Persia past and present; a book of travel and research, with more than two hundred illustrations and a map . before Adam and did not fall in sin. Thislatter belief appears to be a reminiscence of the Avestan Gaya-maretan, who lived before Mashya and Mashyoi, the IranianAdam and Eve. The Yezidis likewise refrain from spittingupon the ground — an observance as old as the Magi^—norwill they pour boiling water upon the earth for fear of scald-ing the face of the little devils. I have often been told thatif a circle be drawn on the ground around a Yezidi he willstand for hours in the middle of it w
Persia past and present; a book of travel and research, with more than two hundred illustrations and a map . before Adam and did not fall in sin. Thislatter belief appears to be a reminiscence of the Avestan Gaya-maretan, who lived before Mashya and Mashyoi, the IranianAdam and Eve. The Yezidis likewise refrain from spittingupon the ground — an observance as old as the Magi^—norwill they pour boiling water upon the earth for fear of scald-ing the face of the little devils. I have often been told thatif a circle be drawn on the ground around a Yezidi he willstand for hours in the middle of it without venturing to stepover the charmed line, which reminds one of the karshvarsdrawn in Avestan rites of exorcism according to the is thought, moreover, that the Yezidi religion shows distantsurvivals of the old Assyro-Babylonian worship of the sun,moon, and stars, for the faith appears to have retained thesun-god Shamash under the form of Sheikh Shems and the 1 Herodotus, Hist. ; cf. 3. 35. paedia, 8. 1. 42. See also Adams,Ibid. 1. 99, 138; Xenopbon,Cj/ro- Persia, pp. 497, YeZLUIS, UK SU-CALLKD DEVIL-WuRfSHIPPEKS, IN TlFLIS BELIEFS OF THE DEVIL-WORSHIPPERS 13 moon-god Sin as Sheikh Sinn, an emanation of God In many respects the Yezidi doctrines have been influencedby Manichaeism, and its doctrines of purity, by NestorianChristianity and especially by Mohammedanism. With eachof these religions the Yezidis have come into contact. Theyrecognize Mohammed as a prophet of equal rank with Abrahamand the patriarchs, and they believe that Christ was an angelin human form. One curious statement that I heard is thatthe Yezidis sacrifice one sheep every year to Christ and thirtyto the devil. The rite of baptism is practised among them,and circumcision is general, but not universal. A part of theirmarriage ceremony consists in the bridegroom and bride divid-ing a piece of bread between them, but the Yezidis also allowMohammedan priests formally to o
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