Masonic, Occult and Esoteric Online Library
Zoroastrianism in the Light of Occult Philosophy
By H. P. Blavatsky
About Trees Of Life
Just as Yggdrasil is the Tree of Life in the Scandinavian Edda, so Haoma is the sacred Tree of Life of Zaratusht, which, as we see, is represented in Assyrian monuments (see Layard, "Nineveh", p. 472). Deity or God is Fire. The Rosicrucians understood this well and adopted it from the magicians, the followers of Zarathusht. There were several Zaratushts (generic name). He himself confirms this by saying: "I am he who lives and dies." But the Zoroaster of the Parsees appeared 5400 years BC, and Persepolis (City of Radiance) was founded, in accordance with the tradition of the secret annals, 5000 years BC. Jamshid, priest of Oannes or Dagon (see Hilarion's letter to The Theosophist) 1. In ancient times, it was called Ista-khar - a place dedicated to Ista, or Ashtar, or Este, who eventually transformed into Vesta, in whose honor the Romans lit an unquenchable fire. Vesta was the deified anthropomorphic Divine Fire or Holy Spirit. Har on Assyrian monuments means the Sun, and Istar or Ista-Har - Vesta of the Sun and the throne of the Sun, translated by the Greeks as Perse-polis. Har-is is the City of Fire. Ceres was also the goddess of Fire, the heat that fructifies Nature, and in Cnidus she was called Kore, which is the title of the Sun; its Roman name is Kerera, not Ceres (as Cicero is Kickeron), and the original name of the city is Charis. In Arabic, the root word Char-is means to preserve, and haris means "guardian", "guardian" (of fire). Hence Cyrus, a male name derived from the female name Ceres. But this name is Indian (for Heres means the same as Char-is), and Hara or Hari is the name of Hara-Deva; Hari means Savior, I believe. Kore (Koros) is the name of Bacchus, the son of Kerera or Ceres, and Kore is Divine Wisdom or the Holy Spirit. In Antiquity Explained, Volume I, Father Bernard de Montfaucon, there is a tablet depicting the Mother of the Gods, one of whose names is Surya, the Indian name for the Sun. On another tablet she is called Mater Suriae, [and depicted] with long black hair - hence the name of the country Syria (Syria). The red robe of the Roman cardinals comes from the same source as the reddish-brown-yellow robes of sannyasis and Buddhists - from the Divine Fire - knowledge. As Zerah means in Hebrew the rising of the Luminary, so Surya means the Sun, and the name Zarathushta itself is a combination of Hindu and Hebrew names. Sir William Drummond shows that Hyde mistook Zoroaster for a contemporary of Darius. Siuidas places his era 500 years before the Trojan War, Plutarch 5000 years before that time, and Pliny2 - several millennia before Moses. All these contradictions testify to the fact that there were several Zoroasters, one of which - Zoroaster of the Parsees - was a historical figure, an Initiate, and Sir William Drummond, in the "Oedipus Judaicus" places Zoroaster many centuries before Moses. His Reverend J. Prideaux, calling him the greatest mathematician and the greatest philosopher of the age, immediately calls him "a charlatan and magician" - just as the Christian newspapers call us.
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1. Refers to the publication in "The Theosophist", vol. II, July, 1881, pp. 213-215, where most of the letter of the Teacher Hilarion is printed. It was entitled "Letter from the monastery of Surb Hovhannes" (see the appendix to this collection). - ed.
2. Pliny the Elder (23-79) - Gaius Pliny Secundus (Cajus Plinius Secundus), a Roman writer famous for his diverse learning, is known under this name. He is called the elder, in contrast to his nephew, Pliny the Younger. Born A.D. 23 in Coma (now Como). In his youth, he zealously served in the cavalry, participating in various campaigns, among other things, against the hawks - the German people who lived near the North Sea between the rivers Ems and Elbe and described by him at the beginning of the XVI book of his "Natural History". He also visited the Danube (XXXI, 19.25) and Belgium (VII, 17.76), where the Roman horseman Cornelius Tacitus, father or uncle of the famous historian, was procurator. A long stay in the trans-Alpine countries gave him the opportunity to collect a lot of information about them and write a large essay on the wars of the Romans with the Germans ("Bellorum Germaniae lib. XX), which served as the main source for Tacitus for his "Germany". Subsequently, he was procurator in Narbonne Gaul and in Spain. His closeness to Vespasian, with whose son, Titus, he served together in Germany, nominated him to one of the most important posts in the civil service: he was appointed head of the Misen fleet. During his tenure in this office, in A.D. 79, the famous eruption of Vesuvius. Having approached the ship too close to the crash site in order to better observe the formidable natural phenomenon, he fell victim to his curiosity. The details of this event are given by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, in a long letter to Tacitus (Epist. VI, 16). In one of his letters (Epist. III, 5), Pliny the Younger also lists a number of his uncle's works: "De jacululatione equestri" (On cavalry throwing), "De vita Pomponii Secundi" (Biography of Pomponius Secundus), three books of rhetorical writings ("Studiosi III"), eight books of grammar ("Dubii Sermonis VIII"), thirty-one books of history starting from the point where Aufidius ended his story Bass (A fine Aufidii Bassi XXXI), the aforementioned essay on Germany, and finally the thirty-seven books of Natural History (Naturalis Historiae XXXVII). After his death, 160 books of the smallest writing remained, with extracts or notes that he made while reading. Of all his writings, only "Natural History" has come down to us. - ed. starting from the point where Aufidius Bassus ended his history ("A fine Aufidii Bassi XXXI), the above-mentioned work on Germany, and finally the thirty-seven books of Natural History" ("Naturalis Historiae XXXVII). After his death, 160 books of the smallest writing remained, with extracts or notes that he made while reading. Of all his writings, only "Natural History" has come down to us. - ed. starting from the point where Aufidius Bassus ended his history ("A fine Aufidii Bassi XXXI), the above-mentioned work on Germany, and finally the thirty-seven books of Natural History" ("Naturalis Historiae XXXVII). After his death, 160 books of the smallest writing remained, with extracts or notes that he made while reading. Of all his writings, only "Natural History" has come down to us. - ed.
Abul-Faraj* [Bar-Ebrey] in the "Book of Dynasties" (p. 54) claims that Zaratusht taught the Persians manifested Wisdom (the Anointed of God is the Son or Logos), "Honover" (the living manifested Word, or Divine Wisdom) and predicted that the Virgin will immaculately conceive (Saoshyant), and at the birth of this Messenger, a six-pointed star will appear, which will shine at noon, and in the center of it the figure of the Virgin will be indicated. In Kabbalah, Virgo is the Astral Light, or Akasha, and the six-pointed star is the symbol of the Macrocosm. Logos or born Saoshyant means Secret Knowledge - Science, announcing the Wisdom of God. The prophecy of the Epiphany is contained in the Zend-Avesta.
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* Abul-Faraj (Bar-Ebrey, 1226-86) is a mafrian or catholicos of the Jacobite (Monophysite) church, who wrote numerous treatises on theology, philosophy, science and history in Syriac and Arabic. The son of a Jewish doctor, he was born in Malatya, on the upper Euphrates. In 1246 he became a Jacobite priest in Gubaz, and in 1253 in Aleppo. In 1264 he was elevated to the rank of mafriyan - a rank one rank below the patriarch. His greatest historical work, written in Syriac, is the Chronicle, the first part of which is a history of secular events. Bar-Ebrey compiled a compendium from it in Arabic and entitled it "Al-Mukhtasar fi'd-Duwal" ("Condensed History of Dynasties"). The second and third parts of this great work set forth the history of the church.
Many gifts were put into the hand of the Messenger of the Prophet Zaratusht when he filled the censer with fire from the sacred altar, as the Parsi mobed did in ancient times (and the Roman Catholic still does today, with the only difference that he takes burning coals and fire for the censer from the kitchen hearth): fire means heavenly truth, and the smoke of incense, smoking in the faces of worshipers, is the endowment with knowledge of this truth, the ever-existing Fire-Word of Zoroaster. "The mortal who approaches the Fire will receive light from the Deity." In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that God is in the fire of the altar. "I am Fire; I am Sacrifice." Flamins (priests of the Etruscans) were so named because they were illuminated by the tongues of the Flame (Holy Spirit), and the Christians adopted the cardinal cap and scarlet robe, symbolizing this Fire of Esoteric Divine Knowledge. "Pure and happy are those what he received during the initiation - six Gahambaras, periods of the evolution of the world. In the first of these periods—Maidyoy-zaremaya—the heavens or firmament were created; in the second, Maidyoi-shema, the moisture of the clouds gave rise to water; in the third - Paiti-shahya - the earth was formed from the primary cosmic particles, in the fourth - Ayatrima - when vegetation appeared on the earth; in the fifth, Mayadyarya, the long evolution of the earth has developed animal life; in the sixth, Hamaspathayedaya, the lower animals evolved into man; the seventh period will come after a certain cycle, after which the Persian Messiah will appear on horseback - that is, the Sun of our solar system will go out, and Pralaya will come. In the first of these periods—Maidyoy-zaremaya—the heavens or firmament were created; in the second, Maidyoi-shema, the moisture of the clouds gave rise to water; in the third - Paiti-shahya - the earth was formed from the primary cosmic particles, in the fourth - Ayatrima - when vegetation appeared on the earth; in the fifth, Mayadyarya, the long evolution of the earth has developed animal life; in the sixth, Hamaspathayedaya, the lower animals evolved into man; the seventh period will come after a certain cycle, after which the Persian Messiah will appear on horseback - that is, the Sun of our solar system will go out, and Pralaya will come. In the first of these periods—Maidyoy-zaremaya—the heavens or firmament were created; in the second, Maidyoi-shema, the moisture of the clouds gave rise to water; in the third - Paiti-shahya - the earth was formed from the primary cosmic particles, in the fourth - Ayatrima - when vegetation appeared on the earth; in the fifth, Mayadyarya, the long evolution of the earth has developed animal life; in the sixth, Hamaspathayedaya, the lower animals evolved into man; the seventh period will come after a certain cycle, after which the Persian Messiah will appear on horseback - that is, the Sun of our solar system will go out, and Pralaya will come. in the fourth - Ayatrima - when vegetation appeared on the earth; in the fifth, Mayadyarya, the long evolution of the earth has developed animal life; in the sixth, Hamaspathayedaya, the lower animals evolved into man; the seventh period will come after a certain cycle, after which the Persian Messiah will appear on horseback - that is, the Sun of our solar system will go out, and Pralaya will come. in the fourth - Ayatrima - when vegetation appeared on the earth; in the fifth, Mayadyarya, the long evolution of the earth has developed animal life; in the sixth, Hamaspathayedaya, the lower animals evolved into man; the seventh period will come after a certain cycle, after which the Persian Messiah will appear on horseback - that is, the Sun of our solar system will go out, and Pralaya will come.
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* Pausanias (Pausanias) - traveler and writer of the II century. according to AD, a student of Herod Atticus. The place of his birth and the first years of his life was, most likely, Lydia, in Asia Minor. The composition of Pausanias "Description of Hellas" consists of 10 books, named after the regions of Hellas. - ed.
Whoever unravels the mysteries of the sacred Parsi books must also study the Sacred Scriptures of other peoples, especially the Hindus. Then he will comprehend the secret of the Sun, Fire and the Horse. Just as Saoshyant, the Savior of mankind, must appear on a white horse, accompanied by an army of good geniuses on milk-white horses, so John in Revelation sees a white horse and the "Faithful and True" sitting on it, at the head of the hosts of heaven, following him on horseback. whites; so Vishnu as Kalki Avatar will appear as a warrior on a white horse... The white horse is the horse of the Sun. "And I saw an angel standing in the sun," says John ("Revelation", XIX, 17). "And he abolished the horses that the kings of Judea set for the sun (Fourth Book of Kings, XXIII, 11) - the fiery source of Spiritual Life." The sacrifice of horses and the sun is ashvamedha. * Horses of the Sun are known in all religions (Greek Phaethon ruling the Chariot). The high priest, the mobed, who goes every morning to meet and greet the rising Sun, is typical, since the chariot represents the body, the horse the vital principle, and his four legs the four world races: black, red, yellow and white, that is, Negroid, Indian, Mongoloid and Caucasian (the four castes of Manu come from here). The Chinese reflected this in the four orders of clergy, dressed in black, red, yellow and white; John saw the same colors in the symbolic horses of Revelation. and his four legs are the four world races: black, red, yellow and white, that is, Negroid, Indian, Mongoloid and Caucasian (the four castes of Manu come from here). The Chinese reflected this in the four orders of clergy, dressed in black, red, yellow and white; John saw the same colors in the symbolic horses of Revelation. and his four legs are the four world races: black, red, yellow and white, that is, Negroid, Indian, Mongoloid and Caucasian (the four castes of Manu come from here). The Chinese reflected this in the four orders of clergy, dressed in black, red, yellow and white; John saw the same colors in the symbolic horses of Revelation.
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* Ashvamedha (Skt.) - the sacrifice of a horse, as a symbol of vitality, to divine existence; one of the most ancient and solemn Vedic rituals; was prescribed to kings claiming to conquer the world. - ed.
The Persian Parsis have a book much older than the Zoroastrian writings of today. It is called "Javidan-Khirad" 1 (Eternal Wisdom) - this is a work on the practical philosophy of magic with natural science explanations. Thomas Hyde 2 speaks of her in the preface to Historia Religionis Veterum Persarum. The four Zoroastrian ages are the four races. Speaking of Zoroaster as a man who had extensive knowledge of all the sciences and philosophies known to the world at that time, his reverend George Oliver 3 describes cave temples, about which much is said in Zoroastrian doctrines.
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1. "Javidan-Khirad" - In "The Theosophist" (vol. III, April, 1882, pp.180-181) an anonymous review of a work entitled "Javidan Hirad" or "Eternal Wisdom" is published, a practical guide to Philosophy of Magic" written in Persian and presented to the Theosophical Society by the editor, a learned Parsi from Tehran, Mr. Manekji Limji Houshang Khaturia. Tradition says that "Javidan Hirad" was written by King Hushang, one of the Persian kings of the Peshdadid dynasty. She was buried in the palace of King Nashirvan in Baghdad and removed at the request of the philosopher Zuban, who received permission from Mamun al-Rashid, the son of Harun al-Rashid. Zuban allowed one of the scientists of that time to read and translate only a small fraction of this work. This is the fragment which has come down to us under the name "Javidan Hirad". It was originally translated into Arabic, with the addition of various teachings from other ancient philosophers. The book donated by T.O. is a Persian translation of this Arabic compilation. At the end of the review of the history of this book there is a note which, judging by its style, could have been written by H. P. Blavatsky, although the author has not been identified. We quote: "As for the content of this book, a whole volume would be needed for a brief commentary. First of all, the hidden meaning of the original was completely ignored by later translators. But even the external meaning of the words is full of instructions, moral and philosophical. In this whole compilation there is not a single sentence which might be considered less important than the others, if space permits, we would cite numerous quotations that even the most ardent moralists and theologians of today can read to their advantage. This book alone is enough to show the learning and achievements of the many maligned ancients. If those whom we are taught to consider primitive, semi-barbaric people could write such books on theology, morality and even politics that the works of the present, so-called age of progress and civilization can hardly be compared with them, then we must admit that we would like to follow in the footsteps of such semi-barbarians and leave this vaunted civilization to its own duped followers." - ed.
2. Hyde Thomas (1636-1703) - English orientalist. Studied oriental languages ??at Cambridge. He held various scientific positions, after which, in 1691, he was appointed professor of Arabic, and in 1697 - royal professor of the Hebrew language and canon of the Church of Christ. In his main work, Historia religionis veterum Persarum (1700), he made the first attempt to correct, on the basis of Eastern sources, the errors of Greek and Roman historians who described the religion of the ancient Persians. - ed.
3. Oliver George (1782-1867) - English topographer, author of a large number of works on Freemasonry. - ed.
"[Zoroaster] secluded himself in a round cave, or grotto in the mountains of Bukhara. He decorated it with numerous symbolic and astronomical images and solemnly dedicated it to the median god or Mediator - Mitr-Az, or, who was called in other places, an invisible deity, the father of the universe, born of a cave carved into the rock, where the sun was depicted as a wondrous, brightest pearl, which occupied a prominent place in the center of the ceiling, the planets were successively arranged around it, shining gold against an azure background, the zodiac was richly engraved in chased gold, the constellations Leo and Taurus were especially magnificent, with the sun and moon rising from behind them, of hammered gold. The four ages of the world were represented by globes of gold, silver, copper, and iron."*
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* "The History of Initiation", London, 1841, pp. 94-95.
These "ages" were presented to the students as four human races: gold meant Mongolian, silver meant white or Caucasian, copper meant Indian and iron meant Negroid. Minos received the laws from heaven in a cave on Horus, Egeria gave Numa the laws inscribed on the tablets in a grotto or cave on a hill, Moses received [the tablets] at Sinai, etc.
Dagdai is the name of Zoroaster's mother. Wallancey shows that when spelled this way it means the Holy Spirit (or Wisdom), and Faber, who writes the same name as Day-dae, says that it means the Divine Fish - so the Parsis, I think, accept it. Ask why Zoroaster consecrated wine (truth) obtained from grapes (a parable of Jesus?), a rose (phallus), a cup (womb) and a pomegranate seed (Messenger) during rituals. The rose was dedicated to the Sun. Zoroaster retired to the mountains of Armenia (Ahriman) in order to speak with Ormuzd, and when the mountain was engulfed in flames, he remained unharmed. Then on Mount Gordion he wrote the first Zend-Avesta.
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The following is a note by H. P. Blavatsky inserted into the printed text of Colonel Olcott's lecture "The Spirit of the Zoroastrian Religion."
In the oldest Iranian book called "Desatir" - a collection of the teachings of the fourteen most ancient Iranian prophets (increasing them to fifteen by including Simkendesh, or "Sekander", would be a terrible mistake, which is easy to prove, based on the words of Zaratusht himself given in this book) - Zaratusht is thirteenth in the list. This fact is significant. Regarding the period of the life of the first Zoroaster and his personality, Western scholars do not give any reliable information; their accounts are so divergent as to be confusing. Among the numerous contradictory information, I will note the ancient Greek classics, who write that Zaratusht lived from 600 to 5000 years before the Trojan War, i.e. 6000 years before Plato. And Berossus, the Chaldean priest, declares that Zoroaster was the founder of the Indian dynasty in Babylon 2200 B.C., while later local traditions report that he was the son of Purushaspa and a contemporary of Gushtaspa, the father of Darius, who lived 600 years before Christ. Finally, Bunsen states that Zarathushtra was born in Bactria before the migration of the Bactrians to the Indus, which took place, as the learned Egyptologist shows, in 3784 BC. Amid all this sea of ??contradictions, what conclusion can be drawn? Obviously, only one hypothesis remains - that they are all wrong. I find confirmation of this in the secret traditions of the esoteric doctrine: there were several teachers with this name. Plato and Aristotle, being so accurate in their information, could hardly confuse 200 years with 6000. As for the generally accepted local tradition that makes the great prophet a contemporary of Father Darius, it is absurd even at first glance. And although the error is too obvious, In order to need a serious refutation, I will nevertheless say a few words on this matter. Later research shows that Persian inscriptions point to Vishtasp as the last of the Kayanid dynasty to rule Bactria, while the Assyrian conquest of this country took place in 1200 BC. This alone already proves that Zoroaster lived 1200 or 1300 years BC, and not 600, as is attributed to him, and that, therefore, he could not have been a contemporary of Darius Hystaspes, whose father was so careless and so long confused with Vishtasp, who flourished six centuries earlier. If we add to this the historical inconsistency between the statement of Ammianus Marcellinus - that Darius destroyed the magicians and introduced the cult of Ahuramazda - and the inscription on the tomb of this king, which says that he was a "teacher and hierophant of magic"; and if you add another,
Thus, we can safely conclude the following: 1) there were several (seven in all, as the secret annals say) Ahura-asters (spiritual teachers) of Ahuramazda, who later degenerated into Guru-asters and Zurus-asters - from "Zera Ishtar", the title Chaldean priests or magicians; and 2) the last of them was Zaratusht "Desatira", the thirteenth of the prophets and the seventh of those who bore this name. It was he who was a contemporary of Vishtaspa, the last king of the Kayanid dynasty, and the compiler of the Vendidad, the commentaries to which have been lost and of which only a dead letter remains. Some of the facts stated in the secret annals, although they seem to the scientist of exact science only a legend, are very curious. They report that in a gigantic cave bearing the name of Zoroaster in his priestly version, there is a kind of hollow rock full of tablets covered with inscriptions and, and that these tablets may someday be discovered. This cave, with its rock, tablets and many wall inscriptions, is located on the top of one of the peaks of the eastern Tien Shan, much further than its junction with Belor-Tag, somewhere along the eastern direction. One of the half-pictorial, half-drawn prophecies and teachings attributed to Zoroaster himself tells of a flood that turned the inland sea into a gloomy desert called Shamo or Gobi. The esoteric key to the mystical beliefs, once frivolously called the Sabaean or Planetary Religion, and later the Cult of the Sun or Fire, according to legend, "hangs in this cave." In this tradition, the great Prophet is depicted with a golden star on his heart, a representative of that race of antediluvian giants, which is mentioned in the sacred books of both the Chaldeans and the Jews. And it doesn't matter at all whether this hypothesis is accepted or rejected. Since negation does not make the opposite in its priestly version more certain, it is equally worth mentioning.
