Zoroastrismus

Faravahar

of the Zoroastrismus and/or. Zarathustrismus (also: Mazdaismus or Parsismus) is one around 1800 v. Chr.- 700 v. Chr. probably in Baktrien developed , monotheistische, and/or. in its early developments binaryistic religion, with today still at the most 500,000 trailers. It became in the area thattoday's States of Iran, Afghanistan, Tadschikistan and Usbekistan spreads, and also today still is there trailer of the Zarathustrismus.

The founder of the Zarathustrismus was Zarathustra (griech. Zoroaster). In the center of the faith the creator God Ahura Masda is located. It accompanied of unsterblichen holy ones (Amesha Spenta) as well as of bad Dämonen (Ahriman).

The religion is binaryistic coined/shaped: „And in the beginning was these two spirit, which twins, who are called the bad in thinking, speeches and doing after their own word property and. Between them those haveProperty-acting correctly selected. “

It is based a writing religion and on the holy writing Avesta. Prayers, places of worship and God pictures are strange to the Zarathustrismus. Instead of those the personal responsibility is the center of attention.

Table of contents

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teachings

the most reliable source for our knowledge of the teachings Zoroasters is in the Avesta (also Zendavesta), the religious book of the Zoroastrier, contained collection of the Gäthas or songs, which write either from it or but from its June gladlyare. It originally consisted of 21 books. When one designates Yasna the delivered 72 chapters of the Awesta (today still with the Parsen in the service to be used), whereby 16 chapters, the Gathas (singing), directly on Zarathustra to be retraced to be able.

From this is the God, whichthe world created and receives, Ahura Masda (Ahura Mazdā) (from it late Ormuzd); it the Mr., the ruler, the strong one, most frequently however benediction-PEND-end and called holy spirit. From it good spirit (angels) goes, the later Amshaspands out of six (“Unsterbliche,Holy one "), which say, like their names, the virtue, the truthfulness or holyness, the good convicition, the humility or wisdom, the rule or the possession, which health and the longevity or immortality mean. They are pure Allegorien and become often, particularly two the latter, as goodscalled, which is asked Ahura Masda the pious ones to lend.

The Ahura Masda Anramainyu ( late Ahriman ) becomes, D. h. the bad spirit, confronted (see: Devil), who is opposite it in thoughts, words and works. The two together are represented as the “twins”, whichproperty and bad create have, and just as many bad, from Anramainyu created step to the six good spirit opposite, from which however only the “lie” and the “bad convicition” already appear in the Gäthas, while the remaining only a product of the later training thatZarathustri teachings are.

In the people world likewise schroff humans, who decided for property, face each other the pious ones or Gläubigen, and the Götzendiener, which decided for the bad. The latters, which are called also “blind ones and pigeon”, is one upeach way attack, from their possession drive and around the life bring. The pious one, which changes on the paths of the wisdom, attain in this life wealth, descendants and power, health and long life. After death the souls arrive at the Činvat bridge. Here court becomesover property and bad held (see also:recent court of revealing the Johannes). For honest humans the bridge is broadly like a path, narrow for the other one like a knife point. The good ones arrive into the blessed Gefilde of the Paradieses Garodemäna (late Garotman),the “place of the praise singing” (see also:Sky); the soul of the bad one however arrives at the “worst place”, i.e. into hell. Parallel ones to the later Christian theory of the recent court and to the Eschatologie in the Islam are unmistakable.

The fight between property and badtakes four periods to in each case 3000 years. The realm of the Ahura Mazdas stands at the end of the fight. A world court will take place, which will recompence the bad ones to punish and the good ones. And that once, if the world goes down, the recent court will take place, which bad spirit disappearand a new, eternal realm of the Ahura Mazdas develop. The bases of these conceptions can be proven durchgehends already in the primeval times, when the Iranier with the cognate Indian educated still another only one people, so in particular the names of the six good spirit, the name of the lie(in the Zendavesta Drudsch, in the Wedas of the Indian Druh, German deceit) etc.

Ahura Masda corresponds to its whole nature after the Indian Varuna and is probably a reflex of the sky God, which was already admired by the Indoeuropäern. Also the fight between good powers of theLight and the bad darkness and the drynesses an age-old conception is and in Iran was only strengthened, by placed under a head and this with a similar yard state as the head of the good creation became to surround the latters.

Other divinities or Dämonen of theprimitive nature service of the primeval times Zarathustras did not find a place, thus in the mirror-image-ritualistic and from philosophical tendencies carried teachings:

  • the sun God Mithra, which had been in the primeval times the inseparable comrade of the sky God;
  • the God Haoma (Soma), the Personifikation of the drink, which thatOne brought to Gods in the victim, around itself with it to berauschen;
  • the Fravashi or souls of the dying, whose age-old service still kept also with the Romans in the well-known Manenkultus;
  • the cloud queue Aschi (Ahi), which of the God of the light with itsLightning weapon is forced, the fertilizing water of the rain, which kidnapped it to return.

These and other sinnlich realistic divinities of the primeval times made however its rights again valid in the later Zarathustrismus, like it in the recent parts of the Zendavesta and the data of the Greeks concerning thoseReligion of the Iranier is present, by finding priest shank it favourable to flatter to the people spirit filled with the ererbten cruder conceptions.

Also Personifikationen of the pure elements, before all of the fire, which are admired in different forms, and the water, itself in later with thatfrontasiatic Mylitta mixed Ardvisura Anahita embodied, plays in the rich-populated God sky of the later Zarathustrismus a outstanding role. Because of their admiration of the fire it was well-known in the Greek world (Herodot) as “Feueranbeter”.

Hardly less numerously is the bad spirit, which Daeva, Drudsch, Pairikas (Peri) were called and partly thought as Unholdinnen, those with bad humans in fleischlichem traffic for standing and the good ones entice trachten, partly as malicious Dämonen, which dryness, measurement stature, epidemics and other troubles over the world to impose.

A systematizing direction, whichin the schools of the priests arose, led to a perfect distribution of the creation with the exception of the animals down under the two heads of the good and the bad creation. Therefore it applies to one of the most important obligations in particular the priest, for this purpose with onespecial instrument, the animals of the bad spirit, queues, mice, ants were provided, to exterminate during of the spirit, like beaver, good against it the intentional or unintentional killing of animals, dogs and. A., with heavy penalties to be gesühnt had.

Whole world history exists after the teachings thatParsen, of which Plutarch was informed already, in a large fight between Ahura Masda and Anramainyu, which are to persist generally speaking 12,000 years.

The creation history of the Zarathustrismus means that Ahura Mazdā in the first 3000 years by a long-dominant wind breath first the egg-shaped sky andthereupon the earth and the plants created. In the second cycle of 3000 years the Urstiere and afterwards the Urmensch developed. Then the break-down of the Anramainyu took place, which kills Urmen and the Urstier and one period of the fight open, those its end onlywith the birth of the Zarathustra reaches. This event falls in 31. Year of the government of the king Vistaspa. And from then on again 3000 years will offense, until the welfare and Saoschjant is born, which will cause the bad spirit to destroy and a new, imperishable world;also the dead ones are to then up-arise.

Instead of a Messiah in other places their three are called, whereby thus this theory of the appropriate old person of will differs. On the other hand agrees the science of the Auferstehung even in details with the Christian, so thatthe acceptance of a borrowing of the latter Zarathustristen a not insignificant probability for itself, neighbouring from the religion that the Hebräern, has.

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cult

the ethics of the Zarathustrismus seems to have been original by large purity, apart from all old religions adhering the intoleranceagainst Andersgläubige:Truthfulness and holyness in thoughts, words and works, there “wise thinking”, “wise talking” and “wise working” of three foundations of the Zarathustrismus are, in particular also holy attitude of the given word, applied to the liabilities of the Mazdayasna (Verehrer of the Ahura Masda).

But placed the priests, Athravan (“fire priest”,in Persia Magier mentioned), which attained early the privileges of privileged conditions, a very much complicated canon of regulations over keeping clean up, which a quantity of the most superstitious regulations contained and by the penalties, which were prescribed by the priests, and who benefitted them partly,the layman conditions as a function of them to bring had. Particularly with births and deaths the necessary cleaning go into the endless.

Hereby also the peculiar kind of the dead funeral is connected with the Parsen, which kept this very day. There the fire and the earth as pureElements by the contact with bodies were contaminated, then the same may be burned nor buried neither, but one sets them on towers, which are established at lonely places and Dakhmas are called, for the birds to ate out.

The Kultus was simple, without pictures and temples;die üblichenFeueropfer wurden unter freiem Himmel, am liebsten auf Anhöhen, von den Priestern dargebracht, die sich dabei das Gesicht verhüllten, um das heilige Feuer nicht mit dem unreinen Hauch ihres Mundes zu berühren. With the animal victims the Opfertier was not burned, but the purposeonly that was to receive antlers width units meat.

Special weight was put on the Haomaopfer, whereby the Haomapflanze in a mortar was pushed and the pressed out juice was brought to the Gods in a bowl, while the priests, up-holding holy Tamarindenzweige, absangen a long prayer from the Zendavesta.

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development and propagation

in the latest epoch of the Zarathustrismus formed several for sparkling wines, which sought to dissolve the contrast between Ormuzd and Ahriman in a higher unit, by them as the common source of both the time or the fate or the light orthe area accepted.

The most well-known under it is those the Zurvaniten, their Lehrmeinung that the unsterbliche time (zurvan) is the Urprinzip of the things, in 5. Century n. Chr under king Yazdegerd I. (Iesdegerd) obviously the dominating religion in the newPersian realm that Sassaniden became; the “immeasurable time” (zrvan akerene) is already called in the Zendavesta. The time God, Zrvan or Zurvan, as a viergestaltiger God (Ahura Mazdā, quality, religion and time) one represents. It stands over God and devil, which are its sons. Zrvan is thatinfinite space and the infinite time. By the emergence of God and the bad one the light of the darkness becomes divorced.

Vouchers for the extensive influence of the Zarathustrismus also on the religions of neighbouring peoples supply themselves with the Mithraismus, to that over Anterior Asia at present of theRoman realm in the evening country, and the religion of the Mani, spread the Manichäismus, in 3. Century n. Chr. from a fusion Zoroastri with Christian and buddhistischen teachings and for a while by Italy until Spain and Southern France developed were common.

ZarathustrasTeachings flowed over the Judentum (Babylonian shank) also into the Christianity and are of their importance not to be underestimated. Particularly the terms skies and hell were before unknown in the Judentum. Spreading angels - nature seizes probably also on Zoroaster back (angel shapes and thatFaith in it already Assyrien etc. are) in the archaischen advanced cultures, for example in Babylonien.

The Zarathustrismus was, different than in former times accepted, probably not the state religion of the old Perserreichs of the Achaimeniden, which were destroyed by Alexander the large one. Rather its meaning is inthis time unclearly. Differently than often assumed, the Zarathustrismus under the Parthern seems to have played a more important role. In the newPersian realm of the Sassaniden (3. to 7. Century n. Chr.) became the religion the most important (however not to only the permitted one) religion, disappeared then howevernearly completely of the soil of Iran, due to the conquest of the country by the Arabs and the introduction Islam in the process of the early Middle Ages. Only the “spring celebration” going back on Zarathustra is celebrated today still in Shiite Iran.

With the propagation of the Islam in Iran the Zarathustrismus becameincreasingly it suppresses whereby many Zarathustrier forwards approx. 1000 years abroad, particularly to India, emigrierten, where one them the name Parsen (D. h. Perser) gave. From the Zarathustrismus several side currents separated themselves, among them the Mithras cult, that itself, as in the antique one Mysterienkult particularly among the soldiers, westward over the entire Roman realm spread.

Admits became Zarathustra in the western world by Nietz book “thus spoke Zarathustra “and smelling pool of broadcasting corporations bunch 'symphonische seal of the same name (however hardly reference to the historical Zarathustra has).

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The today's Zoroastrismus

the today's Zoroastrismus exists in very different developments. This is in particular because of the very much changed situation of the trailers. The modern Zoroastrier lives far scattered: approx. 65.000 lives them in India, there Parsen is called. In Iran live today only approx.30.000. Smaller groups distributed one finds on the whole world, some lives in the USA others in Canada, Europe, Pakistan etc.

The special development and interpretation of the religion are different with each the different, geographically from each other separate, groups. There are particularly conspicuous differences betweenthe Indian and the Iranian Zarathustrismus.

In India, by the Hinduismus, the faith in the existence of the Amesha Spentas is moved affected very much into the foreground, whereby the zoroastrische faith got there polytheistische tendencies. Rituals play a large role.

In Iran the Zarathustrismus has itselftoday to one fully on internalness develops aligned, very rational, ethical philosophy. In the center the faith in a good, fair, all-knowing God Ahura Mazda is located. Serving this good God by one well thinks, well acts and well speaks.

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literature

  • back-up mountain, Michael: The religion Zarathushtras. History - present - rituals. Kohl hammer, Stuttgart. 3 Bde. 2002-2004.
  • Wiesehöfer, Josef: Antique Persia. Of 550 v. Chr. to 650 n. Chr., Duesseldorf/Zurich 1993.
  • Hinz, roll ago: Zarathustra.Kohl hammer, Stuttgart. 1961.
  • Cook, Heidemarie: It tells Dareios the king. Philipp of Zabern publishing house, Mainz. 1992
  • Widengren, geo: Iranian world of thought. Hell publishing house, Baden-Baden. 1961
  • Mary Boyce, Zoroastrians. Their religious beliefs and of practices, London 1987.
  • Brentjes, Burchard: The Iranian world before Mohammed.Charcoal burner& Amelang publishing house, Leipzig. 1967
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see also: Pars

 

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