The Wichita daily eagle., 1896-12-16

with the temporary monarchy Of the
world, but is to q great extent looked
upon as welding an undisputed sway
over hell and death Among the more
educated and enlightened classes he
Is spiritualized SO as to present him
self from a moral point of view only;
but among the large masses of those
who believe in him he is thought of in
some monstrous form created by SUI
perstition and inherited by tradition.
Independently of all these characters
tics, he enjoys his own especial monopo-
ly of unqualified nalignity, doing evil
for evils sake.
There is a clear and well-dedned dis
tinctiou between q demon and n devil.
They are both spiritual beings, but their
attributes are essentially different.
Originally there were good as we'll as
evil demons. who became extensively
identified with the malignant forces Of
nature. Even then, however, their bane.
full influences were in principle not the
result of desire to injure, but simply
the performance of their natural Office
The fulfillment of this Office did not al.
ways necessarily work injury, and
might at times be mixed with good !;
whereas the evils ascribed to the devil
had their sole origin and motive in pure
malignity.
The Yescedees, or devil worshipers
ascribing this fierce malignity to the
devil, think it well to propitiate him
Whatever may be his position 10
Heaven, il does not affect his power to
work evil on earth, and therefore they
deem it prudent to worship him, not
knowing where they may one day find
themselves.
The great symbol which the Yesce.
dees worship Is the Melek Taoos-kine
peacock. The origin Of this psvonian
alteration is that when the Saviour wss
suffering on the cross. in the absence
of His disciples and friends, the devil
took Him down and carried Him 10
Heaven. When the Marys came and
could not find our Lord. they inquired OF
the devil what had become of HIM. The
poor women would not believe the
devils answer. but promised 10 do so II
the devil would take the pieces Of Q
fowl which he was eating and bring
the bird back to life.
Tie devil assented TO this proposal,
and. bringing back bone to bone. the
cock appeared and crowed. BE then an
nounced his real character, and they cx.
pressed their astonishment in a burst
Of alteration, and the devil departed.
after having informed the Marys that
he would appear to his beloved az .
beautiful fowl.
The peacock was thus chosen a. the
primary Yescedee symbol. II resembles
cock rather than peacock. and 10
fxed on the top Of caDdlestick. which
has lamps around IL, each lamp con-
tanning seven burners.
Every year all derout Yescedees re
pair to the shrine Of their saint, Sheikb
All, whom they believe 10 be greater
than Christ This shriDs In situated 20
miles east OF Rabban Hormuuzd Their
one Yescedec poem is The eulogy cf
sbeikh Ali:
am he that spake a true word
The highest Hsavern are FOR thoss VIC
obey ne.
7 sought o1t truth and became the estab-
Usher of truth
And with a similar truth sf.sli they attain
TO ;hs highest Ike me-
Each family brings meat Offering 20
Sheikh All. which In thrown mt sn
e1o-nos1s czldron. and every norDtnR
a share Of The r,eat finds It's way 70 the
heads Of families.
The whole Of sbskh AIS valley n
holy ground Bcneath the shadow of
green trees and by the SIDES OF ffs bsb.
bling brooks, the Iesce<le>s hare Q 1
grand yotsve dance. which Is<ts for ave
days. After the dance Is over, the
arc bfought to b t<Pe.sd n
The holy fountain, which Il sorrnAed
20 De connected with tte Zeus-zen of
Mecca, and offerings of rue1 sod
blankets are made at The shrSne.
On the western ode Of sbc sez.ne Of
sheiSh All are Dur>rons hiercziy phical |
s~fterx. the prrpor. Of which = rr-
known 20 the prissts- s~rPenfz. shep- |
herds crooks. shs-P-b-Aked hirsss !
cocks ecubs. sad otb~r objects ere
possibly tie work os an I
zEzpIoos builder. bat more pDbebiy 1
vsgaiscan< Of certain d1-r.rsre<
One e-zud night - ccnsecYz.ef % .
the xorshiP Of tae king of ssY- On /