Cejna Cemaiyê: the Feast of the Assembly and the Pilgrimage to Lalîş

Cejna Cemaiyê (Kurmanji Cejna Cemaiyê / Cejna Cemayê, “Feast of the Assembly” or “Feast of the Community”; in scholarship also Feast of the Assembly, Perso-Arabic Jaẕn-â Jamāʿiya) is the most important communal festival of the Êzîdî. It is an autumnal, multi-day pilgrimage feast at the central sanctuary of Lalîş in the Şêxan district of northern Iraq, at which the religious leadership, the tribes and thousands of pilgrims gather for the annual renewal of faith and community at the holiest place of the religion. The feast honours Şêx Adî ibn Musafir and unites the community, scattered across many countries, in shared devotion and celebration.

Note on spelling and classification: On this portal we use the Kurmanji-Latin form Cejna Cemaiyê as well as the terms Êzîdî/Êzîdîs (not “Yazidi”, except in direct quotations). The supreme holy angel Tawûsî Melek is never equated with the “Devil”, see Tawûsî Melek. Important: Cejna Cemaiyê is an autumn festival and must not be confused either with the Êzîdî New Year Sersal / Çarşema Sor (first Wednesday in April, spring) or with the Kurdish Newroz: these are wholly independent occasions with a different meaning and a different date (see Festkalender).

Significance as the most important communal festival

While other principal feasts of the Êzîdî year are celebrated in a decentralised way, in families and villages, Cejna Cemaiyê is the one great feast of coming together. It is the time when the entire community streams to its holiest place to renew its faith and its unity. For a people that has again and again been scattered and persecuted, this annual assembly is a powerful affirmation of survival, identity and piety [Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 152–157; Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 96–100].

Theologically, the feast belongs to the communal axis of the Êzîdî festival calendar (see Festkalender): where the New Year Sersal celebrates creation and Cejna Êzî the divine manifestation in the world, Cejna Cemaiyê stands for the assembly of the community at the place where the holy beings are thought to be present on earth. In Êzîdî conception, during the feast the holy beings themselves also gather in Lalîş, the earthly assembly of the faithful mirrors a heavenly assembly [Kreyenbroek/Rashow 2005, pp. 32–40; Spät 2005, pp. 47–52].

Date

Cejna Cemaiyê is a seven-day autumn festival, placed in scholarship with agreement on the days from the 6th to the 13th day of the month (autumnal, by common dating 6–13 October) [Açıkyıldız 2010, p. 96; Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Jaẕn-â Jamāʿiya”]. The main part of the ceremonies condenses into six intense festival days within this span.

Like all Êzîdî feasts, this date too historically follows the Julian scheme, which lies roughly 13 days offset from the Gregorian calendar, the same offset that separates Eastern-Church feasts from the Western calendar. The dating is therefore to be read consistently with the Êzîdî festival calendar (see Festkalender) and with the account of the sanctuary (see Lalîş) [Spät 2005, p. 50; Omarkhali 2017, pp. 64–68]. The diaspora increasingly places the feast on the nearest weekend.

Do not confuse: The autumn date named here belongs exclusively to Cejna Cemaiyê. Sersal/Çarşema Sor falls on the first Wednesday in April and is a spring festival, the two have nothing to do with each other.

The duty of pilgrimage

According to Êzîdî teaching, every believer is bound to make pilgrimage to Lalîş at least once in their lifetime (see Lalîş). Cejna Cemaiyê is the pre-eminent occasion to fulfil this duty: Êzîdî who live in the region around Lalîş and in Şingal try to come to the Feast of the Assembly at least once a year [Kreyenbroek 1995, p. 152; Açıkyıldız 2010, p. 96].

The ideal-typical festival pilgrimage lasts several days and comprises a fixed sequence of stations at the sanctuary: kneeling at the gates and kissing the thresholds, the ritual washing mor-kirin at the holy spring Kaniya Spî (“White Spring”), the holy greeting sela-kirin at the spring Zimzim, the crossing of the symbolic Şerat-Bridge (pira selat) and the dwelling at the mausoleum of Şêx Adî [Kreyenbroek/Rashow 2005, pp. 33–35; Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Jaẕn-â Jamāʿiya”].

Day-by-day course

The exact course is well documented in scholarship; the following structure follows the day-count common in the literature [Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 96–100; Kreyenbroek/Rashow 2005, pp. 32–40].

First days: arrival, washing and the evening Sema

In the first festival days the pilgrims arrive and pass through the basic stations of the pilgrimage: the washing mor-kirin at the Kaniya Spî, the greeting sela-kirin at the Zimzim spring and the crossing of the Şerat-Bridge. Each evening the holy lamps are lit, and the Qewals (the religious singers, see Religiöse Ämter) recite the holy hymns, the Qewl (see Traditionen).

The high point of the evenings is the Sema: the solemn ceremony in which a group of men dressed in white, led by clergy, circles in dignified movement around a holy torch or light, accompanied by the holy instruments of the Qewals (the frame drum def and the flute şibab). The Sema is no “dance” in the profane sense, but a strictly ordered liturgical act [Omarkhali 2017, pp. 70–75; Kreyenbroek/Rashow 2005, pp. 36–38].

The Perî: the holy cloths

On one of the middle festival days the ritual around the Perî is performed: coloured strips of cloth two to three metres long that are fastened to the tombs of the saints in the shrines of Lalîş. The old cloths are replaced and the new Perî are consecrated in the water of the holy spring; their colours refer to nature. These knotted cloths are at the same time those into which pilgrims tie a knot with which they bind a wish or a vow [Açıkyıldız 2010, p. 98; Spät 2005, p. 51].

The bull sacrifice for Şêx Şems

A core ritual falls on the fifth festival day: the bull sacrifice for Şêx Şems (Şemsê, the holy figure associated with the sun). A young bull (ox) is released on the rise on the path to the shrine of Şêx Şems; men of a particular group, tradition names the tribes of the Qayidî, Tirik and Mamûsî in the company of the Qewals, pursue the animal through the fields of Lalîş, where the tearing-out of a hair is held to be a sign of blessing for the year. The bull is then ritually slaughtered at the shrine of Şêx Şems; the meat is distributed with boiled wheat as the communal dish Simat. Participants stick twigs into their headgear as a sign of fertility [Açıkyıldız 2010, p. 99; Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 154–156; Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Jaẕn-â Jamāʿiya”].

Berê Şibakê: the grille ritual

On one of the last festival days the ceremony Berê Şibakê takes place: a roughly square-metre-sized copper grille with copper rings is carried in a procession from Behzanê to Lalîş and consecrated in the holy pool of the valley (in the tradition the basin Kewtel/Zimzim). During the act the Qewals recite the Qewlê Texta (“Hymn of the Thrones”). The ritual belongs to the most solemn acts of the feast [Açıkyıldız 2010, p. 100; Kreyenbroek/Rashow 2005, p. 39].

The bringing of the Berat

An element of significance for the pilgrims is the Berat (also berat): small, consecrated little balls of earth from Lalîş, mingled with the holy water of the springs (Zemzem/Kaniya Spî). These “holy clay balls” are taken home by the pilgrims and are held to be carriers of protection and blessing for the household. The Berat is moreover a firm component of Êzîdî rites around marriage and death (see Traditionen) and thus connects every household with the sanctuary [Kreyenbroek 1995, p. 156; Spät 2005, p. 52; Omarkhali 2017, p. 72]. At the end of the feast many pilgrims also collect consecrated water to carry it to their home.

Relation to the parade of the Sancak (Tawûsgeran)

Closely interwoven with pilgrimage and feast affairs, yet temporally and ritually independent, is the procession of the Sancak: the holy peacock standard that symbolises Tawûsî Melek (see Sanjak). These processions, traditionally called Tawûsgeran (“the carrying-around of the Tawûs”), led the Qewals through the Êzîdî settlement areas in order to show the holy standard to the communities, to collect donations and to renew the bond between Lalîş and the scattered community.

The Tawûsgeran parades follow a calendar of their own and are not identical with the ceremonies of Cejna Cemaiyê; yet both belong to the same context of the annual renewal of piety and community. For the detailed account of the standard, its symbolism and the processions, see the dedicated article Sanjak [Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 101–105; Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 158–161].

Social function

Cejna Cemaiyê is far more than a liturgical occasion, it is the social heart of the Êzîdî year. When the community, scattered across many villages, regions and today across the whole world, comes together at one place, the feast fulfils a series of societal tasks [Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 152–157; Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 96–100; Omarkhali 2017, pp. 64–75]:

• Marriages and betrothals: The assembly brings together families from far-distant places; it is traditionally a preferred occasion to arrange and conclude marriages, within the limits required by the Êzîdî social order (see Traditionen).
• Dispute settlement: The presence of the religious leadership, the Mîr (prince), the Bavê Şêx and the heads of the spiritual castes (see Religiöse Ämter), makes the feast the place where conflicts between families and tribes are mediated and settled.
• Community and identity: Picnics in the groves, the reunion of relatives, shared meals (Simat) and the experiencing of the rites consolidate the sense of “us” and pass it on to the next generation.

This combination of deep holiness and relaxed sociability shapes the special character of the feast and makes it the annual avowal of the community to itself (see Religion).

The situation since 2014 and the pandemic

The genocide of 2014 by the so-called “Islamic State” against the Êzîdî in Şingal (see IS-Genozid 2014 or the festival-calendar reference under Festkalender) struck the Feast of the Assembly deeply. While the community gathered in Lalîş in the years after 2014, tens of thousands of Êzîdî remained displaced, in refugee camps or cut off from their spiritual homeland; thousands of women and children were in captivity. The feast thus became a painful remembering of the absent and of the ruptures in the fabric of the community [Kreyenbroek/Rashow 2005, p. 32 (on the meaning of the assembly); contemporary reporting 2014/2015].

In the following years the Feast of the Assembly was nevertheless still celebrated in Lalîş and remained an anchor of continuity for a traumatised community. During the Corona pandemic (from 2020) the scope and number of participants of the ceremonies had, as with large religious assemblies worldwide, to be strongly restricted for a time, in order to prevent the spread of the virus. In the growing diaspora (see Diaspora) local forms of communal observance are at the same time developing, since not everyone can undertake the journey to Lalîş.

Sources

• Philip G. Kreyenbroek: Yezidism, Its Background, Observances and Textual Tradition. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1995., https://www.worldcat.org/title/yezidism-its-background-observances-and-textual-tradition/oclc/32464087
• Philip G. Kreyenbroek / Khalil Jindy Rashow: God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect, Sacred Poems and Religious Narratives from the Yezidi Tradition. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005., https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/God_and_Sheikh_Adi_are_Perfect/titel_2926.ahtml
• Eszter Spät: The Yezidis. London: Saqi Books, 2005., https://www.worldcat.org/title/yezidis/oclc/61177689
• Birgül Açıkyıldız: The Yezidis, The History of a Community, Culture and Religion. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010., https://www.worldcat.org/title/yezidis-the-history-of-a-community-culture-and-religion/oclc/664324210
• Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Jaẕn-â Jamāʿiya / Feast of the Assembly”., https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jazn-a-jamaiya/
• Khanna Omarkhali: The Yezidi Religious Textual Tradition, From Oral to Written. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2017., https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/The_Yezidi_Religious_Textual_Tradition/titel_5715.ahtml
• Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Yazidis i. General”., https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1/

See also

• Lalîş: Lalîş, the central sanctuary and goal of the pilgrimage
• Festkalender: the Êzîdî festival calendar in overview (Sersal, Cejna Êzî, Cemaiyê)
• Sanjak: the Sancak (peacock standard) and the Tawûsgeran processions
• Religiöse Ämter: Mîr, Şêx, Pîr and the Qewals as bearers of the rites
• Heiligtümer: the sacral architecture of the Êzîdî shrines
• Religion: faith, cosmology and piety of the Êzîdî
• Traditionen: rites of the life cycle, Berat, marriage and death
• Tawûsî Melek: Tawûsî Melek, the supreme holy angel

Pira Selat: the bridge between this world and the other

One of the most meaningful stations that every pilgrim passes through during Cejna Cemaiyê is the Pira Selat (kurmancî pira selat; rendered in scholarship as the Şerat or Ṣerāṭ bridge), a small stone bridge in the valley of Lalîş on the way to the mausoleum of Şêx Adî. Unlike the other stations, the Pira Selat is not merely a waypoint but an eschatological symbol: in Yazidi conception it marks the transition from the profane, earthly world into the sacred, otherworldly realm [Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Jaẕn-â Jamāʿiya”; Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 153–155].

Symbolism during the pilgrimage

Before crossing the bridge, pilgrims usually remove their shoes and perform a purification, for upon stepping across they are regarded as entering the consecrated innermost area of the sanctuary. Crossing the Pira Selat during the festival is thus a ritual anticipation of the path the soul is to tread after death; while still alive, at the holiest of places, the faithful person enacts what the soul will one day have to pass through [Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 153–155; Spät 2005, p. 51].

The bridge in the belief about the afterlife

In Yazidi teaching about the hereafter, the soul must cross the Selat bridge after death in order to reach paradise. The afterlife is imagined as a garden for the righteous, while the bridge appears narrow and arduous for the unworthy, an image that symbolizes the testing of the soul. At the crossing the soul is examined; according to tradition, Şêx Adî (as the earthly manifestation of Tawûsî Melek, see Tawûsî Melek) is the figure who guides the souls in the hereafter and assists them in crossing the bridge [Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 153–157; Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 96–100].

A central role is played here by the Yazidi institution of the sibling of the hereafter (kurmancî birayê axretê / xwişka axretê, “brother/sister of the hereafter”, see Traditions): this spiritual elective kin steps in for the deceased person after death and accompanies their soul across the Selat bridge. Thus the Pira Selat unites the living, their ritual relationships, and the hope for the hereafter in a single image [Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 154–157; Açıkyıldız 2010, p. 98].

Classification in the history of religions

The Pira Selat stands within a broad tradition in the history of religions of the bridge of the dead. It shows clear parallels to the Islamic aṣ-Ṣirāṭ, the hair-thin bridge over hell that souls must cross on the Day of Judgment, and the name selat/şerat derives from the same root. Older connections exist to the Zoroastrian Çinwad bridge (Chinvat), over which the soul reaches the afterlife in the Iranian tradition. These links underscore the position of Yazidism within the West-Iranian and Near-Eastern religious sphere, without the Pira Selat thereby losing its own distinct significance within the Lalîş cult [Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Jaẕn-â Jamāʿiya”; cf. Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Yazidis i. General”].