Zoroastrianism Flashcards
Founder (7 parts)
Zarathustra: Aryan priest
birth ~1000 BCE
virgin birth and other miracles: divine mission
vision (age 30) of Ahura Mazda and 6 divine emanations
converted king of Persia
killed by invading army angry about conversion
Ahura Mazda
The one God/uncreated being, creator of all good; just (no grace)
Gayomar
son of Ahura Mazda, created humans from rhubarb (bittersweet), who fell
How to gain salvation
use agency to propogate good, fight evil; your conscience judges you after death: bridge takes you to heaven or you fall off to hell; eventually all go through molten bath that purifies; degrees of glory
6 Divine emanations (Amesha spentas)
Good Thoughts, Righteousness and Order, Love, Desirable dominion, Health, Long life
Scripture
Avesta: Zarathustra’s hymns, sacrificial hymns, laws for ritual purity; a lot lost; not personal
homa plant
hallucinogenic = closer to God; sacred, with sacrifice
Fire temple
fire 24/7, symbol for presence of Ahura Mazda; place to meditate, worship Ahura Mazda
sacred clothing
ceremony between age 7 and 15
sudra: undershirt w/ pocket
kusti: woven belt, gird with faith
Fire rules
impure things can’t touch (body stuff–waste, breath, fluids, hair, nails–dead stuff)
incense
common in homes; smell of God’s abode, reminder
Faravahar
symbol; man with wings–Ahura Mazda, divine glory, eternal nature
Angru Mainu
The devil; offspring of God, wants to draw people away from God; allowed by Ahura Mazda to operate
Dhakma
tower of silence: expose dead body to be eaten by vultures instead of contaminating fire, earth ,water with disposal
Numbers
once huge; now 11500 to 200000 in Iran and India (Parsis) (no converts, young people leaving due to primitivism)
