The Yazidi Creation Story: The Pearl and the Making of the World
- Dala Sarkis
- 10 hours ago
- 13 min read
Introduction
The Yazidi creation story is among the most beautiful and ancient of all the sacred narratives of the Kurdish world: the tale of how the one God formed the world from a radiant Pearl, called forth the Seven Holy Beings, and entrusted the care of the world to them.
In the cosmogony of the Yazidi faith, God first created a Pearl, in which the world lay enclosed for a great age before it was opened and remade into the world we know; God then called into being the seven holy beings, the great Heptad, the Seven Holy Beings, made a covenant with them, and gave the world into their care, with Tawuse Melek as their leader.
To know the Yazidi creation story is to encounter the deep and ancient vision of the world that lies at the heart of the Yazidi faith: a world brought forth from a radiant Pearl by the one God, and given into the care of the holy beings, a beautiful cosmogony cherished by the Yazidi people and rooted in the most ancient traditions of the region.
Contents
The Yazidi Vision of Creation
The Yazidi creation story is the sacred account, held in the Yazidi faith, of how the world came to be: how the one God formed the world from a radiant Pearl, called forth the Seven Holy Beings, and entrusted the world to their care. It is a cosmogony of great beauty and antiquity, central to the Yazidi understanding of God, the world, and the holy beings. In its essential shape, the story tells that the one God, before the creation of the world as we know it, first brought forth a Pearl, a radiant jewel in which the world lay enclosed; that the world remained thus, small and enclosed within the Pearl, for a great age; and that then the Pearl was opened and the world remade and spread out into its present form. In this making, God called into being the seven holy beings, the great Heptad, made a covenant with them, and gave the care of the world into their hands, with Tawuse Melek appointed as their leader. This vision of creation, the Pearl, the enclosed world, the opening and remaking, the calling of the holy beings, and the entrusting of the world to them, is the heart of the Yazidi cosmogony. As the sacred account of the making of the world, beautiful and ancient, it holds a central place in the faith and the imagination of the Yazidi people.
The One God Before Creation
At the beginning of the Yazidi creation story stands the one God alone, almighty and absolute, the sole source of all that would come to be, for Yazidism is a monotheistic faith.
At the beginning of the Yazidi creation story, before all else, stands the one God alone. Yazidism is a monotheistic faith, holding to one God, almighty and absolute, the sole creator and the source of all that is; the God known among the Yazidis by several honoured names. In the cosmogony, it is this one God who, before the creation of the world as we know it, brings forth the Pearl and all that follows from it; the whole of creation flows from the one God, who is its sole source and origin. The state before creation, in the tradition, is sometimes given a name of its own, the eternity before the world was made, in which only God and the Pearl He brought forth existed. This beginning, with the one God alone as the source of all, is the foundation of the Yazidi creation story and a clear mark of the monotheistic faith of the Yazidis, in which all creation flows from the one God. It is from this one God, almighty and absolute, that the whole beautiful story of creation unfolds. The oneness of God at the beginning is the foundation on which the whole cosmogony rests.
Key Takeaways
In the Yazidi creation story, the one God forms the world from a radiant Pearl.
Yazidism is monotheistic: all creation flows from the one God alone.
The world lay enclosed within the Pearl for a great age before being remade.
God then called forth the Seven Holy Beings, the great Heptad.
God made a covenant with them and entrusted the world to their care.
Tawuse Melek was appointed the leader of the Holy Beings.
Quick Facts
Subject: The Yazidi cosmogony, the sacred story of creation
Faith: Yazidism, a monotheistic faith
The source: The one God, almighty and absolute
The first creation: A radiant Pearl, in which the world lay enclosed
The enclosed age: A great age, often a sacred number of years
The remaking: The Pearl opened, the world spread into its present form
The Holy Beings: The Seven Holy Beings, the great Heptad, called forth by God
The covenant: God made a covenant with the Holy Beings
The entrusting: God gave the care of the world to the Holy Beings
Their leader: Tawuse Melek, leader of the Holy Beings
The Pearl and the Enclosed World
The first act of creation, in the Yazidi story, is the bringing forth of a radiant Pearl by the one God, in which the whole world lay enclosed, small and hidden, for a great age.
The first and central image of the Yazidi creation story is the Pearl. In the tradition, the very first act of the one God in creation was to bring forth a Pearl, a radiant and precious jewel, in some tellings formed from God's own light or essence; and within this Pearl the whole of the world lay enclosed, small, hidden, and gathered together, not yet spread out into the world we know. The world remained thus, enclosed within the Pearl, for a great age, often given as a sacred number of years, a vast span in which the world lay gathered and waiting within the radiant jewel. This image, of the world enclosed within a Pearl before its making, is among the most beautiful and distinctive features of the Yazidi cosmogony, a vision of the world held, in its beginning, as a hidden jewel in the hand of God. The Pearl is the seed and the womb of the world, the radiant beginning from which all would come forth. This vision of the Pearl and the enclosed world is the heart of the Yazidi creation story and its most cherished image. It is from this Pearl that the whole world, in the fullness of time, would be brought forth and made.
The Opening and Remaking of the World
After the great age of the enclosed world, the Pearl was opened, and the world was remade and spread out into its present form, the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.
After the great age in which the world lay enclosed within the Pearl, there came, in the Yazidi story, the opening and the remaking of the world. The Pearl was opened, and from it the world was brought forth, remade and spread out from its small and enclosed state into the world we know, with the heavens above and the earth below and all that is in them. In the tradition, this remaking is bound up with the calling forth of the holy beings and with the forming of the heavens, the earth, the sun, and the moon, and the filling of the world with life. The world, once a hidden jewel gathered within the Pearl, was now opened out and made into the vast and various world of creation, the work of the one God. This opening and remaking of the world from the Pearl is the great turning of the Yazidi creation story, the moment in which the enclosed world becomes the world we know. It reflects the Yazidi vision of creation as an unfolding, a bringing-forth of the gathered world into its full and spread-out form. This remaking of the world from the radiant Pearl is among the central acts of the Yazidi cosmogony. It is in this opening that the world as we know it comes to be.
The Seven Holy Beings and the Covenant
In the making of the world, the one God called forth the Seven Holy Beings, the great Heptad, made a covenant with them, and entrusted the care of the world to them, with Tawuse Melek as their leader.
Central to the Yazidi creation story is the calling forth of the Seven Holy Beings, the great Heptad, the Seven Holy Beings also known as the Seven Mysteries. In the making of the world, the one God called these seven holy beings into existence, made a covenant with them, and entrusted to them the care and the governance of the world; they are the holy beings to whom God gave the affairs of the world, a part of God's own power through whom His care for creation is exercised. Foremost among them, appointed as their leader, is Tawuse Melek, the great holy being who leads the Heptad and holds authority over the world under God. The entrusting of the world to the Seven Holy Beings is a central act of the Yazidi cosmogony, the moment in which the care of the made world is given into the hands of the holy beings, and the beginning of their governance of the world and its affairs, which continues to this day. The Seven Holy Beings and the covenant God made with them are at the heart of the Yazidi vision of the made and governed world. It is through them that the one God's care reaches into the world and its affairs.
An Ancient Cosmogony
The Yazidi creation story is of great antiquity, sharing its essential shape with the cosmogony of the Yarsani faith and with the most ancient creation-traditions of the Iranic world.
The Yazidi creation story is not only beautiful but very ancient, reaching back, in its roots, to the most ancient creation-traditions of the region. Scholars note that the Yazidi cosmogony, with its Pearl and its enclosed world remade into the world we know, shares its essential shape with the creation-story of the Yarsani faith, the other great native faith of the Kurdish world, and that both reach back toward the ancient pre-Zoroastrian and Iranic creation-traditions, in which the world is brought forth and set in order from a gathered or enclosed beginning. This deep antiquity and this kinship with the Yarsani and ancient Iranic cosmogonies reflect the roots of the Yazidi faith in the most ancient spiritual traditions of the region, of which it preserves, in its creation-story, a precious and living form. The Yazidi creation story is thus a window into the most ancient creation-traditions of the Kurdish and Iranic world, kept alive in the living faith of the Yazidi people. Its antiquity and its kinship with the wider traditions are among the features that make it so precious. It is among the oldest of the creation-visions of the region, cherished and living still.
Meaning and Significance
The Yazidi creation story embodies the deep and beautiful vision of the world that lies at the heart of the Yazidi faith: a world brought forth from a radiant Pearl by the one God, and given into the care of the holy beings, an ancient cosmogony of beauty, order, and divine care.
The creation story embodies, too, the monotheistic heart of the Yazidi faith, in which all creation flows from the one God, and the vision of a world watched over and cared for by the holy beings to whom God entrusted it, the Seven Holy Beings and, under them, the many guardians, the Xudans, of the elements and of daily life. It reflects the antiquity of the Yazidi faith and its kinship with the most ancient creation-traditions of the region. In all this, the Yazidi creation story is among the most beautiful and significant of the sacred narratives of the Kurdish world, the tale of the Pearl and the making of the world, a vision of creation cherished by the Yazidi people and rooted in the most ancient traditions of the region. The beauty of its central image, the world brought forth from a radiant Pearl, is among the most precious features of the Yazidi faith and of the spiritual heritage of the Kurdish world.
The Creation Story and the Kurds
The Yazidi creation story is the sacred cosmogony of the Yazidi faith, one of the ancient religions of the Kurdish people, and it forms a precious part of the spiritual heritage of the Kurdish world.
The Yazidi creation story belongs to the Yazidi faith, one of the ancient and distinctive religions of the Kurdish people, professed by the Yazidi Kurds, and it forms a precious part of the rich spiritual heritage of the Kurdish world. In this beautiful cosmogony, the Yazidi Kurds have preserved an ancient vision of the making of the world, the Pearl, the enclosed world, the opening and remaking, the calling of the holy beings, that reaches back toward the most ancient creation-traditions of the region. In presenting the Yazidi creation story, we honour the Yazidi faith as a living and monotheistic religion, presenting its sacred cosmogony faithfully and with respect, as the tale of the one God's making of the world and His entrusting of it to the holy beings. It is a precious part of the spiritual heritage of the Kurdish world, reflecting the depth, beauty, and antiquity of the Yazidi faith and its vision of creation. We honour it as a beautiful and beloved part of the living faith of the Yazidi Kurds, and as one of the great sacred narratives of the Kurdish world.
Debates and Misconceptions
Does the Yazidi creation story mean the Yazidis are not monotheists? No, and this must be stated clearly. Yazidism is a monotheistic faith, holding to one God, almighty and absolute, the sole creator and source of all. In the creation story, it is the one God who brings forth the Pearl and makes the world; the Seven Holy Beings are not separate gods but holy beings called forth by God, a part of His power, to whom He entrusted the care of the world, like the angels and holy beings of other monotheistic faiths. The entrusting of the world to the Holy Beings, with Tawuse Melek as their leader, is the act of the one God, and takes nothing from His oneness and supremacy.
Is the Yazidi creation story connected to any sinister or dark figure? No, and any such claim is a slander born of misunderstanding. The Yazidi creation story is a vision of the one God's good creation, brought forth from a radiant Pearl and entrusted to the holy beings; Tawuse Melek, the leader of the Holy Beings, is a holy and benevolent being, the honoured chief of the angels, and must never be confused with any figure of evil. The long-standing slander that wrongly links the Yazidi faith or its holy beings to anything sinister is a grievous misunderstanding, rejected by the Yazidis and by all who understand their faith. The Yazidi creation story is a beautiful vision of the one God's good creation, and nothing else. We reject the slander firmly and present the creation story as the beautiful and monotheistic cosmogony it truly is.
Is the Yazidi creation story related to other creation-stories? Yes. Scholars note that the Yazidi cosmogony shares its essential shape with the creation-story of the Yarsani faith, and that both reach back toward the most ancient pre-Zoroastrian and Iranic creation-traditions. This kinship reflects the shared ancient roots of the native faiths of the Kurdish world and the deep antiquity of the Yazidi creation-vision, rather than any borrowing that would lessen its distinctiveness. The Yazidi creation story is a precious and living form of the most ancient creation-traditions of the region.
Related Topics
The Heft Sirr: the Seven Holy Beings entrusted with the world
Tawuse Melek: the Peacock Angel, leader of the Holy Beings
Sheikh Adi: the great saint of the Yazidi faith
Sultan Ezid: a holy manifestation in the Yazidi faith
The Yazidi Xudans: the holy guardians of nature and daily life
Yarsani Reincarnation: the kindred cosmogony of the Yarsani faith
Ahura Mazda: the creator God of the ancient Iranic faith
Newroz: the festival of renewal of the Kurdish world
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Yazidi creation story?
The Yazidi creation story is the sacred account, in the Yazidi faith, of how the world came to be: how the one God formed the world from a radiant Pearl, in which the world lay enclosed for a great age before it was opened and remade into the world we know, and how God then called forth the Seven Holy Beings, made a covenant with them, and entrusted the care of the world to them, with Tawuse Melek as their leader.
What is the Pearl in the Yazidi creation story?
The Pearl is the radiant jewel that the one God first brought forth in creation, and within which the whole world lay enclosed, small and hidden, for a great age. It is the seed and the womb of the world, the radiant beginning from which all would come forth. The image of the world enclosed within a Pearl before its making is among the most beautiful and distinctive features of the Yazidi cosmogony.
Does the creation story mean Yazidis worship many gods?
No. Yazidism is a monotheistic faith, holding to one God, almighty and absolute, the sole creator and source of all. In the creation story, it is the one God who brings forth the Pearl and makes the world; the Seven Holy Beings are not separate gods but holy beings called forth by God, a part of His power, to whom He entrusted the care of the world, like the angels and holy beings of other monotheistic faiths.
Who are the Seven Holy Beings in the creation story?
The Seven Holy Beings, the great Heptad, also known as the Seven Mysteries, are the holy beings whom the one God called forth in the making of the world, with whom He made a covenant, and to whom He entrusted the care and governance of the world. Foremost among them, appointed as their leader, is Tawuse Melek, the great holy being who leads the Heptad and holds authority over the world under God.
How old is the Yazidi creation story?
The Yazidi creation story is of great antiquity. Scholars note that it shares its essential shape with the creation-story of the Yarsani faith, and that both reach back toward the most ancient pre-Zoroastrian and Iranic creation-traditions, in which the world is brought forth and set in order from a gathered or enclosed beginning. The Yazidi cosmogony preserves a precious and living form of these most ancient creation-traditions of the region.
Is the creation story connected to anything sinister?
No, and any such claim is a slander born of misunderstanding. The Yazidi creation story is a vision of the one God's good creation, brought forth from a radiant Pearl and entrusted to the holy beings. Tawuse Melek, the leader of the Holy Beings, is a holy and benevolent being, the honoured chief of the angels, and must never be confused with any figure of evil. The long-standing devil-worship slander is a grievous misunderstanding, rejected by the Yazidis and by all who understand their faith.
References and Further Reading
Comments