The Yazidi

The Times has an article by James Hider on this ancient sect:

Often derided by their Muslim neighbours as peacock-loving, lettuce-dodging devil-worshippers, the Yazidi are one of Iraq’s more ancient and mysterious sects whose beliefs have long been misunderstood and maligned.

From their base in a 1,000-year-old former monastery at Lalish, near the northern city of Mosul, the Yazidi community have traditions that date back at least to the days of Zoroaster some 2,500 years ago.

Back in May, writing for CounterPunch, Patrick Cockburn described the tensions and killings that led to the dreadful bombings near Mosul yesterday.

And there is more on the Yazidi's beliefs in a 1919 book by Isya Joseph.