The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-10-03

NV
Asia-Worship of the
Some seventeen miles or so north
east of Mosul, in Asiatic Turkey, is a
delightful highland glen known far
and wide throughout the country as
the Valley of Sheikh Adj. Encircled
by q low range of verdure clad hills,
it is completely closed in by them,
and cut off from the outer world. The
mountain sides are terraced and stud
ded with evergreen oaks, spreading
sycamores and glossy terebinths,
clunps of waving palms and gnarled
wild olives that afford pleasant shade
and shelter from the fierce beams of
the too intrusive Eastern sun. A
bushy underground of shrubs covers
the gentler declivities on either hand,
and the pale pure meadow crocus and
glowing ranunculus carpet the ground
in regular patches. The musical CUR
gle of falling water strikes gently and
soothingly on the ear, while the tx
pectant eye catches, amid the green of
the trees, the rainbow sparkle of a
" III tIhg ulCtS LII blOoho tIat
spring from the heights above and
come tumbling and foaming to the
lower ground, forming miniature cas-
d and cataracts, slowly meander-
ing away afterward until they are lost
in a stream that finds it's outlet in a
turn of the glen concealed from view.
There is but one building to be seen
In the valley-a rectangular structure
perfectly plain and unpretending,
some forty feet long and thirty feet
broad in the centre, with a dome or
cupola surmounting it, an enclosed
courtyard open to the sky, at one ex-
tremlty, and a series of small cabins
abutting against the other end consti-
tutlng a part of it. The edifice is
white, white as snow and shows in the
CLINT of the sunbeams like a speck of
glowing metal against the verdant
background of foliage. The glen is an
Ideal spot, a p%aradiscal retreat, but,
Notwithstanding this, it is dreaded
ana feared by the people of the sur
rounding country. Moslem, Christian
and Jew all alike avoid it. Not for
world Would one of them enter it, for
tne valley is the home and "Mazar,'
OF meetlng place, of the hated "Yezi-
uls, the devil worshipers of Kurdis-
tan, a strange tribe which for centur-
les mas made Satan the object of it's
auoratlons, while the white building in
the midst of the glen is the tomb of
tnelr reputed founder and saint. the
Shelkh Adj. Here these secthries of
the devil gather three times in the
year for the purpose of celebrating
mos eerle and unholy rites of their
cult which have made them abhorred
by their n%eighbors and fellowmen.
Striking and picturesque to n depree
Is the appearance of the valley as 7
RODE down into it the gathering dark
ness OF a lovely night in early sum-
mer. 1t is the eve of one of the nrin-
cipdl solelnnltles OF the sect, and the
pace is full of Yezidis who have come
from every part of Kurdistan to greet
the .hak" or spiritual head of the fra
terhlty, whom l hive already met at
Aleppo, where he usually resides.
some Two thousand of them are en-
camped within the billy corcle round.
Liner tents are pitched under every
Tree and near every rill of water.
Ihelr fires CLEAN on the decliyities
n slopes, their lights twinkle through
the dusk in every direction and from
every point of vantage, having oil the
erect of a general illumination.
men, strange of figure move stealth
NY ABOUT In the singular garb. which
procIalms the YYezidi. They wear q
long white undergarment an oyerman-
lie OF yellow, reaching nearly down to
the ankels, and a conical, black can
WIlch mas gained for them. among
Moslems, the designation "Karabash"
(olack head), by which they are gen
orally known throughout Asiatic Tur-
Key. Inc upper part of their garment
Is always open, showing the knotted
cord round the neck by which The tr1e
Wofshlpper of the devil may invaria-
bly, be distinguished. This cord hangs
down in front, is never taken off for
an instant by a Yezidi and is known
as "Mahak," the bride, that is.
The women gathered near the fires
that begin to get low as night goes
on, wear white garments only and a
yellow head dress. Here and There q
black proved "Karabash" or brother,
attlred wholly in black, passes by on
his way to the shrine of the Sheikh
Adj, and anon a "Pir" or priest. in the
name colored mantle which proclaims
his standing in the Yezidi hierarchy,
moves silently in the direction of the
sanctuary.
The ceremonies of the sect do not
mem until midnight, so there is
time for all to rest in the interval and
prepare for the solemnity. The dark
ness gradually %deepens, the fire slowly
die out and, one by one, the MANY
twinkling lights that erstwhile shone
amid the trees on the hillsides disap-
pear. The gloom thickens silence set
ties over the valley, and nothing is to
be seen but the stars in the sky over
the valley, and nothing is to be seen
but the stars and the sky overhead
and h glimmer of a single lamp that
marks the site of Sheikh Adi's tomb.
AS he position of the consultations
overhead indicates the approach of
~