Zoroastrianism, or what Zarathustra did not teach
Zoroastrianism is based on ancient Iranian religious cults. The Zoroastrians themselves call their religion "wahvi daena mazdayasni", which can be translated as "the good faith of Mazda worshipers". The name of the religion (“Zoroastrianism”) comes from the name of its semi-legendary founder, the Iranian prophet and religious reformer Zarathustra (the Greek version of the pronunciation of this name is Zoroaster, the Middle Persian is Zaratusht, in the later tradition and in Farsi, Zardusht).
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The religious sector of the modern Russian book market is exceptionally diverse. Here are presented not only books useful for intellectual and spiritual life, but also literature, the cognitive value of which is doubtful. Unfortunately, many modern authors writing on religious topics have a very superficial knowledge of the subject of their reasoning, which often prompts them to turn to sources whose competence cannot be considered satisfactory. In particular, we were prompted to write this article by a book dedicated to the life of the founder of Zoroastrianism, Zarathustra, whose authors use the statements as a competent source of information about Zoroastrianism astrologer Pavel Globa, which leads to the mixing of lies about Zoroastrianism with scientifically confirmed data. Our article will not become a criticism of this book, we will talk about Zoroastrianism itself, however, in doing so, we will rely not on the works of Pavel Globa, but on data from scientific sources.
Zoroastrianism is based on ancient Iranian religious cults. The Zoroastrians themselves call their religion "wahvi daena mazdayasni", which can be translated as "the good faith of Mazda worshipers". The Greeks called the Zoroastrians magicians after the name of one of the Median tribes that professed Zoroastrianism. Muslims call Zoroastrians Gebrs, i.e. unfaithful. Before the Arab-Muslim conquest of Iran, i.e. Until the 7th century, Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in this country. The heyday of Zoroastrianism falls on the III-VII centuries. from R.H. In the X century. began a mass emigration of Zoroastrians from Iran to India, where they formed a special community called the Parsis. The name of the religion (“Zoroastrianism”) comes from the name of its semi-legendary founder, the Iranian prophet and religious reformer Zarathustra (the Greek version of the pronunciation of this name is Zoroaster, the Middle Persian is Zaratusht, in the later tradition and in Farsi, Zardusht). The historicity of this figure does not cause doubts among modern scholars. The territory of Zarathustra's activity was the foothill regions of Central Asia from the Southern Urals to the Sayano-Altai, including the Tien Shan, Pamir-Altai, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan, Iran, etc. Zarathustra is a common Iranian name, translated as "possessing an old camel". Late Zoroastrian tradition translates the name of Zarathustra as "divine light", "God's mercy", "speaking the truth". It is these translations that impress modern Zoroastrians most of all. The followers of Zarathustra attribute the life of their teacher to the end of the 7th - the beginning of the 6th century BC. Parsees (Indian Zoroastrians are called Parsis) consider the birth year of Zarathustra to be 569 BC. It should be noted that even for the ancient Greeks, Zarathustra was a legendary figure, since the exact biography of this man has not been preserved. The Zoroastrians had no history in the modern sense of the word, so what we know today about the life of Zarathustra is his mythologized biography, where the truth is closely intertwined with mythology. Zoroastrian tradition says that among the lost Avestan books there were two devoted to the biography of Zarathustra - these are Spend nask and Chihrdad nask. In general terms, the biography of the founder of Zoroastrianism is usually presented as follows. Presumably, Zarathustra came from a priestly family, his father, a native of the Spitam clan (Avest. lit. "whitish", "whitish"), was called Pourushaspa (lit. "gray-horse"), his mother was Dugdova ("she whose cows are milked" ). The assumption that Zarathustra's family belonged to a priestly clan is made on the basis of the social position that Zarathustra occupied: in Zoroastrianism, only a person belonging to a priestly clan could become a priest. At the age of 30, Zarathustra received a certain revelation, but it was not recognized by his surroundings. During the first ten years, only Zarathustra's cousin Maidyoimanha accepted the new faith. Zarathustra travels a lot for missionary purposes and only at the age of 40 does he find the first proselytes. At the age of 42, Zarathustra manages to convert Khutaosu, the wife of King Kavi-Vishasp, as well as his relatives, to his faith. The recognition of the teachings of Zarathustra by Vishaspa greatly contributed to the spread of Zoroastrianism among the settled East Iranian tribes. According to legend, Zarathustra was married three times. His first wife bore the prophet a son and three daughters. The second - two sons, the third remained childless. It should be noted that the Christian understanding of abstinence and celibacy is alien to Zoroastrianism. The birth of a son for a Zoroastrian is a religious duty; childless families cannot count on posthumous bliss. At the age of 77, Zarathustra was killed by an enemy of the new faith while praying. The Zoroastrians did not deify Zarathustra, but he was the only person in whose honor a special prayer formula was pronounced, similar to those honored by other deities. Let us now get acquainted with the holy scripture of Zoroastrianism, the Avesta.
The history of the study of the Avesta by Europeans is not very long: Europe became acquainted with the sacred writings of the Zoroastrians only in the 18th century, one of the reasons for which is the closed lifestyle of the followers of Zarathustra and their unwillingness to introduce their religion to non-believers. Zoroastrians believe that the Avesta is a revelation of the god Ahura Mazda (in Middle Persian - Ormazd), given to Zarathustra. According to the Zoroastrian tradition, the Avesta consists of twenty-one books. The place of formation of the Avesta causes controversy among modern scholars. There are opinions that it originated in Atropatena, in Khorezm, in Bactria, in Media, etc. It is most likely that the Avesta is of Central Asian origin. This book has come down to us in two editions. The first edition is a collection of prayers in the Avestan language. Zoroastrian (Parsi) priests read the texts of this collection during divine services. For other purposes, this edition of the Avesta is not used. The second edition is intended for study; it differs from the first in its structure and the presence of comments in Middle Persian. The second edition is called "Avesta and Zend", i.e. text and interpretation, usually this edition is called "Zend-Avesta", but this is not entirely correct. The second edition of the Avesta includes the following books:
- Vendidad (distorted Middle Persian "videvdat", ("Code against the Devas"). Vendidad is a set of laws and regulations aimed at combating evil forces and establishing justice. This book pays special attention to the observance of ritual purity and its restoration after defilement. It also describes the funeral rite, ritual washing, prohibitions on sexual crimes, etc.
- Vispered (Middle Persian visprat - "all lords") contains prayer chants.
- Yasht ("veneration", "praise", from the Avestan yaz - "to honor") - laudatory hymns dedicated to various Zoroastrian deities. The main difference between Yasht and Yasna is that each prayer of the book of Yasht is dedicated to only one specific deity.
– The Lesser Avesta includes some short prayers, usually Yasht is also included in the Lesser Avesta.
The modern text of the Avesta is only a part of the original text. The Parsi tradition refers the emergence of the Avesta to the 1st millennium BC. According to the Parsis, by order of King Kavi-Vishasp, the Avesta was written down and stored in the royal repository in Shiz, its copy was kept in Istakhr, and a number of copies were sent to different places. After the invasion of Alexander the Great, one copy of the Avesta was burned, another was captured by the Greeks and translated by them into Greek. The Avesta was later restored. According to Parsi tradition, the first codification of the Avesta was made by King Vologez (either Vologez the First, who reigned in 51-78 AD, or Vologez the Fourth (148-191 AD)). Subsequent codification and translation was carried out under the Sassanids (227-243 AD). In fact, the Avesta was created in the period from the life of Zarathustra to the middle of the 1st millennium AD. However, the oldest known manuscript of the Avesta dates from 1278 A.D. All Avestan texts are in Eastern Iranian. Internally, the Avestan assembly is divided into two groups along linguistic lines. This is due to the fact that the Gathas of Zarathushtra were created in a more archaic dialect (it is called the "dialect of the Gathas") than the rest of the Avesta.
The most ancient part of the Avesta are the Gathas (the Gathas are part of the Yasna) and some fragments of the Yasht. Other sections appeared much later. Considering that, most likely, it is the Gathas who convey the teachings of Zarathushtra more precisely than other books, let's get acquainted with this part of the Avesta in more detail.
Unfortunately, not all Gathas have been deciphered to date, the meaning of half of them has not yet been revealed. At the same time, it is the Gathas that are the main source of information about Zarathustra. There is neither mysticism nor dogma in the Gathas. They focus on practical issues, lifestyle and moral issues. The Gathas view the whole world as divided into two spheres: the earthly, real, and the otherworldly, spiritual. The main attention is paid to the earthly world. In fact, the content of the Gathas comes down to two types of teachings: 1) about the benefits of settled pastoralism and increasing wealth; 2) about the need for a fair order and management. The Gathas especially emphasize the inadmissibility of animal sacrifices. In the Ghats, nomads who steal cattle from pastoralists-farmers are cursed. Gathas do not have clear genre differences, but still two groups can be distinguished: in the first, praise predominates, in the second - sermon. Let us consider the teachings of Zarathustra set forth in this book.
The Gathas preach dualistic monotheism - a special kind of monotheism, the theological system of which denies the existence of any other gods besides One, but at the same time recognizes the existence of a supernatural force antagonistic to God. The original ("pure", "gatic") Zoroastrianism did not last long and always remained a religion of a closed priestly class. In the people, Zoroastrianism was understood polytheistically. Apparently, after the death of Zarathustra, monotheistic ideas disappear from Zoroastrianism, and the religion itself becomes purely pagan.
The main god of Zoroastrianism is Ahura Mazda. The Avestan word akhura is an adjective from anhu "existence, life", ra is the suffix of possession, so the Avestan akhura can be translated as "possessing life". At the same time, even before the separation of the Iranian and Indian tribes, the ankh was understood not so much as physical existence or life span, but as life force, cosmic magical potency. The most ancient Indo-Iranians did not make a clear distinction between the spiritual and the material, the living and the inanimate, man and animal. Gods, people, animals, plants, stones, water - everything was endowed with its measure of anhu. In the ancient Iranian tradition, the owners of the greatest magical potency, not only gods, but also earthly rulers, were called ahurs. In the meaning of "vital, essential" the word akhura is used in the Gathas and in the Lesser Avesta. The word Mazda means "wisdom". In Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is not the only Ahura, but only he emerges in the Gathas as an independently acting deity. The rest look more like additional functions of the deity. Ahura Mazda is presented in Zoroastrianism as an imperious, warlike, but fair ruler.
After Ahura Mazda, the next in the pantheon of Zoroastrianism are Amesha Spanta (Avest. "immortal saints"). There are six of them: Vohu Mana ("good thought") - the patron of cattle, Asha Vahishta ("the best truth") - the patron of fire, Khshatra Vairya ("chosen power") - the patron of metals, Spenta Armaiti ("holy piety") - the patron of the earth , Haurvatat ("integrity") - the patron of waters and Ameretat ("immortality") - the patron of plants. The patron of man is Ahura Mazda himself. Despite the fact that Amesha Spanta is not so much separate deities as allegories of the good qualities of Ahura Mazda, Amesha Spanta was perceived by the people polytheistically, as separate gods.
After Amesh Spanta, the gods follow. These are such gods as, for example, Mithra - the ancient deity of the contract concluded between people and between man and god. Before Zarathustra, Mithra was revered as one of the main deities. In the ancient Iranian tradition, Mithra was considered a solar god. Mitra in Zoroastrianism is also assigned the role of a posthumous judge who weighs the good and bad thoughts of a person and determines whether he is worthy of bliss or punishment. In addition to Mitra, the arbiter of the souls of the dead is Yazat Sraosha. The name Sraosha means "hearing, obedience". Sraosha is the mediator between Ahura Mazda and man. Unlike Mitra, who connects the divine and the human through contract and judgment, Sraosha unites them through the transmission of the word, divine revelation. Zoroastrians worship Sraosha as a deity of prayer, with the ability to protect from the forces of evil. In addition to Mitra and Sraoshi, an important role in Zoroastrianism, being one of the most popular, was played by the god Vertragne (literally - "beating protection"). This deity appeared to Zarathustra in many guises: in the form of a wind, a bull, a horse, a camel, a boar, a fifteen-year-old youth, a raven, a hunchbacked ram, a wild goat, a warrior. The deity Tishtriya, personifying the star Sirius in the constellation Canis Major, was worshiped as sweeping away the drought. The Zoroastrians believed that every year Tishtriya in the form of a white horse fights with the demon of drought, which was represented in the form of a mangy, shabby black horse. The goddess Ardvisura-Anahita was identified with the Amu Darya river and was responsible for fertility. Her name translates as "moisture strong, spotless." In addition to those mentioned above, there are other deities in Zoroastrianism. Fravashes can be distinguished as a special class of divine beings. Fravashes are like the guardian angels of every being. In this sense, they are mentioned in the Lesser Avesta, where they act as givers of life, creators and protectors, Ahura Mazda himself is called Fravashi. In the Indo-Iranian tradition, from where the Zoroastrians borrowed the doctrine of fravashi, this is how the souls of dead ancestors were called, who patronized their descendants from the afterlife. Fravashes are also possessed by inanimate objects. It is interesting to note that Zarathustra himself rejected the doctrine of Fravashi; it appeared in Zoroastrianism only after his death. According to Zoroastrianism, a person's fravashi exists even before his birth, at the moment of a person's birth, a fravashi unites with his body, and after death flies away from the corpse and returns to the spiritual world, where he is destined to stay until the end of world history and Judgment Day.
A special place in the teachings of Zoroastrianism is played by the spirit of evil. In Avestan it is called Ankhra-Manyu, in Middle Persian - Ahriman, in Greek - Ahriman. Zarathustra believed that Ahura Mazda and Anhra Manyu are twin brothers, late Zoroastrianism teaches a little differently, arguing that initially they are not equal in strength, although the Gathas speak of their equality. The idea of Ankhra Manyu as the head of the forces of evil existed even before the advent of Zoroastrianism. Ankhra Manyu has its own army, the main force of which is the devas (evil spirits). People are also included in the Angra Manyu army, among them: homosexuals, robbers, fire defilers, non-believers, witches and sorcerers, as well as those suffering from incurable diseases and the crippled. The main goal of the life of a Zoroastrian is to help Ahura Mazda in his fight against the forces of evil.
Zoroastrianism believes in the infinity of space and time. All space is divided into two parts: infinite light - the domain of Ahura Mazda and endless darkness - the domain of Ankhra Manyu. Ahura Mazda created an eon - a finite closed period of time, the time of the finite world, lasting twelve thousand years. This time is divided into four equal parts, each of three thousand years. During the first period of three thousand years, Ahura Mazda creates the world in an ideal, non-material form, creates ideas of things. After three thousand years, Angra Manyu appears on the border of light and darkness. Frightened by the light, he retreats into the darkness and begins to accumulate strength to fight Ahura Mazda. In the next three thousand years, the creation of the world by Ahura Mazda begins. At this time, Amesha Spanta is being created. According to Zoroastrianism, the sky has three spheres: the sphere of the stars, the sphere of the moon, and the sphere of the sun. Beyond the sphere of the sun is the paradise of Ahura Mazda. Below is the realm of evil spirits. The world created by Ahura Mazda is static, but Ankhra Manyu invades the creation. His invasion sets the static world in motion. Mountains grow, rivers move, and so on. Invading the creation of Ahura Mazda, Ankhra Mainyu begins its own counter-creation. In the sky, he creates planets, comets, meteors. Zoroastrians believe that Ahura Mazda entrusted each planet to a special being to neutralize its negative influence. Ankhra Manyu created harmful animals (for example, wolves), polluted the water, poisoned the plants and, in the end, brought to death the first man created by Ahura Mazda, Gaia Martan (Middle Persian Gaiomart). But from the first man there remained a seed, which, being purified by sunlight, gave birth to new people. It happened like this: the seed grew a single-stemmed rhubarb, on which fifteen leaves soon appeared. This plant then evolved into a pair of nearly indistinguishable twins, dubbed Mortal and Mortal. The hands of Mortal and Mortal remained on each other's shoulders, and their stomachs were so fused that it was impossible to determine their gender. These twins could not find out who the true creator was, and attributed the act of creation to Angra Manyu, but then people managed to multiply, and those of them who absorbed the truth began to fight Angra Manyu. For the next three thousand years after creation, the story of the struggle against the forces of evil continues until the birth of Zarathustra. After Zarathustra, the world, according to the Zoroastrians, will last another three thousand years. During this time, three sons of Zarathustra, three saviors, should come into the world (it is interesting to note that the doctrine of "saviors" was introduced into Zoroastrianism after the birth of Christianity, as well as the doctrine of the Last Judgment and the resurrection of the dead). Zoroastrians believe that Zarathustra left his seed in Lake Kansava, and every thousand years this seed will give birth to a new savior: at certain intervals, girls, bathing in Lake Kansava, will become pregnant from this seed. The third savior Saoshyant ("one who will benefit") will resurrect all the dead and destroy evil. The world will be cleansed by a stream of hot metal, everything that remains after this will gain eternal life. According to the ideas of the Zoroastrians, the villains are destined for eternal torment, and the righteous people - eternal bliss. The coming happy life will come on the earth, which will be ruled by the pious kings of Saoshyant.
According to the Zoroastrian idea of the human structure, a person has an immortal soul, vitality, faith, consciousness and body. The soul of man exists forever; the life force, or soul-life, arises simultaneously with the body at the moment of conception and disappears after death; consciousness also includes feelings; faith has nothing to do with the Christian understanding of faith, in Zoroastrianism faith is a kind of double of a person, existing in parallel with him in the other world, faith changes its appearance depending on the good and evil thoughts, words and deeds of a person.
In the first three days after the death of a person, the soul, according to the Zoroastrians, stays next to the body at the head, reading prayers. At the dawn of the fourth day, the soul of a person is his faith, accompanied by two dogs, in order to convey the soul to the place of the posthumous judgment near the Chinvad bridge, where Mithra and other gods weigh the good and evil thoughts, deeds and words of the deceased. If a person has lived a righteous life, his faith will appear before him in the form of a beautiful busty fifteen-year-old maiden and leads him across the bridge, the old witch meets the sinner. Those who revered Ahura Mazda and preserved ritual purity after death will find themselves in paradise, where they can contemplate the scales and the golden throne of Ahura Mazda. All the rest at the end of time will be forever destroyed along with Angra Manyu. Memorial services for the deceased person continue for thirty years. It is forbidden in Zoroastrianism to mourn the dead, it is believed that tears create an insurmountable barrier for the soul of the deceased in the afterlife, preventing the soul from crossing the Chinvad bridge. As Zoroastrianism teaches, the body abandoned by the soul is immediately occupied by the demon of cadaveric decomposition, which makes the body of the deceased its home. Hence the extremely negative attitude of Zoroastrians towards corpses: contact with a dead body makes a person, water and earth unclean. Therefore, the Zoroastrians gave the body of the deceased to be eaten by birds, and the remaining bones were placed in containers specially prepared for this. Carriers of corpses until the end of their days were considered unclean, they could not be closer than thirty steps from fire and water and closer than three steps from people.
In Zoroastrianism, there was no obligatory tradition of depicting deities. However, certain images were still used. For example, an image of a winged solar disk was used, which, apparently, was a symbol of a solar deity, as well as a symbol of power and charisma, transmitted, according to Zoroastrian ideas, by deities from one righteous ruler to another. The Zoroastrians also depicted their gods in the form of statues. Relief images of the gods were carved.
Special reverence in Zoroastrianism is given to fire. In Avestan, fire is called atar, in Middle Persian - adur. According to the Zoroastrians, fire permeates the whole world, has various manifestations: heavenly fire, the fire of a burning tree, fire as a spark in the human body, thus making a person related to Ahura Mazda, a special manifestation of fire is the sacred fire burning in temples. In the Lesser Avesta, Atar appears as the son of Ahura Mazda, an independent deity. Fire as an element in the Avesta is presented in several modifications: vohufryana - fire that resides in the bodies of animals and people, warming the body and digesting food, urvazishta - the fire of plants, warming the grain thrown to the ground and enabling plants to bloom and bear fruit, bersizava - the fire of the sun, vazista - lightning, spanishta - the earthly flame of altar fires, as well as fire used for domestic purposes. Indian Parsis distinguish three types of sacred fire, each of which is associated with its own forms of worship. The main fire is atash-bahram ("victorious"), this fire owes its name to the deity of war Vertragnu. Most of the ancient Zoroastrian temples were dedicated to the deity of war. Atash-bahram is the only unquenchable fire in Zoroastrian temples. Sacred fires in Zoroastrianism are considered indivisible, they cannot be combined with each other (although this principle is sometimes violated), each fire is supposed to have its own sanctuary, they cannot be placed under one roof. Fire temples were built very modestly. They were created from stone and unbaked clay, the walls inside were plastered. The temple was a domed hall with a deep niche, where a sacred fire burned in a huge brass bowl on a stone altar-pedestal. The fire was maintained by special priests, who, using tongs, made sure that the flame burned evenly, adding firewood from sandalwood and other valuable species that emitted fragrant smoke. The hall was fenced off from other rooms so that the fire was not visible to the uninitiated.
The cult of haoma occupies a special place in Zoroastrianism. Haoma is a narcotic ritual drink, the composition of the herbs that serve as ingredients for this drink is unknown. Most experts suggest that haoma was made from ephedra. The drink was used during worship to achieve the state of consciousness necessary for the priests. Apparently, it had a euphoric effect. Zarathustra in the Gathas rejects the cult of haoma, but after the death of Zarathustra this cult was revived. Haoma is considered in Zoroastrianism to be both a drink, a plant, and a deity.
Ritual purity is of great importance in Zoroastrianism. It is believed that any defilement connects a person with evil. Observing ritual purity, a person thereby opposes evil. Holiness Zoroastrians understood as physical purity, physical fullness, as well as the presence of certain moral qualities. Zoroastrians believed that God does not accept the prayers of people with physical defects. Old age and illness were perceived as an infection of a person by a demon, in ancient times the Zoroastrians killed people who had reached the age of sixty, now a wake is celebrated for a person who has reached sixty years of age. The ritually unclean (they include, for example, those who carried the corpse alone, the wounded, women who gave birth to a dead child, etc.) were isolated from society. Usually they were placed in chambers with a low entrance and a ceiling, where it was impossible to lie down or stand up completely, these rooms had no windows, since the unclean ones could defile good creations with their eyes - earth, people, fire, etc. As clothing, such people could only use rags. They were fed with bread and beer (instead of water). The hands of those being isolated were wrapped in rags so that they could not defile anything with their touch. For purification it was necessary to drink cow urine. Also, these people could not pray and wear symbols of belonging to the Zoroastrian community.
Priests in Zoroastrianism were a closed clan. Priests could come only from certain clans, while it was believed that representatives of the priestly clan could no longer serve if the priestly succession of the clan was interrupted for more than five generations. The chief priest was called a zaotar, during worship he was the leader of the whole action. The Middle Persian theologians saw in the zaotar the image of Ahura Mazda himself. In Zoroastrianism, the priests were entitled to certain fees for the performance of rites, while it was believed that if the priest was not satisfied, then the rite would lose its power.
In ancient times, the Iranians did not know special places for worship. Any clean, open place, located near a source of water, was used for the service. Later, temples appeared in Zoroastrianism, in which images of deities were installed and a sacred fire burned. Access to non-Christians in Zoroastrian temples was prohibited.
In general, Zoroastrianism has always been characterized by extreme intolerance. Marriages with non-Christians were forbidden, the idea of planting Zoroastrianism with the help of weapons was preached. Heretics and false teachers were equated with demons, it was believed that a heretic and a non-believer is contagious like a corpse, even touching him leads to ritual impurity. With non-Christians it was forbidden to drink, eat, accept any items from them. Even today, a Zoroastrian who leaves the community for a while, for example, going on a trip, is required to undergo a special purification rite upon his return. For a long time, Zoroastrian theologians debated whether it was necessary to give alms to the Gentiles. Some believed that mercy towards the Gentiles strengthens the demon living in them, others believed that poverty only strengthens the demons of poverty. This issue has not been resolved until our time, but even now different communities of Zoroastrians solve it differently.
At present, the largest community of Zoroastrians lives in India (more than one hundred thousand people), the second place in terms of the number of believers is occupied by Iran (several tens of thousands), there are also communities in Pakistan, Canada, the USA and Great Britain. Throughout life, a Zoroastrian is accompanied by a huge number of various rituals. Every day, at least five times a day, he is obliged to say prayers, and the instructions for exactly how to pray on a given day are developed with great care. When mentioning the name of Ahura Mazda, it is necessary to pronounce laudatory epithets. Zoroastrians in Iran pray facing south, while Parsees in India face north.
- "New Era" (New Age)- occult sectarian movement
- Evangelical magi and astrology- Deacon Mikhail Plotnikov
- Cult of Arkaim- Maxim Stepanenko
Concluding the article, I would like to draw attention to the following. The teachings of Zarathustra at the time of his preaching undoubtedly brought a lot of benefits, because the pagan priests did not pose the problem of good and evil before Zarathustra at all. Everything was allowed to achieve success: lies, murder, witchcraft. But at present, Zoroastrianism is a completely degenerate religion with no prospects. Is that the representatives of the modern new age will not fail to take advantage of the ignorance of readers and turn to speculation on the "Avestan astrology", to which they have nothing to do. But ignorance in religious matters is fraught with many undesirable consequences, therefore, before trusting this kind of information, we can recommend readers to think about whether this or that author ascribes his own ideas to Zarathustra, using his name in his own interests .
Notes
See: Dubrovina T., Laskareva E. Zarathustra. M., Olympus, "AST Publishing House". 1999.
When writing the article, the following books were used: Avesta in Russian translations (1861-1996), St. Petersburg, "Neva Magazine", "Summer Garden", 1998; Kryukova V.Yu. Zoroastrianism. SPb., ABC Classics, St. Petersburg Oriental Studies. 2005.
Spitama is the generic name of the prophet Zarathustra.
We see no reason to give here a complete retelling of the mythological biography of Zarathustra, since anyone who wishes can easily get acquainted with her. See, for example, Kryukov V.Yu. Zoroastrianism. SPb., ABC Classics, St. Petersburg Oriental Studies. 2005.
Catholic Encyclopedia. M., ed. Franciscans. 2002. T.1.S.1904.
Dualism clearly prevails in the system of Zoroastrian teaching, it is possible that the monotheistic tendencies of Zoroastrianism are just a trace of Christian borrowings.
The existence of this kind of "pure" Zoroastrianism is hypothetical.
For more details, see Kryukova V.Yu. Zoroastrianism. SPb., ABC Classics, St. Petersburg Oriental Studies. 2005.
This circumstance forces us to question the monotheistic tendencies of Zoroastrianism. Apparently, the ideas of monotheism in Zoroastrianism were initially absent and are only borrowings from Judaism and Christianity.
According to Zoroastrianism, homosexuality is punishable by six hundred lashes and is considered one of the most serious sins: in the enumeration of the most vile sins, homosexuality is preceded by bestiality.
Analogue of the Hindu soma. See Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism. Dictionary. M., Republic. 1996. P.402.
In addition to the literature used in the article, the following books can also be recommended to readers: Boys M. Zoroastrians. Beliefs and customs. St. Petersburg, Center "Petersburg Oriental Studies", 1994; Guriev T. A. From the pearls of the East: Avesta. Vladikavkaz. SOGU. 1993; Doroshenko E. A. Zoroastrians in Iran: a historical and ethnographic essay. M., Nauka, 1982; Meytarchiyan M. B. The funeral rite of the Zoroastrians. M., IV RAN, 1999.
