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seems to be an inherent and ineradicable tendency
of the Iranian mind. Ahuost everything is conceived
in pairs or doubles. Hence the constant reference to
the "Two Worlds, the spiritual and the material.
Tlie doctrine of the Spirit World, whether belonging
to the good or the evil creation, is highly developed
in the Avesta and subsequent literature. Around
.\hura Mazda is a whole hierarchy of spirits, corre-
sponding very closely with our "angels". There is,
however, this to be noted, that in the Zoroastrian
."system many of these creature-spirits are demon-
strably old Aryan nature-deities who have been
skilfully transformed into angels, and so fitted into
a monotheistic framework, frequently enough, in
hymns and other passages, by the simple interpola-
tion of the epithet Mazdadata (created by Mazda)
before their names. Of the good spirits who sur-
round Ahura, the most important are the Amesha
Spetitas ("Holy Immortals" or "Immortal Saints")
generally reckoned as six (though Ahura Mazda
himself is frequently included among them, and they
are then called seven). These are the characteristic
genii of the Gathas, and their very names show that
they are merely personified attributes of the Creator
Him.self. They are: Voku Manah (Good Mind),
Asha Vahishta (Best Holiness), Khshathra Vairi/a
(Desirable Sovereignty), Spcnta Armaiti (Holy
Piety, a female spirit), Haurvatal (Health), and
Amcrctai (Immortality). In the Younger Avesta
and later traditional literature these evident per-
sonifications, whose very names are but abstract
nouns, become more and more concrete personages
or genii, with varying fimctions; most of all Vohu
Manah (Vohuman) rises to a position of unique
importance. Dr. L. H. Gray, however, argues, in a
very striking article, that even these are evolutions
of original naturalistic deities [Archiv fiir Religions-
wissenschaft (Leipzig, 1904), VII, 345-372]. In
later patristic literature Vohu Manah is conceived as
the "Son of the Creator" and identified with the
Alexandrine A670S. (See Casartelli, Philosophy of
the Mazdayasnian Religion, 42-90.) Asha, also
(the equivalent of the Sanskrit Rta = Dharma), is
the Divine Law, Right, Sanctity (cf. Ps. cxviii), and
occupies a most conspicuous position throughout
the Avesta.
But besides the Amesha Spentas, there are a few other archangels whose rank is scarcely less, if it does not sometimes exceed theirs. Such is Sraosha ("Obedience" — i. e. to the Divine Law). With him are associated, in a trio, Raxhnu (Right, Justice) and Mithra. This last is perhaps the most characteristic, as he is the most enigmatical, figure of the Iranian angelology. Undoubtedly in origin (like the Vedie Mitra) a Sun-deity of the primitive Arj-an nature- worship, he has been taken over into the Avesta system as the Spirit of Light and Truth — the fa- vourite and typical virtue of the Iranian race, as testified even by the Greek historians. So important is his position that he is constantly linked with Ahura Mazda himself, apparently almost as an equal, in a manner recalling some of the divine coxiples of the Vedas. It is well known how in later times the Mithra cult became a regular religion and spread from Persia all over the Roman Empire, even into Britain. [See, especially, Cumont's great work, "Monuments relatifs au culte de Mithra" (Paris, 1893).] Nor must mention be omitted of Atars, the Genius of Fire, on account of the particular impor- tance and sanctity attached to fire as a symbol of the di\-inity and its conspicuous use in the cult (which has given rise to the entirely erroneous con- ception of Zoroastrianism as " Kire-wor.ship", and of the Parsees as "Fire-worshippers"). Water, Sun, Moon, Stars, the sacred Ilnoma plant (Skt. Soma), and other natural elements all have their special spirits. But particular mention must be made of the
enigmatical Fravashis, the origin and nature of wh-^ni
is still uncertain. Some writers [especially Soder-
blom, "Les Fravashis" (Paris, 1899); "La vie
future" (Paris, 1901)] have seen in them the spirits
of the departed, like the dii manes, or the Hindu
pitris. But, as a matter of fact, their primal con-
ception seems to approach nearest to the pre-existcnt
'IS^ai of Plato. Every living creature has its own
Fravashi, existing before its creation; nay in some
places inanimate beings, and, stranger still, Ahura
Mazda Himself, have their Fravashis. They play an
important role in both the psychology and the ritual
cult of Mazdeism.
Face to face with the hierarchy of celestial spirits is a diabolical one, that of the dacras (demons, Pahlav: and Mod. Persian dlv, or dev) and druj's of the Evil Spirit. They fill exactly the places of the devils in Christian and Jewish theology. Chief of them is .\ka Manah (Pahlavi Akoman, "Evil Mind"), the direct opponent of Vohu Manah. Perhaps the most fre- quently mentioned of all is Acshma, the Demon of Wrath or Violence, whose name has come down to us in the .^smodeus (Acshmo daiva)o( the Book of Tobias (iii, 8). The Pairikas are female spirits of seductive but malignant nature, who are familiar to us under the form of the Peris of later Persian poetry and legend.
IV. M.\N. — In the midst of the secular warfare that has gone on from the beginning between the two hosts of Good and Evil stands Man. Man is the crea- ture of the Good Spirit, but endowed with a free will and power of choice, able to place himself on the side of Ahura Mazda or on that of Ai'iro Mainyus. The former has given him, through His prophet Zara- thushtra (Zoroaster) His Divine revelation and law (dacna). According as man obeys or disobeys this DiWne law his future lot will be decided; by it he will be judged at his death. The whole ethical system is built upon this great principle, as in the Christian theology. Moral good, righteousness, sanctity (asha) is according to the Divine will and decrees; Man by his free will conforms to, or transgresses, these. The E\-il Spirit and his innumerable hosts tempt Man to deny or transgress the Divine law, as he tempted Zoroaster himself, promising him as reward the sovereignty of the whole world. — "No!" replied the Prophet, "I will not renounce it, even if body and soul and Ufe should be severed!" (Vendldad, xix, 25, 26). It is well to emphasize this basis of Avestic moral theology, because it at once marks off the Avesta system from the fatalistic systems of India with their karma and innate pessimism. [See CasartelH, "Id(5e du p^chd chez les Indo-Eraniens " (Fribourg, 1898).] A characteristic note of Iranian religious philosopliy is its essential optimism; if there is human sin, there is also repentance and expiation. In tlie later Pahla\-i religious literature there is a proper confession of sin (patlt) and a developed casuistry. Asceticism, however, finds no place therein.
DiWue worship, with elaborate ritual, is an es.sen- tial duty of man towards his Creator. There is indeed no animal sacrifice; the leading rites are the offering of the quasi-di^^ne haoma (the fermented juice of the sacred plant, a species of Asclepias), the exact counterpart of the Vedic somo-sacrifice; the care of the Sacred Fire; the chanting of the ritual hymns and prayers, and passages of the Sacred Books (Avesta).
The moral teaching is closely akin to our own. Stress is constantly laid on the necessity of goodness in thought, word, and deed (humata, hilkhta, hvarshta) as opposed to evil tliought, word, and deed {diish- mata, duzhukhta, duzhvar.shta). Note the emphatic recognition of sin in thought. Virtues and vices arc enumerated and estimated much as in Christian ethics. Special value is attributed to the virtues of religion, truthfulness, Durity, and generosity to the
