Zoroastrianism Dictionary

ZOROASTRIANISM

Derives from ancient Persian fire-worship, also called Mazdaism. Zoroaster lived and died approximately 1000 B.C.E. Zoroaster taught the fire of purification in which is found the joy of the Supreme. The temple fires were kept burning in honor of the God of Light. The universe is engaged in a struggle between two Gods, Ahura-Mazda, God of light and goodness and Ahriman, God of darkness and evil. Zarathustra, unlike the Gnostics, taught that the world was basically good because created by Ahura Mazda, only later corrupted by Ahriman. Human beings must chose between the path of Truth (Asha) or follow the path of the Lie. And at death, we must pass over a sifting bridge whereby the souls of light are separated from the souls of darkness. Mithra is the Christ of Zoroastrianism. Z differs from Xtianity in that Mithra doesn't redeem us, no one redeems us. We are redeemed only by our own actions. (See APOCALYPSE.)

(See also: ZOROASTRIANISM , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Zoroastrianism

Way of life based on the teachings of Zoroaster which flourished in Persia until the Arab conquest

(See also: Zoroastrianism , Body Mind and Soul)

Zoroaster

(Greek form of Zarathushtra)

The religion founded by the Iranian-speaking prophet Zarathushtra, Greek Zoroaster, about 600 BC.

It is known to its followers by the Pahlavi title, Daena Mazdayasni, "the Good Religion of the Worshipers of Mazdah. " Later followers, however, worshipped Zoroaster in addition to Mazda. Good Lord Mazda and evil Angra Mainyu are seen as equal in power. There are presently some 150,000 adherents, the majority living in India in the area of Bombay and in Gujarat. Many of these Zoroastrians, called Parsis, "Persians," moved to India after the Islamization of Iran, their original homeland.

Today, many live in other parts of the world, including North America. Versions of Zoroastrianism were made the official religion of the three major pre-Islamic Near Eastern empires of the Iranians, namely that of the Achaemenids, the Parthians, and the Sassanids; under the last the religion was radically unified.

Following the Muslim conquest in the middle of the seventh century, Zoroastrianism was reduced by increasing conversions to Islam. The Turkish and Mongol conquests of Iran saw widespread persecutions, largely reducing the adherents of Zoroastrianism to the desert cities of Kerman and Yazd.

(See also: Zoroaster , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Ako-mano Evil thought. In Zoroastrianism, Angra Mainyu is the embodiment of Ako-mano as Ahura Mazda is the embodiment of Vohu-mano (good thought). (BCW 13:124)

(See also: Ako-mano , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Zarathustra (Zend). The great lawgiver, and the founder of the religion variously called Mazdaism, Magism, Parsee?sm, Fire-Worship, and Zoroastrianism.

The age of the last Zoroaster (for it is a generic name) is not known, and perhaps for that very reason. Xanthus of Lydia, the earliest Greek writer who mentions this great lawgiver and religious reformer, places him about six hundred years before the Trojan War. But where is the historian who can now tell when the latter took place? Aristotle and also Eudoxus assign him a date of no less than 6,000 years before the days of Plato, and Aristotle was not one to make a statement without a good reason for it.

Berosus makes him a king of Babylon some 2,200 years B.C.; but then, how can one tell what were the original figures of Berosus, before his MSS. passed through the hands of Eusebius, whose fingers were so deft at altering figures, whether in Egyptian synchronistic tables or in Chaldean chronology? Haug refers Zoroaster to at least 1,000 years B.C.; and Bunsen (God in History, Vol. I., Book iii., ch. vi., p. 276) finds that Zarathustra Spitama lived under the King Vistaspa about 3,000 years B.C., and describes him as "one of the mightiest intellects and one of the greatest men of all time". It is with such exact dates in hand, and with the utterly extinct language of the Zend, whose teachings are rendered, probably in the most desultory manner, by the Pahlavi translation - a tongue, as shown by Darmsteter, which was itself growing obsolete so far back as the Sassanides -  that our scholars and Orientalists have presumed to monopolise to themselves the right of assigning hypothetical dates for the age of the holy prophet Zurthust. But the Occult records claim to have the correct dates of each of the thirteen Zoroasters mentioned in the Dabistan.

Their doctrines, and especially those of the last (divine) Zoroaster, spread from Bactria to the Medes; thence, under the name of Magism, incorporated by the Adept-Astronomers in Chaldea, they greatly influenced the mystic teachings of the Mosaic doctrines, even before, perhaps, they had culminated into what is now known as the modern religion of the Parsis. Like Manu and Vyasa in India, Zarathustra is a generic name for great reformers and law-givers.

The hierarchy began with the divine Zarathustra in the Vendidad, and ended with the great, but mortal man, bearing that title, and now lost to history. There were, as shown by the Dabistan, many Zoroasters or Zarathustras. As related in the Secret Doctrine, Vol. II., the last Zoroaster was the founder of the Fire-temple of Azareksh, many ages before the historical era. Had not Alexander destroyed so many sacred and precious works of the Mazdeans, truth and philosophy would have been more inclined to agree with history, in bestowing upon that Greek Vandal the title of "the Great".

(See also: Zarathustra , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Mazdean (Persian) [from Mazda bestower of intellect or knowledge]

Also Mazdeism. Applied to the ancient religion of the Iranians and to the scriptures of the Zoroastrians, who are represented today by the Parsis. The earliest followers of the Zoroastrianism, however, in their records called themselves Airyavo danghavo (Aryan races). Nowadays the Parsis call themselves Mazdiasnians, or Mazda-Yasna, which means worship of intellect, referring to all those who believe in the supremacy of light over darkness. From the time of the renovation of Zoroastrianism during the Sassanid period, this term has been used concurrently in the same sense as Zoroastrianism.

(See also: Mazdean , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Fire Worship. See FIRE; ZOROASTRIANISM

(See also: Fire Worship , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Zend-Avesta (Pahli). The general name for the sacred books of the Parsis, fire or sun worshippers, as they are ignorantly called.

So little is understood of the grand doctrines which are still found in the various fragments that compose all that is now left of that collection of religious works, that Zoroastrianism is called indifferently Fire-worship, Mazdaism, or Magism, Dualism, Sun-worship, and what not.

The Avesta has two parts as now collected together, the first portion containing the Vendidad, the Visperad and the Yasna; and the second portion, called the Khorda Avesta (Small Avesta), being composed of short prayers called Gah, Nyayish, etc. Zend means "a commentary or explanation", and Avesta (from the old Persian abashta, "the law". (See Darmsteter.)

As the translator of the Vendidad remarks in a foot note (see int. xxx.): "what it is customary to call ‘the Zend language’, ought to be named ‘the Avesta language’, the Zend being no language at all and if the word be used as the designation of one, it can be rightly applied only to the Pahlavi". But then, the Pahlavi itself is only the language into which certain original portions of the Avesta are translated.

What name should be given to the old Avesta language, and particularly to the "special dialect, older than the general language of the Avesta" (Darmst.), in which the five Ghthas in the Yasna are written? To this day the Orientalists are mute upon the subject. Why should not the Zend be of the same family, if not identical with the Zen-sar, meaning also the speech explaining the abstract symbol, or the "mystery language," used by Initiates?

(See also: Zend-Avesta , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Gahambars In Zoroastrianism, the six periods, which give the evolution of the world. These include Maidyoizaremaya when the heavens were formed; Maidyoisema when water originated; Paitishahya when earth solidified; Ayathrima when vegetation arose; Maidyairya when animal life appeared; and Hamaspathaedaya when man appeared.

A seventh cycle is supposed to come after a certain cycle, and then the Messiah will appear. (BCW 3:462)

(See also: Gahambars , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Ized, Izad (Pahlavi, Pers) A class of ancient Zoroastrian deities subordinate to Ahura Mazda and carriers of his will. In the Avesta, the Yashts are addressed to the izeds. In the Bundahish, Neryosengh, the messenger of the gods, is referred to as an ized, as is Anahita, the goddess of the waters.

In later Zoroastrianism, a class of 33 divine beings or ancient Aryan deities are known as izeds.

(See also: Ized, Izad , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

THEOSOPHY

Society founded in 1875 by H.P. Blavatsky and Col. H.S. Olcott. Immediate divine illumination. Spiritual insight is superior to empirical knowledge. Specifically, Theosophy is the revelation of HPB that incorporates Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, Platonism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Theosophy proposes "four bodies": the physical, the astral, the esthetic and the Self.

(See also: THEOSOPHY , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Mage

A master magician; often a mage is a scholarly and skilled practitioner who prefers that the only tools of their magick be their mind, ability, and spirit. A priest of Zoroastrianism

(See also: Mage , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Dualistic Polytheism:

A style of religion in which the Good Guys and Bad Guys include several major and minor deities (though they may not always be called that by the official theologians); what most so- called “monotheisms” really are. Examples would be Zoroastrianism, Catholicism, and Christian Fundamentalism.

(See also: Dualistic Polytheism , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Deva: A divine being according to Hindu beliefs; a devil or evil spirit according to Zoroastrianism.

(See also: Deva , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

Archidevs In Zoroastrianism, the seven highest or most powerful devs or demons, opposed to the Ameshaspends (BCW 13:127).

(See also: Archidevs , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

SANKHYA

The ancient Hindu philosophy which exerted the strongest influence on Buddhism. Created by Kapila in 600 B.C., it reveals how the Kosmos has been engaged in a dualistic war between Prakriti (physical nature, matter or reality) and Purusha ("Person," Soul of the Universe, Archetypal man, Brahma, spirit, etc.). In the end, Purusha and Prakriti must be re-united in order to set in motion the world's evolution. Essential teaching is also encountered in Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism and contemporary psychiatry. The hallmarks of Prakriti, as follows, are known as gunas and they can be related perfectly to Alchemy:

TAMAS: The mineral nature characterized by heaviness, inertia,  indifference, inactivity, and delusion. (Salt, in alchemy.)

RAJAS: The vegetal nature shown by movability. (Sulphur, in alchemy.)

SATTVAS: The animal nature as lit by balance, harmony, luminosity. The  guna of transcendence. (In alchemy: mercury.)

(See also: SANKHYA , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Sosiosh, Soshyos (Persian) In Zoroastrianism, the deliverer of the world, who shall come on a white horse in a tornado of fire.

According to the Avesta (Yast 19:89), he will be born from a maid near Lake Kasava; he will come from the region of the dawn to free the world from death and decay, from corruption and rottenness -- ever living and ever thriving, the dead shall rise and immortality commence.

This prophecy corresponds to that of the coming of Maitreya-Buddha, or of the Kalki-avatara of Vishnu, also repeated in the Christian Revelation of St. John.

(See also: Sosiosh, Soshyos , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Yasatas (Avestan) Yaztan (Pahlavi) Yazdan, Izad (Persian) The adorable ones, worthy of worship; pure celestial spirits, gods lower in order than the Amesha Spentas. Their opposers were the Drvants. According to the Avesta there were yasatas of the fire and of the water, between whom stood Apam-napat -- both an Avestic and Vedic Sanskrit name -- meaning son, descendant, or offspring of the waters, i.e., the waters of space or of cosmic aether. Therefore Apan-napat corresponds to fohat and is a Sanskrit name sometimes given to Agni or cosmic fire. The emanational procession gives 1) the waters of space; 2) their offspring or son, Apan-napat, fohat, or Agni; from whom again, 3) spring the yasatas of fire.

Speaking of the great antiquity of the Zoroastrian scriptures, Blavatsky remarks that the forefathers of "the Neo-Aryans of the post-diluvian age . . . had met before the Flood, and conversed with the pure 'Yazathas' (celestial Spirits of the Elements), whose life and food they had once shared" (SD 2:356).

In later Zoroastrianism some of these yasatas are equivalent to the archangels. The best known among these divine beings represent the three aspects of truth in action; Atar (the life-giving force and consciousness); Sraosha (the awakening voice within); and Ashi (the resulting bliss). The number of Yasatas including the Amesha Spentas is often 33.

(See also: Yasatas , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Daena (Avestan) (from da, day to look, see, know)

The personification of the Zoroastrian law or religion, presiding over the 24th day of the month, and giving to that day her name. Together with Khista (religious knowledge, the knowledge of what leads to bliss) she forms the subject of the 16th Yasht, Din Yasht, Din being Pahlavi for Daena. Christi (knowledge) was used in Mithraic circles in the same sense as Daena in Zoroastrianism.

It is the human principle of understanding paralleling manas (TG 94); also the fourth of the five inner faculties. On the Chinvat Bridge after death the soul meets its daena in the form of a maiden whose appearance varies according to the soul's deeds on earth.

(See also: Daena , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Zoroaster, Zarathustra, Zarathushtra (Avestan) Zaradusht, Zartosht (Persian) [from Avestan zarat yellow or old cf Sanskrit jarat old + ushtra he who bears light, the intellect in the act of cognition from the verbal root ujsh light]

He who bears the ancient light; the great teacher and lawgiver of ancient Persia in the Avesta, founder of the Mazdean religion, preserved by the modern Parsis.

"Founder of the religion variously called Mazdaism, Magism, Parseeism, Fire-Worship, and Zoroastrianism. The age of the last Zoroaster (for it is a generic name) is not known, and perhaps for that very reason. Zanthus of Lydia, the earliest Greek writer who mentions this great lawgiver and religious reformer, places him about six hundred years before the Trojan War. But where is the historian who can now tell when the latter took place? Aristotle and also Eudoxus assign him a date of no less than 6,000 years before the days of Plato, and Aristotle was not one to make a statement without a good reason for it. Berosus makes him a king of Babylon some 2,200 years B.C.; but then, how can one tell what were the original figures of Berosus, before his MSS. passed through the hands of Eusebius, whose fingers were so deft at altering figures, whether in Egyptian synchronistic tables or in Chaldean chronology? Haug refers Zoroaster to at least 1,000 years B.C.; and Bunsen . . . finds that Zarathustra Spitama lived under the King Vistaspa about 3,000 years B.C., and describes him as 'one of the mightiest intellects and one of the greatest men of all time. . . . the Occult records claim to have the correct dates of each of the thirteen Zoroasters mentioned in the Dabistan. Their doctrines, and especially those of the last (divine) Zoroaster, spread from Bactria to the Medes; thence, under the name of Magism, incorporated by the Adept-Astronomers in Chaldea, they greatly influenced the mystic teachings of the Mosaic doctrines, even before, perhaps, they had culminated into what is now known as the modern religion of the Parsis. Like Manu and Vyasa in India, Zarathustra is a generic name for great reformers and law-givers. The hierarchy began with the divine Zarathustra in the Vendidad, and ended with the great, but mortal man, bearing that title, and now lost to history. . . . the last Zoroaster was the founder of the Fire-temple of Azareksh, many ages before the historical era. Had not Alexander destroyed so many sacred and precious works of the Mazdeans, truth and philosophy would have been more inclined to agree with history, in bestowing upon that Greek Vandal the title of 'the Great' " (TG 384-5).

Zoroaster, the son of Pourushaspa, is said to be the same as Br Abrahm (Abraham) who brought down the holy fire which had no smoke and could not injure because it had no burnable substance. He divided this fire into ten parts and placed each in a different location.

Also, the first created, the abstract light, active mind.

(See also: Zoroaster , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)