Events on earth often reflect events in heaven, so it has been inferred that these terrible attacks must have had their sacred archetypes. The thief who steals livestock who fights in the name of Indra must be his kind in the world. But who is Dev who is attacking in heaven? The most important deities, such as the "guardians of order", Varuna, Mazda, and Mithra, were revered as the "Lord", the Ahula. Perhaps it was the peace-loving Ahuras, who symbolized justice and truth and respected life and property, who endured the attacks of Indra and the more aggressive Diffus? At least this is the view of a visionary priest. The priest claimed around 1200 BC that Ahula Mazda had commissioned him to restore order to the steppes. His name was Zoroaster.
One, Zoroaster with his dawn
When the new prophet received this divine vocation, he was about 30 years old and unwavering in his Aryan faith. He began learning how to become a priest from the age of 7 and devoted himself to the tradition so that he could perform a hymn for the gods during ritual sacrifices. However, Zoroaster was deeply disturbed by the raids on livestock. After completing his studies, he consulted with other priests and meditated in religious ceremonies to find a way to solve problems. During the ceremony of presiding over the celebration of the spring festival, one day at dawn, Zoroaster went to the river to fetch water for the day's sacrifice. He waded into the river and immersed himself in pure water. When he surfaced, he saw a flash of light standing on the embankment. He told Zoroastad that his name was "vohu manah". Dawn is dawning in an unprecedented new era: everyone must make a choice, and so do the gods—are they on the side of order or on the side of evil? Zoroaster's vision convinced him that the god Mazda was not only one of the great Ahuras, but the supreme god. For Zoroastrian and his followers, Mazda is no longer intrinsic to the natural world, but has transcended and is different from any other deity.
This is not the same as monotheism, which is not just the belief in a single, unique God. Mazda's seven radiant retinues—the divine immortals—are also gods, each expressing an attribute of Mazda while being associated in a traditional way with the seven primitive creatures. However, there is also a monotheistic tendency in Zoroaster's visions. The god Mazda created the divine immortals; they had "the same spirit, the same voice, the same action" with Mazda. Mazda was not a god, but he was the first god. Zoroaster may have arisen this idea by meditating on the legend of creation, which states that there was a plant, an animal, and a man in the beginning. Therefore, only one God is reasonable in the first place.
However, Zoroastrian was not interested in theological thinking itself. He was preoccupied with the tyrannical acts that undermined the tranquility of the steppes and eagerly sought a way to bring them to an end. The suffering and helplessness of the people shook Zoroastad and led him into an illusion of division, contradiction and conflict. The world seems polarized, divided into two camps that cannot be reconciled. Since Indra and those who plundered livestock had nothing in common with the god Mazda, they were bound to be loyal to a different Ahula. Zoroaster asserted that if there is a divine source of good, there must be an evil god at the same time, encouraging the actions of those who plunder the assailants. Zoroastrian believed that the rival deity Ahrima was as powerful as the god Mazda, but was his opponent. In the beginning, there were "two primordial twin gods, who were destined to clash with each other." Each of them made a choice. Evil spirits associate their fate with druj, a lie and deception, and are the epitome of evil. He is the eternal enemy of heaven and all that is righteous and true. But the god Mazda chose goodness and created the divine immortals and humans as his allies. Now, every man, woman, and child must make the same choice between Heaven and Dorog.
Second, the transformation of faith
The Aryans had worshipped Indra and other Divas for generations, but now Zoroastrians had concluded that Dev must have been determined to fight the evil spirits. Those who plunder livestock are their kind in the secular world. Unprecedented violence in the steppes prompted Zoroastrians to divide the ancient Aryan gods into two hostile groups. Good men and women must no longer offer sacrifices to Indra and Diva, and should not invite them to the sacred realm. Instead, they must dedicate themselves completely to the god Mazda, the divine immortals, and other ahuras who alone can bring peace, justice, and security. Deaver and his evil followers, those who plundered livestock, should all be defeated and wiped out. The whole of life is now a battlefield in which everyone has a task. Even women and slaves can make an important contribution. The ancient and pure law that once governed religious rituals has now been given a new meaning. God Mazda once created an absolutely pure and perfect world for His followers, but evil spirits invaded the earth and filled it with sin, violence, lies, chaos, filth, sickness, death, and decay. Good men and women should therefore free their current environment from filth and corruption. By separating purity from filth, good from evil, they would liberate the world for God Mazda. People have to pray five times a day. Winter is the season when Dev prevails, so during this time all the good people must deter their power by meditating on the dangers of Dorog. People must get up at night when the evil spirits sneak into the earthly world and throw incense into the fire to inspire Agni to defeat evil in war.
Third, "Outstanding Superman"
However, the fighting will not last forever. In an ancient and peaceful world, life seems to be cyclical: the seasons change, day and night, and the harvest followed by the sowing. But Zoroaster no longer believed in these natural rhythms. The world is on a race against catastrophe. Zoroaster and his followers live in a "finite time" of a violent cosmic conflict, but they will soon witness the final triumph of the good and the destruction of the dark ones. After a fierce battle, the gods Mazda and the gods would descend to earth and offer sacrifices. There will be a great judgment here. The evil ones will be removed from the mortal world, and a fiery river will burn the evil spirits into the underworld. Then the universe will return to its original perfection. The mountain valley was reduced to a vast plain where gods and humans lived together and worshiped the god Mazda forever. There will be no more death there. Humanity will be like God, free from disease, aging, and mortal destiny. We are familiar today with such descriptions of the end of the world, but this was never the case in ancient societies before Zoroastrians. It comes from Zoroastrian indignation at the suffering of his people and his desire for justice. He wants the wicked to be punished for the suffering they inflict on good, innocent people. As time passed, however, he began to realize that he would not live to see the Final Judgment Day. Another extraordinary man will arrive after him, who is a "superb superman".
Centuries later, when the Axial Age began, philosophers, prophets, and mystics all tried to oppose the cruelty and aggression of their time by propagating a spirit based on nonviolence. However, Zoroastrian's views after his trauma and his description of burning and looting are both vengeful. His experience reminds us that political upheaval and suffering do not necessarily produce Axial-style beliefs, but they can inspire a fighting spirit of piety that divides complex realities too simply into good and evil. Zoroaster's illusion is highly competitive. As we will see, "competition" was a common feature of ancient religions. Zoroaster placed a contest between good and evil in the universe at the center of his prophecy. In this regard, he belongs to the ancient spiritual world. He projected the violence of that era into the sacred and absolutized it.
But, in Zoroastrian's passionate ethic, he did look forward to the advent of the Axial Age. He tried to introduce some moral elements into the new samurai spirit. True heroes do not intimidate their companions, but try to fight back against aggression. The divine warriors are dedicated to peace, and those who choose to fight for the god Mazda are tenacious, disciplined, heroic and fearless, and will not hesitate to defend all good beings against the attacks of evil forces. The defenders of order (the rules of heaven) must follow the example of the gods in their care of the environment.
epilogue
Later generations know nothing of Zoroastrian history after his death. But in the late second millennium BC, the Aryans migrated south and settled in eastern Iran. There, Zoroastrianism became the state religion. It is a predominantly Iranian religion. And the creation of the first stable religion of the Axial age, Zoroaster is gone, but the religious culture he left behind has greatly benefited the later Middle Eastern countries.
bibliography:
The Age of Axial
"So Says Zarathustra"
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