Zoroastrianism, or Masdeism, became the religionofstatePersianat thecenturySAWThe. Ç. This belief was replaced by Islam only around the 7th century AD. Ç. after the fall of the Sassanid Empire.
In Iran (formerly Persia), a small part of the population still practices Zoroastrianism, whose largest number of adherents are Indians.
In short, this ancient religion has as its principle the concrete existence of good and evil, that is, that is why it is a dualistic religion.
Principles of Zoroastrianism
The supreme principles of good and evil are represented by the twin brothers AhuraMazda, who is the god of good, and arithman, who is the god of evil.
As it would have been revealed to Zoroaster, these two gods lived in struggle. The end of time would be marked by Mazda's victory over Aritman. Therefore, people should choose the path they wanted to follow, knowing that through their actions they could go to hell after their death.
Followers of Zoroastrianism believe in the resurrection of the dead, as well as in heaven, purgatory and hell, as preached in Roman Catholicism. Likewise, this
religion believe in end times prophecy.Emperors were the representatives of the god Mazda on Earth, so that in this way, it was possible to guarantee the subjugation of the people to the ruler of the empire.
Discover other aspects of the important civilization of the Persians.
Zoroaster - The Prophet
The name of the religion comes from its founder, the prophet Zoroaster (628 a. Ç. and 551 a. C.), also known as Zaratrusta, who, fusing popular beliefs with his teachings, gave rise to Zoroastrianism.
Not much information is known about the life of Zoroaster and some studies say that it was a title of priests or sages rather than a proper name.
In any case, Zoroaster was a priest, to whom divine revelations were made when he was 30 years old. Receiving these revelations, he began to preach them and soon gained enemies such as the "karpans" who they maintained customs that contradicted the teachings of Zoroaster and the "Kawis", who also opposed the he. As a result, he was persecuted and had to flee his homeland.
Thus, a legend emerges that Zoroaster healed the horse of a ruler, who would have allowed the prophet to preach freely in the place where he ruled, in northeastern Persia. In this way, Zoroaster gained thousands of followers and spread his belief.
The Zoroastrian priests were called magicians, a word that comes from the Greek magick. Religion, however, is not based on magical traditions.
Symbols and Holy Books
The main symbol of Zoroastrianism is the faravahar or ferohar which represents the soul before birth and after death.
O fire it is another important element, as the god of good is worshiped through the sacred fire which is kept open by priests in Zoroastrian temples. In order to protect themselves from inhaling the gases produced, followers of Zoroastrianism wear white masks.
Cremation was not allowed for believers in Zoroastrianism, as fire was considered sacred. They believed that the technique of burning corpses could contaminate it.
The holy book of Zoroastrianism is called Avesta. Like the Bible for Christians, it contains prayers, hymns and teachings. One of its most important parts is the bookingathas, where the 17 songs composed by Zoroaster are written.
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