Ancient Religions of Iran: Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism, the organized religion of ancient Persia, professes a belief in one Creator God, an evil force in conflict with a good force, an afterlife in heaven and hell as a reward or punishment of one's moral life, a dramatic apocalyptic end of the world with a final resurrection of the dead.
Indo-European Migrations and Religion
Sometime during the second to third millennium BCE Indo-European speaking peoples crossed the Caucasus region and entered into Central Asia (Persia), northern India (Indus River Valley in Pakistan) and the Mediterranean (Turkey and Greece). They brought with the a material culture based on pasturage, semi-agrarian farming, horse-chariot warfare, and a pantheon of gods centered around male divinities.
The Indo-Iranians (Aryans) came from a cold climate. They and venerated fire and its life-giving heat as a result. They honored nature divinities in priestly rituals called yasna which included the drinking of a sacred drink called haoma. Libations were offered to the god of fire and the goddess of water, the two most important sustainers of life. Zoroastrians worship in fire temples. Rituals are performed by priests who wear a mask (like a surgeon's--compare to Jain practice) in reverence of the fire's purity and power.
The Aryans worshiped a pantheon of gods, called Daevas, "Shining Ones," the highest of which were the Ahuras ("Wisdom Beings"). Sometime between 1200 and 500 BCE (although the 7th century is the traditional date) a man named Zarathushtra (Zoroaster is the Greek form), began a reform of his native Indo-Iranian religion. After spending years in spiritual retreat, seeking visions, he had a great vision at about 30. After wading into a river he was purified of his lower elements. Returning to the bank he saw a shining being--Vohu Manah (Good thought), who led him to Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord"), the one creator God. This faith came to be known as Mazdayasna--"the worship of Ahura Mazda."
Zarathushtra's mission was to purge the earlier Indo-Iranian polytheistic tendencies of the nomadic plunderers and lead them to his new monotheistic vision. Zoroaster is credited with the early metric verses called Gathas--hymns (cf. the Rig Veda of Hinduism).
Post-Zarathushtran History
The Magi (Iranian priests) helped transmit Zoroastrianism during the Persian period. Cyrus, the Persian king, liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity and allowed for the building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Under Persian influence, Zoroastrian teachings entered into Judaism: evil aspect in life, immortal soul, reward for punishment after death, resurrection of the body and the apocalypse. Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia in 331 BCE brought many Zoroastrian ideas into a wider context, further influencing early Christian movements that embraced the dualistic teachings of Manichaeism, based on the teachings of the 3rd century BCE Persian teacher Mani (compare Plato's philosophical dualism: soma sema: "the body is the tomb of the soul").
Zoroastrianism survived in the later civilization of the Parthians until 224 CE. The surviving teachings were reassembled into the Avesta--"holy texts." Under the Sassanids of the 3rd to 7th centuries CE Zoroastrianism became the state religion. In 632 CE Arabic Muslims defeated Persia, and after the Mogul invasion from the east sometime later, Persia was converted to Islam.
Some followers of Zoroaster migrated to India, whose spiritual orientation was similar to their own, to escape conversion. In India they were known as Parsis. The minority who stayed in Persia kept detailed instructions about the rituals and customs in a vast new literature, the Pahlavi texts, written in middle Persian from about the 9th century. Zoroastrianism survives in Bombay, India, and in small pockets of minority communities in the United States on the Pacific Coast.
Teachings and Rituals
Zoroastrianism preaches the primacy of Ahura Mazda who is good, eternal, the creator of all. Zarathushtra asks Ahura Mazda to protect the poor, the meek, and the lowly. Although One God, six divine powers radiate from the godhead: Vohu Manah (Good Mind), Asha Vahishta (Order/Eternal Truth), Khshathra Vairya (Absolute Power), Armaiti (Devotion), Haurvatat (perfection) and Ameretat (Immortality).
These six "Beings" are called Amesha Spenta ("Bountiful Immortals"). They are chief among the Yazata, or angels, who bring the light of the sun to earth and help those who dedicate offerings and prayers. The Yazata include many of the previous polytheistic Iranian gods. Prominent among them is Sraosha--the guardian spirit of humankind. Another is Mithra, guardian of the light and protector of Truth.
Zoroastrianism is composed of cosmic dualism, that Ahura Mazda is opposed by a dark force (perhaps?) of equal power. Zarathushtra spoke of Spenta Mainyu (Good Spirit), and Angra Mainyu (Evil Spirit). Humans have the power to choose between Good and Evil. Over time the Daevas--the early Iranian gods--became Evil. Followers of the Daevas worship the Druj (the Lie).
Zoroastrianism has a code of ethics that requires humans seek spiritual truth, asha, and cultivate civic and religious virtues, such as justice, chastity, self-reliance, compassion for the weak, charity for the poor, promotion of education, and good deeds--all of which are found in the moral codes of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. At the age of seven, children participate in Naozot, in which they are vested with a sudreh (sacred shirt), and the kusti (sacred thread)--practices with some affinity to Hindu rites.
When the body dies it is carried to a Tower of Silence (dakhma), a special circular building open at the top so that vultures can pick the bones of the body clean--done to avoid polluting the earth with decaying flesh. The bones are then bleached by the sun and placed in a central pit with no monuments or other grave goods to distinguish between rich and poor. All things material crumble into dust.
At death each of us is judged according to how good or how badly we lived here on earth--in thought, word, and deed. The souls of the Good cross the Chinvat Bridge to heaven; those of Evil fall into the House of the Lie. Interestingly, there is no eternal hell in Zoroastrianism because Good will ultimately triumph over all Evil. The world will eventually reach a state of perfection in which all will be liberated from evil. This state is called frashokeriti (refreshment)" and refers to the final resurrection of humanity into perfection and eternal life in a transformed world. The world currently awaits Saoshyant, the last prophet who will usher in this new world.
Roman Mithraism
During the Roman occupation of much of the Ancient Near East Roman soldiers came under the influence of many eastern religious ideas. One of which was Mithraism. Mithras was originally a deity of light, one of the Zoroastrian Yazata, who appears as a judge of the dead and protector of cattle and pasturage. Later, he becomes a cosmic savior who is the deity of regeneration and renewed life.
Mithraea were underground places of worship which celebrated Mithra's return to the world above from the depths of darkness on Dec. 25, the day of the ancient solstice. His cult statue consisted of Perseus (the Persian One) sacrificing a bull, below which a serpent and dog partake of the sacrificial blood. Professor David Ulansey has studied Mithraism and demonstrated a cosmic paradigm to the statue based on the alignment of the constellations of Perses, Taurus, Draco and Canis Major on the solstice.
Of interest is the discovery that the city of Tarsus was one of the great centers of Mithraic worship in the Roman world. Paul, the Pharisaic Jew turned apostle, was from the city of Tarsus.
