Charshma Sor - Red Wednesday

 

Charshma Sor means Red Wednesday and is Yezidi new year. Charshma Sor occurs during the Yezidi month of Nisan and is often referred to as Charshma Sor Nisani, meaning Red Wednesday of [the month of] Nisan.

 

Kurmanji is a dialect spoken by Kurds, Yezidis and others in Northern Iraq. Sere sal means new year in Kurmanji. So Charshma Sor Nisani is sere sal Yezidi. 

 

Charshma Sor is the first Wednesday following the 14th of the month of April. These are the Charshma Sor (sere sal) dates during the next few years:

 

April 15, 2015

Arpil 20, 2016

April 19, 2017

April 18, 2018

April 17, 2019

April 15, 2020

 

Kušṭa - the handshake

 

The modern western handshake has its roots in ancient Yezidi culture. There are many different stories and teachings about the origins and meaning of the handshake.

 

One story is that thousands of years ago, it was taught teaching that two people should shake hands or touch hands to show respect for one another.

 

Another teaching is that when we hold our hands toward the sky or when we hold the holy scriptures in our hands, it is a sign of respect for our inner soul and it puts us in touch with God and spirituality.

 

Yet another teaching is to shake hands after having an argument to reconnect and make peace with one another.

 

The History

 

The Yezidi live principally in northern Iraq. There are approximately one million Yezidis worldwide. Historically, the Yezidis lived primarily in communities in locales that are in present-day Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They also had significant numbers in Armenia and Georgia. However, events in the 20th and 21st centuries have led to a considerable demographic shift in these areas as well as mass emigration. As a result, population estimates are unclear in many regions and estimates of the size of the total population vary.

 

The estimated Yezidi population in Iraq in early 2015 is approximately 500,000. They are particularly concentrated in northern Iraq in the Nineveh Province. The two largest communities are in the Shekhan District, northeast of Mosul, and the Sinjar District at the Syrian border 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Mosul. The shrine of Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir is at Lalish in the Shekhan District. During the 20th century, the Shekhan community struggled for dominance with the more conservative Sinjar community.

 

Yezidis in Syria live primarily in two communities, one in the Al-Jazira area and the other in the Kurd-Dagh. Population numbers for the Syrian Yezidi community are unclear. In 1963, the community was estimated at about 10,000, according to the national census, but numbers for 1987 were unavailable.There may be between about 12,000 and 15,000 Yezidis in Syria today, though more than half of the community may have emigrated from Syria since the 1980’s.

 

The Turkish Yezidi community declined precipitously during the 20th century. By 1982 it had decreased to about 30,000 and in 2009 there were fewer than 500. Most Turkish Yezidis have emigrated to Europe, particularly to Germany; those who remain reside primarily in their former heartland of Tur Abdin.

 

Population estimates for the communities in Georgia and Armenia vary, but they too have declined severely. In Georgia, the community fell from around 30,000 people to fewer than 5,000 during the 1990’s. The numbers in Armenia may have been somewhat more stable. There are around 40,000 YYezidis still in Armenia.

 

Most Georgian and Armenian Yezidis have relocated to Russia, which recorded a population of 31,273 Yezidis in the 2002 census.

 

The mass Yezidi emigrations from Turkey, Syria, Georgia and Armenia has resulted in the establishment of large diaspora communities abroad. The most significant of these is in Germany, which now has a YYezidi community of over 30,000. Most of the Yezidis residing in Germany are from Turkey. More recent Yezidi immigrants to Germany are from Iraq and they have settled in the western states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.

 

Since 2008, Sweden has seen sizable growth in its Yezidi immigrant community, which has grown to around 10,000. There is smaller Yezidi community in the Netherlands. Other diaspora groups live in Belgium, Denmark, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia; these have a total population of probably less than 5,000.

 

The Yezidi People are mostly poor, but they have a rich spiritual tradition that they contend is one of the world’s oldest. According to the Yezidi religion, they were the first people to be created in the Garden of Eden, which they claim is a large area centered in what is now known as Lalish in Iraq. A vestige of the Yezidis’ Garden of Eden era is reputed to be Gobekli Tepe, a recently discovered archeological excavation in southern Turkey that has been dated to approximately 12,000 B.C.E.

 

During and after a great flood around 4000 B.C.E., the Yezidis dispersed to many countries in  Asia, including India, Afghanistan, Armenia, Morocco and possibly India. Returning from their adoptive countries around 2000 B.C.E., the Yezidis played an important role in the development of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Jewish civilizations of the Middle East. Ultimately, the Yezidis amalgamated elements of all these civilizations into YYezidism as well as certain features of the Zoroastrian religion of Persia.

 

The Yezidis claim to have one of the oldest religions in the world and they point to their calendar as evidence of this. In January 2015, the Yezidi calendar is in the year 6764. At the time of Yezidi new year on the first of the month of Nisan, the calendar will be in the year 6765. This renders the Yezidi Calendar 4,750 years older than the Christian or Gregorian Calendar, 990 years older than the Jewish Calender, and 5329 years older than the Muslim Calendar.

 

Another important facet of the Yezidi faith is their belief in oneness with nature. Yezidis pay homage to the Sun three to five times each day. When Yezidis pray, they face the sun. The Sun represents the source of energy or ultimate truth. It is sacred and seen as the emanation of God.