The Light of the Sacred Fire

THE LIGHT OF THE SACRED FIRE Zo*orstrianisrn giave to the West rrany o{ it. rnost irnportant spiritu"l fu"okngs. A{t"r thousanJt years, this ancient "{ {aith is still goingf strongi. by Honroh U.C. Shopnro ' h. light of an ancient fire reflects into both our serious and our popular culturl: the three Magi attending the Christ Child at the manger, the I philosophical ramblings of Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra, the Porten- tous Strauss tone poem inspired by Nietzsche's work. And then there are the bad puns about Zorro and Lieutenant Uhura, the stories of fire-worshipers in Iran, and ih. ,tttcoottted thousands of Mazda light bulbs andJapanese cars. But there is a real light Zoroastrianism, the ancient light that sends these reflections forth - the of 62 Gnosis Mogazine I Sumner 1994 I I i.ti religion of Persia, which is still a living tradition after "Alexander the Accursed," burnt the great library at the more than three millennia. Persian capital of Persepolis in 330 B.C.E. The Cathas Zarathushtra, known as Zoroaster in Greek translit- and other Avestan religious texts survived because they eration, lived in rvhat is now eastern Iran or Afghanistan. still remained in priests' memories as ritual documents rn No one knows exactly when he lived; Zoroastrian tradi- constant use. tions date him at around 600 B.C.E., but modern schol- The Parthian state, a Zoroastrian kingdom in what is arship has placed him earlier, anywhere from 1600 to 1000 now Iran and lraq, flourished in the period between the B.C.E. He was born into a priestly family practicing an second century B.C.E. and the third century of the Chris- Indo-Aryan polytheistic tradition that was closely related tian era. Under this kingdom, which was one of the main to the early Hinduism of the Rig-Veda. rivals of the Roman Empire, another attempt was made to Zarathushtra heard his prophetic call in about his thir- gather together the scattered texts ofZoroastrian religion tieth year. His revolutionary message was that of one God; and philosophy. But it was the resurgent Persian empire he was among the first monotheists known to human his- of the Sassanids, which began in the third century C.E. tory. He built his monotheistic teaching from the reli- and lasted until the seventh, that saw the height of Zoro- gious material of his time. He named the one God Ahura, astrian sacred and secular power. In that period Zoroas- the old name for "God" or "Lord," and added to it the trian rule extended at times from Asia Minor, Syna, and new epithet Mazda, which means "wise." Forever after Mesopotamia in the'West to Central Asia and part of China the name of God for the Zoroastrians would be Ahura in the East. 'Wise Mazda,, "The Lord." Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sassanid Zarathushtra's social and political preaching was as Empire. This was an era ofincreaging intolerance, in rvhich controversial as his theology. He forbade his followers to Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and other sects were per- worship the old Pagan gods, the daeuas, and condemned secuted under the Zoroastrian state. This must be seen in the animal sacrifices and the use ofintoxicating drugs that the context of its time. in which Persia was almost con- characterized the old religion. stantly at war, first with the And, as prophets have done ever -, Roman and then with the since, he railed against corrupt Lrt^thushtra's Christian Byzantine Empire. As priests and potentates who prof- with most state religions, abuses ited from this cult. revolutionary rnes sagle ofsecular and priestly power in- Predictably, the Prophet was creased and became oppressive. driven from his original country was that o{ one GoJ; h. By the time of the invasion of and wandered until he and his was arnon$ the {irst the Islamic Arabs in the mid- followers found a royal patron seventh century C.E., the named Vishtaspa, who was a lo- monotheists lenown to Sassanid Empire was exhausted cal king in what has sometirnes h.rr..rn hirtoru. from its wars with Byzantium, been identified as Bactria, now and many people welcomed the in Afghanistan. There in new religion of Islam, which Vishtaspa's court, Zarathushtra's seemed to offer a simpler and new teaching found its first noble followers, and the reli- less oppressive rule. Both sacred and secular powers col- gion of Zoroastrianism was born. lapsed quickly, and Iran entered the Islamic world. The story of the Prophet, and his teachings, are con- Zoroastrianism then became a minoriry religion much tained in a short series ofpoetic songs known as the Gathas. like Judaism in the Diaspora, sometimes tolerated by Is- They are the primary scriptures of Zoroastrianism, and lamic rulers, sometimes brutally persecuted. The inva- are believed to have actually been composed by sions of lran by the Arabs and, later, by the Mongols de- Zarathushtra. The language of the Gathas is a very diffi- stroyed still more of the Zoroastrian sacred texts that had cult and ancient Indo-Iranian language known as Avestan been regathered and reedited by the high priests of the (called Avesta by Zoroastrians), which is closely related to Sassanid Empire. In the ninth century, groups of Iranian the Sanskrit of the Rig-Veda. It is the comparison ofAvestan and Central Asian Zoroastrians fled an oppressive Muslim with Vedic Sanskrit that has given modern scholars a date regime and settled in Gujarat in western India. These pil- for Zarathushtra's work which is far earlier than the tra- grims, accommodated by the Hindu rulers of the region, ditional Zoroasrian date of 600 B.C.E. became the Parsis, an ethnic group that is still influential Thus began 3000 years of Zoroastrian history. Hardly in India today. While a remnant of Zoroastrians stayed anything is known about the faith for the first millennium behind in lran, over the long years of diaspora many be- tfter Zarachushtra's time: Zoroastrianism first enters writ- lievers have emigrated to all parts of the globe. There are ten history in the age of tt-re Achaemenid kings of Persia, now Zoroastrian communities in Pakistan, South Africa, the rivals of classical Greece in the sixth through fourth England, Canada, and the united States, though their num- centuries B.C.E. [Jnder the Achaemenids, the Gathas and bers are not large even compared to other minoriry reli- related Avestan scriptures, preserved up to that time in gions such as Judaism. oral traditions, were first put into writing. Much of the This long historical preamble is necessary for any un- written heritage kept by the Achaemenid priests was de- derstanding of Zoroastian belief and thought. Theology stroyed rvhen Alexander the Great, known to Persians as cannot be explained without a historical context. What Summer 1994 I GnosisMa1azine 63 Zoroastrians believe and pra*ice today is a resuh of his- or "Good Mind," who is the divine gift of intelligence tory as well as of the inspiration of Zanthushrra. And in and reason. Vohu Manah's creation is that of anirnals, the past century, Zoroastrian history has been very much especially cattle, which were essential to the ancient Ira- influenced by Western scholarship, nian way of life. The third Amesha Spenta is Asha, mean- Knowledge of the Avestan language became lost in ing "Righteousness and Truth." Asha includes the con- the centuries after the Prophet, and the meaning of the cept of cosmic order and right action in accordance with Cathas and their related Avestan rexts was known only it: Asha is process as well as goal. Asha's crearion is fire. through translation, retranslation, and commentary. The The fourth Immortal is Kshathra, or "Kingdom," em- original texts were carefully preserved by rote in the memo- bodying right rulership and social justice. Kshathra's sec- ries of priests who recited a language they could nor un- tor of creation is that of metals. The fifrh Immorcal is derstand, much as some medieval Catholic priests recited Spenta Armaiti, or "Devotion and Serenity." She repre- the Latin liturgy. The Avestan sacred texts and the Gathas sents the land, the earth, and the fertile soil. The last trvo were preserved in a sort oflinguistic amber until the twen- Bounteous Immortals are always mentioned together. They tieth century, when pioneering scholars cracked the rexts' are Haurvatat, "'Wholeness," and Ameretat, "Immortality." Indo-European code by comparing it to the Sanskrit of Haurvatat's creation is that of water, and Ameretat's is the the Rig-Veda. For the first time in three millennia, the world of plants. voice of Zarathushtra could speak directly through the Three of the Immortals, Vohu Manah, Kshathra, and newly retranslated Gathas. Asha, are considered male (though linguistically their Despite 3000 years of history and the rransformations names are neuter), and three are female: Spenta Arnraiti, and additions wrought by the priests and scholars of vari- Haurvatat, and Ameretat. (Spenta Mainyu is seen as being o us e mpires, th e essenc e of beyond gender.) From the begin- Zarathushtra's message .has been pre- ning Zoroastrians have recognized served throughout the ages. But the female aspect of the Divine. It without direct conract with the J.,-li.'r, o{ is also remarkable that in the Gathas Gathas, theological changes did oc- Tl. Zarathushtra explicitly addresses cur, so that the Zoroastrianism of the gooJ -nJ spirits both male and female disciples, and Sassanid era, while congruent with "oil he expects equal participation from Zarathushtra's teachings, differs in is a moro/ J.t"listtr, both men and women in his faith.

Load more