Persian Mythology

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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.

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.

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

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

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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.

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.

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).

[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.

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.

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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.

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.

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).

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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From right to left:

1- Angra mainyu (Ahriman)

2- Khshathra Vairya

3- Ameretat

4- Spenta Mainyu

5- Ahurâ Mazdâ

6- Spenta Armaiti

7- Vohu Manah

8- Haurvatat

9- Asha Vahishta

10- Atar

[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.

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.

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".

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.