Zoroaster was an ancient Persian (Iran).

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https://jeremypaytonbooks.com/2024/06/19/influence-zoroastrianism-early-christian-thought/

Ahura Mazda

Also known as Ormaz or Horomazes. Ahura means “lord.” Mazda means “wisdom.”

Ahura Mazda is the main god & sky deity in Zoroastrianism. He’s the 1st, & most commonly invoked, in the Yasna. The Yasna is the Avestan name of both a text within the Avesta collection & of the Yasna liturgy, Zoroastrianism’s principal act of worship.

The 1st worthwhile invocation of Ahura Mazda happened during the Achaemenid period (circa 550-330 BC) with the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great.

Until the reign of Artaxerxes II (circa 405/404-358 BC), Ahura Mazda was worshipped & invoke alone in all extant royal inscriptions. With Artaxerxes II, Ahura Mazda was gathered into a triad of deities with Mithra & Anahita.

In the Achaemenid period, the only known depiction of Ahura Mazda at the royal court was an empty chariot drawn by white horses. This was to invite Ahura Mazda to accompany the Persian army into battle.

Ahura Mazda was pictured in images starting from the 5th century BC. But during the Sassanid period, these depictions were replaced by stone-carved figures, & eventually removed entirely due to an iconoclastic movement supported by the Sasanian dynasty.

The worship of Ahura Mazda didn’t originate with Zoroaster. But it existed before the prophet’s message. Unlike other deities of the ancient world, who were capricious or vengeful, Ahura Mazda is known for his omniscience, absolute goodness, & immateriality (he has no physical form).

According to Zoroastrian tradition, Zoroaster (at the age of 30) received a revelation: while gathering water, at dawn, for a sacred ritual, he saw the shining figure of an Amesha Spenta, Vohu Manah, who led Zoroaster to the presence of Ahura Mazda. This is where he was taught the cardinal principles of the “Good Religion,” later known as Zoroastrianism.

As a result of this vision, Zoroaster felt that he was chosen to spread & preach the religion. He stated that this source of all goodness was the Ahura, worthy of the highest worship.

Zoroastrianism is famous for its ethical dualism. According to the Gathas (the oldest hymns of the faith), Ahura Mazda created 2 “Twin Spirits”:

• Spenta Mainyu
  • The “Bounteous Spirit” who chose light & truth.
• Angra Mainyu (Ahriman)
  • The “Destructive Spirit” who chose darkness & the Lie.

This struggle is the engine of history. Ahura Mazda created the material world as a “trap” for Angra Mainyu, where evil could be engaged, limited, & eventually defeated through the collective “good thoughts, good works, & good deeds” of humanity.

In some Zurvanist narratives, it’s mentioned that Zurvan had a wife who gave birth to Ahura Mazda & Ahriman. Later, Ahura Mazda married his mom & had kids with her, including the sun, dogs, pigs, donkeys, & cattle.

Zurvanism was a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a 1st principle who engendered equal but opposite twins, Ahura Mazda & Angra Mainyu. But in non-Zurvanist Zoroastrian traditions, it’s said that Ahura Mazda married his daughter Spenta Armaiti & she gave birth to Keyumars.

Later, she gave birth to Mashya & Mashyana. These traditions are considered to be that Mashya & Mashyana are the kids of Keyumars.

Zoroaster stated that Ahura Mazda created spirits known as yazatas to aid him. Zoroaster proclaimed that some Iranian gods were daevas who deserved no worship. These “bad” deities were created by Angra Mainyu, the destructive spirit.

Angra Mainyu was the source of all sin & misery in the universe. Zoroaster claimed that Ahura Mazda used the aid of humans in the cosmic struggle against Angra Mainyu. However, Ahura Mazda is Angra Mainyu’s superior, not his equal. Angra Mainyu & his daevas (which attempted to attract humans away from the Path of Asha) would eventually be defeated.

Ahura Mazda is often pictured surrounded by 6 (sometimes 7) divine beings called the Amesha Spentas. They’re not separate gods. But rather emanations, or “archangels,” that represent aspects of his own nature:

• Vohu Manah (Good Mind)
  • Divine wisdom & the protector of animals.
• Asha Vahishta (Best Righteousness)
  • The order of the universe & protector of fire.
• Khshathra Vairya (Desirable Dominion)
  • Divine power & the protector of the Earth.
• Spenta Armaiti (Holy Devotion)
  • Religious piety & the protector of the Earth.
• Haurvatat (Wholeness/Health)
  • Perfection & the protector of water.
• Ameretat (Immortality)
  • Eternal life & the protector of plants

Many scholars of religious studies note that several key ideas were either introduced (or solidified) in Judaism (& later Christianity & Islam) through this contact:

• Heaven & Hell
  • The idea of a place of reward & punishment.
• The Devil
  • The evolution of “Satan” from a heavenly prosecutor to a cosmic adversary (Angra Mainyu).
• The Messiah
  • The Zoroastrian concept of the Saoshyant, a Savior who brings about the end of the world & the resurrection of the dead.
• The Final Judgement
  • The belief that every individual will cross a bridge (the Chinvat Bridge) after death to be judged for their deeds.

Today, the followers of Ahura Mazda are primarily the Parsis, with pockets of communities around the world. The most famous modern Parsi is Freddie Mercury (of Queen fame). The modern Parsis are mainly in India & pockets in Iran & the United States (mainly in California & Texas).

They continue to keep the “Ever-Burning Fire” (or Eternal Flame) alive in their temples as a symbol of Ahura Mazda’s eternal light & purity.

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Zoroaster, Liberal Cabinet Ministers, and the Fully Formed Man

Do you know how these three entities are connected together?

https://tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/blog_details.php?blog_cat_id=24&id=529

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#zoroaster #liberal #masculinity

Manichaeism

This is a former world religion founded in the 3rd century CE by the Parthian prophet Mani in the Sasanian Empire. An adherent of Manichaeism was called a Manichaean, Manichean, or Manichee.

Manichaeism taught a complex dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good spiritual world of light, & an evil material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter & returned to the world of light, whence it came.

Mani’s teaching was intended to combine, succeed, & surpass the teachings of Platonism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Rabbinic Judaism, Gnostic movements, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian & other Mesopotamian religions, & mystery cults. Manichaeism reveres Mani as the final prophet after Zoroaster, the Buddha, & Jesus.

This religion thrived between the 3rd & 7th centuries, & at its height was one of the most pervasive religions in the world. Manichaean churches & scriptures existed as far east as China & as far west as the Roman Empire.

Before the spread of Islam, it was briefly the main rival to early Christianity in the competition to replace polytheism. Under the Roman Dominate, Manichaeism was persecuted by the Roman State & was eventually stomped out in the Roman Empire.

The religion was present in West Asia into the Abbasid Caliphate period in the 10th century. It was also present in China despite gradually strict bans under the Tang Dynasty & was the official religion of the Uyghur Khaganate until its collapse in 830.

It experienced a resurgence under the Mongol Yuan Dynasty during the 13th & 14th centuries. However, it was consequently banned by the Chinese emperors. Manichaeism there became into Buddhism & Taoism.

Some historic Manichaean sites still exist in China, including the Temple of Cao’an in Jinjiang, Fijian, & the religion may have influenced later movements in Europe including Paulicianism, Bogomilism, & Catharism.

Mani was an Iranian born in 216 CE in or near Ctesiphon (now al-Mada’in in Iraq) in the Parthian Empire. According to the Cologne Mani-Codex, Mani’s parents were members of the Jewish Christian Gnostic sect known as the Elcesaites.

Mani composed 7 works, 6 of which were written in the late-Aramaic Syriac languages. The 7th, the Shabuhragan, was written by Mani in Middle Persian & he gave it to Sasanian emperor Shapur I. There’s no proof that Shapur I was a Manichaean, he did tolerate the spread of Manichaeism & didn’t persecute the religion or its adherents within his empire’s borders.

Manichaeism won the support of many high-ranking political figures. With the help of the Sasanian Empire, Mani began missionary trips. After failing to win the favor of the next generation of Persian royalty & experiencing the disapproval of the Zoroastrian clergy, Mani reportedly died in prison awaiting his execution by the Persian emperor Bahram I. His death date is estimated between 276-277 CE.

Mani believed that the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, & Zoroaster were incomplete. He’s believed his revelations were for the entire world, calling his teachings the “Religion of Light.”

Manichaean writings suggest that Mani received revelations when he was 12 years old & again when he was 24. Over this period, Mani grew dissatisfied with the Elesaites, a Jewish Christian Gnostic sect, that he was born into.

Mani taught how the soul of a righteous individual returns to Paradise upon dying. But the souls of a person who persisted in things of the flesh – fornication, procreation, possessions, cultivation, harvesting, eating of meat, drinking of wine – is condemned to rebirth in a succession of bodies.

Mani began preaching at an early age & was possibly influenced by contemporary Babylonian-Aramaic movements like Mandaeism, Aramaic translations of Jewish apocalyptic works similar to those found at Qumran (Book of Enoch literature), & by the Syriac dualist-Gnostic writer Bardaisan, who lived a generation before Mani. With the discovery of the Mani-Codex, it also became clear that he was raised in the Jewish Christian sect of the Elcasaites & possibly influenced by their writings.

According to biographies preserved by ibn al-Nadim & Persian polymath al-Biruni, Mani received as a youth from a spirit. Whom he (Mani) would later call his “Twin,” Syzygos (“spouse, partner,” in the Cologne Mani-Codex), “Double,” “Protective Angel,” or “Divine Self.” This spirit taught him wisdom that he then developed into a religion.

It was his “twin” who brought Mani to self-realization. Mani claimed to be the Paraclete of the Truth promised by Jesus in the New Testament. Paraclete is a word used, in Christian theology, to refer to the Holy Spirit & is translated as “advocate,” “counsellor,” or “helper.”

Jesus, in Manichaeism, possessed 3 separate identities: Jesus the Luminous, Jesus the Messiah, & Jesus patibilis, or the Suffering Jesus.

As Jesus the Luminous, his primary role was as supreme revealer & guide. It was Jesus who woke Adam from his slumber & revealed to him the divine origins of his soul & its painful captivity by the body & mixture with matter.

Jesus the Messiah was a historical being who was a prophet of the Jews & a forerunner of Mani. Manichaeans believed that he was wholly divine, & he never had a human birth. The Christian doctrine of a virgin birth was regarded as obscene. Since Jesus was the Light of the World, where was this light, they reasoned, when Jesus was in the womb of the Virgin? Jesus the Messiah was truly only born at his baptism. It was on this occasion that the Father openly acknowledged his sonship. The suffering, death, & resurrection of this Jesus were in appearance only & a prefiguration of Mani’s own martyrdom.

The pain suffered by the imprisoned Light-Particles in the whole of the visible universe, on the other hand, was real & immanent. This was symbolized by the mystic placing of the Cross whereby the wounds of the passion of our souls are set forth. On this mystical Cross of Light was suspended the Suffering Jesus (Jesus patibilis) who was the life & salvation of man. This mystica crucifixio was present in every tree, herb, fruit, vegetable, & even stones & the soil. This constant & universal suffering of the captive soul is exquisitely expressed in 1 of the Coptic Manichaean Psalms.

St. Augustine of Hippo noted that Mani declared himself to be an “apostle of Jesus Christ.” Manichean tradition is also noted to have to have claimed that Mani was the reincarnation of religious figures from previous eras such as the Buddha, Krishna, & Zoroaster, in addition to Jesus Himself.

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#10thCentury #13thCentury #14thCentury #216CE #276CE #277CE #3rdCentury #3rdCenturyCE #7thCentury #830 #AbbasidCaliphate #Adam #alBiruni #alMadaIn #AncientGreek #Babylon #BahramI #Baptism #Bardaisan #Bogomilism #BookOfEnoch #Buddha #Buddhism #CaoAn #Catharism #China #Christianity #Cologne #Coptic #Cosmology #Cross #Ctesiphon #Dualistic #Elcesaites #Emperors #Europe #Fijian #Gnostic #GodTheFather #Hellenistic #HolySpirit #ibnAlNadim #Iran #Iraq #Islam #Jesus #JesusTheLuminous #JewishChristianGnostic #Jews #Jinjiang #Krishna #LateAramaicSyriac #LightParticles #Mani #ManiCodex #Manichaean #Manichaeism #Manichean #Manichee #Marcionism #Mesopotamia #Messiah #MiddlePersian #Mongol #MysteryCults #MysticaCrucifixio #NewTestament #ParacleteOfTheTruth #Paradise #Parthian #ParthianEmpire #Patibilis #Paulicianism #PersianEmperor #Platonism #Polymath #Prophet #Qumram #RabbinicJudaism #ReligionOfLight #RomanDominate #RomanEmpire #RomanState #SasanianEmperor #SasanianEmpire #Shabuhragan #ShapurI #StAugustineOfHippo #SufferingJesus #Syzygos #TangDynasty #Taoism #twin #UyghurKhaganate #VirginBirth #VirginMary #WestAsia #YuanDynasty #Zoroaster #Zoroastrianism

« Zoroaster » by Nicholas Roerich

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