Mystics Cave

By Payam Nabarz ©2009
//www.myspace.com/nabarz
www.stellarmagic.co.uk

The Faravahar symbol in Zoroastrianism represents the Fravashi (the person’s Guardian Angel/spirit) they come down from heaven to stand by each person from their birth and are prayed to for guidance and protection. They are called the Bountiful Immortals. “I confess myself a worshipper of Mazda(Wise), a follower of Zarathushtra, one who hates the Daevas(demons) , and obeys the laws of Ahura (Lord); For sacrifice, prayer, propitiation, and glorification unto [Havani], the holy and master of holiness. . . .Unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, who has a thousand ears, ten thousand eyes...” -from the Zoroastrian Hymn to Mithra.¹

One of the oldest examples of the gods of one religion becoming the demons of another is perhaps seen in late Hinduism and late Zoroastrianism. This disparity can be viewed as a wave of new gods and their people battling the older gods and their worshipers. The Zoroastrian God and Angels are called Ahuras (Lords) and Zoroastrian false gods or demons are called Dev (Daevas), while in Hinduism the Gods are called Deva and demons Asuras (Ahuras). The positioning of Ahuras versus Devas is a later development in both religions, while in earlier periods they were seen as gods worshiped by different people: those of Indo-Iranian/ Indo-European (Aryans) origins and the followers of the native Vedic religions of India.² The spread of Aryan pantheon into India and the subsequent blending of Aryan gods and Vedic gods provides the rich and diverse pantheon present in India today. In addition to Hinduism the Deva are seen in a more positive light than the Asuras in Buddhism too. However, the focus and scope of this article is the Zoroastrian form of Ahuras and Devas, rather than Hindu or Buddhist interpretations.

The Prophet Zarathustra (Greek name of Zoroaster) was a religious reformer, priest, visionary and prophet who brought about what could be seen as the reformation of Persian polytheism. The end product was probably the world’s first monotheistic religion, long before Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are differing views regarding whether Zoroaster even predates the Pharaoh Akhenaten and his monotheistic worship of Aten. Zoroaster formed a new religion out of the old Persian forms of worship and different tribal religions and regional sects. Over many more centuries, this religion, Zoroastrianism, slowly gained in popularity and finally became the state religion of the Persian Empire until the rise of Islam. This religion is still being practised today, with followers across the globe.

Zoroaster is thought to have lived in north eastern Iran sometime in the sixth or fifth century BCE, though some scholars believe it could have been as early as 1400 BCE; Zoroaster is said to have had a miraculous birth: his mother, Dughdova, was a virgin who conceived him after being visited by a shaft of light. Zoroaster’s teachings led to the world’s first monotheistic religion, in which Ahura Mazda, the “Wise Lord” of the sky, was the ultimate creator. In this religious reform, many gods and goddesses of the Persian pantheon were stripped of their sovereignty and their powers and attributes were bestowed upon the one god; Ahura Mazda. The Avesta is the Zoroastrian holy book. It is a collection of holy texts, which include the Gathas (the word of the prophet Zoroaster himself) and the Yashts, the ancient liturgical poems and hymns that scholars believe predated Zoroaster and were modified to reflect the reformation. It also contains rituals, precepts for daily life and rites of passage for birth, marriage, and death. Because of the Avesta, the Zoroastrians were the first ‘people of the book’. Avesta probably means ‘authoritative utterance.’³

The Gathas are seen as the original teaching by Prophet Zoroaster, other texts in the Avesta belong to Zoroastrian body of texts, some of which predate Zoroaster and some are later than Zoroaster himself. In some cases like that of Zurvanism, it is refer to as an offshoot and a heresy. The scope of this article is the whole of Avesta and Zoroastrian body of texts and not limited to the Gathas. In the Gathas the concept of angels and demons are abstract figures and ideas, while in earlier texts and later texts they are substantive figures and beings. Some of the Yashts are hymns to ancient Persian deities, who in Zoroastrianism are demoted to the ranks of archangels or angels, with Ahura Mazda at the top of the hierarchy.

In the Zoroastrian religion, Ahura Mazda has seven immortal aspects - the Amshaspends or Spenta Mainyu (Ameshas Spenta), each of which rules over a particular realm. These holy heptads are: Vohu Mano (good thought, the realm of animals), Asha Vahishta (righteousness, the realm of fire), Spenta Armaiti (devotion, the realm of earth), Khshathra Vairya (dominion, the realm of air, sun and heavens), Haurvatat (wholeness, the realm of water), Ameretat (immortality, the realm of plants), and Spenta Mainyu, who is identified with Ahura Mazda (the realm of humanity). There are also seven Yazatas, the protective spirits: Anahita (water / fertility), Atar (fire), Homa (the healing plant), Sraosha (obedience / hearer of prayers), Rashnu (judgment), Mithra (truth), Tishtrya (the Dog Star / source of rain). ⁴ These can be seen in the following diagram.

Figure 1: The seven Ameshas Spentas and the seven Yazatas

Zoroastrianism is monotheistic, with a strong sense of dualism, whereby Ahura Mazda’s Ameshas Spenta and Yazatas, the forces of light and Truth (Asha), are faced with the forces of darkness of the Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, who is called the Great Lie (Druj). He and his demons are said to create drought, harsh weather, sickness, disease, poverty, and all forms of suffering. The holy heptads the Amshaspends are faced by the unholy heptads, their polar opposites and antithesis.

Angra Mainyu creates 99,999 diseases; Ahura Mazda counters with the Holy Manthra and with the Airyaman prayer.

The Greek writer Plutarch also refers to the holy heptads:

‘XLVII. They too, nevertheless, tell many fabulous stories concerning their gods—for example, the following: that Oromazes (Ahura Mazda) sprang out of the purest Light, but Arimanios (Ahriman/ Angra Mainyu) out of Darkness; they wage war upon each other. Oromazes created six gods, the first of Goodwill, the second of Truth, the third of Order, of the rest one of Wisdom, one of Wealth, one of Pleasure in things beautiful. The other God created, as it were, opponents to these deities, equal in number. Then Oromazes, having augmented himself threefold, severed from the Sun as much space as the Sun is distant from Earth, and adorned the heavens with stars; and one star he appointed before all for guard and look out, namely Sirius. And having created four-and-twenty other gods, he shut them up in an egg; but those made by Arimanios, being as many as they, pierced the egg that had been laid, and so the bad things were mixed up with the good. But a time appointed by fate is coming, in which Arimanios having brought on famine and pestilence must needs be destroyed by the same and utterly vanish; when the earth becoming plain and level there shall be one life and one government of men, all happy and of one language’⁵

The battle wages across all realms, in the Zoroastrian Vendidad texts the Daevas are named:‘10.9 I drive away Indra, I drive away Sauru, I drive away the daeva Naunghaithya, from this house, from this borough, from this town, from this land; from the very body of the man defiled by the dead, from the very body of the woman defiled by the dead; from the master of the house, from the lord of the borough, from the lord of the town, from the lord of the land; from the whole of the world of Righteousness.I drive away Tauru, I drive away Zairi, from this house, from this borough, from this town, from this land; from the very body of the man defiled by the dead, from the very body of the woman defiled by the dead; from the master of the house, from the lord of the borough, from the lord of the town, from the lord of the land; from the whole of the holy world.’⁶

And furthermore: ‘19.43. They cried about, their minds wavered to and fro, Angra Mainyu the deadly, the Daeva of the Daevas; Indra the Daeva, Sauru the Daeva, Naunghaithya the Daeva, Taurvi and Zairi; Aeshma of the murderous spear; Akatasha the Daeva; Winter, made by the Daevas; the deceiving, unseen Death; Zaurva, baneful to the fathers; Buiti the Daeva; Driwi the Daeva; Daiwi the Daeva; Kasvi the Daeva; Paitisha the most Daeva-like amongst the Daevas. And the evil-doing Daeva, Angra Mainyu, the deadly, said: What! let the wicked, evil-doing Daevas gather together at the head of Arezura (gate of hell)! They rush away shouting, the wicked, evil-doing Daevas; they run away shouting, the wicked, evil doing Daevas; they run away casting the Evil Eye, the wicked, evil-doing Daevas: Let us gather together at the head of Arezura! For he is just born the holy Zarathushtra, in the house of Pourushaspa. How can we procure his death? He is the weapon that fells the fiends: he is a counter-fiend to the fiends; he is a Druj to the Druj. Vanished are the Daeva worshippers, the Nasu made by the Daeva, the false-speaking Lie!They rush away shouting, the wicked, evil-doing Daevas, into the depths of the dark, raging world of hell.’⁷

Other examples of binary opposites in creation are: when Ahura Mazda created the stars and constellations, Ahriman created the planets; when Ahura Mazda created the dog, Ahriman created the wolf; when Ahura Mazda created cattle and domestic animals Ahriman created animals of their opposite. Plutarch mentions a rite to Ahriman where some of his animals are listed: ‘XLVI. And this is the opinion of most men, and those the wisest, for they believe, some that there are Two Gods, as it were of opposite trades—one the creator of good, the other of bad things; others call the better one "God," the other "Dæmon," as did Zoroaster the Magian, who, they record, lived 5,000 years before the Trojan War. He therefore calls the former "Oromazes," the latter "Arimanios;" and furthermore explains that of all the objects of sense, the one most resembles Light, the other Darkness, and Ignorance; and that Mithras is between the two, for which reason the Persians call Mithras the "Mediator," and he [Zoroaster] taught them to offer sacrifice of vows and thanksgiving to the one, of deprecation and mourning to the other. For they bruise a certain herb called "omoine" in a mortar and invoke Hades and Darkness, and mixing it with the blood of a wolf they have sacrificed, they carry away and throw it into a place where the Sun never comes, for of plants they believe some to belong to the good God, others to the evil Dæmon; and similarly of animals, dogs, birds, and land hedgehogs belong to the Good, but to the Bad One water rats, for which reason they hold happy men that have killed the greatest number of such things.’⁸

The Zoroastrian dualistic idea of Good versus Evil was inherited by Judaism and then Christianity and Islam; indeed, it is possible to trace the axis of evil-versus-good theology and mentality from Zoroaster to all the current monotheistic world religions. The Zoroastrian scholar Mary Boyce describes the Zoroastrian text about Viraz’s vision of heaven and hell as the ultimate source of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

The Zoroastrian sequence of legends of ‘saviour’ and ‘anti -saviour’ figures has many parallels with the Book of Revelations. To illustrate some of parallels:1) The theme of the saviour (Saoshyant) sent from god. 2) The antichrist (evil sent from Ahirman). 3) The whore of Babylon (Jeh the whore).4) The last judgment (Frashegrid). 5) The end of times (Khshathra), and the resurrection of the dead. 6) The fiery horseman to bring the world to end. In this Zoroastrian eternal battle of light and darkness, Mithra is the great warrior who, according to his hymn (Yasht 10), carries the hundred-knotted mace or club with a hundred edges, “the strongest of all weapons, the most victorious of all weapons, from whom Angra Mainyu, who is all death, flees away with fear.” (Today, Zoroastrian priests still carry the mace of Mithra, which is given to them at their ordination as a symbol of fighting evil.) Even though the old gods were stripped of their power, Mithra had such wide popularity and importance that the Zoroastrians adapted the stories concerning him and gave him a prominent place in their religion.The end times is referred to by Plutarch:‘Theopomus (born c. 380 B.C.) says that, according to the Magians, for three thousand years alternatively the one god will dominate the other and be dominated, and that for another three thousand years they will fight and make war, until one smashes up the domain of the other. In the end Hades (Ahriman) shall perish and men shall be happy; neither shall they need sustenance nor shall they cast a shadow, while the god who will have brought this about shall have quiet and shall rest, not for a long while indeed for a god, but for such time as would be reasonable for a man who falls asleep. Such is the mythology of the Magians.’⁹ There are number of texts by Greek and Persian writers that reflect this battle, for example in addition to those mentioned already, the Persian Pahlavi texts states in context of a heretical sect called Zurvanism, an offshoot from Zoroastrianism:‘When nothing existed at all, neither heaven nor earth, the great god Zurvan (Infinite Time) alone existed, whose name means ‘fate’ or ‘fortune’. He offered sacrifice for a thousand years that perchance he might have a son who should be called Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazda or Hormozd) and who would create heaven and earth. At the end of this period of a thousand years he began to ponder and said to himself: “What use is this sacrifice that I am offering, and will I really have a son called Ohrmazd, or am I taking all this trouble in vain?” And no sooner had this thought occurred to him then both Ohrmazd and Ahriman were conceived - Ohrmazd because of the sacrifice he had offered, and Ahriman because of his doubt. When he realized that there were two sons in the womb, he made a vow saying: “Whichever of the two shall come to me first, him will I make king.” Ohrmazd was apprised of his father’s thought and revealed it to Ahriman. When Ahriman heard this, he ripped the womb open, emerged, and advanced towards his father. Zurvan, seeing him, asked him: “Who art thou?” And he replied: “I am thy son, Ohrmazd.” And Zurvan said: “My son is light and fragrant, but thou art dark and stinking.” And he wept most bitterly. And as they were talking together, Ohrmazd was born in his turn, light and fragrant; and Zurvan, seeing him, knew that it was his son Ohrmazd for whom he had offered sacrifice. Taking the barsom twigs he held in his hands with which he had been sacrificing, he gave them to Ohrmazd and said: “Up till now it is I who have offered thee sacrifice; from now on shalt thou sacrifice to me.” But even as Zurvan handed the sacrificial twigs to Ohrmazd, Ahriman drew near and said to him: “Didst thou not vow that whichever of the sons should come to thee first, to him wouldst thou give the kingdom?” And Zurvan said to him: “O false and wicked one, the kingdom shall be granted thee for nine thousand years, but Ohrmazd have I made a king above thee, and after nine thousand years he will reign and will do everything according to his good pleasure.” And Ohrmazd created the heavens and the earth and all things that are beautiful and good; but Ahriman created the demons and all that is evil and perverse. Ohrmazd created riches, Ahriman poverty’.¹⁰

The same polarity is also referred to in Zoroastrian text Yasna 30.3-4‘Truly there are two primal Spirits, twins renowned to be in conflict. In thought and word, in act they are two: the better and the bad. And those who act well have chosen rightly between these two, not so the evil doers. And when these two spirits first came together they created life and not-life, and how at the end Worst Existence shall be for the wicked, but (the House of) Best purpose for the just man.’ ¹¹ An example for the role of humanity in this battle can be seen in Yasht to Tir (Hymn to the star Sirius), here Angel star Sirius the bringer of rain battles the demon of drought. The people forget to make the appropriate libation and offerings to him, hence he losses the battle with demon of drought. Sirius then appeals to Ahura Mazda directly, who makes him the offering and gives him the strength to defeat drought:‘18. 'The next ten nights, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya mingles his shape with light, moving in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison. 'Here he calls for people to assemble, here he asks, saying:"Who now will offer me the libations with the Haoma and the holy meat? To whom shall I give wealth of horses, a troop of horses, and the purification of his own soul? Now I ought to receive sacrifice and prayer in the material world, by the law of excellent holiness." 'Then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya goes down to the sea Vouru-Kasha in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and a golden caparison. 'But there rushes down to meet him the Daeva Apaosha, in the shape of a dark horse, black with black ears, black with a black back, black with a black tail, stamped with brands of terror. 'They meet together, hoof against hoof, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya and the Daeva Apaosha. They fight together, O Spitama Zarathushtra! for three days and three nights. And then the Daeva Apaosha proves stronger than the bright and glorious Tishtrya, he overcomes him. 'And Tishtrya flees from the sea Vouru-Kasha, as far as a Hathra's length. He cries out in woe and distress, the bright and glorious Tishtrya: "Woe is me, O Ahura Mazda! I am in distress, O Waters and Plants! O Fate and thou, Law of the worshippers of Mazda! Men do not worship me with a sacrifice in which I am invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names."If men had worshipped me with a sacrifice in which I had been invoked by my own name, as they worship the other Yazatas with sacrifices in which they are invoked by their own names, I should have taken to me the strength of ten horses, the strength of ten camels, the strength of ten bulls, the strength of ten mountains, the strength of ten rivers." 'Then I, Ahura Mazda, offer up to the bright and glorious Tishtrya a sacrifice in which he is invoked by his own name, and I bring him the strength of ten horses, the strength of ten camels, the strength of ten bulls, the strength of ten mountains, the strength of ten rivers. 'Then, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya goes down to the sea Vouru-Kasha in the shape of a white, beautiful horse, with golden ears and golden caparison.'But there rushes down to meet him the Daeva Apaosha in the shape of a dark horse, black with black ears, black with a black back, black with a black tail, stamped with brands of terror. 'They meet together, hoof against hoof, O Spitama Zarathushtra! the bright and glorious Tishtrya, and the Daeva Apaosha; they fight together, O Zarathushtra! till the time of noon. Then the bright and glorious Tishtrya proves stronger than the Daeva Apaosha, he overcomes him. 'Then he goes from the sea Vouru-Kasha as far as a Hathra's length: "Hail!" cries the bright and glorious Tishtrya."Hail unto me, O Ahura Mazda! Hail unto you, O waters and plants! Hail, O Law of the worshippers of Mazda! Hail will it be unto you, O lands! The life of the waters will flow down unrestrained to the big-seeded corn fields, to the small-seeded pasture-fields, and to the whole of the material world!’¹²

Another figure that appears in the this cycle is figure demoness Jahi or Jeh the whore, who is the only demon that manages to wake Ahriman from his 3000 years of sleep. In the Zoroastrian text Bundahishn the story is written and she is rewarded for her success in rising Ahriman: ‘And, again, the wicked Jeh shouted thus: 'Rise up, thou father of us! for in that conflict I will shed thus much vexation on the righteous man and the laboring ox that, through my deeds, life will not be wanted, and I will destroy their living souls (nismo); I will vex the water, I will vex the plants, I will vex the fire of Ohrmazd, I will make the whole creation of Ohrmazd vexed.' And she so recounted those evil deeds a second time, that the evil spirit was delighted and started up from that confusion; and he kissed Jeh upon the head, and the pollution which they call menstruation became apparent in Jeh. He shouted to Jeh thus: 'What is thy wish? so that I may give it thee.' And Jeh shouted to the evil spirit thus: 'A man is the wish, so give it to me.' The form of the evil spirit was a log-like lizard's (vazak) body, and he appeared a young man of fifteen years to Jeh, and that brought the thoughts of Jeh to him.’¹³

The greatest demon created by Ahriman is the Azi Dahâka –the dragon, who is a three headed dragon who later in the book Shahnameh (the book of kings) becomes Zahak. Zahak is a evil king with a serpent on each of his shoulders, which he has to be feed with human brains every day. In earlier Zoroastrian versions of the story (Yasht 19, 50), Atar, the lord of fire and son of Ahura Mazda attacks the dragon Azi Dahâka. He tells the dragon: ‘There give it up to me thou three-mouthed Azi Dahâka. If thou seizest that Glory that cannot be forcibly seized, then I will enter thy hinder part, I will blaze up in thy jaws, so that thou mayest never more rush upon the earth made by Mazda and destroy the world of the good principle.Then Azi took back his hands, as the instinct of life prevailed, so much had Âtar affrighted him.’¹⁴

The Persian dragon slayer is Thraêtaona who defeats Azi Dahâka by binding him and imprisoning him deep in a mountain top. To achieve this Thraêtaona makes many offerings to the goddess Drvâspa whose name means ‘with solid horses’ and is probably linked to the sea goddess Anahita as they both share similar characteristics. It is with the backing of the goddess Drvâspa that Thraêtaona wins against the dragon. In Yasht 9 we read: ‘To her did Thraêtaona, the heir of the valiant Âthwya clan, offer up a sacrifice in the four-cornered Varena, with a hundred male horses, a thousand oxen, ten thousand lambs, and with an offering of libations:'Grant me this boon, O good, most beneficent Drvâspa! that I may overcome Azi Dahâka, the three-mouthed, the three-headed, the six-eyed, who has a thousand senses, that most powerful, fiendish Drug, that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest Drug that Angra Mainyu created against the material world, to destroy the world of the good principle; and that I may deliver his two wives, Savanghavâk and Erenavâk, who are the fairest of body amongst women, and the most wonderful creatures in the world. The powerful Drvâspa, made by Mazda, the holy Drvâspa, the maintainer, granted him that boon, as he was offering up libations, giving gifts, sacrificing, and entreating that she would grant him that boon.’¹⁵ The dragon is defeated, but not slayed, he is kept captive in the Mount Devamand until the end of the world. There are many more angels and demons in Zoroastrianism than mentioned here, there is also class of lesser demons called the Pairakas, who are female and can take many forms, and are akin to European fairy figures.

In the Menog-i Khrad (The Spirit of Wisdom) text the angels and demons the dead person soul’s meet at the Chinvat Bridge are described. The soul of a person is represented as a maiden whose appearance depends on ones deeds:‘110. Thou should not become presumptuous through life; for death comes upon thee at last, the dog and the bird lacerate the corpse, and the perishable part (sejinako) falls to the ground. During three days and nights the soul sits at the crown of the head of the body. And the fourth day, in the light of dawn with the cooperation of Sraosha the righteous, Vae the good, and Warharan the strong, the opposition of Astwihad, Vae the bad, Frazishto the demon, and Nizishto the demon, and the evil-designing action of Eshm, the evil-doer, the impetuous assailant it goes up to the awful, lofty Chinvat bridge, to which every one, righteous and wicked, is coming. And many opponents have watched there, with the desire of evil of Eshm, the impetuous assailant, and of Astwihad who devours creatures of every kind and knows no satiety, and the mediation of Sraosha (Obedience), Mithra (Covenant) and Rashnu (Justice) and the weighing of Rashnu, the just, with the balance of the spirits, which renders no favor on any side, neither for the righteous nor yet the wicked, neither for the lords nor yet the monarchs. As much as a hair's breadth it will not turn, and has no partiality; and he who is a lord and monarch it considers equally, in its decision, with him who is the least of mankind. 'And when a soul of the righteous passes upon that bridge, the width of the bridge becomes as it were a league (parasang), and the righteous soul passes over with the cooperation of Sraosha the righteous. And his own deeds of a virtuous kind come to meet him in the form of a maiden, who is handsomer and better than every maiden in the world. ¹⁶ If the person had performed evil deeds then the reverse occurs at the Chinvat Bridge; Vizaresh, the demon, drags the person to the inevitable House of Lies (hell) and the person is greeted by a vile and hideous maiden who is the manifestation of their bad deeds.

It is easy to see why Zoroastrianism is seen as the prototype to much of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which leads the scholar Mary Boyce to state: ‘Zoroaster was thus the first to teach the doctrines of an individual judgment, Heaven and Hell, the future resurrection of the body, the general Last Judgment, and life everlasting for the reunited soul and body. These doctrines were to become familiar articles of faith to much of mankind, through borrowings by Judaism, Christianity and Islam; yet it is in Zoroastrianism itself that they have their fullest logical coherence....’¹⁷

The meaning of the Faravahar or the Holy Guardian Angel:¹⁸

Author Biography:

Payam Nabarz is author of ‘The Mysteries of Mithras: The Pagan Belief That Shaped the Christian World’ (Inner Traditions, 2005), ‘The Persian Mar Nameh: The Zoroastrian Book of the Snake Omens & Calendar’ (Twin Serpents, 2006), and Divine Comedy of Neophyte Corax and Goddess Morrigan (Web of Wyrd, 2008). He is also editor of Mithras Reader An academic and religious journal of Greek, Roman, and Persian Studies. Volume 1(2006), Volume 2 (2008) and Stellar Magic: a Practical Guide to Rites of the Moon, Planets, Stars and Constellations (Avalonia, 2009) For further info visit: www.stellarmagic.co.uk

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank Katherine Sutherland, Parviz Varjavand, Dina G McIntyre and Zaneta Garratt for their helpful comments. This paper first appeared in 'Both Sides of Heaven' Avalonia, 2009.

References:

1. ‘Hymn to Mithra’ was translated from the Avesta by James Darmesteter and printed in Sacred Books of the East, American Edition, 1898, part of Oxford University Press’s Sacred Books of the East (SBE) series.

2. A History of Religious Ideas: Vol 1 From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries by Mircea Eliade Collins (1978).

3. Peter Clark, Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to an Ancient Faith (Sussex: Academic Press, 1998), x.

4. Cotterell, Arthur, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology, Hermes House, 2003.

5. Plutarch's Morals: Theosophical Essays ‘On Isis and Osiris; tr. by Charles William King, 1908, //www.sacred-texts.com/cla/plu/pte/pte04.htm

6. Vendidad //www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd10sbe.htm

7. Vendidad //www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd19sbe.htm#section6

8. Plutarch's Morals: Theosophical Essays ‘On Isis and Osiris; tr. by Charles William King, 1908, //www.sacred-texts.com/cla/plu/pte/pte04.htm

9. (Trans. J.Gwyn Griffiths, Plurarch’s De Iside et Osiride, ch 46, pp193-5). As quoted by Mary Boyce textual sources for the study of Zoroastrianism. The University of Chicago press, 1990, p96-97.

10. The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism, R.C. Zaehner, New York, (1961), 2003 edition p207-208. Also online at: //www.farvardyn.com/zurvan2.php

11. Mary Boyce ‘Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism’, The University of Chicago press, 1990, p35.

12. Tishtar Yasht (Hymn to the Star Sirius), AVESTA: KHORDA AVESTA (Book of Common Prayer) Translation by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the East, American Edition, 1898.) //www.sacred-texts.com/zor/sbe23/ka.htm

13. The Bundahishn (Creation), or Knowledge from the Zand Translated by E. W. West, from Sacred Books of the East, volume 5, Oxford University Press, 1897. //www.avesta.org/pahlavi/bund1.html#chapter3

14. Yasht 19, 50. The Zend Avesta, Part II (SBE23), James Darmesteter, tr. (1882). //www.sacred-texts.com/zor/sbe23/sbe2324.htm

15. Yasht 9, 13-15. The Zend Avesta, Part II (SBE23), James Darmesteter, tr. (1882).

16. Menog-i Khrad ("The Spirit of Wisdom") Translated by E. W. West, from Sacred Books of the East, volume 24, Oxford University Press, 1885. //www.avesta.org/mp/mx.html#chapter2

17. Mary Boyce, Op. Cit. p. 29. //www.avesta.org/avesta.html

18. //www.crystalinks.com/faravahar.html & //altreligion.about.com/od/symbols/a/faravahar.htm