2. Iranian Empire 226-650CE

3.  1700-600BCE  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

4.  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

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

6.  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

7.  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

9.  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)

10.  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.”

11.  “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

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

13.  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

14.  Between 7 -15 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

15.  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

16.  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

17.  140 000 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

18.  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

19.  Examples of Avestan Manuscripts. http://www.avesta.org/gifs/samples.htm. February 17,2006.  "Interpertation of the Faravahar” http://www.crystalinks.com/faravahar.html. February 19,2006.  Robinson, B.A. Zoroastrianism Founded by Zoroaster. Feb 24, 2005. http://www.religioustolerance.org/zoroastr.htm. February 17, 2006.  Saoshyant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saoshyant. February 17, 2006.  Henderson, Patti. Exploring World Religions The Canadian Perspective. Toronto: Oxford University Press. 2001.  Wells, Brian. Zoroastrianism. 1997. http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Zoro1.html. February 17, 2006.  Zoroastrianism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism. February 17, 2006.  Zoroastrianizm. http://library.thinkquest.org/C006238/eng/main_zoro.htm#. February 17, 2006.