This video is brought to you by Tab For A Cause, earn money for charities of your choice
every time you open a new tab without costing you a thing by downloading the browser extension
from the link in the description below.
What do Emperor Xerxes, Freddie Mercury, and Ireland’s richest citizen Pallonji Mistry
have in common? All of them are Zoroastrians. The ancient religion of Iran. This is one
of the oldest ongoing religions and altered the course of history by influencing Judaism,
Christanity, Islam, and Greek philosophy. But today it has only a fraction of the millions
of followers it once had. So what is Zoroastrianism, what do Zoroastrians believe, and where do
otters fit into it? Well Let’s find out.
Zoroastrianism was born in ancient Iran at least 3,500 years ago. It all began around
1500BCE give or take a few centuries with the Prophet Zarathustra or Zoroaster as the
ancient Greeks called him and so English speakers do too. While we call the religion Zoroastrianism
actual Zoroastrians tend to call it Mazdayasna, meaning Worshipper of Mazda. No not that Mazda,
but it was named after the Mazda that I’ll explain shortly.
Zoroastrianism was the chief religion of Iran for over 1000 years. Between the 6th Century
BCE and the 10th Century CE it was the state religion of 3 huge Iranian Empires. The , of
300 fame, along with the Parthian and Sasanian Empires.
Back then the priests of Zoroastrianism were known as Magi. The ancient Greeks thought
the Magi had secret magical knowledge, since they understood complex astronomy. This led
to the English words “magic”, “mage” and “magician”. The Magi would even show
up in the Bible, according to the Gospel of Matthew, 3 Zoroasterian magi came to visit
the baby Jesus. These 3 wise men as they are known in English are still celebrated by Christians
worldwide on January 6.
Eventually the Sassanian Empire would fall to the Muslim Arabs during their invasion
of Iran in the seventh century CE, which started the decline and persecution of Zoroastrianism
in Iran. Following this in the tenth century, some Iranian Zoroastrians fled to India, forming
the Parsi community, named after where they came from, which the Indians called Persia.
This once refugee community now forms the largest group of Zoroastrians anywhere on
Earth. And they’ve settled in quite well. One of Indian's largest businesses, Tata Group
was founded by Zoroastrians and Parsis played a massive role in winning Indian independence
from Britain.
Zoroastrians can now be found all over the world. Historically they emigrated to areas
such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and parts of Africa such as the island of Zanzibar, where
Freddie Mercury’s Parsi parents would later emigrate from to the UK. In the last 100 years
small Zoroastrian populations have moved to the UK, US, Australia, and Canada.
Today there are about 200,000 Zoroastrians. About 60,000 live in India while the second
largest group of about 25,000 live in Iran.
With a religion being called Zoroastrianism I think it’s time we talked about Zoroaster.
We don't know much about Zoroaster's life. We can't even pinpoint when he lived. The
Greeks thought he lived 6000 years before the death of Plato, so 6347BCEish. While modern
historians place him somewhere around 1700-1000BCE. During this time the peoples of Iran believed
in many different gods, some of which were similar to the gods of their ancient Hindu
neighbours.
What we do know is that Zoroaster was a priest of the pre-Zoroastrian religion of Iran and
that he was outraged with his society. Roving bands of drunken warriors would ravage the
countryside. They pillaged, tortured, and slaughtered at will. The common people lived
in constant fear and misery while the priests obsessed over obscure rituals and sacrifices
that offered little guidance or hope to the suffering. Zoroaster couldn’t stand these
injustices.
When he was 30 years old, Zoroaster went down to a river to fetch water for a ceremony.
There he received a vision from a being of pure light and goodness, Ahura Mazda, who
revealed that they were the one true God. The Truth of how the universe worked was revealed
to Zoroaster and he knew that it was his divine mission to teach his fellow humans about Ahura
Mazda.
So what are the core beliefs of Zoroastrianism? Well.
1 Ahura Mazda & Angra Mainyu
Zoroastrians worship one uncreated, and eternal God, known as Ahura Mazda, which means Wise
Lord. Zoroaster describes Ahura Mazda as the lord of order, something completely good,
loving, infinitely wise and the creator of the world and all good things.
Ahura Mazda is supported by six Holy Immortals known as the Amesha Spentas. These six Holy
Immortals are normally compared to Arch-Angels in Christanity, if that helps you understand
their position a little better. Sometimes there is a seventh Spenta called Spenta Mainyu,
but maybe this is also just the Holy Spirit of Ahura Mazda. Sometimes Ahura Mazda has
a parent called Zurvan, who is Time itself, but this is considered heresy at this point.
Look we don’t have time to get into it. Honestly it’s a very old religion. There
have been a lot of different interpretations over the last 3000 years, I am simplifying
and proving the most common currently accepted beliefs. So keep that in mind, and as always
there is more information in the description below.
Opposed to Ahura Mazda is Angra Mainyu the “destructive spirit” and his evil minions
known as daevas. Angra Mainyu is the complete polar opposite of Ahura Mazda. He is darkness,
deceit, death, and decay. He is a corrupting parasite seeking to destroy Ahura Mazda's
creation and is responsible for all negative things in the world.
Ahura Mazda is light, Angra Mainyu is darkness. Ahura Mazda is the creator, Angra Mainyu is
the destroyer. Ahura Mazda created light, fire, compact Japanese vehicles, joy, humanity,
puppies probably. Angra Mainyu gave the world disease, rust, mould, darkness, and that little
piece of skin that pops up around your nail and hurts so much. WHY ANGRA MAINYU WHY!
Zoroastrians think everything is a battle between these two opposites, Ahura Mazda represents
the Truth. Angra Mainyu, the Lie. Human beings need to choose between the Truth and the Lie.
Which may be difficult because Angra Mainyu can be very deceiving.
Before time began, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu were separated by an infinite void. They respectively
lived in “infinite light” and within “infinite darkness”.
Then Ahura Mazda created the physical, or Getig, world. Angra Mainyu crawled into this
new world and polluted it. They made the oceans salty, they turned good earth into desert,
killed the first human, made plants wither, and polluted fire with smoke.
We now live in a time Zoroastrians refer to as the Gumezishn, the Mixture. Good and Evil,
Truth and The Lie, both exist together in our world.
But Angra Mainyu’s presence is temporary. They are a stain on the world rather than
a permanent fixture. Zoroastrians see the physical world as a trap that Ahura Mazda
lured Angra Mainyu into. Now trapped in the physical world Angra Mainyu can be defeated
slowly by the good thoughts, good words, and good deeds of humans working with Ahura Mazda.
2 Heaven and Hell
Zoroastrians believe that when a person dies their soul leaves their body. The soul is
then led to the Bridge of Judgement. Above this bridge lies heaven, below hell.
Here, the soul’s good and bad deeds are weighed on a scale
Depending on the balance of good to evil deeds, the soul ascends to heaven, a paradise of
infinite happiness, called the Abode of Song. Or falls down to hell, to suffer quote 'long
age of misery, dark­ness, bad food and the crying of woe'. This is called England….I
mean it is called Duzakh.
There is also a Medium Place for people who were neither good nor evil, where they just
float and experience nothing.
Zoroaster stated that servants as well as masters, can reach Paradise. People would
be judged according to how they had chosen to live their lives, rather than wealth or
prestige.
For Zoroastrians death represents the highest form of pollution. Death only exists because
of Angra Mainyu. Upon the death of a Zoroastrian, a priest will be called to perform a ceremony.
After which the soul of the person will no longer be considered connected to the body.
The family then says their goodbyes, without touching the body and the body will be placed
on a stone slab carried away by special corpse bearers.
Since dead bodies are so polluting Zoroastrians would never think to pollute any of the sacred
elements with it, those being fire, water, earth, etc. . So the traditional method to
dispose of bodies, used for thousands of years has been the Tower of Silence. Within these
open roofed stone towers, located on top of barren hills, bodies will be laid to rest
on stone slabs as to not pollute the earth and then eaten by vultures, normally within
a few hours. The bones are bleached in the sun and quickly disintegrate into dust.
By feeding the birds, the deceased offers up one final good deed of charity before crossing
of the bridge.
However in the 1930s, the Iranian government banned the use of the towers and currently
towers in India are suffering from a shortage of birds due to increased urbanisation and
pollution.
Today many Zoroastrian communities use special burial grounds or have turned to electrical
cremation or even using solar reflectors to harness the power of the sun to break down
the bodies rather than polluting fire.
3 The Apocalypse
The battle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu will continue for thousands of years. But
eventually a saviour or saoshyant will be born to a virgin mother who will lead people
against the forces of evil and bring about the end times. The Earth will be swallowed
by fire, molten metal will cover everything, the good people will pass through this molten
river while the bad people will burn and be purified.
The gates of hell will open, the souls will be released and redeemed and everyone will
live together in eternal bliss. Honestly it all sounds pretty metal.
Angra Mainyu finally defeated by Ahura Mazda and Humanity's Good Thoughts, Words, and Deeds
will be tossed back into the black abyss they crawled out of and defeated forever.
This Last Judgment/Apocalypse is called frashokereti, meaning “renewal.” As in the renewal of
Ahura Mazda's originally perfect creation.
4 The Three G’s
The most important concept in Zoroastrianism after Ahura Mazda, is Asha.
This is an ancient Avestan word and is difficult to translate. Asha is truth, wisdom, goodness,
justice, perfection, order, and progress rolled into one word. Asha is the path of Ahura Mazda.
Zoroastrians try their best to follow the path of Asha.
To help humanity follow Asha, Ahura Mazda gave them Vohu Manah or Good Mind. This allowed
humans to recognise right from wrong. Good Mind lets us see injustice and feel that it
is unjust. Through Good Mind, Ahura Mazda gave humans free will, this means a lot to
Zoroastrians because choice is extremely important to their beliefs.
From our Good Mind we can have Good Thoughts, and from Good Thoughts follow Good Words and
Good Deeds. Doing Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds is the core of Zoroastrian
belief.
Good Deeds such as taking part in your community, supporting others during tough times, standing
up against injustice, fighting poverty, nursing the sick, and subscribing to educational Youtube
Channels all help in the battle against Angra Mainyu. This is why in India Zoroatrians are
known for their support of orphanages, shelters, and many charities.
Zoroaster said "Happiness comes to them who bring happiness to others."
5 Fire
Zoroastrians see fire as the sacred symbol of Ahura Mazda. It is considered to be pure
and represents the Truth. Inside Zoroastrian Fire temples, their priests conduct all rituals
in front of fire because it shows the presence of Ahura Mazda. But the fire is never actually
worshipped itself. This is very important, Zoroastrians do not worship fire! Zoroastrianism
also isn’t a congressional religion, most worship is done at home and Zoroastrians tend
to go to Fire Temples only during the 7 Holy Days or festivals they have each year.
The most sacred fires in Zoroastrianism need to be made up of fire from 16 different sources,
one of which needs to be ignited by lighting! 6 The Avesta
The Avesta is the holy book of the Zoroastrians and one of the world’s oldest scriptures.
It is written in an ancient language known as Avestan which was the language spoken by
Zoroaster roughly 3500 years ago.
The Avesta contains hymns from Zoroaster himself known as Gathas. These 17 Gathas are deeply
important to Zoroastrians and most Zoroastrian belief is based on them. Due to the violence
Zoroastrians have suffered throughout history only a fraction of the Avesta survives today.
For example, Zoroastrians believe that when Alexander The Great conquered the Achaemenid
Empire, he burned the royal Palace at Persepolis and its library to the ground. Destroying
a complete copy of the Avesta, written in gold on 12,000 goatskins. This might be why
he isn't called Alexander the Great in Iran, but Alexander The Accursed.
Even more of the Avesta was lost during the Arab, Turkic and Mongol invasions of Iran.
Zoroastrians really couldn't catch a break.
You can read the Avesta online for free and a lot of it is extremely beautiful and thought
provoking, but if you're a dunce like myself you’ll love this section about how hedgehogs
known as “The dog with the prickly back” serve Ahura Mazda and turtles have sided with
Angra Mainyu or the following chapter “Atoning for the murder of a water-dog” which is
about how you’ll be punished if you kill an otter. So be like the pricklyboi and water
dog and help fight against evil!
When the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus The Great, freed the Jews from Babylon
he not only showed the world the religious tolerance that Zoroastrian rulers would become
known for, but he changed world history at the same time.
For freeing the Jews, Cyrus was praised as a messiah in the Book of Isaiah.
This meant that Jewish thinkers were obviously quite receptive to Zoroastrians and Zoroastrian
ideas.
It is in the Book of Isaiah that Yahweh is for the first time spoken of as the Single
Creator God, like Ahura Mazda.
The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christanity, and Islam owe a lot to Zoroastrianism. Because
while Zoroaster’s teaching doesn't really sound too revolutionary today. Ideas like
one all powerful god, a cosmic battle between a loving god and their satanic nemesis, angels
and archangels, a heavenly judgement that places a person in heaven or hell, and a final
cataclysmic judgement that would purify the world and bring about the kingdom of God where
the good will live in eternal paradise, which is a Persian word. Were all brand new at the
time. This means that while small today Zoroastrianism has influenced the most sacred beliefs of
billions of people. Even George R R Martin borrowed some Zoroatrian thought to make his
religions in A Song Of Ice and Fire as you can see here.
The religion of the lord of light is based in part on many dualistic religions that existed
in the past. One of those being the Zoroastric...Zoroast...I can never say that.
Zoroastrianism?
Yeah, whatever that is….laughs
Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds are one of the most important things in Zoroastrianism
but they can also be followed by literally anyone. A simple Good Deed you can do today
to improve the world just a little is using Tab for A Cause.
Tab for a Cause is a browser extension that donates to a charity of your choice each time
you open a new tab without costing you a thing.
Almost a million dollars has been raised by Tab 4 A Cause, all just from people browsing
the internet.
And right now with the global Covid-19 Pandemic your tabs can help fund the COVID-19 Solidarity
Response Fund to help fight this virus and maybe allow me to leave my house some time
in the near future.
Tab For A Cause is quick and easy to use just head to tab.gladly.io/cogito/ and start helping
charities with the click of a button.
So those are the basics of Zoroastrianism. It isn't even close to covering everything.
I probably only covered about 1%. One video simply can't cover everything. Religions are
too diverse, too deep, and mean too many different things to different people. But learning even
the basics of anything that millions of people deeply care about gives us an insight into
our fellow humans worldview and I hope you enjoyed it :D
You can find all the sources used in the description. If you liked this content please subscribe.If
you have any questions leave them below and I will answer them in a comment response video.
If you are interested in supporting the channel, there are links for Patreon and my t-shirt
store also in the description.
Thanks a lot for watching