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. many details from the original The religion as preached by "Gathic" version of the faith. But it existingf not in nature Zarathushtra himself is a rather ab- is the theology of the Cathas that is stract ethical monotheism, even original to Zarathushtra. or in th" GoJh""J b.t with the stately procession of the In the Gathas, Ahura Mazda is the heart Divine Attributes described in the trlnscendent and impersonal (rhough in h.t r..t Gathas. But abstract religions are he is not beyond relationship with rr.itrJ. hard to follow, especially for a the human spirit: Zarathushtra ad- "ttJ population still used to a polytheis- dresses the Wise Lord intimately as tic culture. In the centuries after friend to friend). But he is also im- Zarathushtra, the religion returned manent: present in all creation, in a limited way to the use of myths, though not identified with it. Ahura Mazda manifests in forms, and rituals. Most scholars assume that the archi- creation through seven Divine Attributes. ln the Gathas tects of this transformation were the Magi, who were an these Attributes are sometimes abstractions and sometimes Iranian priestly caste originally responsible for the cer- personifications. In the later traditions, the Attributes are emonies of the old Iranian polytheism. IJnder the Magi, fully personified as a group of entities named the Amesha the old Indo-Iranian gods were allowed back into the Spentas, the "Bounteous Immortals. " realm of Zoroastrian religion, provided that they were Each Immortal represents a quality of the Divine as relegated to the created world and not worshiped as gods well as a specific sector of the created world. Together the in their own right. seven Amesha Spentas form a divine heptad; in the words Thus the old images and god-forms were invested with of Zoroastrian author Farhang Mehr, they constitute "plu- new theological meanings. Old gods such as Mithra, lord rality in oneness."r They are arranged in no fixed hierar- of the sun and of contracts, and Atar, lord of fire, were chy, though Zarathushtra mentions some more than och- transformed into the yazalas or "adorable ones." Mithra ers. The connection berween the Immortals and the "Seven later became the focus of the cult of Mithraism, which Creations" is alluded to in the Gathas and is clearly iden- derived not from Zoroastrianism but from Hellenistic as- tified in later writings. tronomical symbolism.3 The Amesha Spentas came to be The first of these Immortals is Spenta Mainyu, mean- the analogue ofarchangels, while the yazatasbecame lesser ing "Holy Creative Spirit."2 This is the prime emanation spirits similar to angels. This process of rehabilitating the ofAhura Mazda, God's energy in manifestation. The realm gods of an old religion under a new monotheistic rule has of creation represented by Spenta Mainyu is that of hu- parallels in other religions, including Christianity. A good man beings, who are called to be creative co-workers example of this is the lrish St. Bridget, \who started her with God in the world. The next Immortal is Vohu Manah career as a Celtic goddess. 64 Gnosis Mogozine I Summer 1994 ,a This stress on the immanence of the Divine in the The dualism of good and evil spirits is a moral dualism, created world, with each sector and force of creation care d existing not in nature or in the Godhead but in the human for by an "angel" or "archangel," means that for Zoroas- heart and mind. Where there is pollution, crime, oppres- trians there is no strict separation between the physical sion, abuse, or any other human evil, there is the work of and the spiritual, the divine and the material. What is the Evil Spirit. There is no evil in nature or in God; Ahura done in the material world affects the spiritual world and Mazda is all good. Zoroastrians throughout history have vice versa. This interplay includes nature as well as hu- been appalled at the idea of a God who directly punishes manity. "It is not surprising," writes Mehr, "that Mazdaism sinners, takes vengeance, and condemns His own is called the first ecological religion."a creatron. And yet the clich6 of "Iranian dualism" is common he consciousness of God's immanence in nature even among educated people. The Western conception charges Zoroastrians to maintain the purity of of Zoroastrianism is that of a faith that believes in a "Good the elements and to protect nature against pollu- God" versus an "Evil God," two coeternal, conflicting tion. Neither earth, air, water, nor fire should be pol- principles. This misconception is due to historical cir- luted. In ancient times this impulse resulted in a strict cumstance. During the Sassanid Empire, under ideologi- code of purity laws similar to those found in the biblical cal pressure from competing religions such as Christianiry book of Leviticus and originally hygienic and practical in and Manichaeism, the moral dualism of the Two Spirits intent. In later centuries this code became a matter of became a cosmic dualism that imposed good and evil on ritual observance and lost its direct relationship with eco- the created world, dividing it into sectors at war with logical needs. each other. The Holy Spirit, Spenta Mainyu, origi- It is this concern for maintaining the purity of \r nally an emanation, was combined with the one God, l natural elements that is the source of the Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda, to form one'being now known as custom that is so shocking to the ) Ohrmazd. Ohrmazd was now ln West: leaving the dead on the direct conflicc with Angra d "Towers ofSilence" to be eaten Ahriman. I Mainyu, now called by vultures and other scaven- It is this historical variant, with

F gers. In this way the sacred earth its marked cosmic dualism, that is not polluted corpses, and West t by became known in the the body is returned to nature in through Greek and Christian authors. o the quickest way possible. This practice is Adding to this confusion was the extreme illegal in the U.S., and American Zoroastri- dualism of Manichaeism, a religion derived f I ans must be buried in carefullv sealed cof- not from Zoroastrianism but from Bud- fins. dhism and semi-Christian Gnosti- o Zoroastrian ethics, which are cism, which regarded the created at the center of the religion, can world as evil and human beings as be summed in a great threefold prisoners who must escape through principle: "good thoughts, good ever-increasing asceticism. But once words, and good deeds" in Avestan, humata, hukhta, the original message of the Gathas was rediscovered huuarshta. The indwelling -wisdom of God, Vohu Manah, through modern scholarship, the true teaching of helps human beings discern the moral choice in the Zo- Zarathushtra was again revealed, and Zoroastrians now roastrian path. Free will and choice are extremely impor- have the choice of believing in either the cosmic dualism tant in Zoroastrianism, which has no concept of original of their Sassanid forebears or the more fundamental moral sin or a Fall. All must make moral choices for themselves, dualism of the Gathas. not once, but in every moment. No flawed spiritual an- cestor has prejudiced the Divine against the human, and estern spirituality, both esoteric and exoteric, no predestination or fate rules over human life. owes a great deal to Zoroastrianism. It was In the ongoing way of Asha, humans choices for good under the Achaemenid king Cyrus, who lib- and evil bring their own rewards and punishments, if not erated theJews from their exile in Babylon, thatJudaism in this world, then in the next. Zoroastrianism was one of first encountered Zoroastrianism in the sixth century the earliest religions in history to link the afterlife with B.C.E. This contact. which continued for hundreds of morality rather than envisioning it as an empty Hades or years in the mixed societies of the Near East, was to be a an otherworldly continuation of earthly life. In the Gathas source of inspiration for both theJewish and the Christian heaven and hell are simply described as spiritual states, worlds. "the best existence" and the "worst existence." In later Even the best scholarship cannot pinpointjust how or traciicions the afterlife is vividly described. when Zoroastrian influences entered Jewish religious It is this moral choice that constitutes the original thought. But most scholars admit that the influence is Zoroastrian dualism. ln the Gathas, Spenta Mainyu, the definitely there. The Zoroastrian vision of the seven Boun- Holy Creative Spirit, is opposed to Angra Mainyu, the teous Immortals has been suggested as the source for the "Evil Spirit." The word mainyu, "spirit," can also be trans- seven Jewish archangels.6 The Zoroastrian moralization lated as "mentality," which makes this teaching clearer.s ofthe afterlife also left its influence on Jewish belief. Before

Srmmer 1994 I Gnosis Magozine 65

{a\:/ the exile, Hebrew writings spoke only of Sheol, a Hades- this microcosm includes a speccrum of beliefs and prac- like afterlife without reward or punishment. It was only tices analogous to those in a large religion like Christian- in post-exilic writings (dating after 538 B.C.E.) that con- ity or Islam. One may find "conservative" believers who cepts ofheaven and hell appeared. are pro- There echoes ofthe hold to the cosmic dualism and ancient ouritv laws -"re- Two Spirits and moral dualism in the Judeo-Christian mulgated by the Magi of the Sassanid ..", well as idea of Satan. and both in the Cathas and in Christian form" believers who, inspired by the modern", translation thought the Evil Spirit is not created evil, but chooses to of the Gathas, have adapted their ancient practices and De so. beliefs to life in a'Western technological society. There Zoroastriznism also lent to the West its ideas of are also what might be called "Gathic universalists," who eschatology and messianism. The Cathas refer to an end interpret the Gathas as a universal teaching that could time and a final judgment. In Zarathushtra's conception, inspire Z oroastrians and non-Zoroastrians alike. S ome cre- the world evolves, through the collecrive good acts of ative Zoroastrian thinkers are attempting to relate ancient humaniry, toward "refreshment," an eschatological goal doctrines such as moral dualism, the Bounteous Immor- of cosmic regeneration and bliss. The final judgment is tals, and the Seven Creations to an ecological and social one of purification rather than punishment, even of the vision that would apply to the modern era. "damned." The leaders of this collective efforr are Zoroastrian religious ceremonies consist of known as Saoshyants, or "saviors." prayers in Avestan and other old Persian dialects, In later Zoroastrianism this conceDt is mvtholo- chanted by two or more priests over a sacred fire. gized, and the savior figures are identified as spe- This sacred fire. which was common to Indian and cific cultural heroes who will be born in the fullness Iranian traditions even before Zarathushtra, is the of time. This idea may have influenced Jewish central icon of the faith. Zoroastrians are not messianism. In the Old Testament, the word "Mes- fire-lvorshipers, as they are sometimes called. siah" described an ideal political ruler- a concept They no more worship Iire than Christians wor- which later took on a spiritual and eschatological ship the Cross or Jews worship the Torah. To a quality. It is perhaps in this context that the legend Zoroastrian, a sacred fire is a living, glowing image of the Three Magi should be explained. The Magi of the energy and presence of God. As such, it is of the New Testament story (see Matt. 2:1-12) worthy of reverence, but it is never worshiped may indeed have been Hellenized Zoroas- in its own right. Most sacred fires burn only trians practicing in a syncretistic religious for the duration of the service, but fire tradition that included astrology and temples exist in India and Iran in which magic derived from the Mesopotamian a sacred flame is maintained at all times. spiritual milieu. These legendary Magi o'n' may been following the Zoroastrian con- a Zoroastrian, a ;:ffdi:*il":1ffi#J;,0"'.:l cept ofthe expected Saoshyant when they Around the sacred fire various sym- followed their star to Bethlehem. sacreJ {ire is - bolic foods, flowers, and other objects Though Zoroastrianism is hardly the lioitrg, glowing are arrayed, each representing one ofthe only source of'W'estern gnosticism, it had aspects of creation. After the service, the a definite influence on Gnostic thought. image o{ the foods are joyously consumed by the com- The religious scholar R.C. Zaehner ener$y anJ muniry. The Zoroastrian response to God quotes Essene passages from the Dead Sea is not fear, sorrow, tears, self-accusation, Scrolls that are directly borrowed from presence o{ GoJ. or self-abasement, but joy. Human be- Zoroastrian sources.T They describe the ings are co-workers with God, not slaves spirit of truth in conflict with the spirit of or children who must be coaxed into error, and a battle of the "sons of light" obedience. against the "sons of darkness." These Zoroastrian mytho- Zoroastrianism is not a religion of mystical and logical motifs are reflected in many gnostic scenarios. As otherworldly excesses; in fact it forbids asceticism, mor- Kurt Rudolph states,E the Zoroastrian themes that en- tification, fasting, and other practices that imply that the tered mainstream Judaism also entered into Jewish gnos- good things of the material world are detrimental to the ticism, and through this route became part of Christian spiritual life. In this artitude it is directly opposed to gnosticism. But the dualisms that are part of Manichaean Manichaeism and Gnosticism, which rejected material life and Gnostic thought, with their strict separation between in an attempt to escape from a hostile, corrupt world. All body and soul, creation and divinity, and humanity and Zoroastrians are encouraged to marry and have children; nature, are actually inversions of the teachings of the celibacy is considered a sin, and there is no monasticism Cathas. where dualism exists in the moral rather than the in the tradition. Zoroastrian mysticism is expressed in physical world. action, life, and work rather than in detachment and con- templation. It is a mysticism of immanence and the espite its antiquity, Zoroastrianism is not a his- indwelling of the Divine Attributes in the human spirit, torical relic, but a living tradition practiced from a rational spirituality not usually given to trances, visions, Tehran to Bombay to Los Angeles. Though the or ecstastes. whole "remnant" numbers no more than 120,000 people, The Zoroastrian faith has survived 3600 years despite

66 Cnosis Mogazine I Summer 1994 invasions, the loss of its scriptures, doctrinal confliccs, have participated fully in interfaith gatherings such as the oppression, and attrition. It has not in general been a pros- 1993 Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. The elyrizingreligion. The question of conversion to Zoroas- hope is that improved communications will bring the trianism has been a source ofgreat controversy: tradition- message of Zarathushtra and the words of rhe Cathas to a alist Zoroastrians, especially in India, do not admit the wider world, dispelling old misconceptions and restoring possibility of conversion and only recognize the children Zoroastrianism to its place as a venerable and living mem- of two Zoroastrian parents as proper members of the com- ber of the world's religious family. r munity. Other believers, inspired rheir universalist by Hannah M.G. Shapero is an artist, illustrator, and writer living interpretation of the Cathas, note that Zarathushtra en- in the Washington, D.C. area. She wishes to thank Dr. Farhang couraged new followers to join him whether they were Mehr, Mr, Adi Dauar, and the Zoroastrian Association oJ Iranian or not. These "liberaI" Zoroascrians believe con- Metropolitan Washington, without whose hospitality and gen- verts should be accepted. erous help this article could not haue been written. Ms. Shapero Zoroastrians, following the Divine Attribute "Good of can be reached through Internet electronic mail at Mind," stress learning, and many Zoroastrians have reached hmgs @cces s. digex.net. high positions in education, government, medicine, sci- ence, industry, and the arts. Zubin Mehta, the well-known NOTES orchestra conductor, is a Parsi. The Parsis of Bombay are 1. Farhang Mehr, Tlre Zoroastrian Tratlition (Rockport, Mass.: Element famous for their philanthropy and charitable a*ivities. In Books,1991), p.27. the educated world of the West, Zoroastrianism has 2. As translaced by Farhang Mehr, op. cit. reached places that not even the Propher could have fore- 3. See David Ulansey, The Origins oJ the Mithrair Mysteries (New York: Oxford Univeisity Press, 1989). seen. Some of the research for this article was done on the 4. Mehr, p. 33. computer Internet, network where Zoroastrian wisdom 5. As translaredbyAliJafarey, inThe Cathas, Our Cuide (Cypress, Calif.: is shared in electronic mail and "bulletin board" news Ushta Press, 1989). grouPs. 6. John Bright, z4 History oJ Israel (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, Zoroastrianism will most probably remain a small 1972), p. 4s7. 7. R.C. Zaehner, The Dawt and Twilight oJ Zoroashianism (New minority religion, but it is not likely to die out. Consci- York: Putnam, 1961), quoting the Essene Manual of Distipline and The War entious believers have created associations in many oftheir oJ the Sons of Light with the Sons of Da*rcss. homes to teach both children and adulrs, and Zoroastrians 8. Kurt Rudolph, Cnosis (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987), p. 283.

Srmmer I994 / Gnosis Magozine 67