[4] Yazidism is based on belief in one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings, known as Angels.

[12] The Adawiyya existed in the Kurdish mountains before the 12th century, when Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir (1072–1078),[12] a Sufi of Umayyad descent and venerated by Yazidis to this day,[13][4] settled there and attracted a following among the adherents of the movement.

Prior to the World's creation, God created a dur (white pearl) in spiritual form from his own pure Light and alone dwelt in it.

[5][10][19] The original, hidden God of the Yazidis is considered to be remote and inactive in relation to his creation, except to contain and bind it together within his essence.

The identity of these three is sometimes blurred, with Sheikh 'Adī considered to be a manifestation of Tawûsî Melek and vice versa; the same also applies to Sultan Ezid.

[20] Muslims and Christians have erroneously associated and identified the Peacock Angel with their own conception of the unredeemed evil spirit Satan,[5][10][19][21]: 29 [22] a misconception which has incited centuries of violent religious persecution of the Yazidis as "devil-worshippers".

[27] In religious literature, these Angels are sometimes referred to as Cibrayîl, Ezrayîl, Mîkayîl, Şifqayîl, Derdayîl, Ezafîl, and Ezazîl.

Sheikh 'Adī ibn Musafir settled in the valley of Laliş (some 58 kilometres (36 mi) northeast of Mosul) in the Yazidi mountains in the early 12th century and founded the 'Adawiyya Sufi order.

At the beginning of the time prior to the creation, God emerged from the cosmic pearl, which rested on the horns of a bull that stood on the back of a fish.

The Yazidi religion has its own perception of the colours, which is seen in the mythology and shown through clothing taboos, in religious ceremonies, customs and rituals.

White is considered the color of purity and peace and is the main colour of the religious clothing of the Yazidis.

[46][47] The religious literature of Yazidis is composed mostly of poetry which is orally transmitted in mainly Kurmanji and includes numerous genres, such as Qewl (religious hymn), Beyt (poem), Du‛a (prayer), Dirozge (another kind of prayer), Şehdetiya Dîn (the Declaration of the Faith), Terqîn (prayer for after a sacrifice), Pişt perde (literally 'under the veil', another genre), Qesîde (Qasida), Sema‛ (literally 'listening'), Lavij, Xerîbo, Xizêmok, Payîzok, and Robarîn.

The poetic literature is composed in an advanced and archaic language where more complex terms are used, which may be difficult to understand for those who are not trained in religious knowledge.

[citation needed] Therefore, they are accompanied by some prosaic genres of the Yazidi literature that often interpret the contents of the poems and provide explanations of their contexts in the spoken language comprehensible among the common population.

The prosaic genres include Çîrok and Çîvanok (legends and myths), and Dastan and Menal Pîrs (interpretations of religious hymns).

[50] A very important genre of oral literature of the Yazidi community consists of religious hymns, called Qewls, which literally means 'word, speech' (from Arabic qawl).

They are a veritable source of ancient Yazidi lore and are traditionally recruited from the non-religious members of other Kurdish tribes, principally the Dumilî and Hekarî.

[51][10][8] The qewls are full of cryptic allusions and usually need to be accompanied by čirōks ('stories') that explain their context.

[57] Another important festival is the Tawûsgeran, where Qewals and other religious dignitaries visit Yazidi villages, bringing the sinjaq, sacred images of a peacock symbolizing Tawûsê Melek.

These are venerated, fees are collected from the pious, sermons are preached and holy water and berat (small stones from Lalish) distributed.

[58][59] The greatest festival of the year is the Cêjna Cemaiya ('Feast of the Assembly'), which includes an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Sheikh 'Adī' (Şêx Adî) in Lalish, northern Iraq.

[61] If possible, Yazidis make at least one pilgrimage to Lalish during their lifetime, and those living in the region try to attend at least once a year for the Feast of the Assembly in autumn.

[62] Tiwafs are yearly feasts of shrines and their holy beings which constitute an important part of Yazidi religious and communal life.

Traditionally, Yazidi children are baptised at birth with water from the Kaniya Sipî ('White Spring') at Lalish.

However, many Yazidis living in Germany began to view this taboo as a foreign belief from Judaism or Islam and not part of Yazidism, and therefore abandoned this rule.