violent persecution, which have led Yazidi communities to concentrate in remote mountainous regions of northwestern Iraq. The Yazidi taboo against the Arabic word Shaitan (الشیطان) and on words containing the consonants š (sh) and t/ṭ have been used to suggest a connection between this Tawûsê Melek and Shaitan, although no evidence exists to suggest Yazidis worship Tawûsê Melek as the same figure.
Hell is getting closer,
don't leave no doors open
Will you save me with a raincoat?
Keeping all levels safe
And when dying feels ok,
I'll leave with a safe way
Will you save me with a raincoat?
Keep me away from the gate
Could you please go home
and leave me alone with my pain
Do I scare you when running away
Left alone in the dark where no angels stay
Caught in prison called time
Will you leave or wait from my sign?
And all I ever do is drain
All those memories who scare in the autumn rain
To bad I have a mortal spine