Zoroastrianism

Faravahar (or Ferohar), the Assyrian-derived depiction of the human soul before birth and after death.

Zoroastrianism or Mazdaism is known as one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. It was once the "official" religion of Sassanid Persia, and played an important role in Achaemenid times.

The foundation of the religion is ascribed to the prophet Zarathushtra, who is commonly known in the West as Zoroaster, the Greek version of his name. The modern Persian form of the prophet's name is Zartosht (زرتشت). Zoroaster came to reform ancient Aryan/Indo-Iranian religious practices (some of which were parallel to the Vedic religion of ancient northern India and to some extent the ceremonies conducted by priests in Hinduism today). According to internal and external histories, Zoroaster lived in Persia. His dates are contested, but were clearly somewhere between the 18th and the 6th centuries BC (although Plato put Zoroaster in the 64th century B.C.E.). Zoroaster is thought to have written the Gathas, poems which have been assidiously preserved by his followers through centuries of oral transmission, before the whole of the Avesta (in which the Gathas are a central portion) were commited to writing in the Parthian or Sassanian periods. The Gathic dialect is similar to the Vedic Rig Veda and thus Zoroaster has sometimes been dated as roughly contemporary to the Rig Veda, normally ascribed to c.1500-1250 B.C.E. However other sources suggest a later date – in the 6th century B.C.E.

The faith is ostensibly monotheistic, although Zoroastrianism has a dualistic nature, with a series of six entities (similar in function and status to angels) accompanying Ahura Mazda and forming a heptad that is good and constructive, and another group of seven who are evil and destructive. It is this persistent conflict between good and evil that distinguishes Zoroastrianism from monotheistic frameworks that have only one power as supreme. By requiring its adherents to have faith and belief in equally opposing powers Zoroastrianism characterizes itself as dualistic. Zoroastrianism teaches many of the concepts found in the major Abrahamic faiths, such as Heaven, Hell, Day of judgement, the concept of Satan, the prophecy and the coming of the Messiah and the extensive teaching of Angels and Evil spirits.

Zoroastrianism is called Mazdayasna "Worship of Wisdom" by its followers after the ancient name for God, Ahura Mazda, "The ahura (divinity) Wisdom". A modern Persian form is Behdin "Good Religion/Law" (see below for the role of daena Law). Zoroastrians may call themselves Zartoshti "Zoroastrians", Mazdayasni "Wisdom-Worshippers" and Behdini "Followers of the Good Religion".

Zoroaster

Relatively little is known about the Prophet Zoroaster and even the period he lived in is disputed. Usually he is placed roughly near 1000 B.C.E., though others give earlier estimates, while still others place him in the 6th century B.C.E., which would make him contemporary to the rise of the first Achaemenides.

According to tradition, Zoroaster was the son of Pourushaspa' and Dugdhova, and was special since birth. Pliny the Elder relates that the prophet was born smiling. His head shook uncontrollably to the point where he would slip out of the hands of his parents, a sign of future wisdom. Before he was six years old he was appointed a wise teacher who would take care of him; little is known about the relation between teacher and student. Many attempts were supposed to have been made to kill the child by enemies who recognised his significance.

According to these narrations, when Zoroaster became seven years old, he was the target of an assassination plot in which men tried to poison him with black magic. As Zoroaster turned fifteen, he gained understanding and determination, and it was then when he chose the Kusti, meaning he voluntarily submitted himself to religion. When Zoroaster turned twenty years of age he left his guardians' house and, according to Dio Chrysostom, spent seven years on a mountain in a cave. During these seven years Zoroaster devoted himself to meditation and religious understanding.

Zoroaster's meditations

It was at this time he struggled with the problems concerning the relations of man and cosmos and came to the conclusion that the following Gathas state:

This I ask Thee, tell me truly, Ahura - whether at the beginning of the Best Existence the recompenses shall bring blessedness to him that meets with them. Surely he, O Right, the holy one, who watches in his spirit the transgression of all, if himself the benefactor of all that lives, O Mazda. (44.2)

This I ask Thee, tell me truly, Ahura. Who upholds the earth beneath and the firmament from falling? Who the waters and the plants? Who yoked swiftness to winds and clouds? Who is, O Mazda, creator of Good Thought? (44.4)

This I ask Thee, tell me truly, Ahura. What artist made light and darkness? What artist made sleep and waking? Who made morning, noon, and night, that call the understanding man to his duty? (44.5)

Zoroaster's preaching

After his seven year meditation and devotion to worship he had accomplished complete devotion to Ahura Mazda and was enlightened with spiritual knowledge and felt the time was ripe to teach the masses about the righteousness and guidance of Ahura Mazda, at this point the teaching of Zoroaster as a Prophet began. Zoroaster lived in a period of warfare and a society which is corrupt and repressive and where the pre-Zoroastrian powers rule with an iron fist. There was a great need for a more intellectual and less ritual-based religious culture:

Which savior will free us from the old (understanding of) scripture, Who with the wisdom, simplicity (of teaching), who with the enlightenment?

Zoroaster proceeded by preaching:

I will speak of that which (He), the Holiest declared to me as the word that is best for mortals to obey; while he said: "they who for my sake render him obedience, shall all attain unto Welfare and Immortality by the actions of the Good Spirit [Spenta Mainyu -JHP]" - (He) Mazda Ahura. (45.5)

His first attempt at reaching the masses was no success, those who heard him ridiculed him by saying: "How can this worthless being save us?". Eventually his family and servants distanced themselves from him, evil powers plotted to silence him, His open revelation brought many enemies who were eager to see his downfall. Nothing however stopped Zoroaster and his determination. The first and favorite convert to Zoroastrianism became his nephew. He was then imprisoned and mysteriously escaped. After escaping from prison he cured the horse of King Vishtaspa. It was then when the very same King that put him in prison converted to the faith along with his wife. After the conversion of the king many in the kingdom followed. Due to repression in the early stages the first group of converts were a defiant military group in order to defend themselves but Zoroastrianism spread at such an incredibly fast pace that soon this was no longer needed.

When the Vizier of the King converted, he gave his daughter Hvogvi to be the wife of Zoroaster and they were married. Jamaspa, brother of king Frashaoshtra, was a devout follower of Zoroaster. This wise adviser and cherisher of the kings riches gave Zoroaster his daughter. Upon the demise of Zoroaster, Jamaspa was appointed successor.

Principal Concepts and Beliefs

Ahura Mazda and Other Deities

Ahura Mazda is the beginning and the end, the creator of everything which can and cannot be seen, the Eternal, the Pure and the only Truth. The Prophet Zoroaster acknowledged devotion to no other god besides Ahura Mazda. The concept of Dualism plays a role when speaking of the Spenta Mainyu ("Holy Spirit") and the Angra Mainyu ("Evil Spirit"). These two have a constant battle at the end of which the Holy Spirit will prevail by the power of Ahura Mazda. Metaphysical dualism is rejected in modern orthodox traditions and beliefs when it comes to worship. The belief that Good prevails over Evil and God's supremacy over all is similar to that of the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in which Satan is in no way the equal of the Abrahamic God and is a creation of God. Yet these faiths differ from Zoroastrianism precisely because they represent the evil force as being another of the supreme being's creations. In contrast, Mardanfarrokh, a Zoroastrian theologian in the 9th century CE, posited, "If God is perfect in goodness and wisdom, then ignorance and evil cannot come from Him. If they could come from Him, He would not be perfect; and if He were not perfect, He should not be praised as God and perfectly good..." According to him, then, the Evil Spirit can not be a creation of Ahura Mazda, and the system becomes truly dualistic, for opposing forces that spring from different sources may be equal, while a conflict between a Good Creator and a Created Evil can only end in one way, metaphysically speaking—the victory of the maker over the made. It is interesting to note how this philosophy from Mardanfarrokh of no-evil-arises-from-God contrasts with the preceding concept that humans, who came from Ahura Mazda, are in fact capable of evil. This paradox is essential to the logic-based framework of Zoroastrianism, though, for if Ahura Mazda can make something which does evil, then he might also have created the Evil Spirit, a set of circumstances which would place the belief structure with the Abrahamic faiths, but post-dating the Judaism-Christianity-Islam structure by an admitted millennium or more, raising questions of its originality.

For Zoroastrians, life is a battle-ground between moral and immoral forces, represented by Spenta Mainyu the 'good spirit' emanation of Ahura Mazda and his antithesis, the evil Angra Mainyu. This opposition may have emerged from the Indo-Iranian distinction between two forms of spiritual beings, ahuras and daevas. In Zoroastrianism, daevas are portrayed as demonic and destructive while ahuras help to uphold the moral law.

Additionally, there are some 20 abstract terms that are regarded as emanations or aspects of Ahura Mazda. In later Avestan literature, they are personified as an archangel retinue of The Wise Lord. Some historians believe that these archangels were reabsorbtions of pre-Zoroastrian deities, daevas. There are six that are mentioned more often than the rest. These are: Vohu Mano (Good Mind), Asha (Truth), Khshatra (Good Dominion), Armaiti (Piety), Haurvatat (Perfection), and Ameretat (Immortality).

Moral Choice

Central to Zoroastrianism is the emphasis on moral choice, and of life as a battle-ground between moral and immoral forces, represented by Spenta Mainyu the 'good spirit' emanation of Ahura Mazda and his antithesis, the evil Angra Mainyu. Zoroastrian morality is summed up in the simple phrase, "Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds". Daena (din in modern Persian) 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 Buddhist and Hindu term Dharma: it is the correct order of the universe, which humanity naturally must follow through the Kusti "Holy Path" in order to be a Behdini "Follower of the Proper/Good Religion".

According to the Gathas humans are free and responsible beings. Predestination is rejected in Zoroastrian teaching. Humans bear responsibility for all situations they are in and in the way they act to one another. Nothing in the Heavens and Earth has the power to force a being to do evil. Reward, punishment, happiness and grief all depend on how the individual lives his life. Good befalls the people that do righteous deeds. Those that do Evil have themselves to blame for their evil-doing. Humans possess a great power. They can improve their way of living and the living conditions of others. This power is called Charitas. After death, the person must walk through the Path to Judgement or Chinvat Peretum to bear responsibility for his actions when he was alive.

Zoroaster puts forward the idea of asha, understood as "truth", "order" or "righteousness", a notion comparable to the Vedic concept of rta (which would develop into the prevalent notion of dharma). However, asha carries far more ethical and less metaphysical weight and has not diminished in importance in the Zoroastrian tradition. Ahura Mazda emanates asha, and loving devotion to this deity cultivates asha within the devotee, a process comparable to the bhakti tradition which would later develop in Hinduism. Followers of asha are referred to as ashavan, or possessors of asha.

While Zoroaster and other thinkers and the tradition have upheld the idea of a divine dualism of good and evil, it is clear that they attribute the balance of power to Ahura Mazda, representative of the good. The two principles are in no way capable of equale worship, since it is imperative that humans choose good. Thus, Zoroastrians can be said to believe in an ethical dualism, in that all decisions made by human beings follow either the path of the Wise Lord or that of Angra Mainyu. Only human choice can determine the intensity of evil within the world, a teaching which removes Ahura Mazda of responsibility of evil. As the aggregate of human decisions steers humanity away from evil, the Ahuric creation is enhanced and the world as we know it, replete with evil, will dissolve away.

Eschatology

As the balance between good and evil evolves on an individual scale within humans, it also progresses on a cosmic scale. This choice of good (as well as ritual) urges creation on to it's renewal where humanity will be perfected, an event referred to as frashokereti. As human choose good over evil, they bring the cosmos closer to frashokereti. The notion of an eschatological end-times is one of the most important conceptual contributions of Zoroastrianism to world religions. In the Gathas Zoroaster claims that the order of creation will be refurbished at the end of time when the Saoshyant, a messianic saviour or "bringer of benefit" returns to the physical world. All who follow the path of asha will benefitted by this the Saoshyant's return, significantly broadening the consequence of such cosmic actions to all people rather than limiting it to a priestly class as in the closely related Vedic tradition. This lays the foundation for later Zoroastrian eschatology, as well as the foundation for saviour archetypes in other messianic traditions such as Judaism and Christianity.

Avesta

The Holy Book of Zoroastrianism is called the Zend Avesta. The Zend is the commentary on the teaching and the Avesta is the original teaching in the Holy book. The Avesta was composed orally, and learned from memory for centuries until it was finally written down in Sassanian Times. Only a portion of the Avesta, known as the Gathas (The Hymns) are attributed to the Prophet Zoroaster himself. These hymns are deeply personal outlining not only the revelation, but also expressing the ambivalent emotions of the prophet, which oscillate between anguish and joy. Also, discontent with the devolution of ritualism in Iran to unseemly lechery is expressed by Zoroaster, and proceeds to introduce numerous original religious concepts. Regardless, Zoroaster still subsumes many elements of the preexisting religious system into his new faith rather than calling for their complete supplantation. While the Gathas are largely regarded as one individual's encounter with God, there is clearly a desire to extend this encounters to all other human beings. The Gathas were also passed down orally, though later were committed to writing by priests who recited them in ritual action. These hymns still represent the focal point of the liturgical yasna ritual for a small order of Zoroastrian priests.

Before the invasion of Alexander and the Islamic conquest of Iran there were a total of 21 Books followed by Zoroastrians called Nasks. Only one of these Nasks remains complete, called the Vendidad. The traditional explanation for the loss of most of the Nasks is persecution of the faith by Alexander, though this is questioned by some historians. The 21 Nasks did not only contain religious literature but also included works on Medicine, Astronomy, Botany and Philosophy. In any case, complete copies of most writings from the ancient world are fairly rare.

Besides the Avesta, the Yashts are smaller books for Prayer, often to a specific being. Other books included are the Afringan, Nyayish, Gah and Sirozah which partially contain some scriptures of the lost 14th and 21st Nasks (Lost books). Other teachings are the Yasna which means sacrifice and contains prayers for sacrificial rituals; the Visperad is a collection of doctrines that are used for exorcism and religious law. The Visperad also includes cosmological, historical and eschatological material.

Zoroastrianism through History

The fire temple for Zoroastrians of Iran in the city Yazd

Zoroastrianism was the favored religion of the two great dynasties of ancient Persia, the Achaemenids and Sassanids. However, because we have few contemporary Persian sources, it is difficult to describe ancient Zoroastrianism in detail.

Herodotus's description of Persian religion includes recognizably Zoroastrian features, including exposure of the dead and divination. The Achaemenid kings acknowledge their devotion to Ahura Mazda in inscriptions; however, they also participated in local religious rituals in Babylon and Egypt, and helped the Jews to return to Canaan, so did not seek to enforce orthodoxy. According to later traditions, many of the Zoroastrian sacred texts were lost when Alexander the Great destroyed Persepolis and overthrew the Achaemenids in the 330s B.C.E. The status of Zoroastrianism under the Seleucids and Parthians is unclear; however, it is widely believed that the Three Wise Men (Magoi in early Greek New Testament manuscripts), said to have come from the Parthian empire bearing gifts for Jesus of Nazareth, were Zoroastrian Magi. It was also during the Parthian period that Mithraism, a Zoroastrian-derived faith particularly focused on the Aryan god of the sun, Mitra, began to become popular within the Roman Empire. The Mithras cult reached the peak of its popularity in the second and third centuries CE, and was particularly popular in the Roman army.

When the Sassanid dynasty came into power in Persia in 228 C.E., they aggressively promoted their Zoroastrian religion and in some cases persecuted Christians and Manichaeans. When the Sassanids captured territory from the Romans, they often built fire temples there to promote their religion. The Sassanids were suspicious of Christians not least because of their perceived ties to the Christian Roman Empire; thus, those Persian Christians loyal to the Patriarchate of Babylon, which had broken with Roman Christianity when the latter condemned Nestorianism, were tolerated and even sometimes favored by the Sassanids. Nestorians lived in large numbers in Mesopotamia and Khuzestan during this period.

Also during the Sassanid era, the belief that Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu were the two sons of the time-god Zurvan became popular.

A form of Zoroastrianism was apparently also the chief religion of pre-Christian Armenia, or at least was prominent there. During periods of Sassanid suzerainty over Armenia, the Persians made attempts to promote the religion there as well.

By the 6th century, Zoroastrianism had spread to northern China via the Silk Road, gaining official status in a number of Chinese states. Zoroastrian temples still remained in Kaifeng and Zhenjiang as late as the 1130s, but by the 13th century the religion had faded from prominence in China.

In the 7th century, the Sassanid dynasty was conquered by Muslim Arabs. Zoroastrianism, which was once dominant in a region stretching from Anatolia to Persian Gulf and Central Asia, did not have a powerful foreign champion as Christianity did in the Byzantine Empire, and so steadily lost influence and adherents in Iran under Islamic persecution.

In the 8th century, Zoroastrians fled to India in large numbers, where they were offered refuge by Jadav Rana, a Hindu king of Sanjan (the modern-day state of Gujarat) on condition that they abstain from missionary activities and marry only in their community. Although these strictures are centuries old, Parsis of the 21st century still do not accept converts and are endogamous (though see below for further discussion). The Parsi Zoroastrians of India speak a dialect of Gujarati and English.

Zoroastrians in Iran are still persecuted by that nation's theocratic rulers. Even today, however, one can find Zoroastrian communities living and practicing their faith there, such as in the province of Yazd.

The earliest English references to Zoroaster and the Zoroastrian religion occur in the writings of the encyclopaedist Sir Thomas Browne.

Zoroastrianism is uniquely important in the history of religion because of its possible formative links to both Western Abrahamic and Eastern dharmic religious traditions.

Zoroaster's writings suggest a metaphysical dualism, but devotional monotheism, requiring adherence to Ahura Mazda. Some modern scholars believe that Zoroastrianism had a large influence on Judaism, Manichaeism, and Christianity because of Persia's connections to the Roman Empire and because of its earlier control over Israel under rulers such as Cyrus II the Great, Darius the Great and Xerxes I. Mithraism also developed from Zoroastrianism.

The timing of Zoroaster's life is significant for understanding the development of Judeo-Christian beliefs. Should it be before 1300 B.C.E. (prior to Akhenaten) then Zoroaster would be the earliest monotheist known in any religion, discounting the older oral tradition written down in the Torah and Old Testament. Even a later date could make Zoroaster a template for Biblical figures who introduce monotheism over henotheism. Some scholars^[1] believe the entire eschatology of Judaism, a key influence on Christianity, originated in Zoroastrianism, and was transferred to Judaism during the Babylonian captivity, despite the numerous structural differences in the belief systems, crucial to the faiths, as in the issue over whether the evil spirit is a product of the good spirit. They also believe Monotheism to have been a Zoroastrian influence, as Isaiah supposedly makes a first monotheistic declaration (Isaiah 45:5-7) during the reign of the Persian Kings, that corresponding to his declaration that Jews were to obey Cyrus, Kouroush in Persian (Isaiah 44 and Isaiah 45). According to Mary Boyce "Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed credal religions, and it has probably had more influence on mankind, directly or indirectly, than any other single faith... some of its leading doctrines were adopted by Judaism, Christianity and Islam". ^[2] Zoroastrianism has been proposed as the source of some of the most important post-Torah aspects of Judaic religious thinking, which emerged after the Babylonian captivity, from which Jews were liberated by Cyrus the Great. This is a view put forward by King and Moore, who wrote in The Gnostics and Their Remains (1887) that "it was from this very creed of Zoroaster that the Jews derived all the angelology of their religion... the belief in a future state; of rewards and punishments, ...the soul's immortality, and the Last Judgment - all of them essential parts of the Zoroastrian scheme." ^[3]

However, according to other scholars, the Persians may have gotten some of their ideas from the Jews, and from Ezekiel or Daniel. There are general ideas they have in common, but in terms of borrowing, no definitive evidence exists one way or the other, and a determination depends on the interpretations and datings of Zoroastrian texts. According to Edwin Yamauchi, Zoroastrian scholars offer no consensus on the subject; he cites one Zoroastrian scholar who believes that the Jews borrowed, another that says there is no way to tell who borrowed, and yet another who says that the borrowing was the other way.^[4] R.C. Zaehner states "we cannot say with any certainty whether the Jews borrowed from Zoroastrianism or the Zoroastrians from the Jews or whether either in fact borrowed from each other"^[5] and The Oxford History of the Biblical World states "There is little if any effect of Zoroastrian elements on Judaism in the Persian period."^[6]

Because Zoroastrianism is thought to have emerged from a common Indo-Iranian culture that preceded Vedic Hinduism, scholars also use evidence from Zoroastrian texts to reconstruct the unreformed earlier stage of Indo-Iranian beliefs, and therefore to identify the culture that evolved into the Vedic religion. This has also informed attempts to characterise the original Proto-Indo-European religion (e.g. the god Dyeus who became Jupiter, Sabazios, Zeus, and Tyr).

Zoroastrianism in Modernity

Statistics and Distribution

Until 2002 the worldwide population figures for Zoroastrians had been estimated at anywhere between 180,000 and 250,000. NOTE: diaspora or worldwide population figures include both Parsis and Iranians; there is no way to estimate numbers of Parsis alone except when referring to India and Pakistan. India's 2001 Census found 69,601 Parsi Zoroastrians, in Pakistan they number 5000, mostly living in Karachi. North America is thought to be home to 18,000-25,000 Zoroastrians of both Parsi and Iranian background. Iran's figures of Zoroastrians have ranged widely. Since 2002 estimates have been sharply increased. According to www.adherents.com, which estimates the worldwide population of Zoroastrians at 2.6 million. Most recent publications of many major encyclopedias and world alamanacs include population estimates of 2 to 3.5 million.

Today, small but thriving Zoroastrian communities are found in India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, and throughout a worldwide diaspora. Zoroastrian communities in the diaspora comprise two main groups of people: those of Iranian background and those of Indian Zoroastrian background, who are known as Parsis (or Parsees). Zoroastrians in Iran have, like other religious minorities, survived centuries of persecution at the hands of the Muslim majority. Communities exist in Tehran, as well as in Yazd and Kerman, where many still speak an Iranian language distinct from Persian. They call their language Dari (not to be confused with the Dari of Afghanistan). Their language is also called Gabri (a derogatory term derived from the word for an unbeliever in Islam) or Behdinan (literally "Of the Good Religion"). Sometimes their language is named for the cities in which it is spoken, Yazdi or Kermani. There is a growing interest among Iranians, as well as people in various Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, in their ancient Zoroastrian heritage; many people in these countries now consider themselves Zoroastrian. In fact, UNESCO (at the instigation of the government of Tajikistan) declared 2003 a year to celebrate the "3000th Anniversary of Zoroastrian Culture," with special events throughout the world. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and subsequent U.S.-led intervention in the Middle East, the Parsees of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan have been receiving less persecution than before, and have been less reticent about identifying themselves, and there seems to be an increased respect for and interest in this classical Persian religion which was once one of the largest in the world.

Parsis in India have, by contrast, enjoyed relative tolerance. While the communities there are socioeconomically diverse, Parsis have gained a reputation for their education and widespread influence in all aspects of (especially Indian) society. Also in contrast to Zoroastrianism in the Middle East The Indian Parsees however, are reducing in number because they are having less children and are rejected from the community when Parsees marry a non-Parsi. Small but fast growing Zoroastrian communities exist in major urban areas in the United States, Canada, England, Australia, and other countries.

Contemporary Concepts

Some major concepts which have developed in modern day Zoroastrianism include:

1. Equality of sex. Men and women are equal in all manners within society.
2. Cleanliness of the environment. Nature is central to the practice of Zoroastrianism and many important Zoroastrian annual festivals are in celebration of nature: new year on the first day of spring, the water festival in summer, the autumn festival at the end of the season, and the mid-winter fire festival.
3. Hard work and charity. Laziness and sloth are frowned on. Charity is regarded as a good deed, where Zoroastrians part with a little of what would otherwise be their own.
4. Condemnation of oppression toward human beings, cruelty against animals and sacrifice of animals. Equality of all humans regardless of race or religion and respect of everything on Earth and in the world is central to the religion.
5. The symbol of fire. The energy of the creator is represented in Zoroastrianism by fire and the sun which are both enduring, radiant, pure and life sustaining. Zoroastrians usually pray in front of some form of fire (or any source of light). It's important to note that fire is not worshipped by Zoroastrians, but is used simply as symbol and a point of focus, much like the wooden cross in Christianity.

Other concepts:

• Inter-religious marriages and recruiting. Zoroastrians do not proselytize. It is generally thought in the Parsi traditions that the only way to become a Zoroastrian is to be born within a Zoroastrian family and while some Iranian Zoroastrians would agree with this position others would not. However this tradition is also debated quite often. In recent years Zoroastrianism has seen the rise of western converts within a "Gathas only" tradition. As in many other faiths, Zoroastrians are strongly encouraged to marry others of the same faith. However, in India, as a result of historical needs not to proselytize, there have emerged "rules" that say that women (and their children) who marry followers of other religions are no longer considered Zoroastrians (although men and their children are). These rules are not officially recognised by the clergy as they go against one of the main principles of Zoroastrianism, equality amongst sexes. In Iran, because of still-existing discrimination, inter-faith marriage is officially not encouraged by the government. With the globalization of modern society and the dwindling number of Zoroastrians, these rules are being enforced increasingly less often, especially in the diaspora.

• Death and burial. Religious rituals related to death are all concerned with the person's soul and not the body. Upon death, a person's soul leaves the body after three days and the body becomes just an empty shell. Traditionally, Zoroastrians disposed of their dead by leaving them atop open-topped enclosures, called Towers of Silence. Vultures and the weather would clean the flesh of the bones, which were then placed into an ossuary at the center of the Tower. While this practice is continued in India by some Parsis, it had ended by the beginning of the twentieth century in Iran. In India, burial and cremation are becoming increasingly popular alternatives.

See also

• Book of Arda Viraf
• Mazdakism
• Manichaeism
• Zoroastrian calendar
• Zoroastrian music
• Zurvanism

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Boyce, Mary. Textual sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. ISBN 0226069303
• Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 1979. ISBN 0710001215
• "Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents." <http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Zoroastrianism> [Accessed 20 July 2006]
• Malandra, William W. An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion — Readings from the Avesta and Achaemenid Inscripitons. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983. ISBN 0-8166-1114-9
• Zaehner, Robert C. The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism. Great Britain : Phoenix Press, 1961. ISBN 1-84212-165-0.

External links

• Avesta.org contains much on the faith
• The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies at SOAS (CASI at SOAS)
• Images of modern Zoroastrianism in Iran (from the BBC)
• FEZANA is an association of North American Zoroastrians
• Zoroastrianism - was the religion of the Persian Empire the first monotheism? (from the BBC Radio4 show In Our Time)
• A wealth of Parsi / Zoroastrian Resources and Websites
• Page of traditional Zoroastrian group
• Zarathustrian Assembly
• A free directory of Parsis across the world
• A day to day chronicle of Parsi events
• The World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce

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