Iranian Empire CE

 BCE  Zoroaster (founder of this religion) is thought to have lived during this time period due to his writing style  600 BCE  religion thought to be founded in this year by Zoroastrians

 650CE  Persia invaded by Arabs, many Zoroastrians fled to India, those that didn’t were forced to convert to Islam  2006CE  Zoroastrians still practicing in India and other parts of the world such as Canada

 Founder of Zoroastrianism (Zarathustra in Greek)  Known as Bringer of the Golden Dawn

 Polytheism not for Persia  Meditate and search for answer  Answer given when 30yrs old  Preach and teach people for rest of life  Taught about religious purity and social justice  Against corrupt priests/potentates  551BCE – Zoroastrianism is state religion of Persia despite poor response from people

 Ahura Mazda = Lord of the Universe (God)  Angra Mainyu = Evil Spirit (Satan)  These are TWO SEPARATE DEITIES  Spenta Mainyu = Holy Spirit  Answers questions as to why there is Evil in world

 World will have three Eras  Creation  Present Era (Good and Evil mixed)  Frashegird (Doomsday)  Saoshyant  “make existence brilliant”  Similar to Messiah in Judaism  there will be 3  virgin birth (all three)

 5 Modern Principals  Equality of male/female  Cleanliness of Environment  Hardwork and Charity  Condemnation of Oppression of Humans  Symbol of Fire  Core doctrine is “Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.”

 “Bridge of Separation”  3 days  Based on deeds  Narrower/wider based on deeds  Narrower until you fall off into the “abyss of hell”  Wider until you reach heaven

 Traditional Method  Bodies given to nature  Family hold 3 day vigil  After – taken to Dakhma  When bones pushed into well in centre

 Modern Method  Funeral parlour  Ceremony performed with bag for deeds, Sudreh and Kusti  Unclean after soul leaves body  Body disposed of by burial or cremation  If cremation ashes scattered over religious grounds

 Between yrs old  Spiritual birth – Navojte  Given an undershirt called a sudra and a holy cord called a kusti  Always worn  Kusti tied and untied with ritualistic prayers

 Most important symbol  Appears on many relics  Represents divine presence  Behind fire temple there is a fire continuously burning, maintained by a priest  Signifies continuous presence of Ahura Mazda  Rituals conducted before fire, but do not worship fire

 Face resembles human: connection to mankind  2 wings with 3 main feathers  Good thoughts, words, deeds  Lower ½ of symbol symbolizes  Bad thoughts, words, deeds

 Zoroastrians worldwide (current estimates)  Believed to have large influence on other religions  Buddhism/Islam/Judaism/Christianity  In many communities around world (Including Canada) Zoroastrianism is practiced

 One of oldest existing religions  May have been 1 st monotheistic religion  One must be born into the faith  Rarely accept converts, though it DOES happen

 Examples of Avestan Manuscripts. February 17,2006.  "Interpertation of the Faravahar” February 19,2006.  Robinson, B.A. Zoroastrianism Founded by Zoroaster. Feb 24, February 17,  Saoshyant. February 17,  Henderson, Patti. Exploring World Religions The Canadian Perspective. Toronto: Oxford University Press  Wells, Brian. Zoroastrianism February 17,  Zoroastrianism. February 17,  Zoroastrianizm. February 17, 2006.