LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Zoroastrian: Fires
built 623 days ago
In the Zoroastrian religion, one must resist evildoers and abusers of power. First, an attempt should be made to approach the abuser(s) with kindness and friendship and direct him to the right path. Otherwise, resistance and fighting the evil is the next course of action, to achieve truth and eradicate lies.
Source:
Zoroastrian rituals are conducted before a sacred fire. Some outsiders believe that they actually worship fire. This is not true. They regard fire as a symbol of their God, and they cherish the light that it produces. Light is seen as energy, a natural force that is powerful and necessary for survival.
Source:
Zoroastrianism isn't actually mentioned, but the novel draws on some Zoroastrian concepts and names. A man returns to the town of his childhood and finds it has become the site of a cosmic battle between good and evil. Two significant characters in the novel (first showing upon pg. 133) are Ormazd and Ahriman, names drawn from Zoroastrianism.
Source:
This short fragment contains one of the very few Sogdian texts which are wholly Zoroastrian in content. The main part, written in normal Sogdian of about the ninth century, describes Zoroaster addressing an unnamed 'supreme god.' However the true significance lies in the first two lines which appear to be a transcription in Sogdian script of one of the holiest Zoroastrian prayers, the Avestan Ashem Vohu , written more than 300 years earlier than any surviving Avestan manuscript. Whether the text here represents the contemporary Dunhuang pronunciation of the prayer transcribed by someone who did not understand Avestan, or whether it was copied from some older transcription or translation is unclear, but the language seems to preserve features noticeably different from the Avesta as we otherwise know it while at the same time it is substantially different from standard Sogdian. For example, the word for 'truth' is represented neither by Avestan ashem, nor by a Sogdian equivalent such as * rtu or reshtyak, but by - rtm, a spelling which represents a form identical with Achaemenid Old Persian * rtam .
Source:
Ironically, Zurvanism was the Zoroastrian doctrine that became first and best known in Europe. It was picked up by the Greek historian Theopompus of Chios (born 378 BCE); his lost work is quoted by his compatriot Plutarch of Chaeronea:
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Fires