Not trying to act a dick. But generally curious that could you break down all that like I am five. I know zoroastrians are a religion. Only reason I know that is because I convinced my school to let me go to Iran while the rest went to Europe. I think the only reason they did it was because it was massively cheaper. But the weird part it was about August 2001 and part of the Republic Guard told me that I need to get the fuck out of the middle east. I let it go figuring yea whatever. Then they came to my hotel room and said pack up your leaving NOW. Next thing I know is I was on a flight to Germany. Then well you know what happened in a month.
GreenBeard@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Sure, Zoroastrianism, the original state religion of Persia, now Iran before the Arabic conquest. Its still practiced by a small minority in Iran, as well as parts of India, Afghanistan and other places in the region. Famously Freddy Mercury was Zoroastrian. It’s a belief system closely related Vedic Hinduism and more distantly related to the polytheistic traditions of ancient Europe (Slavic polytheism, Norse/Germanic Polytheism, etc.). It was the official belief system of King Cyrus the Great, who has been spoken of in recent years due to his conquest of Babylon being the thing that freed the Jews and he was the king who rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. That’s prompted comparisons among some with Trump, being the goyim defender of the Jewish state. It was on his orders that the surviving texts of the Jewish Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim (what a Christian would call the Old Testament) were compiled into something recognizable today.
Zoroastrianism believes in a true Creator god (Ahura Mazda, yes like the car, long story) and a Lord of Chaos (Ahreman), with the creator slowly releasing the world he created from the clutches of the jealous lord of chaos who tried to take it. All of the other “gods” (Amesha Spenta) are “Faces” of Ahura Mazda. Some have speculated Zoroastrian influence may have been the thing that finally pushed second temple Judaism to abandon the last vestiges of pre-Babylonian polytheism, though there were trends among the last remaining Jewish communities in that direction prior to the conquest of Babylon. Some have also speculated that some of the gaps in the Jewish tradition were filled in by Zoroastrian beliefs when reconstructing Jewish tradition, and that may be one of the distinct “Voices” in the modern Torah (see JEDP Theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis). Interestingly enough concepts like heaven, hell, judgement day, and a messiah at the end of the world may also originate in Zoroastrianism.
The Magi (plural), or Magus (singular), is the Persian word for a Zoroastrian priest and loosely translates as “Wise Man” in English. The words in English like Magic, Mage, Magician, etc. is actually derived from it because their legendary supernatural powers were famous across the ancient world. The Magi were also well known for the practice of Astrology in ancient times and much of modern astrological practice is adapted from Zoroastrian tradition.