Tag Archives: zarathustra
The Hungriness of Stuff
We previously reflected upon the intimate, multifaceted relationship between ancient man and fire, and considered how easy it would have been for a man such as Heraclitus to conceive of the idea that fire is the fundamental constituent of all matter. Heraclitus was, after all, a subject of the Persian Empire, a land of fire [...]
The Burning Bush
When God spoke to Moses, God took the form of a burning bush. Why did an ancient Israelite think that God would take the form of a self-immolating bush? It might be natural enough to think that fire consumes a bush, but there’s another way to see it—the way that many ancients saw it: the [...]
The Hexad of Wisdom
In Zoroastrianism, the benevolent Lord Wisdom interacts with his creation through six gods—or principles—of his making. These can be thought of as the pillars of Zoroastrianism: Good Thinking. “Good” is regarded in two senses: both as beneficial and as effective. Thus wisdom and goodwill are implied. This “good thinking” is the means by which men [...]
Priest Dogs of Iran
This is a continuation of a thread on dogs. Zoroastrian funerary rituals appear to indicate that ancient Iranians believed that dogs had a unique power to discern whether the life had departed from a body. What follows next is known as the dog-sight (sagdid) ceremony. A dog, generally a “four-eyed” dog (a dog with two [...]
River at the Edge of the World
It may presently be one of the most God-forsaken places on our planet. The Kokcha River region of Afghanistan is good for little more than opium farming and arms smuggling today, though it was once one of the great corridors between the ancient worlds of India and Iran, long before Darius and the Persian Empire. [...]
Asha and Commerce
It’s easy to see the prominent role of moral dualism in Zoroastrianism. It is not always quite so obvious what the characteristics of Good and Evil are considered to be. Ultimately, I think the best answer is that Good and Evil have no characteristics. To associate characteristics with these principles is equivalent to giving names [...]
Reconstructing Zarathustra
I am not as interested in Zarathustra the actual prehistoric man, if he ever existed, as much as I am interested in the name Zarathustra as a label for—or a personification of—the core ideas of Zoroastrianism. For me, the essence of Zoroastrianism is the existentialist basis of cosmic dualism: the value-laden character of phenomena, or [...]
Interview with the Prophet (Part 2)
Continued. When we left off, Zarathushtra was explaining his reasoning for enforcing morality with Heaven and Hell. Idol Chatter: Even if the punishment fits the crime and Hell has an end, don’t you think this kind of compensation for good behavior undermines our esteem of virtue itself? Zarathushtra: There is certainly that danger, but at [...]
Interview with the Prophet (Part 1)
I recently crossed paths with the legendary prophet Zarathushtra while hiking in the mountains behind my house, the Diablo Range. He and I swapped cell numbers, and he graciously consented to scheduling an interview. Idol Chatter: I’d like to begin by saying what a great honor it is to be granted an interview with the [...]
The Cradle of Ethical Metaphysics
If we turn to the Gathas to determine the geographic origins of Zoroastrianism, it seems reasonable to conclude—or guess—that Zoroastrianism originated somewhere in or around Bactria-Margiana. Recent discoveries of what appear to be ancient, pre-Zoroastrian fire temples in the Bactria-Margiana Archeological Complex (BMAC), appear to confirm this line of reasoning. But we cannot necessarily conclude [...]