Tag Archives: zarathustra
Parsí Dualism in Shí‘a Islám
Continuing from our discussion of ketman … Some aspects of Islám are reminiscent of Zoroastrianism in ways unique to Islám, for example As-Sirát (Arabic: الصراط), the Bridge of Judgment, which is reminiscent of the Zoroastrian Chinvat Bridge. Other Zoroastrian influences, such as those involving eschatology and angelogy, appear to have entered Islám by way of [...]
Ketman: Veiling God
“There is not a single true Moslem in Persia.” —Reported statement by a Persian to Arthur Comte de Gobineau (cited in “Versions of Censorship”, by McCormick & MacInnes) One of the great accomplishments—or offenses—of Islám was in conquering and subjugating the Persian Empire. Alexander had conquered the Persian Empire a millennium earlier, but it hadn’t [...]
Daena
Verses celebrating Daena, that celestial maiden of ancient Iran; symbol of faith and conscience. … This is largely plagiarized from the Vendidad (Fargard 19) and Hadhokht Nask, employing some degree of arbitrary license. ♦—♦—♦ At the end of the third night, when the dawn appears, it seems to the soul of the faithful one as [...]
Citadel of Glory
The name “California” appears to go back far beyond Montalvo’s Las Sergas de Esplandian. This should not surprise us, for Montalvo’s novel implied that the name was well-known when it was published ca. 1510. The word apparently occurred in the 11th Century epic poem the Song of Roland, at a point in the poem where [...]
Island of the Griffins
It’s well known to anyone who has bothered to look that the name “California” originally appeared in a popular Spanish romance by Garcia Rodriguez de Montalvo, published about 1510. Montalvo seemed to have based the name of his fictional land upon a place known to his readers, whether real or legendary: In this island called [...]
Morality and Cosmic Dualism
When we look into our basic perceptions, it seems that every slightest perception is in some way pleasurable or painful. Objectively, we can describe the mechanism of pleasure and pain, but we cannot explain the ultimate fact that there is an observer. It is the I am. Whether it is the I think is a [...]