Persian Mythology

[Mehrbod]

This thread is about Persian Mythology and Deities.






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Ahurâmazdâ

[Mehrbod]

Ânâhitâ
Part 1
Aka: Anahit, Ardwisur, Aredvi Sura Anahita, Nahid




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“Ishtar” by Lisa Iris



The ancient Persian water goddess, fertility goddess, mother goddess, and patroness of women, as well as a goddess of war. Her name means "the immaculate one". She is portrayed as a virgin, dressed in a golden cloak, and wearing a diamond tiara (sometimes also carrying a water pitcher). The dove and the peacock are her sacred animals.

Anahita is also represented dressed in gleaming gold with a crown and jewels. Anahita is often shown wearing a golden kerchief, square gold earrings, and a jeweled diadem, and wrapped in a golden-embroidered cloak adorned with thirty otter skins. (Otter is a four-legged mammal with short brown fur, which swims well and eats fish). Anahita is also portrayed and honored with offerings of green branches and white heifers. And she is sometimes depicted as driving a chariot drawn by four white horses, representing Wind, Rain, Clouds, and Hail. (A chariot was a two wheeled vehicle used in ancient times for racing and fighting and a horse used to pull it). Anahita currently appears in the World as a virgin girl bathing in a river, the singer that sings about the purity of the World, a hunter, a fashion model.

In Susa, south of Iran, mother goddess was worshiped at least since early 4th millennium BC, with numerous statuettes of her found in the area. The tradition of worshiping the mother goddess spilled over to Mesopotamia, where it continued for thousands of years to come.




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“Anahita” by Trashcn | “Anahita” by Vaezi



The first Persian goddess of productivity, and values, Anahita, was widely worshiped in ACHAEMENIAN TIMES. Achaemenian Artaxerxes II who reigned from 404 Bc to 358 BC ordered that images of Anahita should be erected in all the principal cities of the Persian Empire. It is documented that many temples were also built in her honor in Susa or Shoosh (the first Persian federal capital), Ecbatana (city of Hamadaan located 400 km southwest of Tehran in present-day Iran), and in Babylon (about 110 km south of Baghdad in present-day Iraq). Later, Anahita was widely worshiped in various parts of Armenia, Asia Minor and the West. Armenians called out to Anahita as the "Great Lady Anahita, Nation Glory and Life-Giver, Mother of Sobriety, and Benefactor of Humanity".

Ritual prostitution occurred in Her temples in order to “purify the seed of males and the womb and milk of females,” according to Strabo. Armenians called out to Anahita “Great Lady Anahita, glory and life-giver of our nation, mother of sobriety, and benefactor of humanity.”

According to some Ancient scriptures, roots of Anahita goes back to Pre Vedai Era. Her following were strongest in Western Iran. She is the deification of the planet Venus. She is named the eternal virgin.



Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=411293688917332&set=a.411293658917335.96346.405880532791981&type=1&theater

[Mehrbod]

Anahita - Part 2

this ancient Persian goddess mother with various pregnant statues that shows the worship mother of gods from the new stone age in Persia that appears in different forms on the other eras. Mother-Persian goddess in Achaemenian manuscripts named Anahita. The picture of this goddess has seen in reliefs and behind the coins with a milled edge crown. Samanid art is kind of continuation of Sasanid art, and for this reason the figures have seen on this potteries affected by Sasanid art. On the Samanid potteries you can see the fertility symbols like snake, fish, new moon, palm leaf and pomegranate. It seems that women figures have a unique character.




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Persian-origin Sumerians were skilled astronomers, attaching each of the gods to certain star or planets. The mother goddess was sometimes attributed to the moon and some times to Venus. The reason behind this duality lies in the tradition of incest, which was not only allowed, but also sanctified in ancient Persia. According to this tradition which dates back to the cave dwelling period, the kings and noble men of Persia had to marry their close relatives, the offspring of such marriages enjoying priority to inherit the crown. The same tradition was observed among the divinities, so much so that the ancient goddesses appear alternately as the mother, the sister or the wife of the masculine god, having different ranks. That is why Anahita, the Persian goddess, sometimes appears, as mother earth and the goddess of fertility and birth, and sometimes as Venus, the goddess of music, love, jealousy and coquetry.

Considering Her status as an Aquatic-Goddess She was also clothed in a garment of thirty beaver pelts that were, according to Avestan tabu, from beavers [Castor fiber] that have birthed a minimum of four pups.
Subsequently, it was Ahura Mazda who bequeathed to the Goddess Her famous chariot and four horses—the personifications of atmospheric change—named Wind, Rain, Cloud, and Sleet.

The Anahita Temple at Kangavar in western Persia (Kermanshah) is the most important of The Anahita Temples.

[Mehrbod]

Anahita - Part 3 : Cosmological entity

The cosmological qualities of the world river are alluded to in Yasht 5, but properly developed only in the Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian account of creation finished in the 11th or 12th century CE. In both texts, Aredvi Sura Anahita is not only a divinity, but also the source of the world river and the (name of the) world river itself. The cosmological legend runs as follows:




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All the waters of the world created by Ahura Mazda originate from the source Aredvi Sura Anahita, the life-increasing, herd-increasing, fold-increasing, who makes prosperity for all countries. This source is at the top of the world mountain Hara Berezaiti, "High Hara", around which the sky revolves and that is at the center of Airyanem Vaejah, the first of the lands created by Mazda.

The water, warm and clear, flows through a hundred thousand golden channels towards Mount Hugar, "the Lofty", one of the daughter-peaks of Hara Berezaiti. On the summit of that mountain is Lake Urvis, "the Turmoil", into which the waters flow, becoming quite purified and exiting through another golden channel. Through that channel, which is at the height of a thousand men, one portion of the great spring Aredvi Sura Anahita drizzles in moisture upon the whole earth, where it dispels the dryness of the air and all the creatures of Mazda acquire health from it. Another portion runs down to Vourukasha, the great sea upon which the earth rests, and from which it flows to the seas and oceans of the world and purifies them.




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Statue of Anahita riding a chariot in Fouman-Gilan, Iran. Chariots figure prominently in Indo-Iranian mythology. Chariots are also important in Hindu and Persion mythologies, in which deities are portrayed as charioteers.



In the Bundahishn, the two halves of the name "Ardwisur Anahid" are occasionally treated independently of one another, that is, with Ardwisur as the representative of waters, and Anahid identified with the planet Venus: The water of the all lakes and seas have their origin with Ardwisur, and in contrast, in a section dealing with the creation of the stars and planets, the Bundahishn speaks of 'Anahid i Abaxtari', that is, the planet Venus. In yet other chapters, the text equates the two, as in "Ardwisur who is Anahid, the father and mother of the Waters".
This legend of the river that descends from Mount Hara appears to have remained a part of living observance for many generations. A Greek inscription from Roman times found in Asia Minor reads "the great goddess Anaïtis of high Hara".On Greek coins of the imperial epoch, she is spoken of as "Anaïtis of the sacred water."


On this photo you can see statue of Anahita in Maragha.

[Mehrbod]

Anahita - Part 4 : Legacy

As a divinity Anahita is of enormous significance to the Zoroastrian religion, for as a representative of Aban ("the waters"), she is in effect the divinity towards whom the Yasna service – the primary act of worship – is directed. (see Ab-Zohr). "To this day reverence for water is deeply ingrained in Zoroastrians, and in orthodox communities offerings are regularly made to the household well or nearby stream"
It is "very probable"




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that the shrine of Bibi Shahrbanu at royal Ray (Rhagae, central Medea) was once dedicated to Anahita. Similarly, one of the "most beloved mountain shrines of the Zoroastrians of Yazd, set beside a living spring and a great confluence of water-courses, is devoted to Banu-Pars, "the Lady of Persia"."

However, and notwithstanding the widespread popularity of Anahita, "it is doubtful whether the current tendency is justified whereby almost every isolated figure in Sassanid art, whether sitting, standing, dancing, clothed, or semi-naked, is hailed as her representation."

The Armenian cult of Anahit, as well as the pre-Christian Armenian religion in general, was very closely connected to Persian Zoroastrianism In present-day Armenia, it is remembered as part of the historical mythological heritage of the nation, and the name Anahid is a popular female given name. In 1997, the Central Bank of Armenia issued a commemorative gold coin with an image of the divinity Anahit on the obverse.

[Mehrbod]

Anahita - Part 5 : Magic and Rituals

However, while Her cult flourished, particularly during Achaemenian times [ca. 558-330 BCE.], it was characterized by the presence of the Magi—Priest-Magicians, from whose root both “magick” and “Magus” etymologically descend—which would regularly meet to read their sacred texts among assemblies of the faithful, and offer “holy spells” unto the Goddess, perhaps on the tenth day from the New Moon or throughout the eighth month [of the native Persian calendar, or the Julian calendar]—both were celebrated as particularly propitious to the Goddess.

The expression of Her worship likely involved a communal feast of sacrificial bull-meat along with a draught of Haoma (perhaps cognate with the Indic soma); an inebriating ritual-drink believed to confer communion with the Gods and induce an altered state of consciousness (probably engaging one on a shamanic odyssey of the psyche). Although, the exact botanical identity of this liqueur remains a mystery, a few possibilities have been suggested, In the Harirud Valley [Baluchistan], all members of the Ephedra genus are collectively known as hum, or huma; while Iranians still refer to Syrian rue [Peganum harmala] as hom or homa.



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During the excavation of an apparently pre-Zoroastrian temple [Ibid.], at the South-Eastern Kara-Kum Desert [Turkmenistan], remnaints of a fermented ritual-drink clearly containing ephedra [Ephedra sp.] were found at the fire-altar (perhaps being brewed there); while trace elements of the opium poppy [Papaver somniferum Linnaeus] were identified on associated equipement within the antechamber [e.g. pestles]. Moreover, during the Zoroastrian period an incantation was pronounced over the consecration of Haoma to drive away evil genii [“spirits”], while preparing the way for the reign of good, as dictated by the Avesta.

She was also a goddess of magic, served by the Magi, who would meet to read their sacred texts among assemblies of worshippers and offer holy spells to Anahita, perhaps on the tenth day from the New Moon.During Her sacrifices, Her followers offered fragrant green boughs, white cows, horses and lambs. Her worship probably also involved a communal feast of sacrificial bull-meat along with a a ritual drink that engendered an altered state of consciousness and communion with the gods.

[Mehrbod]

Anahita - Part 6 : her appearance in other regions

Anahita was very popular and is one of the forms of the 'Great Goddess' which appears in many ancient eastern religions (such as the Syrian/Phoenician goddess Anath). She is associated with rivers and lakes, as the waters of birth.

In Egypt, she was worshipped by Thotmes III where she was said to be a child of Set or of Ra. He was so impressed by this goddess, he adopted her as his “shield” in battle and named his daughter for her, Bin-Anat (daughter of Anat). On monuments, she was called “Lady of heaven and mistress of the gods” and “Lady of the Mountain.” She has also been called “mother of the gods,” “mistress of the sky,” and the “virgin Anat.”



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On this photo you can see 4th century Sasanian silver bowl with high-relief decoration showing deity Anahita sitting on a lion and holding sun in her right hand.



Anahita originated in Babylon and spread to Kemet (ancient Egypt), where She was depicted as an armed and mounted Goddess. The Greeks associated Anahita with either Athena or Aphrodite. In the Middle East, She was associated with Anat. Worship of Anahita spread to Armenia, Persia, and various parts of western Asia. Zoroaster was specifically commanded by his male god to honor Her.

It should be noted that there is a complete distinction between the Persian Myth of Anahita and Anat or Anath. In contrary to Anahita, Anat or Anath was a goddess of the Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Egyptians, which was regarded as the goddess of war and violence. The Egyptians usually depicted Anat carrying a spear, axe and shield, and wearing a tall crown surmounted by two ostrich feathers.

[Mehrbod]

Anahita - Part 7 : Conflation with Ishtar

When Persia conquered Babylonia (in the 6th century BCE), Anahita began to show some similarities with the goddess Ishtar. Since then her cult included also the practice of temple prostitution. During the reign of king Artaxerxes (436-358 BCE) many temples were erected in her honor; in Soesa, Ecbatana, and in Babylon.

As the divinity of purifying waters, Anahita is associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. At some point prior to the 4th century BCE, this yazata was conflated with (an analogue of) Semitic Ishtar-Inanna, likewise a divinity of "maiden" fertility and from whom Aredvi Sura Anahita then inherited additional features of a divinity of war and of the planet Venus. It was moreover the association with the planet Venus, "it seems, which led Herodotus to record that the Persis learnt 'to sacrifice to "the heavenly goddess"' from the Assyrians and Arabians"




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In this statue, Goddess Anahita surrounded by members of the animal kingdom, this Goddess displays her role in supporting life on earth. (made From a pre-Roman bronze hydria (large jar) found in Switzerland, 600 BCE)




Ishtar also "apparently" gave Anahita the epithet Banu, 'the Lady', a typically Mesopotamian construct that is not attested as an epithet for a divinity in Iran before the common era. It is completely unknown in the texts of the Avesta, but evident in Sassanid-era middle Persian inscriptions, and in a middle Persian Zend translation of Yasna, Also in Zoroastrian texts from the post-conquest epoch (651 CE onwards), the divinity is referred to as 'Anahid the Lady', 'Ardwisur the Lady' and 'Ardwisur the Lady of the waters'.

Because the divinity is unattested in any old Western Iranian language, establishing characteristics prior to the introduction of Zoroastrianism in Western Iran (c. 5th century BCE) is very much in the realm of speculation. According to Boyce, it is "probable" that there was once a Perso–Elamite divinity by the name of *Anahiti (as reconstructed from the Greek Anaitis). It is then likely (so Boyce) that it was this divinity that was an analogue of Ishtar, and that it is this divinity with which Aredvi Sura Anahita was conflated. Boyce concludes that "the Achaemenids' devotion to this goddess evidently survived their conversion to Zoroastrianism, and they appear to have used royal influence to have her adopted into the Zoroastrian pantheon." According to an alternate theory, Anahita was perhaps "a daeva of the early and pure Zoroastrian faith, incorporated into the Zoroastrian religion and its revised canon" during the reign of "Artaxerxes I, the Constantine of that faith."


In this statue, Goddess Anahita surrounded by members of the animal kingdom, this Goddess displays her role in supporting life on earth. (made From a pre-Roman bronze hydria (large jar) found in Switzerland, 600 BCE)





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by Carlos Reyes

[Mehrbod]

One of the Daevas, Aesma Daeva ("madness") is the demon of lust and anger, wrath and revenge. He is the personification of violence, a lover of conflict and war. Together with the demon of death, Asto Vidatu, he chases the souls of the deceased when they rise to heaven. His eternal opponent is Sraosa.
Aesma Daeva



http://www.daftarche.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=658&d=1343657830&thumb=1
Ahura Mazdah ("Lord Wisdom") was the supreme god, he who created the heavens and the Earth, and another son of Zurvan. As leader of the Heavenly Host, the Amesha Spentas, he battles Ahriman and his followers to rid the world of evil, darkness and deceit. His symbol is the winged disc.
Ahura Mazda




The Persian god of friendship and healing.
Airyaman



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Ardvi Sura Anahita (also Anahita, Anahit, or “Immaculate One”), whcih means “the humid, strong, immaculate one”, was one of the ruling deities of the Persian Empire. She embodied the physical and metaphroical qualities of water, especially the fertilizing flow of water from the fountain in the stars. She also ruled semen and human fertility. She was viewed as the “Golden Mother” and as a warrior maiden.
Ânâhitâ




Aka Manah is one of the Daevas. He is the personification of sensual desire who was sent by Ahriman to seduce the prophet Zarathustra. His eternal opponent is Vohu Manah.
Aka Manah




The name of the seven divine beings who belong to the retinue of the highest god, Ahura Mazda. The Amesha Spentas ("beneficent immortals"), come directly after him in the hierarchy of gods, and can be compared with archangels. They are gods without being gods and creatures without being creatures. Together they fight for truth and justice.
Amesha Spentas




God of darkness, the eternal destroyer of good, personification and creator of evil, bringer of death and disease. He is also known as Ahriman, and his name means "fiendish spirit". He is seen as the personification of evil, he leading the dark forces against the hosts of Spenta Mainyu, the holy spirit, who assisted Ahura Mazda, the wise lord, and final victor of the cosmic conflict. Ahriman introduced the frost in winter, heat in summer, all manner of diseases and other ills.
Angra Mainyu




'God found in the water' who gives water to the people. He is a son of the water-god Vouru-kasa. Apam-natat has also some military aspects and he keeps in check rebellion.
Apam-natat




A demon who brings drought and aridity. He rides on a black, bald horse. Eventually he was defeated by the god Tistrya.
Apaosa




God of Honesty.
Arishta




Asha vahishta ("excellent order") is the personification of the 'best truth' and protects the physical and moral order on earth. He is the most prominent of the (male) Amesha Spentas and the principal adversary of the world of the demons. The second month is dedicated to him. His eternal opponents are the archdemon of lie, Drug and the archdemon of apostasy, Indra.
Asha vahishta




God of the Sky.
Asman




The Persian demon of death whom no human escapes. Together with Aesma Daeva he chases and tries to catch the souls of the deceased with a noose when they rise to heaven.
Asto Vidatu




The Persian god of all fire and of purity, son of Ahura Mazda.
Atar




A Persian god of prosperity and wealth.
Baga



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The Persian god of the planets and victory. He is the assistant of Sraosa, and helps him when Sraosa rises the soul of the deceased from the body.
Bahram




A war god of the Iranian Kassites.
Burijas




In Zoroastrian mythology, the yellow demon of lethargy and sloth. He is the evil genius which causes men to oversleep and to neglect their religious duties.
Bushyasta




An ancient Persian demon of laziness who tries to prevent people from working. He is one of the Daevas.
Buyasta




In ancient Persian mythology they are demons who cause plagues and diseases and who fight every form of religion. They are the male servants (or followers) of Angra Mainyu, also known as Ahriman. The female servants are called the Drugs. Together they fight Ahuru Mazda (Ormazd) and his Amesha Spentas.
Daevas




An ancient Persian god of death and demon of deceit and mendacity. He loves destroying life. Dahaka is usually depicted with three heads, while scorpions and lizards crawl all over his body.
Dahaka




In Persian mythology, a demon of enormous power, a ruthless and immoral god of war.
Dev




A Persian water-demon who continually tries to devour the good things of creation.
Gandarewa




In ancient Persian myth, Geus-Tasan is the divine creator of cattle.
Geus-Tasan




The old-Iranian guardian of cattle. His name means "soul of the ox". He is the servant of Vohu Manah.
Geus-Urvan




A deified plant in Persian mythology whose sap, which has anaesthetic qualities, was drunk during sacrifices. This deity ruled over all medicinal herbs and grants immortality. It is associated with the purification of fire, and believed to have the power of providing husbands for unmarried women.
Haoma




A Persian sun-god. He belongs to the Yazatas, a group of good spirits.
Hvar




In Persian mythology, the many-horsed sun-god.
Hvarekhshaeta




The old Iranian god of warfare, courage and bravery.
Indar




Indra is one of the seven Daevas and the personification of apostasy. His eternal opponent is Asha vahishta.
Indra




One of the Amesha Spentas, Khshathra vairya ("desirable dominion") is the personification of desirable dominion and is associated with metal. He is the protector of the poor even though he would rather defend royalty. He enforces peace by using his weapons. His attributes are the helmet, the shield and the spear. The sixth month is dedicated to him. His eternal opponent is the archdemon Saurva.
Khshathra vairya




An ancient Persian god of the moon, one of the Yazatas. He is associated with the cow, which plays an important part in old-Iranian mythology, and presides over time and tide. He is mentioned as an assistant of Vohu Manah. The seventh day of the month is dedicated to Mah.
Mah




A Persian moon god.
Mao



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An old-Iranian god of light, contracts and friendship. He also maintains the cosmic order. Sometimes mentioned as the son of Ahura Mazda, he assists him in his struggle against the forces of evil, represented by Angra Mainyu.
Mithra




The god of fire and messenger between gods and men in Persian mythology.
Nairyosangha




Messenger-god in ancient Persia.
Neriosang




Persian spirits of great beauty who guide mortals on their way to the Land of the Blessed. They also battle the Daevas.
Peris




The ancient Persian god of midday, the protecting deity of the south and of summer.
Rapithwin




The Persian divine angel of justice and last judgement and the personification of righteousness. Along with Mithra and Sraosa he judges the souls of the dead. Rashnu guards the Chinvat bridge leading to heaven. He carries the golden scales with which he weighs the souls at Judgement. Rashnu is one of the Yazatas.
Rashnu




Saurva is one of the seven main Daevas. His eternal opponent is Khshathra vairya.
Saurva




In ancient Persian mythology, Spenta Mainyu ("holy spirit") is the god of life and the personification of the good and the light. He is the twin brother of Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the god of darkness, with whom he fights an eternal battle.
Spenta Mainyu




Sraosa is a member of the Amesha Spentas. He is the personification of obedience and the messenger of the great god Ahura Mazda. He also guides the souls of the deceased to find their way to the after live. His symbolic animal is the cock, whose crowing will call the pious to their religious duties. The seventeenth day of the month is dedicated to him. His eternal opponent is the archdemon Aesma Daeva.
Sraosa




In Middle Persian myths the messenger of the gods. He was sent down from heaven to announce to a king that his last hour had struck.
Srosh




In Persian mythology, one of the four leaders of the stars which fight for Ahura Mazda; the guardian star of the west who conquers evil.
Vanant




The ancient Persian god of the wind and one of the Yazatas. The twentieth day of the month is dedicated to him.
Vata




The Persian god of victory and the personification of aggressive triumph. God of Vrahran Fire, the most sacred of all fires. It is a combination of 16 fires, most of which belong to those in the metal-working trades. He punishes the evil done by man and demon. Verethragna appears in many shapes: bear, bird of prey, bull, camel, youth, warrior with a golden sword, wind, etc. His appearance as a bird and bear were especially popular. The twentieth day of the month is dedicated to him.
Verethragna




Vohu Manah ("good sense") is one of the Amesha Spentas, and the personification of wisdom. He is the protector of the animal world and is on earth represented by beneficial animals, especially the cow. He takes the souls of the just to Paradise. The eleventh month is dedicated to him. His eternal opponent is the archdemon Aka Manah.
Vohu Manah




The world ocean in Zoroastrian cosmology; it is also the sea deity. Also, the heavenly lake whose waters supply the world and in the middle of which grows the Tree of Life.
Vouruskasha




In Zoroastrianism the Yazatas are the deities to whom the hymns in the Zend-Avesta are addressed. They are also the guardians of the celestial bodies and the messengers of Ahura Mazda. The chief Yazata is Mithra and some of the others include Daena, Mah, Rashnu, Tistrya, and Zam.
Yazata




In old-Iranian (Avestan) mythology, Zam is the deified earth. He is one of the Yazata.
Zam



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The primordial god in Persian religion, and the god of infinite time and space. Zurvan is the father of the good god Ahura Mazda and the evil god Angra Mainyu. With children representing the two opposites, Zurvan himself is regarded as a neutral god; one for whom there is no distinction between good or evil. Zurvan is also the god of destiny, light and darkness.
Zurvan

[Mehrbod]

Drvaspa

Drvaspa is the Avestan language name of an "enigmatic" and "strangely discreet" Zoroastrian divinity, whose name literally means "with solid horses" and which she is then nominally the hypostasis of.

The female genius of cattle.
She is a female genius of the animal world. As the guardian of herds, she is invoked in company with Geush Tashan and Geush Urvan.-" A Yasht (9) is consecrated to her and bears her name, or more familiarly that of Gosh or Geush Urvan. Drvaspa moves about in her own chariot. Mazda has made her heroic and righteous. She is the bestower of health upon the cattle and kine. She watches well from afar, gives welfare and long-continuing friendship. She is nourishing, courageous, well-formed, possessed of weal, giver of health, and powerful helper of the righteous.



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Her sacrificers. The Yasht gives a list of her supplicants who have asked her to grant them various boons. They are the same persons that invoke Ashi Vanghuhi and pray for the same boons that they ask from her. The only difference between the forms of invoking Drvaspa and Ashi is that no offering is made to Ashi by any of her supplicants, whereas, in the case of Drvaspa we see that with the exception of Haoma and Zarathushtra the other heroes, Haoshyangha, Yima, Thraetaona, Haosravah, and Vishtaspa, bring to her offerings of a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand small cattle, and the libations.

The 33 verses of Yasht 9, the hymn to Drvaspa, are—appropriately adjusted—copies of verses 27–52 of Yasht 17, which is dedicated to Ashi. This has in turn prompted a suggestion that Drvaspa was once an epithet of Ashi, and as is common in Indo-Iranian religious tradition, the epithet developed into a name of an independent divinity.
Because the hymn to Drvaspa is a copy of a section of the hymn to Ashi, and a part of this section also appears in the hymn to Aredvi Sura Anahita, these three divinities share several characteristics.


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[Mehrbod]

Sarsaok
aka: Hadhayosh

A primordial cow in Zoastrian mythology of Persia. This cow carried the first humans across the ocean known as Voutukasha. By using the fat of this beast and combining it with the white haoma herbs of sacrifice, a wave of immortality will be produced and there will be a resurrection of all those that have done good in their lives.

The Sarsaok resembles a gigantic ox with a skin made of polished brass and a mane of pure flames. Six huge solid brass horns sprout from the creatures' head with one pair at the sides like that of a common ox while the other two pairs curve frontwards like that of some accursed demon. Each Sarsaok is said to be exactly 52 feet tall and weighing approximately 57 tonnes. The precision of proportion for all these creatures gives more evidence to support the theory that the Sarsaok were created by a very precise god of the forge.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/09/232.jpg

Despite their massive size and incredible power, the Sarsaok behave very much similarly like the modern mundane ox, spending most part of their lifetime wandering around grazing. Their behaviour and habits are although quite peculiar and interesting to study. Their bodies seem to require a very little amount of food for a creature so vast feeding on only the foliage of a few trees to keep them going for weeks. They also possess the sustenance against any type of liquid they drink or touch, for instance, hot magma. The Sarsaok for reasons beknownst to them, avoid visiting a place twice and leaving it for at least an year before coming back to it. Although seeming harmless, the Sarsaok can charge and attack ferociously if threatened, and only the mightiest dragon would dare challenge them.

The Sarsaok(Hadhayosh) is often likened to the Behemoth of modern and Hebrew culture.



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[Mehrbod]

Karshipta
aka: Karshipta, Karshift

A bird in Persian mythology which can speak. Karshipta was sent to spread the religion of Ahura Mazda to the men assembled by Yima in his vara (enclosure). They were gathered there to protect themselves from the scourging winter that was to destroy mankind.

originally conceived as a "winged" sun, Karshipta's outstretched “eagle-spread” wings are remarkably similar to those of the Kalahamsa in full flight.

The bird Karshipta dwells in the heavens: were he living on the earth, he would be the king of birds. He brought the Religion into the Var of Vima, and recites the Avesta in the language of birds.


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Karshipta is the human mind-soul, and the deity thereof, symbolized in ancient Magianism by a bird, as the Greeks symbolized it by a butterfly. No sooner had Karshipta entered the Vara or man, than he understood the law of Mazda, or Divine Wisdom. . . . With the Kabalists it was a like symbol. 'Bird' was a Chaldean, and has become a Hebrew synonym and symbol for Angel, a Soul, a Spirit, or Deva; and the 'Bird's Nest' was with both Heaven, and is God's bosom in the Zohar.

This allegory describes the descent of the manasaputras during the third root-race: a high intelligence able to wing its way in the celestial realms entering man's constitution and awakening the faculty enabling him to understand and to recite "the Law" as imbodied in the highest divinities to and for the human species.

[Mehrbod]

Bakhtak

Bakhtak is a ghost or an evil creature that cause Sleep paralysis.

Suffer from excruciating nightmares? Ever wake up with a weight on your chest, unable to move or breathe? That may be the work of the Bakhtak, a creepy being of Persian folklore that sits on your chest while you’re sleeping. No one is quite sure why the Bakhtak takes such glee in filling you with bad dreams or causing ne
ar-suffocation and sleep paralysis, but we do know the Bakhtak gets around. The Bakhtak of Iranian fame is often depicted as a little goblin-like creature, but the same concept takes on the guise of an Old Hag in English folklore and is similar to the "mare" of Scandinavian origin.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/09/234.jpg

Christians have the same thing: Incubus, The male demon of desire and counterpart to succubus! (female demon of desire). Waking up with a feeling of heavy pressure on ur chest is believed to be an Incubus trying to have sex with u while u were asleep!

[Mehrbod]

Manticore
aka: Mantikhoras, Martyaxwar

The manticore is a Persian legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx. It has the body of a red lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth (like a shark), and a trumpet-like voice. Other aspects of the creature vary from story to story. It may be horned, winged, or both. The tail is that of either a dragon or a scorpion, and it may shoot poiso
nous spines to either paralyze or kill its victims. It devours its prey whole and leaves no clothes, bones, or possessions of the prey behind. The manticore myth was of Persian origin, where its name was "man-eater".


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The manticore is said to be able to shoot its spines either in front or behind, curving its tail over its body to shoot forwards, or straightening it tail to shoot them backwards. The only creature reputed to survive the poisonous stings is the elephant. Thus, hunters rode elephants when hunting the manticore. The manticore is said to be able to leap in high and far bounds; it is an excellent hunter, and is said to have a special appetite for human flesh. Occasionally, a manticore will possess wings of some description.

The earliest accounts of the existence of the manticore come from the Persian courts in the fifth century B.C., documented by Ctesias, a Greek physician at the Persian court. Greek and Roman authors (Aristotle, Pliny) described the beast the same way the Persians had.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/09/236.jpg http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/d1/ManticoraTHoFFB1607.png

In the middle ages, the manticore was the emblem for the profit [sic] Jeremiah because the manticore lives in the depths of the earth and Jeremiah had been thrown into a dung pit. At the same time, the manticore became the symbol of tyranny, disparagement and envy, and ultimately the embodiment of evil. As late as the 1930s it was still considered by the peasants of Spain, to be a beast of ill omen.

[Mehrbod]

Asho-zushta
aka: Asho zusta

The bird Asho-zushta has the Avesta on his tongue, and when he recites the words the demons are frightened. When the nails of a Zoroastrian are cut, the faithful must say:
"O Asho-zushta bird! these nails I present to thee and consecrate to thee. May they be for thee so many spears and knives, so many bows and eagle-winged arrows, so many sling-stones against the Maz
ainyan demons".

If one recites this formula, the fiends tremble and do not take up the nails, but if the parings have had no spell uttered over them, the demons and wizards use them as arrows against the bird Asho-zushta and kill him. Therefore, when the nails have had a charm spoken over them, the bird takes them and eats them, that the fiends may do no harm by their means. Asho-zushta is probably the theological name of the owl .


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The word literally means 'friend of holiness. For the bird Asho-zushta they recite the Avesta formula; if they recite it, the fiends tremble and do not take up the nails.

[Mehrbod]

Mardāzmā

She is such an old jinn among the Baluch(an ethnic group who mainly inhabit the Balochistan region in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau). her name means tester of men. If the person is not frightened by it, the mardāzmā becomes his friend and helps him in life, otherwise it will drive him mad with fear. Some opinion believe that the mardāzmā is a male jinn, who offers sexual intercourse to his victims.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/09/238.jpg

[Mehrbod]

Peri

"All human beings must in beauty yield
To you, a Peri I have ne'er beheld" - Saadi(One of the major Persian poets of the medieval period)


In Persian mythology, the Peri are descended from fallen angels who have been denied paradise until they have done penance. In earlier sources they are described as agents of evil; later, they are benevolent. They are exquisite, winged, fairy-like creatures ranking between angels and evil spirits. They sometimes visit the realm of mortals.

The Peri has been styled "the fairest creation of poetical imagination." No description can equal the beauty of the female Peri, and the highest compliment a Persian poet can pay a lady is to liken her to one of these lovely aerial beings.Thus Saadi, in the lines prefixed to this section, declares that only the beauty of a Peri can be compared with that of the fair one he addresses.

At the start of Ferdowsi's epic poem Shahnameh, "The Book of Kings", the divinity Sorush appears in the form of a Peri to warn Keyumars (the mythological first man and shah of the world) and his son Siamak of the threats posed by the destructive Ahriman. Peris also form part of the mythological army that Kaiumers eventually draws up to defeat Ahriman and his demonic son. In the Rostam and Sohrab section of the poem, Rostam's paramour, the princess Tahmina, is referred to as "Peri-faced" (since she is wearing a veil, the term Peri may include a secondary meaning of disguise or being hidden).


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/09/239.jpg

From this sublime system of religion probably arose the Peri or Fairy-system of modern Persia; and thus what was once taught by sages, and believed by monarchs, has shared the fate of everything human, and has sunk from its pristine rank to become the material and the machinery of poets and romancers. The wars waged by the fanatical successors of the Prophet, in which literature was confounded with idolatry, have deprived us of the means of judging of this system in its perfect form; and in what has been written respecting the Peries and their country since Persia has received the law of Mohammed, the admixture of the tenets and ideas of Islam is evidently perceptible. If, however, Orientalists be right in their interpretation of the name of Artaxerxes' queen, Parisatis, as Pari-zadeh (Peri-born), the Peri must be coeval with the religion of Zoroaster.

The Peries and Deevs of the modern Persians answer to the good and evil Jinn of the Arabs, of whose origin and nature we shall presently give an account. The same Suleymans ruled over them as over the Jinn, and both alike were punished for disobedience. It is difficult to say which is the original; but when we recollect in how much higher a state of culture the Persians were than the Arabs, and how well this view accords with their ancient system of religion, we shall feel inclined to believe that the Arabs were the borrowers, and that by mingling with the Persian system ideas derived from the Jews, that one was formed by them which is now the common property of all Moslems.



Peri, 1875 Kalighat painting:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Peri.jpg



Artwork by master Mahmoud Farshchian


Persian Mythical Creatures | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=419489811431053&set=a.407975239249177.95401.405880532791981&type=1&theater)

[Mehrbod]

Sphinx

Persian sphinxes, unlike the Greek ones and similar to the Egyptian ones, are male. The Persian sphinx is a composite of four creatures, which appear in many ancient carvings and become the four symbolic creatures of the Bible. The body and tail is a lion, the head is a man, the head has horns and ears like a bull, and it has wings like an eagle. These creatures also signify the four directions and four traditional elements.



http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/09/240.jpg

[Mehrbod]

Fravashi
aka: fravard, fravahr, fravash, fravaksh

Faravashis Or Arda Fravash (Guardian Angels) are personal guardian angels. Every person is accompanied by a guardian angel, who acts as his or her guide through life. Ahura Mazda ordered Zarathushtra to call upon Faravashis for help as needed. Faravashis ultimately become one with people's souls in after life. They are the manifestation of Ahura's
will. Faravashis are often represented as bird-like angel creatures. Faravashis' shapes are originated from Faravahar, the winged symbol of Zoroastrianism which itself represents a Dual Creature of half man (Ahura Mazda) and half beast (Ahreeman). In original Zoroastrian doctrine, Ahura Mazda and Ahreeman were two faces (sides) of one being. The concept of the fravashi as guardian spirit does not occur in the Gathas of Zarathushtra. But in later Zoroastrianism, it becomes a most important idea.

Although there is no physical description of a fravashi in the Avesta, the faravahar, one of the best known symbols of Zoroastrianism, is commonly believed to be the depiction of one. The attribution of the name (which derives from the Middle Iranian word for fravashi) to the symbol is probably a later development. In Avestan language grammar, the fravashi are unmistakably "female", while the faravahar symbol is unmistakably male.


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According to the Avesta every human being has Tanu, Urvan and Fravashi.


1- Tanu is the body or physical self made of flesh, blood and bones.
2- Urvan is the soul, the nature of every human. It is the decision maker for it controls the body and is responsible for all the decisions and actions done by the humans in this world.
3- Fravashi is the spiritual guide, the active presence of Ahura Mazda in every human being. It guides and helps the soul but does not interfere in the decision making. The soul is free to choose what it wants to do with its life on this earth and the Fravashi is that inner voice that warns the soul of evil and guides it away from spiritual danger.

Ahura Mazda advises Zarathushtra to invoke them for help whenever he finds himself in danger. If not for their guardianship, animals and people could not have continued to exist, because the wicked Druj would have destroyed them all. The Fravashi also serves as an ideal which the soul has to strive for and emulate, and ultimately becomes one with after death. They manifest the energy of God, and preserve order in the creation. They are said to fly like winged birds, and are represented by a winged disk, often with a person superimposed.

The term Fravashi is made up of two parts, Fra which has been interpreted as "to go forward" and, vashi which comes from the root vaksh, meaning "to grow". So Fravashi is that power in a substance which enables it to move forward i.e. to progress. The Avesta tells us that the Fravashi is inherent in every animate and inanimate object of Nature and helps in its development. The Fravashis constitute the internal essence of things as opposed to the contingent and, work as spiritual entities for all of Ahura Mazda’s creations. The Fravadin Yasht, the longest of the twenty-two yashts (hymns), is dedicated to the Fravashis and mentions that Ahura Mazda created the Fravashis before he created the universe. This implies that Ahura Mazda had conceived a complete and perfect Universe from the very beginning by forming the spiritual essence of all objects before their creation. The earth, sun, moon stars, trees and human beings, all have their Fravashis and the duty of the Fravashis is to watch over the orderly growth of the world and to make it prosper.

artwork by: A. Andrew Gonzalez




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[Mehrbod]

Atar

Atar (Fire) in Zoroastrianism is regarded as the son of Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord. Humans were expected to offer meat as a sacrifice to Atar, at the same time holding a bundle of sacred twigs (barsom) in the hand. Every house was expected to have a hearth for making sacrifices, in front of which prayers could be said:
... O Atar, son of Ahura Mazda! Thou art worthy of sacrifice and invocati
on; mayest thou receive the sacrifice and the invocation in the houses of men.

Atar is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire".

Atar is closely associated with the god Mithra: for example, together they succeed in rescuing the Divine Glory from the demon Azhi Dahaka. Atar is described as riding behind Mithra's chariot.

To this day, fire has continued to play a prominent part in Zoroastrian religion and is still worshipped in fire-temples. Fire is a symbol of Zoroastrianism. In Sassanian times there were three famous eternal fires, each representing one of the three classes of society: the Farnabag fire (priests), the Gushnasp fire (warriors) and the Burzin Mihr fire (workers). The Gushnasp fire was probably burning at Takht-i Sulaiman in north-western Iran. To this day the Bahrain fire, the most sacred of all fires, is necessary to fight the forces of darkness and evil and is regarded as the symbol of truth.


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During the late Achaemenid era, Atar—as the quintessence of the Yazata Atar—was incorporated in the Zoroastrian hierarchy of angels. In that position, Atar is a helper of Asha Vahishta (Avestan, middle Persian: Ardvahisht), the Amesha Spenta responsible for the luminaries. From among the flowers associated with the Zoroastrian angels, Atar's is the marigold (calendula)

The importance of the divinity Atar is evident from a dedication to the entity in the Zoroastrian calendar: Atar one of only five lower-ranking divinities that have a month-name dedication. Additionally, Atar is the name of the ninth day of the month in the Zoroastrian religious calendar, and the ninth month of the year of the civil Iranian calendar of 1925 (modern Persian: Azar) which has month-names derived from those used by the Zoroastrian calendar.

In Zoroastrian cosmogony, Atar was the seventh of the seven creations of the material universe. It is only with Atars assistance, who serves as the life-force, that the other six creations begin their work.

[Mehrbod]

Azi Dahaka - Part 1
aka: Zahhak

Azi Dahaka is a storm demon from Persian mythology. He steals cattle and brings harm to humans. It is a snake-like monster with three heads and six eyes who also personifies the Babylonian oppression of Persia. The monster will be captured by the warrior god Thraetaona and placed on the mountain top Dermawend. In a final revival of evil, it will escape its prison, b
ut at the end of time (fraso-kereti) it will die in the river of fire Ayohsust.

Zahhak is an evil figure in Persian mythology, evident in ancient Iranian folklore as Azi Dahaka, the name by which he also appears in the texts of the Avesta. In Middle Persian he is called Dahāg or Bēvar-Asp, the latter meaning "[he who has] 10,000 horses". Within Zoroastrianism, Zahhak (going under the name Azi Dahaka) is considered the son of Angra Mainyu(Ahriman), the foe of Ahura Mazda.



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Azi Dahaka derives from the Indo-Iranian myth of the cosmic snake who prevents the full unfolding of the cosmos by withholding water. In the Iranian national myth of kingship, he overthrows the first man and king (Yima, Jamshed) and subjects Iran to evil rule until he is slain by the hero Thraetaona (Fredon).

Aži Dahāka appears in several of the Avestan myths and is mentioned parenthetically in many more places in Zoroastrian literature. In a post-Avestan Zoroastrian text, the Dēnkard, Aži Dahāka is possessed of all possible sins and evil counsels, the opposite of the good king Jam. The name Dahāg (Dahāka) is punningly interpreted as meaning "having ten (dah) sins." His mother is Wadag (or Ōdag), herself described as a great sinner, who committed incest with her son.

In the Avesta, Aži Dahāka is said to have lived in the inaccessible fortress of Kuuirinta in the land of Baβri, where he worshipped the yazatas Aredvi Sura (Anahita), divinity of the rivers, and Vayu, divinity of the storm-wind. Based on the similarity between Baβri and Old Persian Bābiru (Babylon), later Zoroastrians localized Aži Dahāka in Mesopotamia, though the identification is open to doubt. Aži Dahāka asked these two yazatas for power to depopulate the world. Being representatives of the Good, they refused.
In one Avestan text, Aži Dahāka has a brother named Spitiyura. Together they attack the hero Yima (Jamshid) and cut him in half with a saw, but are then beaten back by the yazata Ātar, the divine spirit of Fire.


Art by Sarah Perryman

Other Demons | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=428355970544437&set=a.428355580544476.101559.405880532791981&type=1&theater)

[Mehrbod]

Persian wine

Persian wine, also called Mey and Badeh (in the Persian language), is a cultural symbol and tradition in Persia, and had a significant presence in Persian mythology, Persian poetry and Persian miniature.

According to Iranian legend, wine was discovered by a Persian girl despondent over her rejection by the king. The girl decided to commit suicide by drinking the spoiled residue left
by rotting table grapes. Instead of poisoning the girl, the fermented must caused her to pass out to awaken the next morning with the realization that life was worth living. She reported back to the king her discovery of the intoxicating qualities of the spoiled grape juice and was rewarded for her find.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/09/244.jpg

Within the body of Persian poetry, grapes and wine appear frequently with symbolic, metaphorical and actual meanings.

Over the course of many centuries miniature painting developed into a sophisticated art of its own in Persia. In galleries and museums around the world, one witnesses Persian miniature paintings that were created in recent years. The most important element that all these paintings share is their subjects. The subjects that are mainly chosen from Hafez’s "Ghazaliyat" or Khayyam’s Rubaiyat. Therefore, the Persian wine, Mey, and Persian wine server (or cup bearer), Saghi, are essential parts to a majority of these paintings. Usually, the old man in the painting is Hafez or Khayyam who, having left his scholarly position and books behind, is now drunk in Kharabat (a mystical run down tavern that is located in a remote and poor corner of town) or in Golshan (garden) drinking wine from the hands of gorgeous Saghis.



7,000 Year-old Wine Jar


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The practice of wine-making or viniculture can be traced back to the Neolithic period, 7,000 years ago when the first Eurasian grape vines were domesticated for this purpose. This “Wine Jar” was found at Hasanlu in Hajji Firuz, Iran. It has been reconstructed from multiple fragments.

The jar is one of a series of jars found sunken into the floor along an interior wall of a “kitchen” in a well-preserved Neolithic house at HF Tepe in North West Iran. The jar had a capacity of approximately 9 liters (2.5 gallons). It is the oldest known wine storage container in the world. Analyses of the two jars in the Penn Museum showed that they had contained a resinated wine or “retsina,” i.e., with terebinth tree or pine resin added as a preservative and medical agent. There was a red to go with the white wine, based on the colors of the residues.


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[Mehrbod]

Wine good and fine - Part 1
By: Dr Touraj Daryaee

I could drink much wine and yet bear it well.
Darius the Great, the King of Kings of Achaemenid Empire (6th BCE), Athenaeus 10.45

The history of wine making and wine drinking is an old one in Persia, and today the Darioush vineyard in the Napa Valley which has become renowned in the art of wine making, is attempting to revive this tradition in the United States. Wine connoisseurs today may be familiar with the word Shiraz, the name of a town in southwest Persia famed for its grapes.

Whether or not the Shiraz grape was the source of the Medieval Syrah, brought to France from Persia in the thirteenth century CE by the knight, Gaspard de Sterimberg, or not is not central to the issue. What is important is that the mere fact that Shiraz is alleged as the source of the Rhone Valley grapes in Avignon, makes it clear that the prestige of the town and its grapes was fabled in antiquity and the middle ages. It was the Shiraz grape, again, which was brought to Australia in the nineteenth century CE, and which now has become well-known in the United States.


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But the history of wine making in Persia is much older. How old, one may ask? Archaeological investigations have shown that in fact it was in Persia that the earliest wine was made in world history. At Godin Tepe in Western Persia the earliest evidence for wine making and wine points to the fourth millennium BCE.

The jars found there have yielded evidence of wine residue and it is thought that they were used for storing wine as its funnel for the wine makers. The location of Godin Tepe along the east-west trade route also plays along with the story of Shiraz grape having been taken to the West, and the evidence here suggests that wine making may very well have had its diffusion from this location.

It is with the first Persian dynasty, the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BCE), that we find the culture of wine drinking in the form of long drinking vessels known as rhython. We hear that the Persian court was most elaborate place of feasting that the Greeks knew. The existence of rhytons and the mention of wine filters (Greek oino th toi) in the antique literature from Persia, all suggest the importance of the drink.


This is picture of Achaemenid Golden Rhyton, 5th-4th Century BCE.



***


Wine good and fine - Part 2
By: Dr Touraj Daryaee

Herodotus tells us that the Persians were very foind of wine (Old Persoan batu) and that they made important decisions in the following manner. First they became drunk, since they believed that only when you are drunk do you tell the truth. Then, the next day when they were sober they reconsidered the matter. Pliny states that wine was also used w
ith drugs for collecting information. The type of drug used with wine was called Achaemenis which had the following effect: “when it is drunk in wine, criminals confess to everything.”

This interest in wine in Ancient Persia is manifest not only in material culture such as jars, plates and cups but is also documented in the written sources. A Middle Persian text from the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE) entitled (King) Husraw and Page mentions the best foods and drinks that are fit for a king. It is really a royal menu which is rarely noticed by food historians.

The text was composed at the court of the King of Kings, Khosraw I in the sixth century CE, one of the greatest of the Sasanian monarchs who ruled Persia. What this text demonstrates that, just as today when we identify wines with regions such as France, Australia, Italy, California, etc. the Persians also were interested in wines from all regions. By this time the various kinds of wines were distinguished, by their color and filtering technique.

In this passage from the text the king asks what are the best wines and the Page answer:
“May you be immortal, these wines are all good and fine, the wine of Transoxania, when they prepare it well, the wine of Herat, the wine of Marw-Rud, the wine of Bust and the must of Hulwan, but no wine can ever compare with the Babylonian wine and the must of Bazrang.”


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The taste for various wines included may i sepid “white wine,” may i suxr “red wine.” These wines if course could have different qualities such as may i wirastag “clarified wine,” or also badag i abgen “crystal wine,” which were served in dolag or tong. For information on the daily usageand consumption of wine we can look at the papyri which are basically letters between Persian officers in the seventh century CE.

With the coming of Islam the consumption of wine and other alcoholic beverages was deemed haram “illicit,” but Medieval Persian texts, especially the genre known as “Mirrors for Princes,” demonstrate the continuing love of wine. Persians throughout their history have been able to compartmentalize their contradictory habits and mores. Thus, while Islam became an important facet of the Persian culture and, in turn benefited from that culture, may “wine” remained a constant motif in Persian literature.

One can argue over the literal or metaphoric nature of the use of wine in Persian literature, but this persistent mention is owed to the ancient Persian tradition of wine drinking and wine making. This reminds me of Prophet Zarathushtra who in proclamation against the drinking of Haoma brings us back full circle (48:10):

When, Wise One (Mazda), shall men desist from murdering?
when shall they fear the folly of that intoxicating drink (i.e., Haoma),
through the effects of which the Karpans (mumbling priests),
as well as the evil rulers of the lands torture our (good) intentions in an evil way?

Needless to say the Persians did not stop consuming Haoma and they still didn’t abstain when the Prophet Muhammad proclaimed against the consumption of wine.

[Mehrbod]

Amesha Spentas & Chakras - Part 1
by: Shahriar Shahriari

► Chakras

Chakras, otherwise knows as the energy centers of the human body, have the function of grounding spiritual energies into the physical plane. There are seven chakras altogether, and these are:
1. The Root Chakra –is our connection to the earth and the physical plane and a symbol of our basic survival needs (location: base of the spine)
2. The Second Chakra –is representative of our creative and procreative urges and drives, including sexuality (location: the genitals)
3. The Third Chakra –is the energy center for power and manifestation (location: solar plexus)
4. The Fourth Chakra – is the energy center for love, both human and divine (location: heart)
5. The Fifth Chakra – is the center for expression and communication (location: throat)
6. The Sixth Chakra – is the center for our psychic powers (location: third eye just above and between the eyebrows)
7. The Crown Chakra – otherwise known as he 1,000 petaled lotus flower is our connection with the Cosmic or the divine (location: top of the head)


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To summarize, we can say these chakras represent our basic physical and spiritual needs, which are:
1. Survival & operation
2.Creativity and procreation
3. Manifestation of desires
4. Love
5. Communication and expression
6. Psychic connections and powers
7. Divine connection

Furthermore, it is understood that all these energy centers are connected with each other through a channel that runs from the Crown Chakra to the Root Chakra. The purpose of this system is to create a mechanism that on an energetic level can manifest the divine into the physical plane.

There are similarities between this system which is mainly based on Hindu spirituality and Christian spirituality in the form of the Seven Sacraments and Jewish spirituality in the form of the Tree of Life as described in the Cabala. The question addressed here is since the Chakra system seems to be one representation of a universal system, then is there any equivalence or similarity between this system and Zoroastrian spirituality?

And the answer is yes. The Zoroastrian representation is found in the Amesha Spentas.


► Amesha Spentas (the holy immortals)

Although in post-Zarathushtra Zoroastrianism the Amesha Spentas were mythologized to attain angelic status, in the Gathas, Zarathushtra simply refers to them as aspects of the divine or divine emanations. Perhaps if the divine can be represented as a cube, then each of the Amesha Spentas can be thought of as one face of the cube.

For Zarathushtra, the Amesha Spentas were a part and aspect of an elaborate interconnected and interrelated universal system, through which that system was created and based on which that system operates.

According to Zarathushtra, there are six Amesha Spentas, and these are:
1. Asha – The spirit of Truth and Right
2. Vohu Mano – The spirit of the Good Mind
3. Khshatra – The spirit of Holy sovereignty
4.Spenta Armaiti – The spirit of Benevolent Devotion and Love
5. Haurvatat – The spirit of Perfection and Well-Being
6. Ameratat – The spirit of Immortality.

Adhering to these six spirits are necessary if we are to fulfil our role and purpose in this physical world, which according to Zarathushtra is the renovation of the world. Furthermore, any digression from these spirits will be wasteful, and as a result will cause evil to a lesser or greater degree.

These six emanations permeate the operation of the universe both at macrocosmic and microcosmic level. In other words, not only Ahura Mazda created the world based on these six divine emanations, but also we human beings can find these spirits in our selves as part of our essence. What’s more, we can see their operation at the level of every action or project that we undertake.

In simpler terms, the Amesha Spentas can be described as:
1. The Law
2. The Plan or Blueprint
3. Action & Dominion
4. Love and Faith
5. Perfection
6. Immortality and timelessness



Source:
Amesha Spentas & Chakras (http://www.zarathushtra.com/z/article/chakras.htm)

[Mehrbod]

Amesha Spentas and Chakras - part 2
by: Shahriar Shahriari


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Now the question becomes, how are these related to the Chakras?

1- The Law is what determines the basis of the operation of the universe. Our lives and our world, work according to the Law. Therefore we can only operate properly in this world if we understand what the laws are and honor them and base our actions upon them. In other words, unless we understand how the physical domain operates, we cannot fulfil our needs and desires through our decisions and choices. We will not know what cause to focus on in order to create our desired effect. Our survival becomes a matter of reliance on the mercy of the world, and we become randomly determined components of that system.
? Asha is our grounding of the Law � the Root Chakra

2- The Plan or Blueprint is our creative aspect. We desire and then plan in order to create. We have the urge and the drive in order to procreate. If we plan with benevolent intentions, then we have acted in accordance with the spirit of the Good Mind. Otherwise, we have deviated away from this spirit, thus creating evil rather than goodness.
? Vohu Mano is our creative aspect � the Second Chakra

3- Khshatra is our ability to act based on our plans and intentions in order to manifest our desires. It is our power to change our environment and our world according to what we perceive to be the best. If we act in the spirit of goodness, we will plan well and manifest goodness, if not, the outcome will be evil contribution.
? Khshatra is our power and ability to manifest � the Third Chakra

4- Spenta Armaiti is the spirit of Love and faith. It is this center that gives us the ability to love another, both in the sense of individual love (like lovers or parent-child) as well as divine love (love of humanity and Ahura Mazda). If we make our choices in a loving spirit and with faith in the goodness of the world, then we have connected with the spirit of Love, otherwise our contributions are based on disconnection from this spirit and can only have fear based and hateful results.
? Spenta Armaiti is our ability and urge to Love � the Fourth Chakra

5- Haurvatat is the spirit of Perfection, perfection of expression. Part of this perfection is working in accord with the totality of the interrelated and interconnected universal system, and such work needs communication and communion. This communication is not just limited to person to person communication, but includes communication with animals, plants, objects and our environment. In other words, if we make our expression in the spirit of Perfection, then we express ourselves perfectly, and we communicate with all aspects of life perfectly.
? Haurvatat is our ability to express ourselves perfectly � the Fifth Chakra

6- Ameratat, the spirit of Immortality is an understanding of the timeless nature of the universe. While our physical existence is time-based and time-dependent, our soul or essence is timeless and immortal. Ameratat is our ability to be in touch with our soul or essence, which itself is a part of the divine and as such connected to every other soul. Our level of sensitivity and empathy, our level of contact with others (people and things) is also a measure of our psychic development. If we develop our psychic powers, we will experience the spirit of immortality. If we put it to Good use, then we will experience the goodness of this connectedness, otherwise, we will only be harming ourselves, immortally.
? Ameratat is our psychic energy center � the Sixth Chakra


Now the question remains, what of the Crown Chakra?

According to Zarathushtra, if we make our choices in accord with the six Amesha Spentas, we will be a Cosmically Conscious human being. In other words, the development of Cosmic Consciousness is not a separate project, but a byproduct of our development of our six divine aspects.

According to Zarathushtra, the person who operates in accordance with the Law, Plans well, Manifests accordingly, is Loving and has Faith, strives for Perfect expression, and is in touch with his/her Immortality, is in union with Ahura Mazda. In other words, this person is Cosmically Conscious.

Therefore, in this representation, the Crown Chakra which symbolizes our gateway to the divine, is in fact our divine connection and our oneness with Ahura Mazda. Zarathushtra did not propose any representation or name for this connection. Instead he made the totality of the six Amesha Spentas become that by calling them aspects or emanations of Ahura Mazda.

To go back to our cube analogy, once all six faces are present and in their rightful places, then we also have the cube!



Source:
Amesha Spentas & Chakras (http://www.zarathushtra.com/z/article/chakras.htm)

[Mehrbod]

Spenta Mainyu
aka: Sraosa

Spenta Mainyu is the Holy Spirit of Ahura Mazda. In Zoroaster's initial vision the first act which he conceived Ahura Mazda performing was the evocation of the six lesser divinities through his Holy Spirit, Spenta Mainyu.


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Spenta Mainyu is the self-revealing activity of Ahura Mazda. The supreme godhead, we have seen, is immutable, perfect, spiritual unity. Zarathushtra solves the problem of reconciling the unchangeable nature of Ahura Mazda with the world of change by postulating a principle that intervenes between the unmoved mover and the moved.

Spenta Mainyu is as old as Ahura Mazda, for be ever was in Ahura Mazda and with Ahura Mazda. Though he is thus part of Ahura Mazda, in his manifestation as the working self of Ahura Mazda he is different from Ahura Mazda. He is not an entity or personality. Ahura Mazda is the greatest spiritual personality. Spenta Mainyu is his image, his replica. He represents the creative attribute of Ahura Mazda in his relation to the created world.

Spenta Mainyu symbolizes the ideal or perfect existence as conceived in thought by Ahura Mazda. The materialization of the divine thought in creation spells imperfection and Spenta Mainyu is shadowed by his inseparable opposite.

The context shows that "spenta" means "incremental, increasing, expanding, progressing, and progressive." "Mainyu" means "means of thinking, faculty of thinking, mind, and mentality." The term "Spenta Mainyu" is an attribute of Mazda Ahura, literally "Super-wisdom Being". Mainyu stands for the divine intelligence with a continuous creative, sustaining, and promoting function.

[Mehrbod]

Amesha Spenta
aka: Amshaspanadan

Amesha Spentas are The Zoroastrian Arch-Angels. In Zoroastrianism, the name of the seven divine beings who belong to the retinue of the highest god (Ahura Mazda), The Amesha Spentas (beneficent immortals), comes directly after him, and can be compared with arch-angels. They are gods without being gods and creatures without being creatures. Ahura Mazda connects wit
h the material world through Seven Emanations called Amesha Spentas.


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Still, they were never worshipped individually. Each Amesha Spentas had a special character and was assigned respective creations to preside over on the physical, moral and spiritual planes of Ahura Mazda's creations to aid in the triumph of the forces of light over darkness.

Each had an eternal archenemy in the Daevas (Demons) headed by Ahriman. Each Amesha Spenta also symbolizes a sector of Ahura Mazda's Creation. Each also has a month named after them in the Zoroastrian calendar.

Amesha Spentas are of 3 Females and 4 Males, which makes 7. Number 7 is the holy Zoroastrian number.

[Mehrbod]

Vohu Manah
aka: Vohuman, Vohu Mano

Vohu Manah is the "Good Mind, Intelligence and Good Thinking", It stands for the discerning wisdom and thorough thinking required for leading a useful life. It is the generator of Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds. He is given the freedom to choose between good and evil, and the responsibility to reap the consequences. He is the Intellectual Principle and
was the first Amesha Spenta created by Ahura Mazda, at whose right hand he sits.


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He is the protector of the animals. Vohuman especially protects the cow. The Sacred Cow of Zoroastrians who feeds milk to the Aryans, labors their farms and assists with their agriculture. Vohuman takes the souls of the just to Paradise. The eleventh month is dedicated to him. His eternal opponent is the Arch-Demon Aka Manah.

Vohu Manah is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as "Good Purpose" or "Good Mind", referring to the good moral state of mind that enables an individual to accomplish his duties.

In the Zoroastrian calendar, the second day of each month as well as the eleventh month of each year are dedicated to Vohu Manah. In the Iranian civil calendar, which inherits the names of the months from the Zoroastrian calendar, the 11th month is likewise named Bahman.

[Mehrbod]

Asha Vahishta
aka: Asha, Ardwahisht

Asha Vahishta (Avestan: Excellent Order, or Truth) is the lawful order of the cosmos according to which all things happen. He presides over fire, sacred to the Zoroastrians as the inner nature of reality. To the devotee he holds out the path of justice and spiritual knowledge.


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Asha Vahishta is closely associated with fire. Fire is "grandly conceived as a force informing all the other Amesha Spentas, giving them warmth and the spark of life."In Yasht 17.20, Angra Mainyu clamours that Zoroaster burns him with Asha Vahishta. In Vendidad 4.54-55, speaking against the truth and violating the sanctity of promise is detected by the consumption of "water, blazing, of golden color, having the power to detect guilt."

Asha Vahishta protects the physical and moral order on the Earth. He is the most prominent of the (male) Amesha Spentas and the principal adversary of the world of the demons. The second month of the calendar(Ordibehesht) is dedicated to him. His eternal opponents are the Demoness of lie, Drug and the Arch-Demon of apostasy, Indra.

It is the Divine Law-it embodies Righteousness, Truth, order, Justice and Progress. It is the universal law of righteous precision. Every Zoroastrian strives to follow the Path of Asha in its highest and deepest spiritual sense. Asha is the personification of the "most righteous truth".

The text of the Gathas itself demonstrates just how important Asha is for Zoroastrian thought and practice. Almost every single verse of these poetic hymns contains the word ASHA somewhere. This constant repetition is more than just a buildup of information or a prophet's rhetorical device. It is a sacred litany, weaving the word into the mind of the listener until it becomes a permanent part of spiritual consciousness.

[Mehrbod]

Khshathra Vairya
aka: Shahrewar

One of the Amesha Spentas, Khshathra vairya ("desirable dominion") is the personification of desirable dominion and is associated with metal. He is the protector of the poor even though he would rather defend royalty. He enforces peace by using his weapons. His attributes are the helmet, the shield and the spear. The sixth month is dedicated to him. His eternal op
ponent is the archdemon Saurva.



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Khshathra Vairya means "Righteous Power" Denotes the "Power" to settle in peace. It is chosen by free and wise people as their ideal order in spirit and matter. It is democracy in mind and body, in thought, words and deeds in every social activity. He symbolizes self-control to include one's desires and sensory organs from being stimulated by objects of sense as well as good authority which ushers in prosperity and the Kingdom of God.

In the Zoroastrian cosmology, Khshathra Vairya was derived from the divine principal of Vohum Mana (Good Thoughts) and its role is the thought-beings, protected by Asha Vahishta and guided by Spenta Armaiti, which would live harmoniously and would enjoy perpetual bliss.

Vohu Manah, from its inception in the ‘void’ to its materialisation as Khshathra Vairya and its final struggle for perfection and immortality, is a thought world. In short, Khshathra Vairya is a cosmic prototype for the ‘real’ and immortal world to come, the world of Ahura Mazda, i.e. heaven that would be ruled by divinely ordained mythical monarchs based on goodness and love, until the appearance of God’s ‘only’ and the true prophet, Zarathushtra ( Zoroaster).

[Mehrbod]

Spenta Armaiti

Spenta Armaiti is one of the Amesha Spentas, the seven "Bounteous Immortals" of the Zoroastrian tradition. These are emanations of the one God Ahura Mazda, which are sometimes personified and sometimes considered as abstract concepts. Of all the Seven, Spenta Armaiti is perhaps the most difficult to translate and explain. The term Spenta is itself hard to translate into English; it
means "increasing" or "growing" but with a connotation of goodness, holiness, and benevolence. Ali Jafarey translates it prosaically as "progressive." Armaiti is even more difficult to convey in English. Scholars of Avesta have rendered the name as "divine wisdom," "devotion," "piety," "benevolence," "loving- kindness," "right-mindedness," "peace and love," or even "service." Jafarey, using the later Persian word aramati or "tranquillity" as his model, translates Armaiti as "serenity." Thus his translation of Spenta Armaiti is "Progressive Serenity," a rather opaque term. Dr. Farhang Mehr has translated Spenta Armaiti with the more gracious "universal bountiful peace."


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In later Zoroastrianism, Spenta Armaiti becomes the patron of the Earth, the fertile land, and of sacred space. She is invoked when a new piece of land or a building is consecrated. In ceremonies, Spenta Armaiti is symbolized by the white sheet or pad that underlies all the other sacred objects, including the fire vessel: this designates the sacred space.

She is an earth and fertility goddess and daughter of Ahura Mazda. She was the fourth Amesha Spenta created. She personifies holy devotion and righteous obedience, and also perfect mindedness gained through humility, faith, devotion, piety, and so on. She is also the guardian of herdsmen and farmers. She is identified by the Greeks as Demeter and in Armenia she is known as Spendaramet. The fifth day of every month and the twelfth month of every year are dedicated to her. Her eternal opponent is the Arch-Demon of discontent, Nanqaithya.

The object of Zoroastrian spirituality is to actualize the Amesha Spentas within oneself, and thus become closer and closer to God. This means learning and practicing the virtues of each Amesha Spenta, whether they are "masculine" or "feminine." In the pairing of Spenta Armaiti and Asha, there is a balance between the "masculine" Justice, Truth, and Law of Asha, and the "feminine" qualities of Service, Kindness, Devotion, and Serenity. It is this balance of virtues and Divine qualities that the Zoroastrian spiritual seeker should have as his/her goal.

[Mehrbod]

Haurvatat
aka:Hordad

Haurvatat ("wholeness") is one of the seven Amesha Spentas. She is the personification of perfection and is associated with life after death. She brings prosperity and health. The third month(Khordad) is dedicated to her. Her eternal opponent is the archdemon of hunger, Tawrich.


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In Zoroastrian tradition, each Amesha Spenta has guardianship over a sector of Creation, thus representing the Presence of God in the natural, physical world. In this doctrine, Haurvatat represents Waters.

Like the other Amesha Spentas also, Haurvatat is already attested in the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrianism and considered to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. And like most other principles, Haurvatat is not unambiguously an entity in those hymns. Unlike four of the other Amesha Spentas, Haurvatat does not have a standing epithet that in later Avesta texts becomes an element of her proper name.

In the hierarchy of yazatas, Haurvatat has as her assistants or cooperators three lesser yazatas: Vata-Vayu of the wind and atmosphere, Manthra Spenta of "bountiful spells" and the Fravashis, the hordes of guardian spirits.

The Avestan language noun haurvatat is grammatically feminine and in scripture the divinity Haurvatat is a female entity. However, in tradition (K)Hordad was/is considered male; this development is attributed to the loss of grammatical gender in Middle Persian. In Isis and Osiris, Plutarch translates Haurvatat as Πλοῦτος ploutos "wealth, riches" and equates the divinity with "Plutus," the Greek god of riches.

[Mehrbod]

Ameretat
aka: Amurdad

Ameretat means "Deathlessness and Immortally". Together with Haurvatat, it is the ultimate goal and represents the completion of our evolutionary development and the final achievement of our life on earth. She is associated with plants. She personifies immortality and rules the physical and spiritual aspects of eternal life as are symbolized in plants. Ameretat is the Amesha
Spenta of long life on earth and perpetuality in the hereafter. In the day-name and month-name dedications of the Zoroastrian calendar, the seventh day of the month and fifth month of the year are named after Ameretat/Amurdad/Mordad and are under her protection. Her eternal opponent is the Arch-Demon of aging, Zarich.


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The word amərətāt is grammatically feminine and the divinity Ameretat is a female entity. Etymologically, Avestan amərətāt derives from an Indo-Iranian root and is linguistically related to Vedic Sanskrit amṛtatva. In Sassanid Era Zoroastrian tradition, Ameretat appears as Middle Persian Amurdad, continuing in New Persian as Mordad or Amordad.

The relationship between Ameretat and Haurvatat is carries forward into the Younger Avesta. The Younger Avestan texts allude to their respective guardianships of plant life and water (comparable with the Gathic allusion to sustenence), but these identifications are only properly developed in later tradition. These associations with also reflect the Zoroastrian cosmological model in which each of the Amesha Spentas is identified with one aspect of creation.

Like the other Amesha Spentas also, Ameretat is already attested in the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrianism and considered to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. And like most other principles, Ameretat is not unambiguously an entity in those hymns.

Through the association with plants and water, Ameretat and Haurvatat are consequently identified with food and drink, and traditionally it was out of respect for these two Amesha Spentas that meals were to be taken in silence

According to the cosmological legends of the Bundahishn, when Angra Mainyu (MP: Ahriman) withered the primordial plant, Ameretat crushed it to pulp and mixed it with water. Tishtrya then took the water and spread it over the world as rain, which in turn caused a multitude of other plants to grow up.

[Mehrbod]

Fire-temple of Baku

At the city of Baku in former Iranian province of Arran, today known as the republic of Azerbaijan, on the shore of the Caspian Sea, there was for a long time a very old fire-temple; this particular fire-temple was probably older than recorded history. (Other fire-shrines dotted the whole area of Baku, which in the present day is a major petroleum source.)


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According to Haxtha usen (who wrote about Baku in a book published in 1863) this Atish-gah or Atish-jah--that is, the Place of Fire; in Persian, 'fire-temple' is atash kuda--had been recently rebuilt: the holy flame issued from a central opening and also from four hollow pillars in the temple, which was a building of triangular form, about one hundred and ninety paces to the side, constructed by a Hindu merchant in the eighteen hundreds. He described the flame as about four feet high, bright, and a wondrous sight as it waved heavily to and fro against a dark sky - ie, the temple was unroofed.

In 1876, the English traveler James Bryce also visited the fire-temple, and remarks that its maintenance and the upkeep of the one attendant priest was paid for by the Parsee community of Bombay, whose members also visited Baku on pilgrimage.

And in 1784, by the account of George Forster of the Bengal Civil Service, the Atish-gah was a square structure about 30 yards across, surrounded by a low wall and containing many apartments, in each of which was a small jet of sulphurous fire issuing from a funnel "constructed in the shape of a Hindu altar." The fire was used for worship, cookery and warmth. On closing the funnel the fire was extinguished, at which time a hollow sound was heard accompanied by a strong and cold current of air. Exclusive of these, there was a large jet from a natural cleft, and many small jets outside the wall, one of which was used by the Hindus (of which there was a large trading community at Baku just then) for burning their dead.

[Mehrbod]

Fire Temples
Aka: Atash-Kadeh

All traditional Zoroastrian temples, also know as agiaries or "places of fire," include a holy fire to represent the goodness and purity toward which all should strive. Once it is properly consecrated, a temple fire should never be allowed to go out, although it can be transported to another location if necessary.


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A fire temple is the place of worship for Zoroastrians. Zoroastrians revere fire in any form. In the Zoroastrian religion, fire, together with clean water, are agents of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies [is] regarded as the basis of ritual life," which, "are essentially the rites proper to the tending of a domestic fire, for the temple [fire] is that of the hearth fire raised to a new solemnity".


Keeping the Fires Pure

While fire purifies, even consecrated, holy fires are not immune to contamination, and Zoroastrian priests take many precautions against such an action occurring. When tending to the fire, a cloth known as a padan is worn over the mouth and nose so that breath and saliva do not pollute the fire. This reflects an outlook on saliva that is similar to Hindu beliefs, which shares some historical origins with Zoroastrianism, where saliva is never allowed to touch eating utensils due to its unclean properties.



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[Mehrbod]

Ashi
aka: Ashi Vanghuhi, Ashishwangh, Ard

Ashi`s origin meaning is portion and plenty but after that gets character and became independent & lavish goddess. It was imagined like a beautiful girl that is sited on a bench at sky and is protecting spring blooms.

She has always known of a good epithet and donor of happy and good life for humankind. And against Greek beliefs is a donor of good and happy life. A life that every one hope to have her help.


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The good Ashi, the beautiful Ashi, the shining Ashi you make happiness for men whom are on your way by your holy Ascent .There are good smell happy life and friend ships at those houses that house which you walk in it. The good Ashi if you help men, they will make a country with enough food. Indeed good for people who get help from you please help me you donor and powerful.

The 25th day of the month in the Zoroastrian religious calendar is named for her. She is a co-worker of Spenta Armaiti.

Seventeenth Yasht (part) of Avesta which is on of the oldest parts of Avesta is dedicated to Ashi and at this part this Persian beautiful goddess has been prayed by beautiful and attractive songs.

Art by Linda Bergkvist

[Mehrbod]

Mitra
Aka: Mithra, Mehr, Myhr
Avestan: Miθpa

Mithra is the Zoroastrian divinity (yazata) of covenant and oath. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth, and the guardian of cattle, the harvest and of The Waters. The most important of the Yazatas outside the Amesha Spentas, Mithra gained the title “The Unconquered Sun”, not
for being Ahura Mazda’s son, but for recovering the Sun Chariot that carries the Sun, slaying the Divine Bull before it reached heaven and thus creating all live on the World from his blood, among other things.


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While Mithra is not the divinity of the Sun in Zoroastrian scripture (or in Indian scripture either), this being the role of Hvare. khshaeta (literally "radiant Sun", whence also Middle Persian Khorshed for the Sun), in Zoroastrian/Iranian tradition, Mithra became the divinity of the Sun. How, when or why this occurred is uncertain, but is commonly attributed to a conflation with Babylonian Shamash, who – in addition to being a Sun god – was a judicial figure like Mithra. In the Hellenistic era (i.e., in Seleucid and Parthian times), Mithra also seems to have been conflated with Apollo, who – like Mithra – was an all-seeing divinity of the truth.

Mithra always presents himself on the world as a person with a high sense of justice, always on the alert and quite perceptive. Notably he was a famous police man, a security man, a fighter for world peace, a watcher of the streets. Even as a man, he seems a hero. Great things and achievements are expected from the Scions of Mithra and they commonly live to them. They fight to keep peace and justice on the worlds and their connections. All life on those worlds is just as important as the worlds themselves.


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Together with Rashnu "Justice" and Sraosha "Obedience", Mithra is one of the three judges at the Chinvat bridge, the "bridge of separation" that all souls must cross. Unlike Sraosha, Mithra is not however a psychopomp. Should the good thoughts, words and deeds outweigh the bad, Sraosha alone conveys the soul across the bridge.

In the Zoroastrian calendar, the sixteenth day of the month and the seventh month of the year are dedicated to, and under the protection of, Mithra. The position of the sixteenth day and seventh month reflects the Mithra's rank in the hierarchy of the divinities; the sixteenth day and seventh month are respectively the first day of the second half of the month and the first month of the second half of the year. The day on which the day-name and month-name dedications intersect is (like all other such intersections) dedicated to the divinity of that day/month, and is celebrated with a Jashan (from Avestan Yasna, "worship") in honor of that divinity. In the case of Mithra this was Jashan-e Mihragan, or just Mihragan in short.


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[Mehrbod]

Tishtrya
aka: Tistrya, Tir, Tishtryaeninis, Tishtar

Tishtrya (Tištrya) is the Avestan language name of an Zoroastrian benevolent divinity associated with life-bringing rainfall and fertility. Tishtrya is Tir in Middle- and Modern Persian. As has been judged from the archaic context in which Tishtrya appears in the texts of the Avesta, the divinity/concept is almost certainly of Indo-Iranian origi
n.


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As soon as Hormozd (Ahura Mazda) had rested from his creation, he appointed Tishtar to irrigate the world by taking rain from the clouds to drench the land, refresh the plants, open the flowers, fill the rivers with water and make he springs flow and all the Aryan lands prosperous and flourishing.

In the Zoroastrian religious calendar, the 13th day of the month and the 4th month of the year are dedicated to Tishtrya/Tir, and hence named after the entity. In the Iranian civil calendar, which inherits its month names from the Zoroastrian calendar, the 4th month is likewise named Tir.

During the Achaemenid period, Tishtrya was conflated with Semitic Nabu-Tiri, and thus came to be associated with the Dog Star, Sirius. The Tiregan festival, previously associated with Tiri(a reconstructed name), was likewise transferred to Tishtrya. During the Hellenic period, Tishtrya came to be associated with Pythian Apollo, patron of Delphi, and thus a divinity of oracles.

[Mehrbod]

Zam
aka:Zamyad, Zamyat, Zam Yazad

Zam (Zām) is the Avestan language term for the Zoroastrian concept of "earth"(prototyped as a chemical element in ancient philosophy, and as a minor Yazata in Zoroastrianism and later Persian mythology.), in both the sense of land and soil and in the sense of the world. The earth is prototyped as a primordial element in Zoroastrian tradition, and represented by a
minor divinity Zam who is the hypostasis of the "earth". The word itself is cognate to the Baltic 'Zemes' and Slavic 'Zem', both meaning the planet earth as well as soil.


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The term 'Zam' exists with the same meaning in both Avestan and middle Persian languages. Zam is occasionally paired with the Amesha Spenta Armaiti, with whom Zam shares some attributes. According to Xenophon(Greek historian), Cyrus sacrificed animals to the earth as the Magians directed.

The element zam exists with the same meaning in Middle Persian, which is the language of the texts of Zoroastrian tradition. The divinity Zam however appears in the later language as Zamyad, which is a contraction of "Zam Yazad", i.e. the yazata Zam.


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The last hymn recited in the procedure for the establishment of a Fire temple is the Zamyad Yasht. This is done because to achieve the required 91 recitals in honor of the Yazatas, would in principle require each of the 30 hymns associated with the divinites of the 30 days to be recited thrice with one additional one.

notwithstanding the dedication of the 28th day of the month and the manifestation as one of the primordial elements, Zam is not a particularly significant divinity.

From among the flowers associated with the yazatas, Zam's is the Basil.


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[Mehrbod]

Name: Vayu-Vata
aka: Vata, Vayu

Vayu-Vata (or Vata-Vayu) is the Avestan language name of a dual-natured Zoroastrian divinity of the wind (Vayu) and of the atmosphere (Vata). The names are also used independently of one another, with 'Vayu' occurring more frequently than 'Vata', but even when used independently still representing the other aspect.


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The entity is simultaneously angelic and demonic, that is, depending on the circumstances, either yazata - "worthy of worship" - or daeva, which in Zoroastrian tradition is a demon. Scripture frequently applies the epithet "good" when speaking of one or the other in a positive context.
In Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism, a now-extinct form of Zoroastrianism), Vata-Vayu represented two facets of the quaternary Zurvan. In this arrangement, Vata-Vayu represented "space" while the other two facets represent "time."
Vayu-Vata has Indo-Iranian roots, and has the same name in historical Vedic religion.



نکته: در پارسی زمانیکه میگوییم «ای وای»، در فرهود داریم این خدا را سدا میزنیم!

[Mehrbod]

Mâh
AKA: Maonghah

Goddess of Planet Moon. She is associated with the cow, which plays an important part in ancient Iranian mythology (Vedai and Avestan Periods), and presides over time and tide. She is mentioned as an assistant to Vohuman. The seventh day of the month is dedicated to Mah.


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Mah is the Avestan language word for both the moon and for the Zoroastrian divinity that presides over and is the hypostasis of the moon.

In the hierarchy of yazatas, the Moon is the assistant (or 'cooperator', hamkar) of Vohu Manah (MP: Bahman), the Amesha Spenta of animal welfare, in particular of cattle. The identification with Vohu Manah - the hypostasis of "Good Purpose" or "Good Mind" - is reflected in other texts where the moon is associated with mental harmony and inner peace.


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Associated Powers: Epic Intelligence, Epic Wits, Animal (Cattle), Asha, Moon

Abilities: Animal Ken, Art, Larceny, Occult, Science, Stealth

[Mehrbod]

Daena
Aka: Din, Dena, Dânâ

Daena is the daughter of Ahura Mazda and Armaiti. As magician Goddess of religion, she is the most important connection between the Yazatas and Fate. She also the one that guides the souls of the just to their eternal home, Garodemana. All souls that she doesn’t guide are stolen by Vizaresh and taken to Drujdemana in Duzakhv.

Daena is the eternal Law, whose order was revealed to humanity through the Mathra-Spenta ("Holy Words"). Daena has been used to mean religion, faith, law, even as a translation for the Hindu and Buddhist term Dharma.


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Commonly tie to religion on the human World, Daena seems something come from a forgotten past. She has been a priestess of a forgotten religion, the forgotten monk, a nun and many other roles where women are associated to religion.

The unstoppable Scions of Daena work to spread their religion by any means necessary, working to make this World a better place, using their intelligence and wisdom to perform great works.

Associated Powers: Animal (dog), Asha, Epic Intelligence, Epic Wits, Magic, Mystery, Psychopomp

Abilities: Athletics, Brawl, Fortitude, Occult, Presence, Stealth

Rivals: Angra Mainyu, Vizaresh; Brahma, Ganesha, Hermes, Manannán Mac Lir, Nüwa, Odin, Vishnu

[Mehrbod]

Rashnu

Rashnu, in Zoroastrianism, the deity of justice, who with Mithra, the god of truth, and Sraosha, the god of religious obedience, determines the fates of the souls of the dead. Rashnu's standard appellation is "the very straight". she judges the souls of the dead on the Chinvat bridge leading to heavens. She carries the "Golden Scales" which she weighs the souls at Judgement with it. Rashnu is the open eye of justice and one of the Yazatas.


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In the Avestan Dahman Afrin, Rashnu is invoked in an address to Ameretat. According to the Denkard, the Duwasrud Nask - a legal manual now lost - contained passages extolling the supremacy of Rashnu. (Dk 8.16) In the Siroza ("thirty days") "the very straight Rashnu ... augments the world and is the true-spoken speech that furthers the world." (Siroza 18).


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[Mehrbod]

Yazatas
aka: Izadân, Yazdân

Yazata (Persian Guardian-Messenger Gods and Goddesses) is the Avestan language word for a Zoroastrian concept.

Zoroastrianism defines The Yazatas as the deities to whom the hymns in the Zend-Avesta are addressed. They are the guardians of the celestial bodies and the messengers of Ahura Mazda. Yazatas are basically Guardian-Messenger Gods and Goddesses. Originally in fundamental philosophy of Zoroastrianism, there were only 7 Yazatas, 7 being the holy number.


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However, later on, the Hierarchy of Fire Temples and Mubeds (Zoroastrian Priests) have added up to over 50 Yazatas to the list and named them angels.

The original Yazatas: The Head Yazata is "Mitra" and others include Diana, Mah, Rashnu, Vate, Zam and Tir.

[Mehrbod]

Angra mainyu
aka: Ahriman

In Zurvanism, Angra Mainyu is the first son of Zurvan and he create and rule the world, but Ahura Mazda is sent to fight with him for the world.


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in Zoroastrianism, Angra Mainyu is the god of darkness, the eternal destroyer of good, personification and creator of evil, bringer of death and disease. He is also known as Ahriman, and his name means "fiendish spirit".

He is seen as the personification of evil, he leading the dark forces against the hosts of Spenta Mainyu, the holy spirit, who assisted Ahura Mazda, the wise lord, and final victor of the cosmic conflict. Ahriman introduced the frost in winter, heat in summer, all manner of diseases and other ills, to thwart Ahura Mazda, and he also created the dragon Azi Dahaka, who brought ruin to the Earth.

Ahriman lives in darkness, in a place where all those who do evil go to after their demise (Hell) and his symbol is the snake. He is what in Christian religion can be called Satan.

Angra Mainyu is the sorcerous spirit which takes many forms, but commands and creates other malicious shades which counteract the stasis-embodied concepts of Ahura Mazda.

[Mehrbod]

Ahurâ Mazdâ
aka: Ormazd, Aramazd, Hourmazd

In Zurvanism, Ahura Mazdah was the supreme god, he who created the heavens and the Earth, and another son of Zurvan.


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in Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is the Avestan name for a divinity of the Old Iranian religion who was proclaimed the uncreated God by Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism. Ahura Mazda is described as the highest deity of worship in Zoroastrianism, along with being the first and most frequently invoked deity in the Yasna. The word Ahura means light and Mazda means wisdom. Thus Ahura Mazda is the "lord of light and wisdom". Ahura Mazda is the creator and upholder of Arta (truth).


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Good thoughts, Good words, Good deeds




Even though Ahura Mazda was a deity in the Old Iranian religion, he had not yet been given the title of "uncreated God". This title was given by Zoroaster who proclaimed Ahura Mazda as the uncreated God, wholly wise, benevolent and good, as well as the creator and upholder of Arta ("truth"). As Ahura Mazda is described as the creator and upholder of Arta, he is a supporter and guardian of justice, and the friend of the just man.


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[Mehrbod]

From right to left:


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1- Angra mainyu (Ahriman) (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543-%D9%BE%DB%8C%DA%A9-17166/#post17166)

2- Khshathra Vairya (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543/#post17151)

3- Ameretat (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543/#post17154)

4- Spenta Mainyu (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543/#post17147)

5- Ahurâ Mazdâ (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543-%D9%BE%DB%8C%DA%A9-17167/#post17167)

6- Spenta Armaiti (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543/#post17152)

7- Vohu Manah (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543/#post17149)

8- Haurvatat (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543/#post17153)

9- Asha Vahishta (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543/#post17150)

10- Atar (http://www.daftarche.com/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AE%D8%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-13/persian-mythology-543/#post16103)

[Mehrbod]

Fravashi
aka: fravard, fravahr, fravash, fravaksh

Faravashis Or Arda Fravash (Guardian Angels) are personal guardian angels. Every person is accompanied by a guardian angel, who acts as his or her guide through life. Ahura Mazda ordered Zarathushtra to call upon Faravashis for help as needed. Faravashis ultimately become one with people's souls in after life. They are the manifestation of Ahura's
will. Faravashis are often represented as bird-like angel creatures. Faravashis' shapes are originated from Faravahar, the winged symbol of Zoroastrianism which itself represents a Dual Creature of half man (Ahura Mazda) and half beast (Ahreeman). In original Zoroastrian doctrine, Ahura Mazda and Ahreeman were two faces (sides) of one being. The concept of the fravashi as guardian spirit does not occur in the Gathas of Zarathushtra. But in later Zoroastrianism, it becomes a most important idea.


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Although there is no physical description of a fravashi in the Avesta, the faravahar, one of the best known symbols of Zoroastrianism, is commonly believed to be the depiction of one. The attribution of the name (which derives from the Middle Iranian word for fravashi) to the symbol is probably a later development. In Avestan language grammar, the fravashi are unmistakably "female", while the faravahar symbol is unmistakably male.

According to the Avesta every human being has Tanu, Urvan and Fravashi.

1- Tanu is the body or physical self made of flesh, blood and bones.
2- Urvan is the soul, the nature of every human. It is the decision maker for it controls the body and is responsible for all the decisions and actions done by the humans in this world.
3- Fravashi is the spiritual guide, the active presence of Ahura Mazda in every human being. It guides and helps the soul but does not interfere in the decision making. The soul is free to choose what it wants to do with its life on this earth and the Fravashi is that inner voice that warns the soul of evil and guides it away from spiritual danger.

Ahura Mazda advises Zarathushtra to invoke them for help whenever he finds himself in danger. If not for their guardianship, animals and people could not have continued to exist, because the wicked Druj would have destroyed them all. The Fravashi also serves as an ideal which the soul has to strive for and emulate, and ultimately becomes one with after death. They manifest the energy of God, and preserve order in the creation. They are said to fly like winged birds, and are represented by a winged disk, often with a person superimposed.

The term Fravashi is made up of two parts, Fra which has been interpreted as "to go forward" and, vashi which comes from the root vaksh, meaning "to grow". So Fravashi is that power in a substance which enables it to move forward i.e. to progress. The Avesta tells us that the Fravashi is inherent in every animate and inanimate object of Nature and helps in its development. The Fravashis constitute the internal essence of things as opposed to the contingent and, work as spiritual entities for all of Ahura Mazda’s creations. The Fravadin Yasht, the longest of the twenty-two yashts (hymns), is dedicated to the Fravashis and mentions that Ahura Mazda created the Fravashis before he created the universe. This implies that Ahura Mazda had conceived a complete and perfect Universe from the very beginning by forming the spiritual essence of all objects before their creation. The earth, sun, moon stars, trees and human beings, all have their Fravashis and the duty of the Fravashis is to watch over the orderly growth of the world and to make it prosper.

artwork by: A. Andrew Gonzalez

[Mehrbod]

Airyaman
aka: Erman

An ancient Persian divinity and a yazata of the Zoroastrian pantheon, known in Manichean Middle Persian as Aryaman, in Pahlavi as Ērmān. The Avestan common noun airyaman-, Vedic aryaman-, means “friend, companion;” and the Indo-Iranian Aryaman was, it seems, the hypostasis of friendship, and of friendly alliance; and this being ratified at times by a formal oath, he was close ...
to the asuras Mitra and Varuna, who upheld oath and covenant. In the Vedas he appears as one of the group of Ādityas; and with Varuna (under his by-name of Bhaga) he presided over marriage, presumably as the sealing of the bond of friendship between two families.


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In Iran Airyaman exercised this same function, and he is accordingly still regularly invoked at Zoroastrian weddings. Moreover, the Middle Persian proper name Bay-Aryāmān attests that in Iran too he was linked with Varuna, the Baga (q.v.). In Zoroastrianism, however, he has also an eschatological role; for it is he, according to the Pahlavi books, who will guide the Saošyant, Astvaṱ.ərəta, when he comes to bring about Frašō.kərəti (see Frašegerd). Just why this role should be assigned to the yazata of Friendship remains a matter for speculation, but conceivably it was because Frašō.kərəti will see the end of all enmity and strife. Thereafter, “Fire and Ērmān Yazd will melt the metal in the hills and mountains, and it will be upon the earth like a river” (Bd. 34.18); this river will burn away all wickedness and purify the whole physical creation. Airyaman is thus actively associated with the achievement of Frašō.kərəti, which for Zoroaster and his early followers was an event not far off, and which all Zoroastrians have ardently expected. It is presumably for this reason that Airyaman is addressed, in the great Gathic prayer called after him, as Airyə̄mā īšyō “Longed-for Airyaman.”

Airyaman further became for Zoroastrians a yazata of healing, able not only to heal physical evil in the future, but to cure any of the 99,999 present illnesses sent by Angra Mainyu to plague mankind (see Vd. 22.7-24). So it is said in the Bundahišn, with a direct Pahlavi rendering of a lost Avestan passage: “The Amahraspand Ērmān is that divinity who has given healing to created beings for all ills. As He says: "All the drugs which created beings consume for the ending of sickness—if I, Ohrmazd, had not created Ērmān for healing, that sickness would not (thereby) be cured"

[Mehrbod]

Agas

In Persian mythology, Agas is a female demon, one of the Druj, which embodies the evil that can be performed by the eye, namely illness. Agas is Persian for "evil eye".


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Agas causes problems and difficulties by distorting the sight of others or creating visions to them. It tempts people into committing sin through visual means such as voyeurism, sexually attractive sights and covetousness.

Agas presents visions of what people lust for the most and delights when she sees people falling for her traps. When they do she inflicts diseases of the eyes on those that could not resist temptation.

[Mehrbod]

Bushyasta
aka:Bushasp

The Zoroastrian daeva (demon) of sloth who is known as "the long-handed". She is the embodiment of laziness and idleness and the cause of procrastination. She strives to keep the righteous from performing productive tasks. She is the cause of procrastination as she strives to keep the righteous from performing productive tasks. She lulls the world back to sleep and "makes th...
e faithful forget in slumber the hour of prayer." Although there are "as many demons as the sins that man commits" and Bushyasta is among the few daevas who are specifically mentioned in the texts, she is not among the fiends who are described in any great detail.


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Towards dawn, before the demons are forced back into the darkness, Bushyasta rushes from the north murmering "Sleep on, O men! Sleep on, O sinners! Sleep on and live in sin". Bushyasta is named among the demons who flee at the sight of Mithra's mace.

In the Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian account of creation completed in the 12th century, Bushasp is one of the co-operators of the six arch-demons. This hierarchy mirrors that of the six Amesha Spentas and their helpers, the yazatas. In a fragment of the "lesser" Bundahishn, Bushasp brings a "unnatural lethargy" upon a hero, who then at that moment fails to defend the world against the fiendish deeds of Aži Dahaka. But the hero is protected by the "divine glory of the heavens", so he eventually wakes rested and kills Dahaka.

Art by Erebus88

[Mehrbod]

Arash the Archer
In Persian: Âraš-e Kamângir

Arash was an Iranian national hero who sacrificed his life for the glory of his country.

When the bloody and long-lasting war between Iran and Turan came to an end, the rulers of both countries decided to make peace and
to fix the boundary between their kingdoms. The defeated Iran was ordered to shoot an arrow towards Turan. Where the arrow landed was to mark the border between the two countries. An Iranian super hero, Arash, agreed to shoot the arrow from the peak of the Damavand (Iran's highest mountain). One morning of Tir (July), Arash climbed Mount Damavand and faced the direction of Turan lands, and with all his strength pulled his bow.


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The arrow flew the whole morning and fell at noon - 2250 kilometers on the bank of the Oxus River in what is now Central Asia. The river remained the boundary between Iran and Turan for centuries. When Arash let his bow go, he fell to the ground on Mount Damavand and passed away.

Arash's body was not found. There are still stories from travelers who were lost on the mountain. They say that they heard Arash’s voice which helped them find their way and saved their lives.

Although several sources appear to have considered 'Arash' to be the origin of the name 'Arshak', the name of the Parthian dynasty derives from a Parthian- or Eastern Iranian equivalent of 'Ardashir', i.e. 'Artaxerxes', specifically Artaxerxes II, who the Arsacids claimed to descend from. (Within the scheme of the mythologically-conflated genealogies of Iranian dynasts, the Arsacids also claimed to descend—via the other Arash—from Kai Kobad).

[Mehrbod]

The Zurvanite Myth

The myth is preserved in a number of Christian sources which differ but little among themselves, and the purport of it is roughly as follows:

When nothing existed at all, neither heaven nor earth, the great god Zurvan a
lone existed, whose name means 'fate' or 'fortune'. He offered sacrifice for a thousand years that perchance he might have a son who should be called Ohrmazd and who would create heaven and earth. At the end of this period of a thousand years he began to ponder and said to himself: 'What use is this sacrifice that I am offering, and will I really have a son called Ohrmazd, or am I taking all this trouble in vain?' And no sooner had this thought occured to him then both Ohrmazd and Ahriman were conceived -Ohrmazd because of the sacrifice he had offered, and Ahriman because of his doubt. When he realized that there were two sons in the womb, he made a vow saying: 'Whichever of the two shall come to me first, him will I make king.' Ohrmazd was apprised of his father's thought and revealed it to Ahriman. When Ahriman heard this, he ripped the womb open, emerged, and advanced towards his father. Zurvan, seeing him, asked him: 'Who art thou?' And he replied: 'I am thy son, Ohrmazd.' And Zurvan said: 'My son is light and fragrant, but thou art dark and stinking.' And he wept most bitterly. And as they were talking together, Ohrmazd was born in his turn, light and fragrant; and Zurvan, seeing him, knew that it was his son Ohrmazd for whom he had offered sacrifice. Talking the barsom twigs he held in his hands with which he had been sacrificing, he gave them to Ohrmazd and said: 'Up till now it is I who have offered thee sacrifice; from now on shalt thou sacrifice to me.' But even as Zurvan handed the sacrificial twigs to Ohrmazd, Ahriman drew near and said to him :'Didst thou not vow that whichever of the sons should come to thee first, to him wouldst thou give the kingdom?' And Zurvan said to him: 'O false and wicked one, the kingdom shall be granted thee for nine thousand years, but Ohrmazd have I made a king above thee, and after nine thousand years he will reign and will do everything according to his good pleasure.' And Ohrmazd created the heavens and the earth and all things that are beautifull and good; but Ahriman created the demons and all that is evil and perverse. Ohrmazd created riches, Ahriman poverty.


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This is the Zurvanite myth in its crudest form, and it is strange that this myth, which was regarded by both Christian and Manichees as being typical of the Zoroastrian religion, is mentioned only once in the whole of the Pahlavi books. This one mention occurs in a passage in the Denkart which purports to be a commentary on Yasna 30.3, the very passage in which the Prophet speaks of the Holy and Destructive Spirits as twins. Even the Sassanian theologians, ignorant though they were of the sacred tongue in which the Avesta was written, must have known that this was the only possible interpretation of the Stanza in question, for it is quite one of the clearest in the Gathas. Their resolution of the dilemma was ingenious, if disingenuous. It so happens that the Avestan word eresh occurs in this stanza; and though they knew that this word meant 'rightly' and usually so translate it, they preferred on this occasion to feign ignorance and translated it with the Pahlavi word arish, which is one of the names of the demon of envy; and so it was possible for the author of the Denkart to represent the offensive doctrine as being the invention of the demons! The whole thing is passed off as being 'a proclamation of the Demon of Envy to mankind that Ohrmazd and Ahriman were to brothers in one womb'. So was the Zurvanite heresy dismissed as being the invention of devilry.

What is rather strange, however, is that though we know of the sruggle waged by Karter against the Zandiks and of Aturpat's vindication of his own orthodoxy as against the fatalists, we have no direct reference in the Pahlavi books or elsewhere to any official condemnation of mythological Zurvanism as such. This would lead us Menok i Khrat and in Zatsparam we do still find references to Zurvan which seem to presuppose at least his co-eternity with Ohrmazd and Ahriman. Thus in the former we read that Ohrmazd fashioned his creation from his own light 'with the blessing of the Infinite Zurvan, for the Infinite Zurvan is unageing and deathless; he knows neither pain nor decay nor corruption; he has no rival, nor can he ever be put aside or deprived of his sovereignty in his proper sphere'. And again it is by the agency of Infinite Time that Ohrmazd and Ahriman enter into a solemn pact by which they limit the time in which they will do battle together for nine thousand years, this nine thousand years of warfare corresponding to the nine thousand years of earthly sovereignty allotted to Ahriman by Zurvan in the fully Zurvanite version of the myth.

[Mehrbod]

Zarich
aka: Zairich, Zairicha, Zari
In Persian: Zariz

In Persian mythology, Zarik (or Zarich) is a Daeva in the service of Ahriman. Oft-depicted in female form, Zarik is the daeva personification of aging. She is very masculine. Her amesha rival counterpart is Ameretat.


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The names of the dual demons Taurvi and Zairicha personify, in later texts at least, fever and thirst. They occur together and are mentioned in two places in the Younger Avesta, yet without any special description of their work. They are in the Pahlavi texts depicted as the adversaries of the dual divinities Haurvatat and Ameretat.

[Mehrbod]

Indra
aka: Andra

Indra is one of the seven Daevas and the personification of apostasy. His eternal Amesha Spenta enemy is Asha vahishta(Arashtat).

Indra is the direct enemy of Asha Vahishta, who personifies the aspect of asha/rta or Truth. Thus, Indra is the opponent of order, truth, and righteousness. Similarly, in the Denkard, a ninth-century Middle Persian text, Indra is the arch-demon that "is the spirit of apostasy and further deceives the worldly existence of mankind. In the Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian account of creation, Indra "freezes the minds of the creatures from practicing righteousness just like much frozen snow. He instills this into the minds of men that they ought not to have the sacred shirt and thread girdle". The shirt and girdle are garments that must be worn by all devout Zoroastrians, thus Indra stands in diametric opposition to one of the indispensable aspects of the Zoroastrian faith. At frashokereti, the eschatological regeneration of good within the universe, it is said that Indra will be defeated by Asha Vahishta


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Indra appears as the name of an arch-demon in the Zoroastrian religion, while his epithet Verethragna appears as a god of victory. The Avestic Daeva is the natural complement of Ahura. Originally 'the Shining One', this word retain its pristine purity practically throughout the history of Indian languages. But in the Avesta the word is never used in its old signification of 'Deity', even in the earliest portions, and in the later Avesta it invariably means 'Demon'. In the Veda however, we find the word used a couple of times as an epithet of the demons. Of individual deities there are but few that have suffered this inversion. The most notable of these is Indra, one of the greatest Deities in the Vedic Pantheon. In the Avesta he is the chief helpmate of the Evil One. It is very remarkable that of two of the most important Gods of the Vedas-Varuna and Indra-one should have become in Persia the supreme Being, Ahura, while the other became the most important lieutenant of the Evil One. But what is still more remarkable is that one of Indra's epithets-Vrtrahan (Bahram, the Slayer of the Demon-foe)- an epithet which is pre-eminently his-should have continued all through the history of Persian Religion to be the name of one of the greatest of the Deities, Verethraghna (later Bahram). The Bahram Yasht (Yasht, xiv) where his deeds are recorded is a fine epic, and some of the achievements therein recorded remind us of the deeds of Indra mentioned in the Veda.

[Mehrbod]

Daevas and Drugs

In ancient Persian mythology they are demons who cause plagues and diseases and who fight every form of religion. They are the male servants (or followers) of Angra Mainyu, also known as Ahriman. The female servants are called the Drugs. Together they fight Ahuru Mazda (Ormazd) and his Amesha Spentas.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/12/8.jpg

Originally, the Daevas, together with the Ahuras, were a classification of god
s and spirits. In later Persian religion they were degraded to a lesser kind of beings, demons.

The term "Devil" and "Div" (Deev) are derived from Daeva. The Daevas and Drugs are of 2 Demonesses (Females) and 5 Demons (Males) which makes a total of 7. Number 7 is the holy Zoroastrian number. The seven Daevas and Drugs are: Aesma Daeva, Aka Manah, Indra, Nanghaithya, Saurva, Tawrich and Zarich.

[Mehrbod]

Aka Manah
aka: Akem Manah, Akoman, Akvan
In Persian: Akuman


Aka Manah is one of the Daevas. He is the personification of sensual desire who was sent by Ahriman to seduce the prophet Zarathustra. His eternal opponent is Vohu Manah.

Aka Manah is the Avestan language name for the Zoroastrian daeva "Evil Mind", "Evil Purpose", "Evil Thinking" or "Evil Intention".

In the Younger Avesta, Akem Manah is unambiguously a demonic entity, an auxiliary of Angra Mainyu. In Yasht 19.46, Aka Manah, Aeshma, Azi Dahaka and Spityura battle Vohu Manah, Asha Vahishta and Atar for the possession of khvarenah. Later in the same hymn (19.96), Aka Manah is predicted to be in battle with Vohu Manah at the final renovation of the world, at which time Aka Manah – as all the other daevas also - will be vanquished.

In Vendidad(one of the books of the Avesta) 19's account of the temptation of Zoroaster, Aka Manah poses ninety-nine questions to weaken the prophet's conviction in Ahura Mazda. Zoroaster does not succumb to the trick.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/12/9.jpg

In the Epistles of Zadspram (14.8), Akoman is first among the demons who try to injure Zoroaster before and at his birth. He was however "easily defeated by his own weapon of deceit being turned against him. Vohuman, who had chased him to the spot, schemingly turned back and asked him to enter the house. Akoman thought that as his rival was leaving the place, his own work was finished, and consequently [left as well] without accomplishing anything."

The ability to make righteous decisions is blunted by Akoman (Denkard 3.116). He is the cause of evil intent, and a mortal so afflicted searches for "gross defects" in others while hiding his own (3.255). Denkard 8 attributes the crying of new-born infants to Akoman, reasoning that the demon frightens the children with ghastly images of the final renovation of the world.

According to Denkard, Akoman causes a mortal's failure to discriminate between good and evil. He so introduces discord and - as a consequence - physical evil in the world (Denkard 6). He perverts a man's thoughts and makes him miserable. Among all the demons, Akoman is to be dreaded the most (Denkard 9).

In Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Akvan is described as having long hair, blue eyes and a head like an elephants with a mouthful of tusks instead of teeth. In one of the tales, the demon traps Rostam while the hero is asleep, and carries him up into the sky. He then asks Rostam whether he would prefer to be thrown upon a mountain, or into the sea. Rostam, aware that the demon's mind is perverse (cf. In the Pahlavi texts above), asks to be thrown upon a mountain, and the demon in response throws him into the sea. Rescuing himself from the waters, Rostam recovers his horse and confronts the demon again, subsequently beheading it.



p.s.
Perhaps related to Agamemnon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agamemnon), despite the slight difference in meaning, too close a cognate to ignore


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/12/10.jpg

Agamemnon

[Mehrbod]

Saurva
In Persian: Sâvul

Saurva is one of the seven main Daevas. His eternal opponent is Khshathra vairya ("desirable dominion."). The Avestan texts, which make two mentions of the name of this demon, do not give us his life-story. In the diabolical host he is the adversary of the archangel Khshathra Vairya, through whom shall be established the Kingdom of Ahura Mazda.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/12/11.jpg

The Indian counterpart of the demon Saurva is Sarva. Sarva is a Sanskrit word meaning all or everything and whole, complete. Sarva is said to be the name of Lord Shiva and derived from Shiva`s association with Rudra. Sarva or Sharva is also eight modifications or manifestations of Rudra meaning archer. The word is derived from the Sanskrit word for arrow or `shara`. is a Sanskrit word meaning all or everything and whole, complete. Sarva is said to be the name of Lord Shiva and derived from Shiva`s association with Rudra. Sarva is also eight modifications or manifestations of Rudra meaning archer. The word is derived from the Sanskrit word for arrow or `shara`.

[Mehrbod]

Tawrich
aka: tauriz, Taurvi
In Persian: Tariz

Tawrich is the personification of hunger. She is obsessed with blood. Her eternal opponent is Haurvatat/hordad 'wholeness'.

She is the archdemon of destruction in Zoroastrian mythology. Tawrich mingles posion into vegtable crations. she is smiter!


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/12/12.jpg

The names of the dual demons Taurvi and Zairicha personify, in later texts at least, fever and thirst. They occur together and are mentioned in two places in the Younger Avesta, yet without any special description of their work. They are in the Pahlavi texts depicted as the adversaries of the dual divinities Haurvatat and Ameretat.

Her powers are similar to Stolas/Stolos/Solas, Who depicted as a crowned owl with long legs, a raven, or a man. (Stolas teaches astronomy and the knowledge of poisonous plants, herbs and precious stones.)

[undead_knight]

world of warcraft
or
lord of the rings
?:))

[Mehrbod]

world of warcraft
or
lord of the rings
?:))

اینها به من بود؟ من نه WoW بازی میکنم نه روی هم رفته از بازی/فیلم/داستان‌های "فانتزی" خوشم میاید.

ولی استوره‌شناسی چیزی فراتر از فانتزی است؛ از و درباره نیاکان و گذشتگان ما میگوید.
اینکه چه چیزهایی برای ایشان خداسان می‌مانسته و ترسها و نیازها و سرانجام خواسته‌های درونی‌اشان در چه ریخت و پیکری خود را نمایان میساخته.

میتوان در آن بازنمود ژرف‌ترین خواسته‌های خود امروزین ما را هم دید.

[undead_knight]

اینها به من بود؟ من نه WoW بازی میکنم نه روی هم رفته از بازی/فیلم/داستان‌های "فانتزی" خوشم میاید.

ولی استوره‌شناسی چیزی فراتر از فانتزی است؛ از و درباره نیاکان و گذشتگان ما میگوید.
اینکه چه چیزهایی برای ایشان خداسان می‌مانسته و ترسها و نیازها و سرانجام خواسته‌های درونی‌اشان در چه ریخت و پیکری خود را نمایان میساخته.

میتوان در آن بازنمود ژرف‌ترین خواسته‌های خود امروزین ما را هم دید.
تصویر سازی هاش من رو یاد این دو انداخت :)
اتفاقا من موافق شناخت اسطوره های پیشینیان هستم به همین دلیل
good job :)

[Mehrbod]

Zâl

Zāl("Albino") is a legendary Persian warrior in Shahnameh.

An albino, Zāl was born with white hair. Because of this, his parents called him Zāl. In the Persian language, "Zaall" refers to those who suffer from albinism. Zāl was the son of Sām and the grandson of Nariman, both heroes of ancient Persia and protectors of "Motherland Iran" or "Iran-zamin." Because of his defect, Zāl was rejected by his father. He was left when only an infant; upon the mountain Damavand, which has the highest geographic peak in Iran.

The mythical Simurgh (a very large and wise bird which darkens the sky when flying, said to be related to the phoenix) found the baby and took him to her nest. Then after a time, passing caravans saw a noble young man, his chest a mountain of silver, his waist a reed, in the bird's nest.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2013/01/73.jpg

Rumor of this remarkable presence finally reached Sam, who was encouraged by his wise men to hasten to the scene. There, looking up, he saw his son, but when he tried to climb toward him, he could find no way to the lofty perch. He then prayed to God, asking forgiveness and help. When the Simurgh saw Sam, she knew that he had come for her charge. The devoted bird gave the youth a plume, saying: "Burn this if ever you have need of me, and may your heart never forget your nurse, whose heart breaks for love of you.

The mighty and wise Simurgh gave Zāl these three feathers to burn when in trouble. She would appear as soon as the feathers were lit.


Art by (Zal and the Simurgh) Zae369

[Mehrbod]

Sâm

Sâm, also transliterated Saam is a mythical hero of ancient Persia, and an important character in the Shahnameh epic. He was the son of Nariman, grandson of Garshasp and father to Zāl.

He was Iran's champion during the rule of Fereydun, Manuchehr and Nowzar. He was appointed by Manuchehr to rule Zabulistan (Sistan), and then Mazandaran. After Manuchehr, because of Nowzar's corrupted and fail...ed rulership, Iranian champions asked Sâm to rule Iran. Sâm didn't accept, he supported Nowzar and advised him to follow Fereydun and Manuchehr. He was the supposed founder of the well known philosophy Sâmifarianism. Sâm returned to Mazandaran, and died soon after that. Afrasiab then attacked Zabulistan.

The name Sâm is equivalent to the Avestan name 'Saama', which means dark and Sanskrit 'Shyaama' which means the same.



http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2013/01/74.jpg

In this illustration Sam dreams a second night and is tormented and ashamed by what he is shown.

[Mehrbod]

Mount Damavand
In Persian: Damâvand

Mt Damavand is the most prominent feature of Iran looming majestically near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, it has a narrow summit with permanent snowcap, surrounded by many good looking peaks and ridges, in a clear weather the mountain is visible far from 250 km, just below the crater there are few famous glaciers such as Yakhar, Sioleh and Dobi Sel, it is located in Iran Mazandaran province, 80 km north east of capital Tehran, midway Haraz road near Amol city.Mount Damavand is a dormant volcano located in Iran. With the summit reaching 18,406 feet (5,610 m), it is the highest peak in Iran and the Middle East and it is the highest volcano in all of Asia.


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Damavand is significant mountain in Persian mythology. It is the symbol of Iranian resistance against despotism and foreign rule in Persian poetry and literature. In Zoroastrian texts and mythology, the three-headed dragon Aži Dahāka was chained within Mount Damāvand, there to remain until the end of the world. In a later version of the same legend, the tyrant Zahhāk was also chained in a cave somewhere in Mount Damāvand after being defeated by Kāveh and Fereydūn. Persian poet Ferdowsi depicts this event in his masterpiece, the Shahnameh:

He brings Zahhak, himself a mountain
to the peak of Damavand and binds his neck

The mountain is said to hold magical powers in the Shahnameh. Damāvand has also been named in the Iranian legend of Arash as the location he fired his arrow to mark the Iran border. The famous poem Damāvand by Mohammad Taqī Bahār is also one fine example of the mountain's significance in Persian literature. The first verse of this poem reads:

Oh white giant with feet in chains
Oh dome of the world, Oh Mount Damavand

[Mehrbod]

Karshipta
aka: Karshipta, Karshift
In Perso-Arabic: کرشفت، کرشیپتر

A bird in Persian mythology which can speak. Karshipta was sent to spread the religion of Ahura Mazda to the men assembled by Yima in his vara (enclosure). They were gathered there to protect themselves from the scourging winter that was to destroy mankind.

originally conceived as a "winged" sun, Karshipta's outstretched “eagle-spread” wings are remarkably similar to those of the Kalahamsa in full flight.

The bird Karshipta dwells in the heavens: were he living on the earth, he would be the king of birds. He brought the Religion into the Var of Vima, and recites the Avesta in the language of birds.


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Karshipta is the human mind-soul, and the deity thereof, symbolized in ancient Magianism by a bird, as the Greeks symbolized it by a butterfly. No sooner had Karshipta entered the Vara or man, than he understood the law of Mazda, or Divine Wisdom. . . . With the Kabalists it was a like symbol. 'Bird' was a Chaldean, and has become a Hebrew synonym and symbol for Angel, a Soul, a Spirit, or Deva; and the 'Bird's Nest' was with both Heaven, and is God's bosom in the Zohar.

This allegory describes the descent of the manasaputras during the third root-race: a high intelligence able to wing its way in the celestial realms entering man's constitution and awakening the faculty enabling him to understand and to recite "the Law" as imbodied in the highest divinities to and for the human species.

[Mehrbod]

Simurgh - In the Shahnameh
Aka: Simorq

The Simurgh made its most famous appearance in the Ferdowsi's epic Shahnameh (Book of Kings), where its involvement with the Prince Zal is described. According to the Shahnameh, Zal, the son of Saam, was born albino. When Saam saw his albino son, he assumed that the child was the spawn of devils, and abandoned the infant on the mountain Alborz.

The child's cries were heard by the tender-hearted Simurgh, who lived atop this peak, and she retrieved the child and raised him as her own. Zal was taught much wisdom from the loving Simurgh, who has all knowledge, but the time came when he grew into a man and yearned to rejoin the world of men. Though the Simurgh was terribly saddened, she gifted him with three golden feathers which he was to burn if he ever needed her assistance.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2013/03/71.jpg

Upon returning to his kingdom, Zal fell in love and married the beautiful Rudaba. When it came time for their son to be born, the labor was prolonged and terrible; Zal was certain that his wife would die in labour. Rudabah was near death when Zal decided to summon the Simurgh. The Simurgh appeared and instructed him upon how to perform a cesarean section thus saving Rudabah and the child, who became one of the greatest Persian heroes, Rostam. Simurgh also shows up in the story of the Seven Trials of Rostam and the story of Rostam and Esfandiar.

[Reactor]

مهربد جان من جایی خوانده بودم که ایندرا یک الهه ی هندی هست؟ آیا درسته؟

[undead_knight]

مهربد جان من جایی خوانده بودم که ایندرا یک الهه ی هندی هست؟ آیا درسته؟
البته تا مهربود بیاد من یه نکته کوچیک بگم:)
خدایان و قهرمانان هندی و ایرانی شباهت های زیادی دارند(حتی شباهت هایی به نسبت کمتر هم با خدایان یونانی دارند)ولی با گذشت زمان شماری از خدایان هندی جز دیوان و موجودات شرور افسانه های ایران شدند و بعضی خدایان ایرانی هم از افسانه های هندی کم کم حذف شدند:)

[Mehrbod]

مهربد جان من جایی خوانده بودم که ایندرا یک الهه ی هندی هست؟ آیا درسته؟

درود,

ایندرا یکی از خدایان هندو-ایرانی است.
رویهمرفته شهرمندی و هتا زبان و فرهنگ ایران و هند نزدیکی بسیاری دارند که اینرا در استوره‌ها یشان نیز مینمایانند, در هند نمونه‌وار همانجور
که آندد گفت «دیو (http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%88)ها» را داریم که باشندگانی خوب و نیک هستند ولی در استوره‌هایِ ایران کم کم به باشندگانی پلشت دگریسته‌اند و جایشان را به اگر لغزش نکنم
اهوره‌ها و یا همان امشاسپندان (http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%BE%D9%86%D8%AF%D 8%A7%D9%86) و ایزدان پاک داده‌اند.

ایندرا هم یکی از دیوان شده که در برابر امشاسپند اردبیهشت (ارته وهیشته: بهترین راستی) میایستد.

[Reactor]

درود,

ایندرا یکی از خدایان هندو-ایرانی است.
رویهمرفته شهرمندی و هتا زبان و فرهنگ ایران و هند نزدیکی بسیاری دارند که اینرا در استوره‌ها یشان نیز مینمایانند, در هند نمونه‌وار همانجور
که آندد گفت «دیوها» را داریم که باشندگانی خوب و نیک هستند ولی در استوره‌هایِ ایران کم کم به باشندگانی پلشت دگریسته‌اند و جایشان را به اگر لغزش نکنم
اهوره‌ها و یا همان امشاسپندان و ایزدان پاک داده‌اند.

ایندرا هم یکی از دیوان شده که در برابر امشاسپند اردبیهشت (ارته وهیشته: بهترین راستی) میایستد.

درود بر شما
هندی حساب میشود یا پارسی؟ یعنی از هند به ایران آمده یا از ایران به هند رفته؟ اصالتا متعلق به کدام طرف بوده؟

[undead_knight]

درود بر شما
هندی حساب میشود یا پارسی؟ یعنی از هند به ایران آمده یا از ایران به هند رفته؟ اصالتا متعلق به کدام طرف بوده؟
به نطر میاد اصالتا متعلق به اقوام آریایی هست و پیش از جدا شدنشون و رفتن به سرزمین های مختلف:)

[Mehrbod]

درود بر شما
هندی حساب میشود یا پارسی؟ یعنی از هند به ایران آمده یا از ایران به هند رفته؟ اصالتا متعلق به کدام طرف بوده؟

I wish I knew, شوربختانه استوره‌شناسی و تاریخ من آن اندازه ها (رویهمرفته به هیچ روی) خوب نیست reactor جان (:

از دید من هندو و ایرانی کمابیش یکی هستیم, چه زبانی چه فرهنگی چه از ریشه.

[undead_knight]

I wish I knew, شوربختانه استوره‌شناسی و تاریخ من آن اندازه ها (رویهمرفته به هیچ روی) خوب نیست reactor جان (:

از دید من هندو و ایرانی کمابیش یکی هستیم, چه زبانی چه فرهنگی چه از ریشه.
البته این گمانی که مطرح کردم فراتر از یک فرض سادست ولی شک گرایی من اینجا هم ول کن نیست:))
باز هم رجوع به "هند در یگ نگاه"بد نیست
http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2012/11/24.jpg
در اینجا جلالی نائینی توضیحاتی در مورد اینکه چطور این فرایند جدایی اتفاق افتاده هم توضیحاتی داده.(اگر تنبلیم اجازه داد و یادم موند اون بخش کتاب رو میارم)
در کل من واقعا خوندشو توصیه میکنم چون هم درک خوبی از فرهنگ، فلسفه و مذهب و اسطوره های هند به دست میده و هم باعث بهتر شدن درک نسبت به هویت تاریخی ایران میشه:)

[Mehrbod]

The Cup of Jamshid

The Cup of Jamshid is a cup of divination which, in Persian mythology, was long possessed by the rulers of ancient Greater Iran. The cup has also been called Jam-e Jahan nama, Jam-e Jahan Ara, Jam-e Giti nama, and Jam-e Kei-khosrow. The latter refers to Kaei Husravah in the Avesta, and Sushravas in the Vedas.
The Cup of Jamshid has been the subject of many Persian poems and stories. Many authors ascribed the success of the Persian Empire to the possession of this artefact. It appears extensively in Persian literature. Examples:

For years my heart was in search of the Grail (Cup of Jamshid)
What was inside me, it searched for, on the trail
Divan of Hafez

The cup ("Jām") was said to be filled with an elixir of immortality and was used in scrying. As mentioned by Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda, it was believed that one could observe all the seven heavens of the universe by looking into it. It was believed to have been discovered in Persepolis in ancient times. The whole world was said to be reflected in it, and divinations within the Cup were said to reveal deep truths. Sometimes, especially in popular depictions such as The Heroic Legend of Arslan, the cup has been visualized as a crystal ball.



http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2013/04/60.jpg

This Picture is a Famous Ancient Persian Cup, possibly representing the Cup of Jamshid

[Mehrbod]

Garshāsp

Garshāsp is the name of a monster-slaying hero in Persian mythology. The Avestan form of his name is Kərəsāspa and in Middle Persian his name is Kirsāsp.

Garshasp was a king that reigned in parts of Great Persia. His named is also in Shahnameh which tells about legends and stories of Great Persia. Garshasb ruled over 50 years then the royal family was enchanted by dark magic and been killed one after the other. Legend says that there are Garshasps that survived but they are still enchanted. Garshāsp is only tangentially mentioned in the Shāhnāma. There he appears as a distant ancestor of the hero Rostam, who lived about the same time as King Fereydun. Garshāsp is the father of Narēmān, who is the father of Sām, father of Zāl, who is in turn Rostam's father.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2013/04/61.jpg

[Mehrbod]

Drug Zarich

Drug Zarich is one of the female members of the devilish Daevas and Drugs.

She drains youth to remain young, cause of that she looks young!



http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2013/04/62.jpg

Digital Art by *GENZOMAN

[Mehrbod]

Zarich
aka: Zairich, Zairicha

Zarich is one of the female members of the Daevas and the personification of ageing. Her eternal opponent is Ameretat.
Zarich

In Persian mythology, Zarik (or Zarich) is a Daeva in the service of Ahriman. Oft-depicted in female form, Zarik is the daeva personification of aging. She is very masculine. Her amesha rival counterpart is Ameretat.

The names of the dual demons Taurvi and Zairicha personify, in later texts at least, fever and thirst. They occur together and are mentioned in two places in the Younger Avesta, yet without any special description of their work. They are in the Pahlavi texts depicted as the adversaries of the dual divinities Haurvatat and Ameretat.


http://www.daftarche.com/images/imported/2013/04/63.jpg