Zoroastrianism

The Mystica Encyclopedia · All entries · Rewritten September 2026

Zoroastrianism at a glance

Origins and the prophet

Zoroastrianism grew out of the religion of the ancient Iranian peoples, which shared many features with the Vedic religion of India. Its founder, Zarathustra, known to the Greeks as Zoroaster, is presented in tradition as a priest who received revelations from Ahura Mazda and reformed the inherited cult. His dates are uncertain. Later tradition placed him in the sixth century BCE, but many modern scholars, on the basis of the language of his hymns, argue for a much earlier date in the second half of the second millennium BCE. Others propose intermediate dates, and the question remains open.

Beliefs

At the heart of the religion is Ahura Mazda, the uncreated and wholly good creator. The world is the scene of a conflict between asha, truth and right order, and druj, the lie. The destructive spirit Angra Mainyu, later called Ahriman, opposes the good creation. Scholars debate how dualistic the religion is: the Gathas stress a moral choice between two spirits, while later Middle Persian texts describe a fuller cosmic dualism in which Ahriman is Ahura Mazda's adversary but not his equal.

Ahura Mazda is attended by the Amesha Spentas, the "Bounteous Immortals," personifying qualities such as Good Mind and Truth, and by the yazatas, beings worthy of worship, including Mithra and Anahita. Each person is free to choose good or evil and is judged after death at the Chinvat Bridge. History will end with the coming of the Saoshyant, a savior, the resurrection of the dead and the Frashokereti, the renewal of the world.

Scriptures

The sacred texts are collectively called the Avesta, composed in the ancient Avestan language and transmitted orally for many centuries before being written down in the Sasanian period. The oldest part is the Gathas, seventeen hymns traditionally attributed to Zarathustra himself, embedded in the Yasna, the main liturgy. Other sections include the Yashts, hymns to individual divinities, and the Vendidad, a text largely concerned with purity laws. Only part of the Avesta survives. Important later works in Middle Persian (Pahlavi), such as the Bundahishn and the Denkard, set out cosmology and doctrine in detail.

History

The Achaemenid kings of Persia, beginning in the sixth century BCE, honored Ahura Mazda in their inscriptions, although scholars debate how far their religion matched later orthodoxy. Zoroastrianism later flourished under the Parthians and became the established religion of the Sasanian empire (224-651 CE), when its priesthood was organized and its canon compiled. Variant currents such as Zurvanism, discussed in the entry on time and the Zurvan myth, also developed.

After the Arab conquest of Iran in the seventh century, Zoroastrians gradually became a minority. Groups migrated to Gujarat in western India, where their descendants became known as Parsis. Many historians believe Zoroastrian ideas about angels, demons, judgment and resurrection influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam, though the extent and routes of that influence are debated.

Festivals and religious life

The Zoroastrian year is marked by a series of festivals. Nowruz, the Iranian New Year at the spring equinox, has deep Zoroastrian associations and is celebrated widely across Iran and Central Asia. Six seasonal festivals called gahambars honor the stages of creation, and the days before the new year are devoted to the remembrance of the souls of the dead. Mithra, Anahita and other yazatas each have their own days in the traditional calendar, and there are also festivals such as Mehregan and Sadeh.

The priesthood is hereditary, with priests known as mobeds and higher-ranking dasturs who perform the Yasna liturgy and other rituals before the sacred fire. Laypeople say daily prayers, often while retying the kusti, and purity rules traditionally govern contact with fire, water and earth, which are regarded as good creations that must not be polluted.

Worship and community today

Fire is the central symbol of worship, representing the purity and light of Ahura Mazda; Zoroastrians pray facing a source of light, and consecrated fires burn in fire temples. Children are initiated in the Navjote (among Parsis) or Sedreh-pushi ceremony, receiving the sacred shirt (sudreh) and cord (kusti). The ethical formula of "good thoughts, good words, good deeds" summarizes daily religious life. Traditionally the dead were exposed in dakhmas, or towers of silence, to avoid polluting earth and fire, a practice now largely replaced by burial or cremation in many places. Estimates of the worldwide Zoroastrian population vary widely, and communities debate questions such as conversion and intermarriage.

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