Bêxweş

General Information

Also Known As

Bêxweş shrine, Bêxweş, Dara Bêxweş

Type

Dara

Nahiya (Subdistrict)

Şera

Village or Nearby Villages

Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik

The Bêxweş shrine (Kurdish: Dara Bêxweş) is a tree shrine (dara) at Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik.

Physical & Landscape Features

Dara Bêxweş is an oak near the village's Qerecurnê spring and nearby plane trees (darê çinarê). The oak is said to spread a pleasant scent in the surrounding area.1

Dedicated Figure & Ritual Practices

People from the surrounding area tie fabric to Dara Bêxweş in the hope that God will fulfill their requests and wishes. The nearby plane trees are also protected. No one is supposed to cut them, and cutting them is said to make the cutter ill.2

General Background Info

Dr. Sebastian Maisel, author of Yezidis in Syria, describes a Yezidi custom of tying a ribbon to an old tree near a cemetery or local shrine so that a wish may come true.3

Bibliography

  • Ax û Welat, Episode 1118 (village Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik), "Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik," 2017. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSSJUaYJBw.
  • Maisel, Sebastian. Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017.

References

  1. Ax û Welat, Episode 1118 (village Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik), "Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik," published 2017, YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSSJUaYJBw. Direct quotes: "Darek palûtê bi navê Dara Bêxweş tê binavkirin û bêna xweş li hewîrdorê belav dike"; "Darê çinarê ne." English translation: "An oak tree is called Dara Bêxweş, and it spreads a pleasant scent in the surroundings"; "They are plane trees." ↩

  2. Ax û Welat, Episode 1118 (village Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik), "Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik," published 2017, YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSSJUaYJBw. Direct quotes: "Û xelkên derdorê de ziyantê de girê didin, bi hêviya ku xwedê daxwaz û miradê wan bicîh bîne"; "Ev darana jî nabe kes jêke. E jêke naxoş dibe." English translation: "The people of the surrounding area tie [fabric] to it at the shrine, in the hope that God will fulfill their requests and wishes"; "No one may cut these trees. Whoever cuts them becomes sick." ↩

  3. Sebastian Maisel, Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017), 526. Direct quote: "Another tradition is to tie a ribbon on the old tree that usually stands next to the cemetery or local shrine for a wish to come true." English translation: "Another tradition is to tie a ribbon to the old tree that usually stands beside the cemetery or local shrine so that a wish may come true." ↩