Zoroastrianism Lesson 1 PDF

WHAT IS ZOROASTRIANISM? Zoroastrianism is a religion The followers of this religion are called “Zoroastrians” KEY-WORD: RELIGION “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies...

WHAT IS ZOROASTRIANISM? Zoroastrianism is a religion The followers of this religion are called “Zoroastrians” KEY-WORD: RELIGION “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs” From http://dictionary.reference.com KEY FEATURES OF ZOROASTRIANISM According to Zoroastrianism, the world was created by a god (named Ahura Mazdā) After creation, evil has entered the world The world lives in a condition of mixture between good and evil  KEY FEATURES OF ZOROASTRIANISM The ultimate goal of existence is the defeat of evil Humans play a key role in the fight against evil Rituals are performed, for the benefit of the good forces KEY FEATURES OF ZOROASTRIANISM Humans will be rewarded or punished after death for their actions History will have an end, when evil will be defeated: The good will be rewarded and the evil ones will be punished In time, Zoroastrianism developed the notion of the coming of a world savior and of the resurrections of the bodies  ORIGIN OF THE NAME “ZOROASTRIANISM” “Zoroastrianism”: from “Zoroaster” This is the name of the man whom the tradition identifies as the founder of the religion “Zoroaster”: from Greek “Zoroastres” “Zoroastres” = a rendering of Zoroaster’s original name, “Zarathushtra” ZOROASTRIANISM IN HISTORY Zoroastrianism originates from thousands of years ago, and through many adversities, has survived until our days ZOROASTRIANISM NOWADAYS According to a 2012 census, there are approx. 111,000 Zoroastrians in the world Main concentrations of Zoroastrians: India (61,000 people) Iran (hard to make a census: 15,000 people?) ZOROASTRIANISM NOWADAYS Other countries (UK, USA, Canada, etc.) All the Zoroastrians of the world have either Indian or Iranian background Name of the Zoroastrians of Indian background: Parsis ZOROASTRIANISM NOWADAYS Note: one cannot convert to Zoroastrianism Zoroastrians migrated to other countries from India and Iran mostly from the 1800s on CANADIAN ZOROASTRIANISM Number of Zoroastrians in Canada: Approximately 6,500: Approximately 8% of the Zoroastrian world population lives in Canada CANADIAN ZOROASTRIANISM The majority of Canadian Zoroastrians lives in Ontario Two Zoroastrian associations in Ontario: Zoroastrian Society of Ontario Building located on Bayview and Steeles (Toronto) CANADIAN ZOROASTRIANISM Ontario Zoroastrian Community Foundation Building located in Oakville A NOTE: ZOROASTRIANISM AND WESTERN CULTURE Zoroastrianism has been known in the Western world for over 2,500 years This religion was kept in high regard in the ancient Greek and Latin culture Greek and Latin texts attribute extraordinary knowledge to Zoroaster and to the Magi (i.e. the Zoroastrian priests) A NOTE: ZOROASTRIANISM AND WESTERN CULTURE Interest for Zoroastrianism in Europe intensified from the 1600s on In the 1700s, the modern study of Zoroastrianism started In our days, there is a lot of academic research being done on this religion WHAT CAN THE STUDY OF ZOROASTRIANISM TEACH US? Main lesson we can get: The wonders of religious faith Faith has helped Zoroastrians to preserve their identity for millennia, despite all the adversities is has undergone  BIRTH OF ZOROASTRIANISM Zoroastrianism was born in the Eastern part of the Iranian World Zoroastrianism was the principal religion followed in the Iranian world before the Arab conquest (pre- Islamic period) IMPACT OF ZOROASTRIANISM Through the centuries, Zoroastrianism interacted with other religions it was in contact with This could explain some similarities between Zoroastrian doctrines and practices and those of other religions  DEFINITION: THE IRANIAN WORLD The area historically inhabited by Iranian peoples (= peoples speaking Iranian languages) IRANIAN LANGUAGES? Documented Old Iranian languages: Old Persian, Avestan Documented Middle Iranian languages: Several, among which: Middle Persian, Parthian IRANIAN LANGUAGES? New Iranian languages: Many languages that are still spoken, among which: Farsi (= New Persian), Kurdish, Pashto  DEFINITION: THE PRE- ISLAMIC PERIOD Pre-Islamic period of Iranian history = the period before the end of the Sassanian empire (651 CE) After this date, Islam became the main religion of the Iranian world While most Zoroastrians stayed in their homeland, part of the community move to other areas, such as the Indian continent IMPORTANT: BCE/CE In this and the next classes we will talk about the ancient phase of the history of Zoroastrianism We will frequently mention dates followed by “BCE” For ex.: 600 BCE / 6th century BCE IMPORTANT: BCE/CE BCE = “Before the common era” The “common era” (CE) starts with the conventional date of the birth of Jesus Christ (= year 1 CE) IMPORTANT: BCE/CE The dates before the common era work the other way around (like the negative numbers) For ex.: the year 300 BCE is earlier than 200 BCE The 6th century BCE is earlier than the 2nd century BCE IMPORTANT: BCE/CE Do not treat the dates BCE in the same way as the dates CE Do not say, for ex.: “300 BCE is earlier than 600 BCE” Treating the dates BCE in the same way as the dates CE is a MAJOR mistake  THE IRANIAN PEOPLES AND THE INDO-IRANIAN GROUP Iranian peoples are part of the Indo-European ethno- linguistic group Their historical neighbors, the Indo-Aryans, were also part of this group THE IRANIAN PEOPLES AND THE INDO-IRANIAN GROUP Indo-Aryans and Iranians originally formed one group, the Indo-Iranian group THE IRANIAN PEOPLES AND THE INDO-IRANIAN GROUP The Indo-Iranians originally (starting from the 3rd millennium BCE?) lived in the same area (in Central Asia?) They shared language and religion THE IRANIAN PEOPLES AND THE INDO-IRANIAN GROUP At some point (during the 2nd millennium BCE?) Indo-Aryans and Iranians split into two groups 1) Indo-Aryans settled in the Northwest of the Indian subcontinent 2) Iranians settled in the Iranian territory (between 12th and 10th century BCE?)  THE BACKGROUND OF ZOROASTRIANISM We can reconstruct that: After the split from the Indians, Iranians followed a religion originating from the Indo-Iranian religion We will call this religion the “traditional Iranian religion” ORDER AND DECEIT This religion preserved numerous key notions of the Indo-Iranian religion The most important of these notions is the view that Order and Deceit underlie cosmic existence  ORDER AND DECEIT The life of the universe is based on Order: The seasons and the days alternate based on Order Thanks to Order, human life proceeds harmonically ORDER AND DECEIT The rituals, which connect the human and the divine world, are based on Order, as they consist of fixed sequences of acts and words  ORDER AND DECEIT Deceit is the basis of all that is evil in cosmic life This includes bad ritual performances ORDER AND DECEIT Note that the notions of Oder and Deceit reflect a complex view of the life of the universe and of the origin of evil VIEW OF TIME The traditional Iranian religion also retained the cyclical view of time from the Indo-Iranian religion: History is based on a repetition of cyclical events History will not have a definitive end POLYTHEISM The traditional Iranian religion furthermore preserved a key feature of the Indo-Iranian religion: Polytheism, that is, the worship of many gods ZOROASTRIANISM AND THE TRADITIONAL IRANIAN RELIGION The notions of Order and Deceit, are also central in Zoroastrian worldview In the Avesta (collection of Zoroastrian sacred texts), Order is called asha, and Deceit is called druj ZOROASTRIANISM AND THE TRADITIONAL IRANIAN RELIGION On the other hand, Zoroastrianism has a linear view of time: history has a beginning (creation) and an end (defeat of evil) ZOROASTRIANISM AND THE TRADITIONAL IRANIAN RELIGION Also, Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion: Ahura Mazdā is the one Zoroastrian god The linear view of time and monotheism are radical differences from polytheism and the cyclical view of time ZOROASTRIANISM AND THE TRADITIONAL IRANIAN RELIGION These radical differences could be due to a gradual evolution, or to a conscious rupture with the tradition In this course, we will follow the view that these innovations are the result of rupture made by a historical figure: Zoroaster