In Episode 156 [19] of the CounterVortex podcast [20], Bill Weinberg discusses Peter Lamborn Wilson [21]'s last book, Peacock Angel: The Esoteric Tradition of the Yezidis [22]. One of the persecuted minorities of Iraq [23], the Yezidis are related to the indigenous Gnostics [24] of the Middle East such as the Mandeans [25]. But Wilson interprets the "esoteric" tradition [26] of the Yezidis as an antinomian [27] form of Adawiyya [28] sufism with roots in pre-Islamic "paganism." Melek Taus [29], the Peacock Angel, the divine being revered by the Yezidis as Lord of This World [30], is foremost among a pantheon that ultimately traces back to the Indo-European gods [31]. Wilson conceives this as a conscious resistance to authoritarianism, orthodoxy and monotheism—which has won the Yezidis harsh persecution over the centuries. They were targeted for genocide [32] along with the Armenians by Ottoman authorities in World War I—and more recently at the hands of ISIS [33]. They are still fighting for cultural survival [34] and facing the threat of extinction [35] today. Weinberg elaborates on the paradox of militant mysticism [36] and what it means for the contemporary world, with examples of "heretical" Gnostic sects [37] from the Balkan labyrinth [38]. Listen on SoundCloud [19] or via Patreon [39].
Production by Chris Rywalt [42]
Other books discussed: The Ecology of Freedom [43] by Murray Bookchin [44] (available from AK Press [45]); Meetings with Remarkable Men [46] by GI Gurdjieff [47] (Gurdjieff Books & Music [48])
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