ABSTRACT
In the Yezidi cosmogony, Kaniya Spi is the primordial source, the Creator's most elemental ingredient, the physical and symbolic wellspring of the Yezidi Paradise. Like many peoples of Mesopotamia, the Yezidis have a story of a worldwide flood, in which a singular hero, his family, and representative specimens of animal life survive the deluge in an Ark. There is a strong dualistic dimension at the heart of the Yezidis' Flood narrative, which sharply distinguishes pollution and purity, destruction and preservation, foregrounding the motif of the White Spring. It is not surprising that a conversation about Kaniya Spi and baptism brought the story to the sheikh's mind. Like the White Spring, this faithful woman and her innocence remained safeguarded in the midst of the darkest cataclysm, and, as a survivor, she was restored to the world that emerged after the Flood.
