The morning times., 1896-11-27
Worshippers
of the Devil
Queer Customs and Beliefs Which
Characterize the Yescedees.

| supplied me with good deal OF inlorma-
| tioh about the pecuiiarilIcs oil his tfiD".
! The smoky little hut was vciled in
| Ndi'of, UtIiL IL was nUU unlu ms tongue mad
| been loosened by the JudicIous Application
| ui lew medJidiehS tnaJ lie cOLsenL,u 10
/ tell me something about his forefathers.
| me interpreter, himself n picturesque old
| scoundrel, was little incoherent, but in
| formed rne that the kizZli-bashes are di-
vided into two races, the Seyd Hassanlees
| ana the Deyrsimiecs.
The latter inhabit the level districts of
| Armenia, While the foImer are more con-
| SANITY found in the MezC or, Doojik, and
kooziehan mountains. The Seyd Hassan-
| lees are supposed 10 have come originally
| from Persia. MGSi of the Deyrsimlees have
! long, narrow black eyes, long faces and
hoses, and swarthy complex.ons' the Scyd
| Hassanlees are short and robust; their
| young III en- wear full lea and long plated
'resses OF hair. All mddle-aged men Lave
| two Loose locks behind each ear.
The Deyrsimlees are descended from the
| original Armenian pagan STOCK, which ex-
| tsted i'll the Aphija Dagh, III Malatia, even
| before Christianity That eminent ou-
| inorlty, Moses of Chorene, says that On
| The arrival, after the flood, OF Xisuthrus in
| Armenia, one OF his sons, named sim, went
| northwest in order o Teconnoitre the cOun-
| Try. On reaching little plain, traVtrsed
| by rivers Which carry their waters INTO
Assyra, he stopped on the banks Of Il liver
| for TWO moons and gave his name 10 the
| mountain.
The Kizzil-bashes worship fire, light.
| water. and the sun tthe latter is styled
Mithra), and evidently consider them the
| noDlcst symbols and most potent agents
| OF the divine power-for they have some
| Idea of divine powcr-in nature. They
| believe that they have mediator with the
| holy Ali, and that this mediator, who has
visited the earth under different forms,
! Will one day reappear. Some OF them also
believe in the 2 ythagorcan transmigration
| OF souls. ALI, the creator of the world, is
| ubiquitous and omnipotent, to be wor-
shipped by the alteration OF whatever Is vast
| and beautiful in nature. They adore the sun
! at its rise and setting, reverence fire-woe
| be to the unlucky stranger who eStingushed
| fire in Il kiZ2ilbash village, for the
| population set upon him, beat him, and
drive him away-and pray at the sources
| rivers. The KRzii-Dashes of the Deyrsiin
| amount 10 2Uu,OuU souls, their co-reii-
| giunIsts are scattered about Diarbckir,
| Ourfa, Sivas, etc.
| All the KiZZe-bash trib rs with whattruth
| l know not, are said to resemble in some
| respects the DruseS of Mount Lebanon. ON
| the nights of certain feasts they practice
| abomlnable orgies, and, after performing
| sundry obscene rites, raise their blasphe-
nous voices to heaven. Like orthodox
| siussuinIans they are allowed four wives,
| but, unlike them. do not permit divorce.
| Their women converse freely with strang-
| ers, and are not ashamed to be seen with
| out their wells.
l noticed an old KizZIl-bash carefully re-
| place n spoon with the bowl dow inward in a
| glass OF water. lie also superstitiously put
| some boots with the soles To the floor, and
| when Il servant spat in the fire the old man
| rebuked him for thus trifiing with one of
| the elements.
. uniSe the Kizzi!-oashes, The Ycsceiecs
| or devil worshippers, are not so reticcnt
| about their peculiar rites. Briefly, their
| theory seems To be that the modern devil,
cmboiying, as he does, every form of evil,
| physical, mental, and moral, combines in
| n.S character attributes when, IN Former
| days, We're once divided among many.
| He is made accountable for ali manner OF
| avIl in the material world which was
| formerly the business OF demons, and he
| is also endowed with powers almost
| amounting To omniscience, omnipreseticc,
aud unInll oience, whlca bsJrdy nis angelic
and even god-like character.
| lie is not only invested with the tenn
| porary monarchy or the world, but is 10
Il great extent looked upon as welding an
| undisputed sway over he'll and death
| Among the more educated and enlightened
| ella sscs he is spritudlizcd so as 10 present
| himself from Il moral point OF view only;
but among the large III asses of those "ho
| believe in him he is Thought OF III some
| monstrous form created by superstition
| and inherited by tradition. ln,!epand-
| entity of all these characteristics, hc en-
| Joys his own especial monopoly of un-
| qualified maligrity, doing evil Tor cvil S
| sake.
| There is a clear and weil-deiined dis
| tiuction between a demon and devil.
| They are both spiritual beings, but their
| IllIy ~
| nally there Were good as Well as evil
! demons, who became extensively identiied
| with the malignant forces OF nature. Even
| then, however, their baneful influences
| were in principle not the result Of de-
sire to injure, but simply the performance
| of their natural office. The fulfilment OF
| this office did not always necessarily work
injury, and might a times be mixed with
good; whereas the evils ascnbed TO the
| devil had their sole origin and motive in
pure malignlty.
| The Yescedees, or edvil wOrshippers,
| ascrIbing this nefoe niaignIty 20 Inc Deril,
think it well to prGpitlate him. Whatever
may be his position in heaven, 1t does
not affect his power to work evil on
earth, and. therefore, they dceIn 1t pru-
dent to worship him. not knowing where
they one day may find themselves.
| lLc great syiIaoi winch Iiit. tGsCedeeo
worship is the Meiek TaooS, King Pea
cock. The origin Of this pavonian ador-
alton is that when our Saviour was suf'
lering on the cross, III the absence OF hls
disciples and friends, the devil took Hin
| down and carried Him to heaven. When
| the Marys came and could not find our
| Lord. they inquired of the devil what had
become of Him. The poor woman would
| not believe the devils answer, hut proin-
| ised to do so if the devil would take the
pieces of cooked fowl which he was
l hrip hp n fp
The devil assented to this proposal, and
| bringing it back bone to bone the cock ap-
| peared and crew. He then announced his
| real character, and they expressed their
| establishment in u burst of alteration, and
| the devil departed, after having informed
the Marys that he would appear to his
| beloved in the shape Of a beautiful 70 wi.
The peacock was thus chosen as the pri-
mafy Yescedee symbol. 1t resembles a
cock rather than a peacock, and is fixed
| on the top of a candlestick, which has lamps
| around it, each lamp containing seven burn
ers.
Every year all devout Yescedees repair
to the shrine of their saint, Shckh Ali.
whom they believe to be greater thar
Christ. This shrine Is situated twenty
] miles east of Rahban Hormuzd. Their one
| Yescedee poem is the eulogy of Sheikh Ali;
Who desireth me must forsake the world
| l am he that spake a true word.
The highest heavens are for those who
obey me.
I sought out truth and became the estab.
Usher of truth.
And with a similar truth shall they attain
to the highest like me.
Each family brings u meat offering to
Sheikh Ali. which is thrown into an enor.
NOUS caIdrun, and every morning a share
OF the meat finds its way to the heads OF
| families,