Who is Tawûsî Melek? The Peacock Angel of the Yazidis

Those who hear the name for the first time and perform a search will see two things: a very colorful bird — and a word that one should never throw at anyone. The two are connected, and to understand how, one must know a story.

The name

Tawûs means peacock. Melek means angel. Tawûsî Melek is therefore, literally, the Peacock Angel.

In the Yazidi faith, there is one God, Xwedê. He created the world and then entrusted it to seven beings. Tawûsî Melek is the first of these seven — not a second god, but the one to whom responsibility for the world was given.

The story on which everything hinges

Xwedê created the first human from earth. Then he called the angels and commanded them to bow before this human.

Everyone bowed. One did not.

Those who know this story usually know it with a different ending. In that version, the one who refused is the arrogant one, the fallen one, the cursed one. From that point on, he is God's adversary.

In the Yazidi narrative, it turns out differently. Because beforehand — and this is the crucial sentence — Xwedê had forbidden him to bow before anyone except Him. Only after that did the second command come.

It was, therefore, not disobedience. It was a test. And he passed it: He adhered to what God had told him first, even when it could have cost him everything. That is why he stands above the other six.

The same story. Two endings.

What became of it

One only has to imagine how someone hears a single sentence from the Yazidis: They honor the one who did not bow. He knows his own version of the ending. He applies it. The verdict is reached.

Over the centuries, this verdict has resulted in a great deal of bloodshed. For those who believe people are worshipers of evil no longer need permission. Then he is not a murderer — he is "cleaning up."

This is not a distant history. The accusation still persists today in forums, on schoolyards, and in comment sections.

The word that is not spoken

Yazidis do not speak the name that other religions use for the fallen one. Not as a joke, not as an example, not as a quote. Some even avoid words that just sound similar.

This is not a quirk. For Yazidis, it is not a name for a thing, but an insult to the one to whom the world was entrusted. Anyone who wishes to speak respectfully with Yazidis will remember this one point — and does not need to believe anything to do so.

And who, then, is the devil?

No one.

In the Yazidi faith, there is no opponent of God. No being that works against Xwedê and sometimes wins. This sounds like a minor detail at first, but it has a harsh consequence: If nothing is tempting from the outside, then good and evil lie within every human being themselves. Every day. And everyone decides which one to let out.

That is uncomfortable. A devil would be practical — he is an excuse one can have. The Yazidis do not have one.

The bird made of bronze

There are figures that represent Tawûsî Melek: Senceq, made of bronze. They used to be carried from place to place through the villages so that people could see them. This practice is called Tawûsgeran. Why a peacock, of all things? There are several answers — the most beautiful one is: because all colors are contained in a single bird, just as the whole world is contained in one God.

Where to read more about this

The second chapter of ÊZÎDÎ — What we truly believe is about exactly this. It begins with a boy being shown a word on a display during a school break and being able to say only "No" — and having no second sentence afterward.