از این پس باید به عنوان یک مبدأ پیش از تاریخ بگوییم پیش از جیرفت/پس از جیرفت

^{"From now on we shall talk about before and after Jiroft". (Jean Perrot)i}

^{ژان پروو: از این پس باید به عنوان یک مبدأ پیش از تاریخ بگوییم پیش از جیرفت / پس از جیرفت}

^{Magazine : Dossiers d'Archéologie.Jiroft, un nouveau regard sur les origines de la civilisation orientale.Oct 2003, Page : 2-3 Auteur : Perrot (J.)i}

Professors Majidzadeh and Perrot exhibited the recovered finds in Paris for the October 2003 edition of the monthly Dossiers Archologiques. They believe they have found within them the evidence of a very advanced cultural and artistic center more than 5000 years old, the presence of which had not been known before.

Professor Jean Perrot, former CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) research director, specialist of Ancient Persia and excavator of Darius' statue in Suse, agrees with Majidzadeh that the importance of the discovery is unprecedented and that in regards to the origins of civilization, "From now on we shall talk about before and after Jiroft".

The artifacts, mainly chlorite (soft stone) copper vases, pots and goblets, are richly decorated. The pieces are inlaid with semi-precious stones, most of which have been stolen. They represent different sceneries: fortified towns of sophisticated buildings with geometrical architectural designs, various vegetal species (especially palms), animals such as goats, zebu’s (a domesticated ox), snakes fighting with panthers and eagles, wildcats, fantastic fighting creatures, strange women's heads, chimeras, scorpions and bulls.

French archaeologists are not the only ones interested in Jiroft. Professor Carl Lamberg-Karlovsky, from Harvard University in the United States, believes that the Jiroft discovery is a significant event that "Upsets our fundamental concept of the origins of Middle-Eastern civilization. In a region where we thought only nomads herding sheep were living, we have found a shining center not only equal but maybe superior to the one we have found in Mesopotamia."

The notion of (Christian) Purgatory probably has its roots in Zoroastrianism

In his book “The Kingdom of God and Primitive Christianity” (1968), German-French philosopher and physician Albert Schweitzer lists the following most important contributions of Aryan Zoroastrianism to Semitic religions via Judaism – most of which we’ve discussed here in earlier postings:

 “the indispensable idea of resurrection as a prelude to participation in the Kingdom of God” 

 “The notion of (Christian) Purgatory probably has its roots in Zoroastrianism”

the reverence of Zoroastrians for fire and its powerful symbolism in cosmic order and purity led to the Jewish adoption of a Day of Judgment via a fire pit; just as the idea of angels/demons … even the guardian of nations archangel Michael is a Jewish version of the ancient Iranian divinity Mithra, the sun divinity and of oaths/friendship as well as guardian of Iran’s FARR or glory

Judaism took from Zoroastrianism the idea of a dualistic struggle in both heaven and on earth

it is my belief that various Iranian cults such as Manichaeism springing from Zoroastrianism .... over the centuries influenced Semitic beliefs leaving the impression that they were authentic to ancient Aryan beliefs … the ancestors did not view the afterlife in a materialistic sense … that is, joining the Source for eternal happiness involves a spiritual growth here while living, and that after death, one does not continue to worry about physical needs, worries, and desires … I believe that’s where the message of real Iranian beliefs is often masked or misunderstood or misinterpreted in creating a heaven filled with unlimited food, hot lovers, and everlasting youth & health …

A picture from Roman Mithraic Cult statue 

showing scorpion attacking the bull's testicles (it should be noted that this is another spin-off of the ancient Iranian lion-n-bull struggle depicting seasonal change or life challenges as seen here

  also the Taurus represents Spring time while Scorpio represents the Autumn … the constellations Taurus and Scorpio are on opposite points of the Zodiac as well as seen here

The Official Site of Sheda Vasseghi

Persian Rug - فرش ایرانی

Being Iranian, I am fascinated by Persian rugs and the exquisite uniqueness that defines them. The art of carpet weaving in Iran is deeply connected with the culture and the customs of the country.

Being away from California,  surrounded by snow in Switzerland and far from my natural  “soft fascinations” (read flowers, sunshine, rustling trees) I am experiencing a funny sense of “ecoanxiety” that may be cured by writing about my favorite permanent garden: the Persian Rug…

The designs (naghsheh or cartoon—a grid on paper with spaces colored to guide rug weavers in selecting pile yarns) are still mostly drawn by hand even though computers are doing wonders in this field.

Iranians are literally conceived, born and brought up on Persian rugs! Warmed by their soft and comfortable texture,  touching, caressing,  lying down and relaxing on them, comes naturally to Persians. The rugs add warmth underfoot like my favorite red carpet with these gorgeous Shah Abbasi patterns (with floral and leaf motifs mainly in the form of lotus blossoms):

The density of tightly woven Persian knots (or guereh) are the calibrating tool for the quality of the rug,

a good Nain rug may have 500 kpsi or 500 knots per square inch (farsibaaf,  asymmetric or Persian pile knot.)

This is how a flower looks on the back of this Nain (Na’in):

and the same carpet from the front:

Like most textiles, carpets consist of warps  (tar) and wefts (pud). The warps are the threads running the length of the carpet. The wefts are the threads that run across its breadth. This is the same carpet spread out:

Persian rugs go by region (cities mostly— like Tabriz, Esfahan, Nain, Kashan, Kerman, etc…) and each region has its MasterWeaver brand. A small encased signature can usually be found in the minor border likeHabibian in Nain, Pirouzian in Tabriz and Taghavi in Bijar.

The most important signature must be Maqsud Kashani’s (from 1540) on the famous pair of Ardabil Carpets. A poem of Hafez is woven into thecartouche:

“Except for thy threshold, there is no refuge for me in all the world.

Except for this door there is no resting place for my head.”

جز آستان تو‌ام در جهان پناهی نیست

سر مرا بجز این در حواله گاهی‌ نیست

The Ardabil Carpets  have an interesting story:  the lower field and border of one of them has been used to restore the other (now in Victoria and Albert Museum in London). The used and abused twin sister was kept in the dark (not to outshine the V&A version) until 1931 and finally found her way to Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1965.

After exhaustive restoration done to the dazzling beauty, the LACMA sister was finally shown last year (look at how they had to wash it!)

The Ardabil carpets are the world’s oldest dated and historically important carpets in the world. This is the twin sister in Victoria and Albert museumin London:

It all comes down to this fundamental design that I just finished reproducing for the blog:

A love for fine Farsh (rug in persian) i

Even though I have visited the great Manufacture des Gobelins some years ago,

I am dying to see the real thing in Iran,

and take some great pictures.

I will leave you with this superb painting of my favorite Orientalist painter, Gerôme, called The Carpet Merchant (ca 1887):

 by Michele Roohani

Five Ancient New Year’s Celebrations

There’s nothing new about New Year’s. Festivals marking the beginning of the calendar have existed for millennia, and a few are still actively observed by millions of people around the world. Get the facts on the ways 5 ancient civilizations rang in the New Year.These early New Year’s celebrations often had important social, political and religious implications, but in some cultures the holiday traditions were not so different from the champagne, parties and fireworks of today. Get the facts on the ways 5 ancient civilizations rang in the New Year.

 

1. Babylonian Akitu

Following the first new moon after the vernal equinox in late March, the Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia would honor the rebirth of the natural world with a multi-day festival called Akitu. This early New Year’s celebration dates back to around 2000 B.C., and is believed to have been deeply intertwined with religion and mythology. During the Akitu, statues of the gods were paraded through the city streets, and rites were enacted to symbolize their victory over the forces of chaos. Through these rituals the Babylonians believed the world was symbolically cleansed and recreated by the gods in preparation for the new year and the return of spring.

One fascinating aspect of the Akitu involved a kind of ritual humiliation endured by the Babylonian king. This peculiar tradition saw the king brought before a statue of the god Marduk, stripped of his royal regalia and forced to swear that he had led the city with honor. A high priest would then slap the monarch and drag him by his ears in the hope of making him cry. If royal tears were shed, it was seen as a sign that Marduk was satisfied and had symbolically extended the king’s rule. Some historians have since argued that these political elements suggest the Akitu was used by the monarchy as a tool for reaffirming the king’s divine power over his people.

 

2. Nowruz

While it is still celebrated in Iran and other parts of the Middle East and Asia, the roots of Nowruz (or “New Day”) reach far back into antiquity. Often called the “Persian New Year,” this 13-day spring festival falls on or around the vernal equinox in March and is believed to have originated in modern day Iran as part of the Zoroastrian religion. Official records of Nowruz did not appear until the 2nd century, but most historians believe its celebration dates back at least as far as the 6th century B.C. and the rule of the Achaemenid Empire. Unlike many other ancient Persian festivals, Nowruz persisted as an important holiday even after Iran’s conquest by Alexander the Great in 333 BC and the rise of Islamic rule in the 7th century A.D.

Ancient observances of Nowruz focused on the rebirth that accompanied the return of spring. Monarchs would use the holiday to host lavish banquets, dispense gifts and hold audiences with their subjects. Other traditions included feasts, exchanging presents with family members and neighbors, lighting bonfires, dyeing eggs and sprinkling water to symbolize creation. One unique ritual that arose around the 10th century involved electing a “Nowruzian Ruler”: a commoner who would pretend to be king for several days before being “dethroned” near the end of the festival. Nowruz has evolved considerably over time, but many of its ancient traditions—particularly the use of bonfires and colored eggs—remain a part of the modern holiday, which is observed by an estimated 300 million people each year.

 

3. Ancient Roman Celebration of Janus

The Roman New Year also originally corresponded with the vernal equinox, but years of tampering with the solar calendar eventually saw the holiday established on its more familiar date of January 1. For the Romans, the month of January carried a special significance. Its name was derived from the two-faced deity Janus, the god of change and beginnings. Janus was seen as symbolically looking back at the old and ahead to the new, and this idea became tied to the concept of transition from one year to the next.

Romans would celebrate January 1 by giving offerings to Janus in the hope of gaining good fortune for the new year. This day was seen as setting the stage for the next twelve months, and it was common for friends and neighbors to make a positive start to the year by exchanging well wishes and gifts of figs and honey with one another. According to the poet Ovid, most Romans also chose to work for at least part of New Year’s Day, as idleness was seen as a bad omen for the rest of the year.

Roman coins depicting Janus

 

4. Ancient Egyptian Wepet Renpet

Ancient Egyptian culture was closely tied to the Nile River, and it appears their New Year corresponded with its annual flood. According the Roman writer Censorinus, the Egyptian New Year was predicted when Sirius—the brightest star in the night sky—first became visible after a 70-day absence. Better known as a heliacal rising, this phenomenon typically occurred in mid-July just before the annual inundation of the Nile River, which helped ensure that farmlands remained fertile for the coming year. Egyptians celebrated this new beginning with a festival known as Wepet Renpet, which means “opening of the year.” The New Year was seen as a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, and it was honored with feasts and special religious rites.

Not unlike many people today, the Egyptians may have also used this as an excuse for getting a bit tipsy. Recent discoveries at the Temple of Mut show that during the reign of Hatshepsut the first month of the year played host to a “Festival of Drunkenness.” This massive party was tied to the myth of Sekhmet, a war goddess who had planned to kill all of humanity until the sun god Ra tricked her into drinking herself unconscious. In honor of mankind’s salvation, the Egyptians would celebrate with music, sex, revelry and—perhaps most important of all—copious amounts of beer.

 

5. Chinese New Year

One of the oldest traditions still celebrated today is Chinese New Year, which is believed to have originated over 3,000 years ago during the Shang Dynasty. The holiday began as a way of celebrating the new beginnings of the spring planting season, but it later became entangled with myth and legend. According to one popular tale, there was once a bloodthirsty creature called Nian—now the Chinese word for “year”—that preyed on villages every New Year. In order to frighten the hungry beast, the villagers took to decorating their homes with red trimmings, burning bamboo and making loud noises. The ruse worked, and the bright colors and lights associated with scaring off Nian eventually became integrated into the celebration.

Festivities traditionally last 15 days and tend to center on the home and the family. People clean their houses to rid them of bad luck, and some repay old debts as a way of settling the previous year’s affairs. In order to encourage an auspicious start to the year they also decorate their doors with paper scrolls and gather with relatives for a feast. Following the invention of gunpowder in the 10th century, the Chinese were also the first to ring in the New Year with fireworks. Since Chinese New Year is still based on a lunar calendar that dates back to the second millennium BC, the holiday typically falls in late January or early February on the second new moon after the winter solstice. Each year is associated with one of 12 zodiacal animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

 

From History Channel

The roots of early modern Western explorers coming from ancient Iran

In his 1920 book “The Splendid Wayfaring,” American poet, philosopher and historian John Neihardt beautifully describes the roots of early modern Western explorers coming from ancient Iran as noted below with my observations in brackets

those “under the guise of many nationalities, speaking as many different tongues, yet the main line of descent runs clear. We might liken the ancient Aryan spirit [note, Indo-Iranian stock] to a prairie fire driven by an east wind out of Mesopotamia and destined to burn across a world. Now it flared up in Persia [note, the sacred fire of yearning for exploration, enlightenment and wisdom as revered by ancient Iranian beliefs known as Zoroastrianism], and the gloom of the Past is still painted with that flare. Now it was a white radiance in Greece, the clear illumination of which still guides the feet of men.

Note - Greek philosophy has its roots in Zoroastrianism and the first world empire Achaemenid Iran era 550-330 BCE-

Now it burned ruddily in Rome, spread around the Mediterranean, and became as a golden noonday to all the known world. Then it drove northward and lit Europe with a succession of illuminations. Now its lowing center was in the Empire of Charlemagne [note, an early European king in contact with the East and who received gifts from the Persian court], now in Spain under the great Philip [note, southern Spain had colonies of Middle Easterners especially Persians for some 500 years], now in France under the Grand Monarch [note, the Franks took many symbols from Persian kingdom given their contacts during the Crusades; hence, Persians refer to all things Western as “Farangi” or “Frankish”- now in England under Elizabeth [note, the queen’s tutor taught her the “Education of Cyrus” – the biography of Persian king Cyrus the Great

 Though whipped by cross-winds and freakish gusts, changing ever by that upon which it fed, yet it was ever the same flame, ever yearning westward — in its rear the ashes of fallen empires, in its van the rising, and falling light of what was yet to be. At last, borne as a torch by the discoverers and explorers of the Western Hemisphere, that flame was rekindled in our own Colonial history." American Founding Fathers studied Cyrus the Great as well as the Achaemenid Persian Empire in addition to the Greco-Roman heritage

-pic Darkstar: “A map of early Indo-Iranian migration and the spread of Indo-Iranian languages … based on the hypothesis of symmetric wave expansion from central foci with further migration along most suitable geographical routes” 

Persian's Objects

The Perfume-Holder 

pic Chrysler Museum of Art: A beautiful Sasanian Persian era Iran (dated late 6th c.) perfume or cosmetic container with its clever pack animal decorated with an amethyst stone … one is unaware of any such creative & delicate designs in modern era to enchant the ladies by their lovers … these Iranian-made containers remained popular through medieval era even post 1st brutal Islamic invasion of mid-7th century … for educational purposes only

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Female Rider

Iranian Parthians and Persians “ride on horseback on all occasions; on horses they go to war, and to feasts; on horses they discharge public and private duties; on horses they go abroad, meet together, traffic, and converse … for a certain roughness of behavior they think becoming to men, and gentleness only to women.”

~ quote from Justin's “History of the World” (3rd c. ?) taken from Trogus Pompeius in “Justin, Cornelius Nepos and Eutropius”

pic The Chrysler Museum of Art: The museum doesn’t specify gender but it looks like a female rider to me from 13th c. Iran

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Greco-Persian vessel

pic National Museum of History Taiwan: Either a Greco-Persian vessel from Sasanian Persian era Iran (224-651) or a vessel made with Greco-Persian (Sasanian era) influences … the museum is unclear and doesn’t provide a date for the artwork … the vessel combines Iranian animal-shaped handles looking into a vessel for protection as well as Iranian lotus or fleur-de-lis made with Western (Greek) motif … we’ve discussed before the importance of dragons in Iranian beliefs … even in medieval Sufism based on ancient Iranian beliefs one may reach the truth by facing the dragon which symbolizes both the good and the bad (depending on one’s choice) … note the fire on the tails of the dragons … FIRE – a highly significant element in Iranian (overall Indo-European) beliefs

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Gold Rider

pic lessing-photo: A gold rider with a missing horse from Achaemenid Persian era (5th-4th BCE) found in a temple on the banks of the river Oxus in modern Tajikistan; note along with traditional Iranian tunic/pants, he's wearing the Iranian hat also known as Phrygian cap or Liberty cap

===================================

Carved limestone fire altar from Parthian

there are nations that are under [God’s] special care, as was Israel of old, and Persia during the reign of the virtuous Cyrus [the Great] … God rules by disciplining a favored people, rather than by lavishing unmixed blessings

 quote by Rev. Robert Norton (1865) in St. Catharine’s (Canada West), published in The Magazine of History Vol. 22-1923

special divine care is not mysterious or necessarily reserved for one nation over another gaining access to it is simple … since the first Islamic invasion of 7th c. Iran's “discipline” which is the basis for natural cosmic order in a society has been trampled upon … Iran’s “freedom” depends on regaining its native disciplined ways which brings about FARR (good fortune) to its people and land 

pic anaviangallery: A carved limestone fire altar from Parthian (Ashkanian) era Iran (@200 BCE) … the 4 faces on top represent north/south/east/west (the ancient notion of the Four Corners of the World) with the historical Iranian symbol of the lion-n-sun … for educational purposes only

======================

Bronze Candlestick

“Must it not be that the dragon-slayer is constantly sustained by the One who grips the world”

quote by legendary Iranian crown prince Isfandiyar of the Kayanian dynasty

The Shahnameh, completed 1010 … the Iranian national epic and savior of its identity from Islamization=Arabization

The dragon/mega-serpent (Indo-European languages -- Azi in Eastern Iranian Avestan for "serpent / dragon"; Middle Persian azdahag; sister Sanskrit ahi; Latin anguis) is literary intertwined in Indo-Iranian beliefs and national history … we’ve also discussed the symbol of the dragon in Sufism, an early medieval post-first Islamic invasion revival & evolutionary movement of native Iranian beliefs centered on humanism known as Zoroastrianism given there is no humanism in foreign Islamic teachings

Since ancient times Indo-Iranians associated the dragon with water … Iranians also connected the dragon with fire and earth … it represents a duality in that the dragon may be either a guardian of nature or a destructive force … in medieval Iran, the power of the dragon was a sign of changes in cosmic order or human events

pic The David Collection: A beautiful bronze candlestick from Timurid era Iran/Afghanistan (15th c.) … for educational purposes only

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i

“ÂDÎNEH -- آدینه” The week days' name and

 Let me begin by stating that the Zoroastrian Religion has no week names. It has the names of the twelve months and the thirty days of each month plus the five or six days to complete the year of 365.2422 days and to begin the exact solar year on Nowrûz – Newday, the beginning of Spring on or about 21^st March at its hour, minute and second. Therefore, the names of the week were introduced after the fall of the Sassanian Empire in 652 CE, perhaps during the Umayyad/Abbasid times (661-1258 CE).

 

No doubt that the Jews, living in the Greater Iran from the days of Cyrus the Great to Yazdgerd III (550 BCE to 651 CE = 1,201 years), observed their week days. That is why the Persian names of the week are based on “Shanbeh/Shanbed – Sabbath.” They are Shanbeh, Saturday, Yak-Shanbeh, Sunday, Do-Shanbeh, Monday, Se-Shanbeh, Tuesday, Chahâr-Shanbeh, Wednesday, and Panj-Shanbeh, Thursday. All based on the Sabbath. Yek means one, do means two, se means three, chahâr means four and panj means five. 

The days are one to five days [after] Sabbath/Saturday. Friday was, most likely, Shesh-Shanbeh, Six-[days after] Saturday. It is now, by its Arabicized name, called “Jom’eh,” the Congregation day of the Muslims and also “Âdîneh,” a pure Persian name.

 

Then, why the pure Persian name is also used beside its Arabicized form of “Jom’eh?”  The term “Âdîneh” for Friday is not found in the highly known Shahnameh of Ferdowsi (completed in 1010 CE) and the important Persian dictionary “Borhân-e Qât’e” of Mohammad Hossein Khalaf-e Tabrizi with a pen name of “Borhân” (completed in 1652 CE). That makes the term to have been introduced later than 1652, more than 1,000 years after the Arab invasion and occupation. 

A thorough search of the Persian literature of the last 350 years has to be taken to find its first use. To the best of my knowledge, so far no one has ventured to find the beginning of its use. It may be noted that the flow of Arabic words into Persian was intensified during the Safavid and Qajar times and their contemporaries in India, the Mughals (1500-1900). Therefore, either it was introduced by a so-far-unknown scholar before the start of the so-called “enriching” of Persian by Arabic words or it should have been introduced sometime during the early period of the movement of replacing the Arabic words with pure Persian words, the last 75+ years.

 

From the philological point, I look at the form of “Âdîneh” in Pahlavi. The trouble with the Pahlavi script is that it has only 13 alphabetic letters to write about 24 sounds. Then it has the Aramaic logograms. A word can be with three or four sounds. 

It is perhaps one of the most intricate scripts to read. Therefore, the closest I find, with its various pronunciations, is “Âdwanak, Âdwank, Âdenak and Âdenk.” The word is homonym. It means “mirror” as well as “custom, manner, rite.” Incidentally, the Baluchi for mirror is “âdenk” but in Persian the “d” is lost and it has softened into “âyeneh/âyîneh.” Let us keep in mind that the Pahlavi “âdwen,” also for “custom, manner, rite,” becomes “âzîn/âyîn” in Persian. Therefore “Âdîneh,” is an older form of “âyîneh” in modern Persian and is closer to the Pahlavi “Âdenak,” meaning “custom, manner, rite.”

 

I, therefore, conclude that Friday has been named “Âdîneh” because it is day of Rite in Islam. It was used by a good scholar of Persian to give the Iranians a pure Persian name that would go better with the Shanbehs than the single Arabic word of “Jom’eh.”  “Âdîneh” is just a tiny clue to the fact that while the nations, from the northern border of the Arabian Peninsula to the northwestern African Morocco, became at least linguistically Arabicized; the Iranian stock, from the Kurds of Iraq, Syria and Turkey to the Tajiks and Afghans of the borders with China in the east, have preserved their Iranian Culture, including their languages, dresses and foods for the last 1,400 years, particularly Persian, which became the common language of all of them and even dominated the Indian Subcontinent for 800 years until the British and Russian imperialists made English and Russian to supersede it. Yes, “Âdîneh” is a tiny clue and yet of significance.

By Ali A. Jafarey

THE TEXTUAL SOURCES OF ZOROASTRIANISM

- The Avesta

The chief source for the teachings of Zarathushtra (known to the West as Zoroaster) is the compilation of holy works called the Avesta, a name which probably means The Injunction (of Zarathushtra)'. The Avesta is composed in two stages of an otherwise unrecorded Eastern Iranian language: 'Gathic' Avestan (GAv.), which in its forms is close to the language of the Indian Rigveda (which is generally assigned to the second millennium B.C.); and 'Younger' Avestan (YAv.). Gathic Avestan takes its name from the chief texts to survive in this dialect, i.e. the seventeen Gathas composed by the prophet himself. Although only this part of the Avesta is directly attributable to him, traditionally the whole Avesta is held to be inspired by his teachings; and many Younger Avestan texts are presented as if directly revealed to him by God. When Zarathushtra lived the Iranians were not familiar with writing; and for many centuries afterwards they regarded this alien art as fit only for secular purposes. All their religious works were handed down orally; it was not until probably the fifth century A.C. that they were at last committed to writing, in the 'Avestan' alphabet, especially invented for the purpose. The oldest extant ms. is dated to 1323 A.C.

- The Gathas

The word 'gatha' (which exists also in Sanskrit) is variously rendered as 'hymn', 'poem', or 'psalm'. Zarathushtra's Gathas are short verse texts, cast largely in the form of utterances addressed by him to Ahura Mazda; and they convey, through inspired poetry, visions of God and his purposes, and prophecies of things to come, here and hereafter. They are full of passionate feeling and conviction, with meaning densely packed into subtle and allusive words; and in form they belong, it seems, to an ancient and learned tradition of religious poetry composed by priestly seers, who sought through study and meditation to reach direct communion with the divine. However, they are the only examples of this tradition to survive in Iran; and this literary isolation, together with their great antiquity, means that they contain many words of unknown or uncertain meaning, and have baffling complexities of grammar and syntax. All this, added to their depth and originality of thought, makes them extraordinarily difficult to translate. Only a few verses can be understood by themselves in a wholly unambiguous way; but keys to their interpretation are provided by the Younger Avesta and the Pahlavi Zand (see below), which set out clearly doctrines often only alluded to in the Gathas. Linguistically the Rigveda, being composed in a closely related sister language of comparable antiquity, provides great help. The living tradition of the faith, especially in worship, is also an invaluable aid.

- The Gathic portion of the Yasna

The Gathas were piously preserved by being made part of the liturgy of the Yasna (Y.), the 'Act of worship', which was solemnised daily. They were arranged formally in five groups, according to their five metres, and were set before and after the Yasna Haptanhaiti (YHapt.), the 'Worship of the seven Sections'. This, also in Gathic Avestan, appears to be made up of what are in essence even more ancient texts, composed to accompany the traditional offerings to fire and water, and revised in the light of Zarathushtra's teachings. So in Zoroastrian worship the Gathas, as the greatest of manthras (inspired holy utterances) guard the central rituals of the faith with their sacred power. Before and after them the four great prayers are recited, brief but very holy utterances which are constantly being said.

- The Younger Avestan portions of the Yasna

The Yasna liturgy was extended over the centuries, and finally grew to have seventy-two sections. These, almost all in Younger Avestan, are of varying age and content. The Gathic texts were kept at the heart of the liturgy, being now protected in their turn by the Younger Avestan additions.

- The Yashts

Some of the materials of the extended Yasna were taken from the Yashts (Yt.), hymns to the lesser divine beings of Zoroastrianism. A few of these are known as the 'great yashts', because of their length, and the poetic quality and antiquity of some of their verses, which (as Rigvedic parallels show) go back in substance to the Indo-Iranian period i.e. to at least 2000 B.C.; but even such ancient materials survive in the Younger Avestan dialect, since only the Gathic texts were exactly memorised, because of their great holiness. Other, less sacred, works were handed down in a more fluid oral transmission, that is, partly memorised, partly composed afresh by each generation of poet-priests, so that the language in which they were recited evolved with the spoken tongue. New matter was also added, so that these too are composite works, with explicitly Zoroastrian doctrines closely interwoven with older traditional matter, and with later materials.

- The Vendidad

The Vendidad (Vd.) is a mixed collection of prose texts in late Younger Avestan, probably compiled in the Parthian period. Most are concerned with the purity laws, as a means of combating the forces of evil; and its name, a corruption of Av. Vidaevadata, means 'Against the Daevas' i.e. the evil beings. At some stage, probably during the early Islamic period, it was made part of a night celebration of the Yasna, being read aloud then in its entirety. Even today this is the only liturgical text which is not recited entirely from memory.

- The Visperad

This long liturgy consists of an extended Yasna with Vendidad, the extensions being mainly additional invocations. Its name means the '(Worship of) All the Masters'; and it was solemnised especially on the seven great holy days of the faith (see 1.6).

- The Nyayesh and Gah

The five Nyayesh (Ny.) are prayers for regular recitation by priests and laity alike. They are addressed to the Sun and Mithra (to be recited together, three times a day); the Moon (three times a month); the Waters and Fire. They again are composite works and contain verses from the Gathas and Yashts, as well as later material. The five Gah are texts of similar character. They are meant to form part of the prayers to be recited during each of the five divisions (gah) of the twenty-four hours, and contain invocations of the lesser divinities who watch over each of these periods (cf. 2.3.3.21).

- The Khorda or Little Avesta

This name is given to selections from the above texts which, together with some Middle Persian ones, form a book of common prayer. Every Khorda Avesta contains the same body of essential prayers for everyday use, but there is some variation in their arrangement, and in the selections from the Yashts. Some have at the end a few prayers in a modern language (Persian or Gujarati). The laity have used Khorda Avestas only since the nineteenth century A.C. (when the holy texts were first printed); before then they learnt all their prayers by heart from the family priest or their parents.

- The 'Great' Avesta

Under the Sasanians a canon of Avestan texts was established, grouped into twenty-one nasks (books); and it was this massive collection of holy texts which was at last committed to writing in the fifth or sixth century A.C. This 'Great' Avesta contained all the texts already described, and much else, including the life and legends of the prophet, expositions of doctrine, apocalyptic works, and books of law, cosmogony, and scholastic science. Copies were presumably placed in the libraries of the chief fire temples; but during the Islamic period these fire temples were all destroyed, through successive conquests by Arabs, Turks and Mongols, and not a single copy of the Great Avesta survives. The scope of its contexts is, however, known from a detailed summary given in a Pahlavi book, the Denkard (see below); and from this it appears that the extant Avestan texts amount to about a quarter of the whole canon. They survived because they were in constant devotional use, and so were both known by heart and set down in mss. which were frequently recopied by priests in their own homes.

- Avesta fragments

Some fragments of Avestan texts survive. They include portions of the Hadhokht Nask, which appears to have been used at one time liturgically; and parts of two very cryptic and difficult works on priestly rituals, the Nirangistan and Herbadistan.

- The Pahlavi Zand

Zand or 'Interpretation' is a term for the exegesis of Avestan texts through glosses, commentaries and translations. There existed of old a Zand in the Avestan language itself, whose glosses are sometimes incorporated in the original texts; and there would have been Zands in the various languages of the diverse Iranian peoples down to the fourth century A.C. Thereafter the Sasanians, the last Zoroastrian dynasty to rule Iran, imposed their own language, Middle Persian or Pahlavi, generally. The Middle Persian Zand is therefore the only one to survive fully, and it is regarded accordingly as 'the' Zand. Middle Persian has a grammar which is so simple that it can produce ambiguities; and it is written in a difficult script, with too few letters for clarity, and the use of fossilised Aramaic ideograms. Its study therefore presents its own difficulties.

- The Zand of extant Avestan texts

Almost all extant Avestan texts, except the Yashts, have their Zand, which in some mss. is written together with the Avesta. The two were often spoken of in one phrase, as Zand-Avesta, so that at first Western scholars took Zand to be a synonym for Avesta, or to refer to the language in which the holy texts are written. Where the Avesta and Zand coexist, it can be seen how priestly scholars first translated the Avestan as literally as possible, then often gave a more idiomatic Middle Persian translation, and finally added explanations and commentaries, often of ever-increasing length, sometimes with differing authorities being cited.

- The Zand of lost Avestan texts

Several important Pahlavi books consist largely or in part of selections from the Zand of lost Avestan nasks, often cited by name; and by comparing these with the Zand of extant texts it becomes possible to distinguish fairly confidently the translation from the paraphrases and commentaries, and so to attain knowledge of missing doctrinal and narrative Avestan works. Among these Pahlavi books is the Bundahishn (Bd.), 'Creation', which deals not only with creation and its purposes, but also with the nature of the divine beings, and with eschatology. It exists in two recensions, known as the Iranian or Greater (because longer) Bundahishn, and the Indian Bundahishn. It has the subtitle Zand-Agahih, 'Knowledge from the Zand'. Wizidagiha, 'Selections' (from the Zand), were compiled by a leading Persian priest, Zadspram, in the ninth century A.C. (WZ.), and include materials for the life of the prophet, which existed in more than one Avestan nask. More details of his life, also taken from the Zand, are contained in the Denkard (Dk.). This, the 'Acts of the Religion', is a massive compilation of very diverse materials, made in the ninth and tenth centuries A.C. This was a period of considerable literary activity by Zoroastrian priests, in the face of the growing threat posed by Islam; but much of the matter which they then re-edited for the enlightenment of their community was very ancient in substance.

- Other anonymous Pahlavi works

Much Pahlavi literature remains essentially an oral literature committed to writing, which retains many of the characteristics of oral composition. Thus most Pahlavi works are anonymous, and successive redactors felt free to add to them at will, or to rehandle them for their own purposes. It is usually impossible, therefore, to date such works effectively, since their contents may range from the very ancient to matter contemporary with the last redactor.

- Pahlavi works of known authorship

A few Pahlavi works by named individuals survive, composed between the sixth and tenth centuries A.C. All, being preserved by priestly copyists, are concerned in some way with religion.

- Persian Zoroastrian writings

After the tenth century even Zoroastrians abandoned composition in Pahlavi almost entirely for modern Persian, written in Arabic script with many Arabic loan words. Gradually the community was reduced by persecution to a poor and intellectually isolated minority, whose energies had to go into surviving and into preserving the core of the teachings of their faith. The Persian Zoroastrian writings, whether in prose or verse, consist therefore mainly of re-renderings of older materials.

- Sanskrit, Old Gujarati and Pazand writings

In the ninth century A.C. a band of Zoroastrians left Iran to find religious freedom in Gujarat, western India, where they were known as Parsis, i.e. Persians. They adopted Gujarati as their mother tongue, and in the late eleventh or early twelfth century some of their scholar priests began translating Avestan texts from the Middle Persian Zand into Sanskrit and Old Gujarati. Some other Pahlavi texts were also translated, or were transcribed into the clear Avestan alphabet. The latter process, being a form of interpretation, was known as 'pa-zand\ Pazand texts, transcribed phonetically, represent a late and often corrupt Middle Persian pronunciation, and so present their own problems.

-The Persian Rivayats

From the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries Irani and Parsi priests corresponded sporadically on matters of ritual and observance. The Iranis' answers to Parsi questions are preserved as the 'Persian Rivayats', and shed valuable light on the religious life of the community, and especially on the operation of the far-reaching purity laws.

- Modern literature

From the mid-nineteenth century, when the Parsis were prospering greatly, there is a considerable Parsi literature, in Gujarati and English, concerned with doctrines and observances. Down to this period the Zoroastrian tradition appears highly conservative and orthodox; but the community suffered severe mental and emotional shocks through the abruptness of its encounter with the world of modern thought; many of its devout members were left confused and troubled, and began to look hurriedly for new interpretations of ancient doctrines and rituals. Many Parsi devotional works, from this time onward, are unconsciously influenced therefore by Christian, Hindu or theosophical teachings, and some reformist ones incline to a simple theism, with virtually no observances. From the twentieth century there is a smaller body of corresponding Persian writings by Iranis, in which some unconscious Muslim influence is also apparent. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Parsi priests began to write detailed expositions of the rituals and ceremonies of the faith, in Gujarati and English. The Pahlavi ritual texts are too technical and concise to be readily understood, and so these more recent works are valuable for the light they shed on Zoroastrian worship. This is the more important since Parsis do not admit non-Zoroastrians to their holy places.

Secular records

- Records of the Achaemenian period (c.550-330B.C

Towards the end of the second millennium B.C. the Iranian tribes moved south off the steppes, and gradually conquered and settled the land now called, after them, Iran. Eastern Iranians evidently carried Zoroastrianism with them, and eventually the western Iranians, i.e. the Medes and Persians, also adopted the faith. It became the religion of the Persian Achaemenians, whose empire (see map) was the greatest in the ancient world; and religious material occurs in their inscriptions. The Avesta itself remained, however, Eastern Iranian in substance as well as language, and there is no reference in it to these or any other Western Iranians, although the Medo-Persian magi became the best known of the Zoroastrian priests.

There are also a number of notices of the 'Persian religion' by Greek writers at this period, and after Alexander's conquest of the Achaemenian empire. This conquest appears to have done much harm to the transmission of Avestan texts, through the slaughter of priests.

- Records of the Parthian period (c. 141 B.C.-224 A.C

The Arsacids, coming from north-east Iran, established the second Iranian empire, that of the Parthians. Their scanty written records show that they too upheld the Zoroastrian faith. There are Greek and Latin references to Zoroastrian observances at this time, and traces survive in Pahlavi literature of the Parthian transmission of religious texts. A long Parthian courtly romance, 'Vis u Ramin', contains interesting Zoroastrian material.

- Records of the Sasanian period (c. 224-651 A.C

The second Persian empire, that of the Sasanians, is the epoch from which Zoroastrianism as an imperial faith is best known. The early kings, and their high priest, Kirder, left inscriptions; and in the fifth century Persian priests began to compile an immense chronicle, the 'Book of Kings' (MP. Khwaday Namag, NP. Shahname), whose early sections linked the Sasanian dynasty artificially with Vishtaspa, Zarathushtra's royal patron. This chronicle survives only through Arabic translations and the great Persian epic version of it by Firdausi, finished c. 1000 A.C. A number of other Sasanian works which contain some Zoroastrian matter are known only through Arabic or NP. renderings.

- Notices by Muslim writers

After the overthrow of the Sasanian empire by the Muslim Arabs a number of notices of Zoroastrians occur in Muslim histories and geographies. These are most numerous in the ninth and tenth centuries, and cease with the Mongol conquest of Iran in the thirteenth century, after which the Irani Zoroastrians become too insignificant in numbers and status to be further regarded.

- Early Parsi records

In 1599 a Parsi priest completed a poem in Persian, the 'Qissa-i Şanjan'. Celebrating the history of the oldest Parsi sacred fire, it is based mainly on early oral traditions of the Parsis. From this time on Parsi records of various kinds (inscriptions, legal documents, genealogies, etc.) increase steadily.

- Notices by European merchants and travellers

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries European merchants and travellers encountered Zoroastrians in Iran and India and wrote reports of them.

- Modern Parsi and European writings

In the nineteenth century individual lay Parsis published descriptions of the traditional beliefs and practices of their co-religionists; and in this and the following century European scholars did the same for the very similar ones of the older Irani communities. These accounts make it possible to compare traditional Zoroastrianism, as it was lived down to and into modern times, with the growing diversity of beliefs and practices which has been developing since the nineteenth century.

Source

Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism by Mary Boyce

کتاب: "رواداری در سراسر جهان" - به آلمانی

شاید هیچگاه همانند امروز "رواداری و بردباری " (تساهل و تسامح) برای مردمان جهان به این اندازه ارزشمند و مهم نبوده است. تاکنون" رواداری و بردباری" در باختر زمین تنها با رویکرد به تاریخ اروپا نگریسته و کاویده شده است.

در این کتاب بیش از ۳۰ پژوهشگر و کارشناس از سراسر جهان با کاردانی ها و ویژگی های گوناگون پژوهش پیرامون "رواداری و بردباری" در فرهنگ ها و دین های گوناگون را بررسی نمودند. 

کتاب نامبرده برای دانشجویان رشته های فلسفه، الهیات، مطالعات دینی و فرهنگی و حقوق بسیار در خور نگرش و ارزش است.

"این کتاب از آغاز سال ۲۰۱۳ میلادی در کتابخانه های آلمان در دسترس می باشد"

گزیده ای از پژوهش ها:

بردباری در آیین بودا: ایکو هاناکوا

بردباری در آیین هندو: مارتین میتوده

بردباری در آیین زرتشت: آریا همایون

بردباری در مسیحیت: هانس والدنفلس

بردباری در اسلام: بکایر آلبوگا

بردباری در یهودیت: جورج هاسلهوف

بردباری در آیین کنفسیوس: هوریو لیو

بردباری در آیین شینتو: کیکوتو یوشیدا

بردباری در آیین سیک: خشونت سیغ

... و بسیار پژوهش های دیگر...

پژوهشی از سوی دانشگاه های تریر و کوبلنس آلمان

^{----------------------------------------------------------------------------}

^{The book : No, tolerance in world context}

^{It is the first time, 30 scientists from all over the world with different cultures and have researched the subject of tolerance.I did research on tolerance in Zoroastrianism.}

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The book : No, tolerance in world context

It is the first time, 30 scientists from all over the world with different cultures and have researched the subject of tolerance.I did research on tolerance in Zoroastrianism.

-----------------------------------------------

Im Auftrag der Universitäten Trier und Koblenz haben folgenden Wissenschaftler für unsere Zeit das wichtigste Thema „Toleranz“ behandelt und geforscht. Bliebt uns die Hoffnung dass dadurch ein Weg geebnet wird dass die Menschen weltweit mehr füreinander Verständnis finden.

Toleranz im Welt Kontext

Vielleicht nie zuvor war Toleranz so wichtig wie in der heutigen Welt, in der Menschen verschiedenster Kulturregionen und Religionsgemeinschaften zusammenkommen. Der Toleranzbegriff wird nach wie vor fast ausschließlich aus der Perspektive der europäisch-westlichen dargestellt. Mit dem vorliegenden Band wird zum ersten Mal versucht, umfassend in die Weltgeschichte der Toleranz einzuführen. Über 30 Autoren aus verschiedenen Fachgebieten und Nationen haben ihre Forschungen zu Methoden und Themen der Toleranzfrage zusammengetragen. So ist sowohl ein einführendes und weitere Forschungen anregendes Kompendium als auch ein Lehrbuch für Studierende der Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften, der Philosophie, Theologie, Rechts- sowie Religionswissenschaften entstanden. 

(Ein Ausschnitt aus dem Buch. Dieses interessantes Buch ist erst ab Januar 2013 bei den Buchhandlugen zu bekommen.)

Autoren:

Toleranz in größeren Religionsgemeinschaften:

Eiko Hanaoka

Toleranz im Buddhismus

Martin Mittwede

Toleranz im Hinduismus

Aria Homayoun

Toleranz im Zarathustratum

Hans Waldenfels

Toleranz im Christentum

Bekir Alboga

Toleranz im Islam

Görge K. Hasselhoff

Toleranz im Judentum

Toleranz in kleineren Religionsgemeinschaften:

Huriu Liu

Toleranz im Konfuzianismus

Kikuko Yoshida

Toleranz im Shinto

Khushwant Singh

Toleranz in der Sikh-Religion

Khola Maryam Hübsch

Toleranz in der Ahmadyya Muslim Jamaat

Farah Dustar

Toleranz in der Bahai-Religion 

Und vielen anderen Forschungen...

7th April is World Health Day - روز 18 فروردین برابر با روز جهانی سلامتی

world health day (who) is celebrated on 7 april to mark the anniversary of the founding of who in 1948. each year a theme is selected for world health day that highlights a priority area of public health concern in the world. the theme for 2013 is high blood pressure.

 

روز جهانی سلامتی در سال 1948 پایه گذاری شد و موضوع امسال 2013 فشار خون بالاست 

 

about high blood pressure

high blood pressure – also known as raised blood pressure or hypertension – increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. if left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can also cause blindness, irregularities of the heartbeat and heart failure. the risk of developing these complications is higher in the presence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes. one in three adults worldwide has high blood pressure. the proportion increases with age, from 1 in 10 people in their 20s and 30s to 5 in 10 people in their 50s. prevalence of high blood pressure is highest in some low-income countries in africa, with over 40% of adults in many african countries thought to be affected.

اگر به فشار خون بالا رسیدگی نشود سبب کوری، سکته قلبی و دیگر مرض های قلبی می شود .  از هر سه تن یک تن در دنیا فشار خون بالا دارد - در کشورهای فقسر آفریقا بدلیل فقر زیاد فشار خون بالا بسیار دیده می شودن

however, high blood pressure is both preventable and treatable. in some developed countries, prevention and treatment of the condition, together with other cardiovascular risk factors, has brought about a reduction in deaths from heart disease. 

فشار خون بالا را هم می شود کنترل کرد و هم معالجه . این کنترل و معالجه در کشورهای پیشرفته ریسک بیماری های قلبی را کمتر کرده است

the risk of developing high blood pressure can be reduced by:

• reducing salt intake;
• eating a balanced diet;
• avoiding harmful use of alcohol;
• taking regular physical activity;
• maintaining a healthy body weight; and
• avoiding tobacco use.

ریسک گرفتن فشار خون را با رعایت کردن این چیزها می شود کنترل کرد

• کم کردن نمک در خوراک ها
• خوردن خوراک ها با رعایت دایت
• نخوردن نوشیدنی های الکی
• ورزش کردن و فعالیت های سالم
• وزن مناسب داشتن
• سیگار و قلیون و ... دود نکردن

goals: greater awareness, healthy behaviours, improved detection, and enabling environments

 هدف ها : بیشتر آگاهی داشتن - رفتارهای سالم و محیط سالم  

the ultimate goal of world health day 2013 is to reduce heart attacks and strokes. specific objectives of the campaign are:

• to raise awareness of the causes and consequences of high blood pressure;
• to provide information on how to prevent high blood pressure and related complications;
• to encourage adults to check their blood pressure and to follow the advice of health-care professionals;
• to encourage self-care to prevent high blood pressure;
• to make blood pressure measurement affordable to all; and
• to incite national and local authorities to create enabling environments for healthy behaviours.

:هدف امسال کم کردن سکته قلبیست 

• آگاه سازی مردم در مورد بیماری های قلبی و سکته قلبی از فشار خون بالا
• آگاه سازی مردم پیش از این که مبتلا به فشار خون بالا شوند
• در هر موقعیتی که پیش می آید و دکتر می روید حتما درخواست کنید که فشار خونتان را چک کند
• آگاه ساختن و تشویق کردن مردم به توجه کردن به فشار خونشان
• اگر هر کس وسیله خونگی فشار خون گرفتن را داشته باشند و فشار خون خودشان را بتوانند بگیرند 
• وادار کردن و اصرار کردن مقامات داخلی و خارجی برای بهتر سازی محیط و زندگی  

more information on high blood pressure

برای اطلاع بیشتر می توانید ره این سایت ها مراجعه کنید

new data highlight increases in hypertension, diabetes incidence

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2012/world_health_statistics_20120516/en/index.html

blood pressure: situation and trends

http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/blood_pressure_prevalence/en/index.html

online q&a: how common is raised blood pressure?

http://www.who.int/features/qa/82/en/index.html

global atlas on cardiovascular disease prevention and control

http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/publications/atlas_cvd/en/index.html

http://www.who.int/campaigns/en/

about iran

http://www.who.int/countries/irn/en/

How 5000 years old "golden eye" was founf

The body of a strikingly tall 5,000-year-old woman with an artificial golden eye has been discovered in Iran. Archaeologists said the woman was a female soothsayer or priestess and would have transfixed those around her with her eyeball, making them believe she had occult powers and could see into the future. The 25-30-year old Persian woman, who was almost 6 feet tall, was also buried with an ornate bronze hand mirror so she could check her startling appearance. The golden eyeball is engraved with lines coming out of a central circle like rays of light.

It is a half-sphere with a diameter of just over an inch and made from lightweight material thought to be derived from bitumen paste, which is painted gold. There are two tiny holes drilled on either side of the eyeball, through which a fine thread held it in place. Historians said an imprint on the woman's eye socket proved she wore the golden eye in life, rather than having it placed in her eye at burial.

Zoroastrian dietary laws, animal friendship and stewardship

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Dine.Jahani/permalink/468082163231704/

To say that Dietary laws are not part of the original Zoroastrian teachings and that ALL KIND

 FOOD IS ALLOWED in Zoroastrianism is nothing more than unsubstantiated SHEER NONSENSE. Such baseless statement means only one thing: To eat and kill whatever animal imaginable without any boundaries or restrictions. While such behavior was true for the ancient Romans and is certainly true for many population groups in the Far East and parts of Africa today; nothing is further from the noble teachings of the ancient Aryan sage and prophet than to slaughter and devour whatever imaginable animal for the pleasure and satisfaction of the mortal mankind.

Fundamental to Zarathushtra’s philosophy is the tender loving care, friendship and stewardship of gentle/graceful animals, pets and livestock; (See the 3rd rhymed verse line, second stanza Yasna 28.1, the second rhymed verse line, second stanza Yasna 31.10, the second rhymed verse line, second stanza Yasna 33.3 and the 5th rhymed verse line Yasna 46.4.) 

Zarathushtra teaches that animals have a SOUL and consciousness, (the 3rd rhymed verse line, second stanza Yasna 28.1, the first rhymed verse line, first stanza Yasna 29.1, the second rhymed verse line, first stanza Yasna 29.5, the first rhymed verse line, first stanza Yasna 29.9, Yasna 39.1.) 

We read in the second rhymed verse line of Yasna 32.12; that “Ma(n)zda has spoken ill omen and ruin for those who kill animals with cries of joy.” This prophecy of perdition applies to individuals, cultures and nations who kill animals mercilessly and treat them with cruelty. The ancient prophet strongly condemns gruesome animal sacrifices and shudders away from the demonic idea that sacrificing animals assures human health, well being and long life, (See the 3rd rhymed verse line, Yasna 32.14.)

The seer/sage takes a very strong stand against the unrestrained slaughter and ill treatment of animals, (See the second rhymed verse line, Yasna 29.1, the second rhymed verse line, Yasna 29.7, the first rhymed verse line, Yasna 32.10, the first rhymed verse line, Yasna 32.12, the second rhymed verse line, Yasna 51.14.)

Furthermore, ravenous meat-eating is strictly prohibited per the second rhymed verse line of Yasna 29.7, (See the Südgar Commentary.)

Zarathushtra even defines EVIL; “as willful blindness in matters of the spirit/mind, and not offering protection/stewardship to the creatures,” (See the third rhymed verse line, Yasna 48.10, per the ancient commentaries.) 

Thus, to say that there are no dietary rules and restrictions in Zoroastrianism, and that Zarathushtra did not provide spiritual guidelines to protect animals from cruelty, ill treatment and unrestrained slaughter runs contradictory to the very heart and soul of the poetic gathas.

Avestan Sages, per the second rhymed verse line of Yasna 32.8, have concluded that the flesh of cow, ox, bull, steer, cattle and wild cattle or “Gáüsh” are not permissible for consumption, (Compare Avetan “Gáüsh” with Proto Indo European gwous, Sanskrit gáús, Latvian guovs, Armenian gaus, German. Kuh, Swedish. Ko, Greek. Bous, English cow or bovine.)

This prohibition is extended to cows of the north, (deer, caribou/reindeer, moose and elk,) bison, buffalo, water buffalo, yak, wild cattle, antelope and gazelle. (For Prohibition against consumption of all forms of wild cattle see Bahram Yasht 22-23.)

Yet, dairy products of cattle such as milk, yogurt, cheese, butter and ghee are not only allowed but are highly recommended, provided that cattle range freely, are treated very well, that their milk goes to their young first, and that they are fed a strictly wholesome vegetarian diet. Also there is no prohibition against using cows/cattle as working animals; the emphasis is only on their kind and good treatment, (Regarding the benevolent status of the cow see also Bahram Yasht 6-7, Tishtar Yasht 16-17.)

The notion of the sacredness of the cow/cattle as the primeval source of all creation among the ancient Aryans can be compared with the Norse Auðumbla myths. In the sacred verses of Zarathushtrá, it is Yimá who forswears GD and feasts on the flesh of the Gáüsh. In the Norse Mythology we read of Ymir and the primeval cow at the beginning of creation. We read in the Eddas: Where dwelt Ymir, or wherein did he find sustenance? From the cow called Auðumla, (“Hvar bygði Ymir, eða við hvat lifði hann? Hár svarar: “Næst var þat þá er hrímit draup at þar varð af kýr sú er Auðhumla hét.”)

The eating of male sheep is reluctantly allowed in the Zoroastrian tradition, while the slaughter of female sheep is strictly prohibited. A sheep cannot be milked and killed at the same time. Furthermore, it is a great sin to take the young from their mother or to slaughter the young or old sheep. If a sheep is used for his wool, it no longer can be consumed as food, but milking a sheep and using her wool at the same time is permissible. Furthermore, the consumption of meat must be occasional and not a regular, every day event.

Avestan sages inspired by Bahram Yasht 24-25, have concluded that goat (a highly curious and intelligent animal) is not permissible for consumption, only goat’s butter, milk, cheese and wool are allowed for use. In the aforementioned Avestan passage, the “Angel of Victory” among other zodiac forms, takes the shape of a büzá, (Old English bucca; buck, goat/male goat.) However, this positive view of goats is not shared by the Christian tradition. Popular Christian folk tradition associate Satan with imagery of goats. A common superstition in the Middle Ages was that goats whispered lewd sentences in the ears of the saints. The common medieval depiction of the Devil is that of a goat-like face with horns and small beard (a goatee).

Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the World. Yet pigs and wild boar are known for their wit, intelligence and good/gentle nature in Zoroastrianism,(See Bahram Yasht 14-15, Mehr Yasht 127.) Pigs are considered as loving pets with spiritual significance in the Zoroastrian culture. Also, in the Vedic literature, Vishnu takes the form of a boar named Varaha to save the Earth. Also, the story of Freyr’s golden boar in the Norse mythology stresses the innate goodness of pigs/boars in a similar fashion. Pigs/wild boars are not permissible at all for consumption in Zoroastrianism.

Rabbit/hare is especially holy in Zoroastrianism and has been named as the spiritual chief/counsel or ratü of animals. Rabbit/hare is said to bring good luck/fortune. The consumption of rabbit is strictly prohibited in Zoroastrianism.

The prohibition against the killing of Gáüsh in the second rhymed verse line of Yasna 32.8 is also extended to all large sea and land mammals and even large fish (gaav mahi.) The notion of sacredness, hence prohibition against consumption of sea mammals e.g. whales, dolphins, seals, sea otters and sea lions is emphasized yet again in Yasna 42.4, (See also Vendidad Chapter 14.)

Fish as a “brain food” is a food favorite. Prohibitions against eating meat do not include fish. For example, meat is forbidden during the whole 11th month and 4 days in each month of the Zoroastrian year, but fish are permitted. But, only small to medium size bony fishes are proper for consumption e.g. sardines, trout, salmon, halibut. But stricter Zoroastrians, during no meat days and the 11th month of the Zoroastrian calendar avoid fish with spines, while permitting shrimps, crustaceans and shellfish or “fish without blood.”

However, if the Fish are raised in cramped, unnatural, and unsanitary conditions, it is improper to consume them. Furthermore, large size bony fish species known under the category of gaav mahi are not permitted. Especially Sacred are all Sea Mammals; whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions and sea otter, hence their commercial use of any kind is strictly prohibited, (See Yasna 42.4, Vendidad Chpt 14.) Killer and predatory fishes, e.g. sharks fall into the noxious creature category and are improper for consumption. Also, improper are all marine reptiles and bottom fish.

Beavers like Sea Otters and Seals enjoin a very high status in Zoroastrianism, they are most holy animals and their meat or fur is strictly prohibited, (See Yasna 42.4, 10th Yasht or the hymn to the waters and Vendidad Chpt 14.)

Rooster is considered as an especially sacred animal in Zoroastrianism, its slaughter, ill treatment and sacrifice is strictly prohibited, See Vendidad chapter 18.16 16. Likewise, in the old central European folk tales the devil is believed to flee at the first crowing of a rooster.

If the eggs of a chicken are used, that chicken can no longer be killed for her flesh. Furthermore, either eggs or flesh of chicken can be used only if the chicken ranges freely, is treated kindly and is fed a strictly wholesome vegetarian diet. Furthermore, pet chickens cannot be killed for food. The same rules applies to geese and duck. All game birds, water birds, wild birds, birds of prey are not permissible for consumption. For example, swans, pigeons, dove, are improper for consumption.

Crows/ravens show remarkable intelligence, hence are considered sacred in Zoroastrianism and cannot be eaten or treated badly. Owls are a symbol of wisdom in Zoroastrianism and are sacred birds. Owls like cats play an important role in fighting small rodents such as mice, rats, insects and other noxious creatures; Owl is named as the spiritual chief/counsel or ratü of all birds in Avesta. Vultures are very sacred in Zoroastrianism for they play a crucial/most important role in the natural disposition of the carcasses of the dead and the purity of the elements.

Avestan Sages per the third rhymed verse line of Yasna 44.18, have banned both the meat and milk of horses. Horses are noble animals and have great spiritual significance in our religion. This dietary prohibition and admonition for benevolent treatment of horses is extended to donkeys, mules, and zebras as well. The sacredness of horses as noble companion animals is well attested in Tishtar Yasht 18-19, Bahram Yasht 8-9; and the 9th Yasht or Drv-asp entire.

I should add that horse sacrifice was a common Vedic practice which was utterly despised by the prophet Zarathushtra. Horse meat is part of the cuisine of countries as widespread as Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, Serbia, Slovenia and Kazakhstan. Horsemeat is also popular in Iceland and is sold and consumed in the same way as beef, lamb and pork. Horse meat is avoided in the Balkans, as horse is considered to be a noble animal.

Dog is a most holy animal in Zoroastrianism, (See the Chapter 13 of Vendidad.) In fact dogs and horses enjoy a number of legal privileges and special rights in the Zoroastrian jurisprudence. Dogs are not at all permissible for consumption and their most kind treatment is enjoined upon every Zoroastrian. Yet, in Southeast Asia especially Vietnam, parts of China (e.g. Guangxi) and Korea dogs are slaughtered with no mercy. Dogs are also treated very badly in the great majority of moslem countries.

Cat meat is eaten in China, Vietnam, and some rural Swiss cultures. Some restaurants in Vietnam advertise cat meat as “little tiger”, and cats in cramped cages can be seen in markets and inside restaurants. Yet, Zoroastrianism strictly prohibits the eating of cats. Cats like owls play a very important role in the destruction of rodents, snakes, noxious creatures, pests and are considered as useful and very special pets.

The Avestan Sages per the previously mentioned third rhymed verse line of Yasna 44.18 attribute a similar high status as horse to camel as a great animal friend. Bactrian camel was a great help in the cold Eurasian steppes and mountains during the Avestan times. Other passages in Avesta also point to the goodness, helpfulness and great passion of Camel, (See also Bahram Yasht 10-13.) Hence, camels should be treated with kindness and respect. Camels are animal friends and companions in our religion, not food. The protective measures and prohibitions against consumption of camel meat or milk shall be extended to Ilama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña in modern times.

In sharp contrast to the Zoroastrian view, the eating of camel is traditional in Mongolia as well as in the Arabian heartland. The camel hump in particular is considered a delicacy and eaten on special occasions by the Arabs.

The largest land mammal/Elephant is a symbol of wisdom, wit and mind in the Zoroastrian literature and is abhorrent to think of elephants as food in our religion. Although, as labor animals they are allowed, provided they are treated with benevolence and most kindly. Yet, People in Thailand eat elephant meat to supposedly improve their sex lives. Elephants are also hunted mercilessly in Central and West Africa for their meat.

Zoroastrian perception of BEARS is very positive and bears are closely identified with the human race in the Avestan “book of the origins” or chithr-daat, due to bear’s great intelligence and ability to stand on his 2 feet. Bear is called arakhsh in Avesta, (Compare with Sanskrit r̥kṣa, Greek arktos, Latin ursus, whence the female name Ursula comes from, Welsh arth, the male name Arthur comes from the same Welsh root.)

Arakhsh meaning “Bear” is a hero archer in the Avestan Tishtar Yasht and is survived in the popular male personal name “árash” in modern farsi. (Also, in Scandinavia, the male personal names Björn [Sweden, Iceland] and Bjørn [Norway, Denmark] meaning “bear” are relatively common.)

While, many peoplein China, Japan, Korea, even Alaska and Russia enjoy hunting bears and eating them; BEARS are protected against any ill treatment in Zoroastrianism and both their meat as food and fur as clothing is abhorred/forbidden. It is believed that more than 12,000 bears are kept under most cruel conditions on farms in China, Vietnam and South Korea., farmed for their bile and gallbladders.

Monkeys, especially monkey brains, are eaten with outmost cruelty in Southeast Asia (especially Indonesia). The consumption of monkeys and apes is quite common in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. In certain parts of Congo the hands and feet of gorillas are regarded as a delicacy.Yet, according to the Avestan Chithr-daat book of origins, there are 10 races of men and the 10th race are the monkeys, (See chapter 14, the Greater Búndahishn.) Hence, eating monkeys amounts to cannibalism in Zoroastrianism and is strictly forbidden.

Zoroastrianism abhors and strictly prohibits the consumption of khrafsstars. Khrafsstars are either pests such as ants, flies, mosquitoes, maggots, fleas, worms, mice, rats and other infestation causing creatures or simply creatures that belong to another previous cycle of creation and have survived into our cycle e.g. sharks, lizards, most amphibians and reptiles.

For example either the consumption of reptiles, such as crocodiles and snakes (mār) or using their skin as clothing, is strictly forbidden. The same abhorrence is extended to frogs (wazag.) In other cultures, foods such as frog legs and alligator are treasured as delicacies, and the animals are raised commercially. The eating of lizard (karbuunag) is strictly prohibited in our religion. Yet, lizards are eaten in Central America and in Africa. In North Africa, lizards are considered dhaab or ‘fish of the desert’ and eaten by nomadic tribes. In Arabian Heartland, lizards are considered a delicacy to this day.

Rats and mice (mūsh) are considered vermin and carriers of infestation and disease, hence noxious creatures and unfit for consumption. However, rats are commonly eaten in rural Thailand and Vietnam and other parts of Indochina. In Indonesia, live baby mice are eaten by sailors for physical strength. In Africa, some species of mice are a rich source of protein. The idea of having rats, mice (mūsh) or snakes (mār) as pets is not at all accepted in our religion. Cats (gōrba) are specially treasured, because the presence of cats in a place means the absence of noxious creatures such as rats, mice and snake from the same.

Ants (mōr) are specially despised in our religion. Yet, Ants and their larvae are eaten in different parts of the world. The eggs of two species of ants are used in Mexican escamoles. They are considered a form of insect caviar and can sell for a lot of money because they are seasonal and hard to find. In the Colombia large-bottomed ants are toasted alive and eaten. In areas of India, and throughout Burma and Thailand, a paste of the green weaver ant is served as a condiment with curry. Ant eggs and larvae as well the ants themselves may be used in a Thai salad, a dish that comes from the Issan or north-eastern region of Thailand.

In addition, according to Zoroastrian dietary laws the eating of worms (kirm,) flies/ maggots (magas,) locust (mayg,) mosquitoes (paxšag,) fleas, bugs is also strictly prohibited. Fruits and vegetables must be washed thoroughly and inspected for bugs, worms and flies (which cannot be eaten.

The concept of purity versus impurity central to Zoroastrianism, (See the third rhymed verse line of Yasna 48.5.) Cleanliness is Godliness and purification rites are an important part of all ceremonies. There are elaborate codes to preserve food and utensils from impurities such as skin, nail clippings, sweat, blood, and excreta. It is forbidden to eat or drink from a common cup and common utensils, unless among those who sleep together. There is strict prohibition against Mixture of the same utensils/cups/plates and foods. Different foods and drinks cannot be mixed by the use of the same utensils or cups.

In short, the Zoroastrian dietary laws greatly restrict the killing of animals as food. Of the few animals that may be eaten, they can be either killed (male sheep) or milked (female sheep) and never both. In case of chicken, geese, ducks; either their egg can be used as food or their flesh and never both. Above all, they must all range freely, be treated very well and kindly, fed a strict vegetarian diet. Animals used as pets or working animals can never be slaughtered or eaten as food. Animals cannot be killed when too young or old, the young cannot be taken from their mothers. Furthermore, ravenous meat-eating is prohibited.

The simple straightforward rule is to hold our animal friends as sacred; eat what is pure and fresh, not corrupted and rotten, and to avoid eating the noxious pests and creatures belonging to another cycle of creation.

By Ardeshir Fahramand

about 7-sheen and 7-seen and Nowruz - English

This site is really good for my foreign friends whom likes to know more about Persian/Iranian New Year. I like his site personally - very good points, but some of the info is not follow by Iranian's which I mentioned some of them in below

i- In his 7-sheen table is missing "plants" which is very important in Z'ians and Nowruz table, we put "Shemshad" (which I don't remember it in English)i

ii- In Iran we don't put "shir-brenj" this maybe in India doing it

iii- In his site said z'ian eat Paludeh Shirazi for breakfast in new year and Indian's eat shakes !!!!!! we drink Paludeh but not the one from Shiraz, he "heard" Paludeh and he assumed it is Shirazi, we made Paludeh Yazdi and we drink it with sweet sharbat we make at home and it is totally different. I will make this Paludeh every year and I will put the picture of it this year on my page

vi- "sharab" was called "may" and it isn't one of the 7-sheen table but people are putting it on their table as long as we celebrate the New Year and don't harm animals and hurt our nature is fine

 v-In his site he forgot the most important thing "fruit" we Z'ians put pomegranate and apple and Nareng in bowl full of water and sprinkle some "avishan=Oregano" in the water, these are sign of living, love, life, and new life , .... too

vi- One of other thing is pomegranate is putting in the water not with coin in it, the pomegranate with coin is for "wedding table".

vii- Coin=Sekeh is one of 7-seens that people put it on the table but we don't punch it to the pomegranate we put it on the table or inside the water with fruits.

http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/nowruz/index.htm

The Dēnkard or Dēnkart or Encyclopedia of Mazdaism

The Dēnkard or Dēnkart (Middle Persian: "Acts of Religion") is a 10th century compendium of the Mazdaen Zoroastrian beliefs and customs. The Denkard is to a great extent an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism"[1] and is a most valuable source of information on the religion. The Denkard is not itself considered scripture.

Name

The name traditionally given to the compendium reflects a phrase from the colophons, which speaks of the kart/kard, from Avestan karda meaning "acts" (also in the sense of "chapters"), and dēn, from Avestan daena, literally "insight" or "revelation," but more commonly translated as "religion." Accordingly, dēn-kart means "religious acts" or "acts of religion." The ambiguity of -kart or -kard in the title reflects the orthography of Pahlavi writing, in which the letter may sometimes denote /d/.

Date and authorship

The individual chapters vary in age, style and authorship. Authorship of the first three books is attributed in the colophones to one Ādurfarnbag (son) of Farrokhzādān, as identified in the last chapter of book 3, and who de Menasce believes lived in the early 9th century. Of these three books, only a larger portion of the third has survived, which de Menasce proposes is the result of a transmission through other persons. The first three books were subsequently edited by a certain Ādurbād (son) of Ēmēdān of Baghdad, who is also the author of the remaining six books and whose work is dated 1020. The manuscript 'B' (ms. 'B 55', B for Bombay) that is the basis for most surviving copies and translations is dated 1659 and which its editor reconstructed from a partially destroyed work. Of other copies only fragments survive.

The Denkard is roughly contemporary with the main texts of the Bundahishn, and like much of the other Pahlavi literature of the period, reflects a movement initiated by the Samanids to revive Greater Iranian culture.

Structure and content

The Denkard originally contained nine books or volumes, called nasks. The first two and part of the third have not survived. However, the Denkard itself contains summaries of nasks from other compilations, such as Chihrdad from the Avesta, which are otherwise lost.

The natural divisions of the books are as follows: Books 3-5 are devoted to rational apologetics, book 4 to moral wisdom, and books 7-9 to exegetical theology.[2]i

Book 3

Book 3, with 420 chapters, represents almost half of the surviving texts. De Menasce observes that there must have been several different authors at work as the style and language of the collection is not uniform. The authors are however united in their polemic against the "bad religions", which they do not fail to identify by name (the prudent avoidance of any mention of Islam being an exception).

The majority of the chapters in book 3 are short, of two or three pages apiece. The topics covered in detail, though rare, frequently also identify issues for which the Zoroastrians of the period were severely criticized, such as marriage to next-of-kin (chapter 80). Although on first sight there appears to be no systematic organization of the texts in book 3, the chapter that deals with the principles of Mazdean cosmogony (Ch. 123) is the central theme around which the other chapters are topically arranged.

The last chapter of book 3 deals with the legend of Alexander's destruction of the Avesta and of another copy which the Greeks are said to have translated into their own language. Although once considered to be a historical account, it is now accepted that the Avesta was not written before the 1st century CE, and even more likely, not before the 4th.

Book 4

Book 4, the shortest (and most haphazardly organized) volume in the collection, deals primarily with the arts and sciences. Texts on those topics are interspersed by chapters explaining philosophical and theological concepts such as that of the Amesha Spentas, while other chapters deal with history and the religious contributions of Achaemenid and Sassanid monarchs.

Book 4 also contains an enumeration of works from Greece and India, and reveals "foreign influence from the 3rd century onward." (Gignoux) The last chapter of Book 4 ends with a chapter explaining the necessity for practicing good thoughts, words and deeds, and the influences these have on one's afterlife.

Book 5

Book 5 deals specifically with queries from adherents of other faiths.

The first half of Book 5, titled the "Book of Daylamite", is addressed to a Muslim, one Yaqub son of Khaled, who apparently requested information on Zoroastrianism. A large part of this section is summary of the history (from the Mazdean point of view) of the world up to the advent of Zoroaster and the impact of his revelations. The history is then followed by a summary of the tenets of the faith. According to Gignoux, the section "is clearly nationalist and Persian in orientation," expressing a hope for the resurgence of Mazdaism and with it the restoration of Iranian ideals that the author perceives to have been corrupted by Arab influence.

The second half of Book 5 is a series of 33 responses to questions posed by a certain Boxt-Mara, a Christian. Thirteen responses address objections raised by Boxt-Mara on issues of ritual purity. The bulk of the remaining material deals with free will and the efficacy of good thoughts, words and deeds as a means to battle evil.

Book 6

Book 6 is a compilation of andarz (a literary genre, lit: "advice", "counsel"), anecdotes and aphorisms that embody a general truth or astute observation. Most of the compositions in book 6 are short didactic sentences that deal with morality and personal ethics.

Structurally, the book is divided into sections that are distinguished from one another by their introductory formulae. In the thematic divisions identified by Shaul Shaked,[3] the first part is devoted to religious subjects, with a stress on devotion and piety. The second and third are related to ethical principles, with the third possibly revealing Aristotelian values. The fourth part may be roughly divided into sections with each addressing a particular human quality or activity. The fifth part includes a summary of twenty-five functions or conditions of human life, organized in five categories: destiny, action, custom, substance and inheritance. The fifth part also includes an enumeration of the names of authors that may have once been the last part of the book. In its extant form the book has a sixth part that, like the first part, addresses religious subjects.

Book 7

Book 7 deals the "legend of Zoroaster", but which extends beyond the life of the prophet. The legend of Zoroaster as it appears in the Denkard is differs slightly from similar legends (such as those presented in the contemporaneous "Selections of Zadspram" and the later Zardosht-nama) in that it presents the story of the prophet as an analogy of the Yasna ceremony.

The thematic and structural divisions[1] are as follows:

the span of human history beginning with Gayomard, in Zoroastrian tradition identified as the first king and the first man, and ending with the Kayanid dynasty. This section of book 7 is essentially the same as that summarized in the first part of book 5, but additionally presents Zoroaster as the manifest representation of khwarrah (Avestan: kavaēm kharēno, "[divine] [royal] glory") that has accumulated during that time.

Zoroaster's parents and the prophet's conception.

the prophet's infancy and the vain attempts to kill him, through to Zoroaster's first communication with Ohrmuzd and the meeting with Good Thought, the Amesha Spenta Bahman (Avestan: Vohu Manah).i

Zoroaster's revelation as received during his seven conversations with Ohrmuzd; the subsequent miracles against the demons; the revival of the horse of Vishtasp (Avestan: Vistaspa) and the king's subsequent conversion; the vision of Zoroaster.

the life of Zoroaster from Vistasp's conversion up to the prophet's death, including his revelations on science and medicine.

the miracles that followed Zoroaster's death

the history of Greater Iran until the Islamic conquest, with an emphasis on several historical or legendary figures.

prophecies and predictions up to the end of the millennium of Zoroaster (that ends one thousand years after the prophet's birth), including the coming of the first savior and his son Ushetar.

the miracles of the thousand years of Ushetar until the coming of Ushetarmah.

the miracles of the thousand years of Ushetarmah until the coming of the Saoshyant.

the miracles of the fifty-seven years of the Saoshyant until the frashgird, the final renovation of the world.

Book 8

Book 8 is a commentary on the various texts of the Avesta, or rather, on the Sassanid archetype of the Avesta. Book 8 is of particular interest to scholars of Zoroastrianism because portions of the canon have been lost and the Denkard at least makes it possible to determine which portions are missing and what those portions might have contained. The Denkard also includes an enumeration of the divisions of the Avesta, and which once served as the basis for a speculation that only one quarter of the texts had survived. In the 20th century it was determined that the Denkard's divisions also took Sassanid-era translations and commentaries into account; these were however not considered to be a part of the Avesta.

Book 8 also includes several, today mostly discredited, legends related to the "history" of the texts.

Book 9

Book 9 is a commentary on the gathic prayers of Yasna 27 and Yasna 54. Together, these make up Zoroastrianism's four most sacred invocations: the ahuna vairya (Y 27.13), the Ashem Vohu (Y 27.14), the yenghe hatam (Y 27.15) and the airyaman ishya (Y 54.1).

Bibliography

1a b de Menasce, Jean-Pierre (1958). Une encyclopédie mazdéenne: le Dēnkart. Quatre conférences données à l'Université de Paris sous les auspices de la fondation Ratanbai Katrak. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

2 Gignoux, Philippe (1996). "Dēnkard". Encyclopedia Iranica. 7. Costa Mesa: Mazda Pub.

3 Shaked, Shaul (1995). From Zoroastrian Iran to Islam: Studies in Religious History and Intercultural Contacts 1. Brookfield: Ashgate.

صد و یک نام خدا به زبان اسپانیایی

صد و یک نام خدا   101 nombres de Dios a AvestaicEspañol1Yazat or Izad Adorable2Harvesp tawaan Todopoderoso3Harvesp aagaah Todo lo conoce4Harvesp Khoda Dueño de todo5Abdah Sin principio6Ave anjaam Sin final7Bonesht Raíz de la creación8Fraakh tanda Destino final ó permanente9Jamagh El mas grande de todos10Fraj tara El mejor de todos11Tum avijya El mas puro Entre los puros12Abra vandaa Por encima de todo13Par vandaa En armonia Con todo14An ayaapah Inescrutable15Hum ayaapah Al tanto de todo16Adaru El mas recto17Giraa El que ayuda todos18Achem Sin causa19Chemnaa Causa de todo20Sapinaa Benefactor21Avzaa Enriquecedor22Naashaa El dador de justicia equitativa23Parvaraa Sostenedor24Paanah El que todo protege25AAyin aayi nah Multiple de formas26An aayi nah Sin forma27Khra oshid tum Absolutamente sin necesidades28Meinu tum El más Santo29Vaasnaa Omnipresente30Harvesp paas El mas Supremo31Huse paas Digno de adoración   32Har omid Esperanza para todos33Har nik frah El Alma mas favorable34Bish tarnaa Compasionado35Taru nish Destructor del mal36Anao shak Inmortal37Far shak Cocededor de deseos38Pajhu hida Merecedor de investigación39Khavar Iluminado40Avakh shaayaa Generoso41Avarzaa Todo lo da42Asi tov Inconquistable ó incapaz de hacer daño43Ra kho Sin necesidad44Varun Salvador45Afri pah Imposible de engañar46Ave fariptah Imposible de engaño47Adhavi Sin dualismo( Ėl es el UNICO )48Kaamerut Dueño de su voluntad49Furmaan kaam Su voluntad es la ley50A Ayekh tan Unico51Afra moush Todo lo recuerda52Hamaa rnaa El que juzgará53Shnaa yaa Todo lo conoce54Atars Sin miedo55Abish Por encima del sufrimiento56Afraaz dum El más glorioso57Humchun Inmutable58Meinou stigar Creador del mundo astral59Ameinou gar Creador del mundo material60Meinu nahaft De Espiritu único61Aazar baat gar Transforma fuego en agua62Aazar nam gar Transforma fuego en vapor de agua63Baat aazar gar Transforma fuego en aire64Baat nam gar Agua de vapor65Baat gel gar Hace tierra del aire66Baat gird tum Creador de todo en la tierra67Aazar kibrit tum Encendedor de todos los fuegos68Baat gar jay Creador del viento69Aav tum Creador del agua70Gel aazar gar Volcán71Gel vaat gar El aire que rodea la Tierra72Gel nem gar El agua de latierra73Gar gar El Maestro arquitecto74Gar-aa gar Creador de la humanidad75Gar-aa gar gar Creador de toda vida76Agar aa gar Creador de los 4 elementos77Agar aa gar gar Creador de Las estrellas78Ago man Sin duda79Aza maan Extemporáneo ( Infinito )80Akh vaan Nunca duerme81Aamusht husyaar El mas inteligente82Fashutnaa Protector del cuerpo83Pata maani Señor de la moderación84Chir Inderrotable85Piruz gar Victorioso86Khodaavand Dueño de la creación87Ormazd El que todo lo sabe88Abrin kuhan tavaan Auto creador89Abrin no tavaan El Gran Rejuvenecedor90Vaspaan Proveedor de todo91Vasp aar Guardian de todo92Ahu Señor de la vida93Avakhshi daar Perdonador94Data aar El creador95Rayumand Radiante96Kharumand Glorioso97Kerfagar Dueño de la rectitud98Daavar Juez99Bukhtaar Redentor100Farshugar Resurrector101Hadhaa Auto creador 

ChãhãrShanbé Suri or literally the RED WEDNESDAY - چهارشنبه سوری

ChãhãrShanbé Suri or literally the ‘RED WEDNESDAY’ falls on the last Tuesday of the year on Iranian calendar (between March 13th to March 20th). It is called suri (sukhr= surkh, meaning ‘red’), because it is one of the many celebrations related to fire. Venerating fire goes back to pre Zoroastrian times in history. Zoroaster brought it into his teachings as a symbol or representation for truth and God.

Another important fire festivity is sadé (= of or relating to sad: this word shares the same etymological root as French ‘cent’ meaning hundred). Sadé falls normally on January 30th of Gregorian calendar.

In 2013 ChãhãrShanbé Suri will fall on Tuesday March 19th. It varies every year since it is the last Tuesday of the year. It depends on when the New Year begins. If the New Year (i.e. the spring equinox moment is Tuesday, ChãhãrShanbé Suri will fall around March 14th. The last month on the Zoroastrian calendar is Spendarma[z]d. In modern Persian it is called Esfand. Zoroastrian calendar is slightly different from the Iranian calendar used today.

All the months’ names are the same in both calendars. Zoroastrian calendar neither has week, nor the name for days of the week like Saturday, Sunday etc. Every month has 30 days (divided into 7+8+7+8). Every day of the month has a name: (day 1): AhurãMazdã (=wise lord= God); (day 2): VohuMan (=good thoughts); (day 3): ArdiBehesht (=best righteousness); (day 4): Shahrivar (=divine kingdom); (day 5): SpandãrMa[z]d (=sacred love); (day 6) KhorDãd (= health and vigor); ا(day 7): Amertãt (=immortality) … (day 30): Anãrãm (endless light). 

Post Islam Iranians adopted a new calendar that was designed by Khayya .ا(famous Iranian poet, mathematician and writer).

The reason was, the Islamic regimes wouldn’t tolerate the Zoroastrian ways. For a while people had to use Arabic calendar which was not on a solar basis and only confused them. Farmers didn’t know how to keep the track of their activity, because unlike any solar calendar Arabic calendar being based on lunar patterns varies from year to year. 1st of Ramadan, as an example, will be in winter and within a decade it would fall on a different season.

So that is why MalekShah (a Seljuk king) ordered Khayyam to create the new calendar, emptying the old one from its Zoroastrian concepts and references.

That is how days of week were added: Sahnbé (=Sabbath, Jewish for Saturday) YekShanbé (=one day after Shanbé =Sunday)… ChãhãrShanbé (four days after Shanbé = Wednesday)… 

Amazing enough ChãhãrShanbé suri is not celebrated on ChãhãrShanbé (Wednesday) but rather on SeShanbé (Tuesday). The reason is, the festivity is called Shab-e ChãhãrShanbé Suri (the eve of ChãhãrShanbé Suri). Shab literally means night but in Persian when someone says shab-e Jom’eh, it means Thursday night and not Friday night. One more thing to clarify about the festivity: In pre-Islam Iran (and among Zoroastrians today) the last 5 days of the year were/are celebrated separately.

As you might have noticed Zoroastrian calendar has 12 months, each month has 30 days (12 X 30 = 360). The 5 days and odd hours left of the year is celebrated as panjé (literally ‘of five’). These five days were dedicated to the dead. Iranians of Pre-Islam era believed and Zoroastrians today still do that the deceased spirits come back to watch how their relatives are doing during their absence. One must try his/her best to look happy.

Thus panjé is celebrated to give the deceased relatives a peace of mind. The event normally is carried out with making bonfires on rooftops. (Do souls watch us from above?) After the invasion of Iran by Arabo-Muslim forces, people who had converted to Islam whether by force or willingly still kept their old beliefs and ways of life. Shab-e ChãhãrShanbé Suri basically is a modified version of Zoroastrian panjé. Even the ‘ãjeel-e ChãhãrShanbé Suri’ or the snack that is consumed on that event is similar to panjé snack, which consists of nuts and dried fruits and is called ‘LORK’--i

FARVARDIN YASHT

Farvardin Yasht Karda 1 para 5, talks of 'AREDVI SUR ANAHITA’ from where flows water which purifies the semen of all males which purifies the womb of females for giving birth, which gives easy delivery to all females, which gives timely milk to all females to carry

Para 7, United on all sides of the sea of wide shores (skin) all are united near the middle when it flows onward towards the Aredvi Sru Anahita whose thousand rivers, and thousand channels, whose these rivers whose these channels need forty days ride for a man riding a good horse

Para 8, This one water channel spreads all over towards regions which are seven, this my one water channel carries similar water quantity in summer and winter. This water purifies the semen of men, the womb of females and the milk of females. Etc

Here we see that the author is telling us about the heart (Aredvi Sru Anahita), and the blood (water) and about the functions of the blood; about the arteries and veins (rivers and channels) and how an equal amount of blood flows in summer and winter and most important that the length of these arteries and veins are so long that a man on a good horse would have to ride 40 days. In Persian literature forty stands for less than infinity. Some of these facts were rediscovered by science and today we are told that the length of the arteries and veins in our body are about 99,999 miles

Modern day scholars have translated Aredvi Sru Anahita as the Aral Sea and the river as River Oxus. Which water in the world has such properties, let alone those of River Oxus. But how could these scholars believe that the ancient Zarathushtis were talking about the Circulatory System, the HEART, the BLOOD, and the ARTERIES and VEINS. Such high standards of knowledge, that too so long ago, this could not be digested by these scholars. More so because during the same period, other civilizations having a recorded history of over 4000 years, and whom scholars consider as the most advanced during the period, have left behind large libraries which do not even show signs of the possibility that, in those days they could even dare to think about such matters. Knowledge was in the realm of God and man was forbidden to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. (Genesis 2:17