Cejna Ezi: The Yazidi Feast of Ezi
- Dala Sarkis
- 58 minutes ago
- 12 min read
Introduction
The Cejna Ezi, the Feast of Ezi, is one of the most important and most beloved festivals of the Yazidi faith, a great winter festival of light held around the time of the winter solstice in honour of Sultan Ezi. Preceded by a solemn three-day fast, the Rojiyen Ezi, the feast celebrates the divine, the rebirth of the light, and the very name by which the Yazidis call themselves, for Ezi is one of the names of God in the Yazidi faith, and the Yazidis, the Ezidi, are the people of Ezi.
Coming in the dark days around the solstice, when the sun stands at its lowest and the year turns back toward the light, the Feast of Ezi is bound up with the Yazidi reverence for the sun as a visible sign of the divine presence. As the days begin once more to lengthen, the faithful celebrate the return of the light and the blessing of Tawuse Melek and the one God, breaking their fast in a festival of joy, communion and hope.
To understand the Cejna Ezi is to understand the rhythm of the Yazidi sacred year and the deep themes of the faith: the reverence for light and the sun, the obligation of the fast, the bonds of family and community, and the remembrance of the dead. In its solemn fast and its joyful feast, in its honouring of Sultan Ezi and its celebration of the returning light, the festival gathers up the spirit of one of the most ancient faiths of the Kurdish world.
Contents
What Is the Cejna Ezi?
The Cejna Ezi, also called the Ida Ezi or Feast of Ezi, is a major Yazidi religious festival held in December, around the time of the winter solstice, in honour of Sultan Ezi, a divine figure who in the Yazidi faith is understood as a name of God and a manifestation of the divine. The feast is celebrated on a Friday, in the tradition the Friday around or after the middle of December, and it is preceded by the Rojiyen Ezi, a three-day fast obligatory for all able-bodied Yazidis. As a festival of light coming at the darkest time of the year, it is one of the most important and beloved observances of the Yazidi religious calendar.
Sultan Ezi and the Name of the Yazidis
The festival is held in honour of Sultan Ezi, also called Sultan Ezid, one of the most important divine figures of the Yazidi faith. In Yazidi belief, Ezi is one of the names of the one God, and Sultan Ezi is understood as a manifestation of the divine, appearing in the tradition sometimes as God and sometimes as a holy being closely identified with the divine and with Tawuse Melek. He is associated with the winter solstice and with the divine presence in the returning light.
The name of Sultan Ezi is bound up with the very name of the Yazidi people. The Yazidis call themselves the Ezidi, and this name is understood in the tradition to derive from Ezi, so that the name Ezidi means the followers or servants of God, the people of Ezi. In honouring Sultan Ezi, then, the Yazidis honour the divine name from which their own identity as a people is drawn, and the Feast of Ezi is in a sense a celebration of the very heart of Yazidi identity, the bond between the people, their God, and the name they bear. This makes the festival not only a religious observance but an affirmation of who the Yazidis are.
Key Takeaways
The Cejna Ezi is a major Yazidi festival held in December.
It honours Sultan Ezi, understood as a name and manifestation of God.
It falls around the winter solstice, as a festival of light.
It is preceded by the obligatory three-day Rojiyen Ezi fast.
The name of the Yazidis (Ezidi) is linked to the name Ezi.
It is a time of fasting, feasting, family, and remembrance.
Quick Facts
Name: Cejna Ezi (also Ida Ezi, Feast of Ezi/Ezid)
Faith: Yazidism
Honours: Sultan Ezi, a name and manifestation of God
Time: December, around the winter solstice
Day: A Friday in the second half of December
Preceded by: The Rojiyen Ezi, a three-day fast
Fast: Obligatory for able-bodied adults; dawn to sunset
Theme: Light, the returning sun, the divine presence
Name link: Ezidi, the people of Ezi (followers of God)
Observances: Feasting, family visits, remembrance of the dead
The Three-Day Fast
The Feast of Ezi is preceded and prepared for by the Rojiyen Ezi, the Fast of Ezi, a solemn three-day fast that is among the most important observances of the Yazidi year. During these three days, in the tradition falling on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before the Friday feast, the faithful abstain from food and drink from dawn until sunset, breaking the fast each evening. The fast is a time of devotion, self-discipline and spiritual preparation for the festival to come.
The Rojiyen Ezi is distinguished from certain other Yazidi fasts by being obligatory: while some fasts of the religious year are voluntary or kept especially by the devout, the three-day Fast of Ezi is incumbent upon every able-bodied adult Yazidi, with exemptions only for children, the sick and the elderly. This obligatory character marks the special importance of the Feast of Ezi among the festivals of the year. In keeping the fast, the whole community shares together in an act of devotion and discipline, drawing near to the divine and preparing themselves, body and soul, for the joyful celebration of the feast that follows the three days of abstinence.
The Festival of Light
The Feast of Ezi is, above all, a festival of light, bound up with the winter solstice and with the Yazidi reverence for the sun as a visible symbol of the divine. The festival falls at the darkest time of the year, around the solstice, when the days are shortest and the nights longest. As the solstice passes and the days begin once more to lengthen, the faithful celebrate the rebirth and return of the light, which in the Yazidi understanding is a sign of the divine presence and blessing, closely associated with Sheikh Shems, the holy being of the sun.
In the ancient understanding that the Yazidi faith preserves, the sun is revered as a visible sign of God, the source of life, light and warmth. The coming of the Feast of Ezi at the turning-point of the solar year, when the power of the light begins to return after the depths of winter, gives the festival its profound meaning as a celebration of hope, renewal and the triumph of light over darkness. In the dark days around the solstice, the faithful look for the return of the light and the life it brings, and the feast celebrates this turning of the year toward the sun, a theme of renewal that echoes the deepest rhythms of the natural world and the sacred cosmos of the Yazidi faith.
The Celebration of the Feast
After the three days of fasting, the Feast of Ezi itself is celebrated on the Friday with joy, communion and the breaking of the fast. The festival is a time of feasting and gladness, when families and communities come together to share food, to celebrate, and to rejoice in the blessing of the divine and the return of the light. The breaking of the fast is an occasion of communal joy, the solemn discipline of the three days giving way to celebration.
The festival is also marked by the remembrance of the dead and the bonds of community. In the tradition, the faithful visit the cemeteries and the graves of their loved ones, distributing blessings and praying for their dead and for the protection of the community, the sacred music of the def, the frame drum, and the shibab, the flute, sounding in the burial grounds. People visit one another, share meals together at midday, and in the evening the young gather to celebrate. In all this, the Feast of Ezi expresses the great themes of Yazidi communal life: devotion to the divine, the bonds of family and community, the remembrance of the ancestors, and the joyful celebration of the blessings of life and light, in a festival that brings the whole community together at the turning of the year. It stands alongside the spring festival of Carsema Sor and the autumn Feast of the Assembly as one of the great festivals of the Yazidi year.
The Yazidi Winter Festivals
The Feast of Ezi comes as the culmination of a season of winter observances in the Yazidi religious calendar. In the weeks before it, the faithful keep other fasts and festivals, including a three-day fast in honour of Sheikh Shems, the holy being of the sun, and observances in honour of the family patron saints. These lead up to the great obligatory fast and feast of Ezi, so that the whole period around the solstice is a time of fasting, devotion and celebration in the Yazidi year.
This sequence of winter observances, culminating in the Feast of Ezi at the solstice, reflects the deep structure of the Yazidi sacred calendar, in which the festivals are woven into the rhythms of the seasons and the sun. The reverence for the sun and the light, so central to the faith, finds its fullest expression in these winter festivals, as the community fasts and prays through the darkest days and then celebrates the return of the light. Together with the spring New Year and the autumn Feast of the Assembly, the winter Feast of Ezi completes the great cycle of the Yazidi religious year, marking the turning of the seasons with devotion, fasting and joyful celebration, and binding the life of the community to the sacred rhythms of the cosmos.
Symbolism and Meaning
The Cejna Ezi embodies some of the deepest themes of the Yazidi faith: the reverence for light and the sun as signs of the divine, the honouring of Sultan Ezi and the one God whose name the Yazidis bear, and the union of solemn devotion with joyful celebration. Coming at the solstice, it is a festival of hope and renewal, celebrating the return of the light after the darkest days, and in this it expresses the Yazidi vision of a cosmos charged with the divine presence and turning always toward the light. Its obligatory fast and its joyful feast together mark it as one of the central observances of the faith.
The festival symbolises, too, the identity and the endurance of the Yazidi people. In honouring the divine name Ezi, from which the name of the Ezidi is drawn, the feast celebrates the very heart of Yazidi identity, the bond between the people, their God and their name. For a community that has suffered terrible persecution across the centuries, the annual keeping of the fast and the celebration of the feast, the visiting of the graves of the ancestors, and the gathering of the community in devotion and joy are powerful affirmations of survival, faith and identity. To contemplate the Cejna Ezi is to contemplate the resilience and the spiritual depth of the Yazidis, and the way their faith binds them to the divine, to one another, and to the turning of the sacred year.
The Feast and the Kurds
The Feast of Ezi is a cherished part of the heritage of the Kurdish world, for the Yazidis are among the most ancient communities of that world, a Kurdish-speaking people whose festivals are celebrated across the Kurdish lands and in the diaspora. The reverence for the sun and the light, the marking of the solstice, and the rich observances of the feast are part of the distinctive spiritual heritage that the Yazidis have preserved within the Kurdish world.
For the Yazidis, the Feast of Ezi is bound up with their identity as a distinct people with their own ancient religion, an identity that is part of the wider tapestry of the Kurdish world. The keeping of the fast and the celebration of the feast each winter, observed by Yazidi communities from Sinjar and the Nineveh plains to Syria, Turkey and the diaspora, are expressions of a heritage of great depth and antiquity, preserved through centuries of hardship. To honour the Cejna Ezi is to honour the resilience and the spiritual richness of the Yazidis, and to recognise their great winter festival of light as one of the living treasures of the religious heritage of the Kurdish world.
Debates and Misconceptions
Is Sultan Ezi the same as the caliph Yazid? In the Yazidi faith, Sultan Ezi is understood as a name of God and a divine manifestation, an exalted holy figure of the religion, and this is the meaning the festival celebrates. Some modern scholars have proposed that the name Ezi or Ezid may be etymologically connected to the name of the Umayyad caliph Yazid, and this question of the origin of the name is debated among historians. But it is essential to understand that, whatever the etymology, in Yazidi belief and devotion Sultan Ezi is a divine figure, a name of the one God, and the festival honours the divine, not any historical political figure. The faith should be understood here on its own terms, as the Yazidis themselves understand it, with Sultan Ezi as a manifestation of the divine.
Is the Feast of Ezi a kind of sun-worship? No; though the festival is bound up with reverence for the sun and the light, the Yazidis worship the one God, Xwede, and revere the sun as a visible sign or symbol of the divine, the source of life and light, rather than as a god in itself. The association of the feast with the solstice and the returning light expresses the Yazidi understanding of the sun as a sacred sign of God's presence and blessing, within a faith that is firmly monotheistic. The reverence for light is a way of honouring the one God whose sign the light is.
How is the Feast of Ezi different from the other Yazidi festivals? Each of the great Yazidi festivals marks a different season and theme. Carsema Sor, the New Year, is a spring festival of creation and renewal; the Feast of the Assembly is the autumn pilgrimage to Lalish in honour of Sheikh Adi; and the Feast of Ezi is the winter festival of light, held at the solstice in honour of Sultan Ezi and preceded by the obligatory three-day fast. Together they mark the turning of the sacred year, each with its own distinct character and meaning within the Yazidi calendar.
Related Topics
Yazidism: the ancient faith whose winter festival this is
Sheikh Shems: the holy being of the sun, honoured in the winter fasts
Carsema Sor: the Yazidi New Year, the spring festival
The Feast of the Assembly: the great autumn pilgrimage to Lalish
Tawuse Melek: the Peacock Angel, with whom Sultan Ezi is closely identified
The Seven Holy Beings: the Heptad through whom God governs the world
Lalish: the holy sanctuary at the heart of the faith
The Yazidi creation myth: the sacred cosmology behind the festivals
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Cejna Ezi?
The Cejna Ezi, the Feast of Ezi, is a major Yazidi festival held in December around the winter solstice, in honour of Sultan Ezi, a divine figure understood in the faith as a name and manifestation of God. It is a festival of light, celebrating the return of the sun after the darkest days, and it is preceded by the obligatory three-day fast known as the Rojiyen Ezi. It is one of the most important festivals of the Yazidi religious year.
Who is Sultan Ezi?
Sultan Ezi, also called Sultan Ezid, is one of the most important divine figures of the Yazidi faith. In Yazidi belief, Ezi is one of the names of the one God, and Sultan Ezi is understood as a manifestation of the divine, closely identified with God and with the Peacock Angel. The name of the Yazidi people, the Ezidi, is understood to derive from Ezi, so that it means the followers or servants of God, the people of Ezi.
What is the Rojiyen Ezi fast?
The Rojiyen Ezi, the Fast of Ezi, is a solemn three-day fast that precedes the Feast of Ezi, falling in the tradition on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before the Friday feast. During these days the faithful abstain from food and drink from dawn until sunset. Unlike some other Yazidi fasts, the Rojiyen Ezi is obligatory for every able-bodied adult Yazidi, with exemptions only for children, the sick and the elderly.
When is the Feast of Ezi celebrated?
The Feast of Ezi is celebrated in December, around the time of the winter solstice, on a Friday in the second half of the month, following the three-day fast that falls on the preceding Tuesday to Thursday. Its timing around the solstice connects it to the turning of the solar year and the return of the light, and the dates are reckoned in the Yazidi tradition by the older Eastern calendar.
Why is the Feast of Ezi a festival of light?
The festival falls around the winter solstice, the darkest time of the year, when the days are shortest. As the solstice passes and the days begin to lengthen again, the Yazidis celebrate the rebirth and return of the light, which in their faith is a sign of the divine presence and blessing. The Yazidis revere the sun as a visible symbol of the one God, the source of life and light, so the returning light at the solstice is a profound sign of hope and renewal.
Do Yazidis worship the sun at this festival?
No. Although the Feast of Ezi is bound up with reverence for the sun and the light, the Yazidis worship the one God, Xwede, and revere the sun as a visible sign or symbol of the divine rather than as a god in itself. The festival's association with the solstice and the returning light expresses the Yazidi understanding of the sun as a sacred sign of God's presence, within a faith that is firmly monotheistic.
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