Iraq's Cool Religious Minorities

For a moment, put aside all thoughts of the Muslims - Sunni, Shia, Sufi, whatever - and focus on 2 really cool religions whose adherents live mainly in Iraq:

In Northern Iraq, the Yezidi pray to angels, and to Lucifer in particular. In their version of the story, Lucifer turned to good deeds, created the world, and has been forgiven. They call him Malak Taus ("peacock angel"). Maybe identifying him with the Lucifer of Christian theology is unfair - maybe it's just a vaguely parallel misbehaving angel story. The Yezidi themselves don't mind calling him Lucifer, but they refuse to call him Satan.

In Southern Iraq, the Mandeans hold John the Baptist in high esteem but see Jesus as a false prophet. If you're a Mandean you can expect to be baptized several times a year. They are the oldest surviving Gnostic sect. Their main symbol is a cross with a piece of cloth on it, but they say it has nothing to do with the Christian cross.

Somehow in the desert heat
They come up with visions that can't be beat!