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Zoroastrianism in the Light of Occult Philosophy

By H. P. Blavatsky

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Introduction

From a letter we have received from a certain Parsi gentleman, we print successively all the paragraphs containing questions; and, for greater clarity, the replies follow immediately after the excerpts from the letter. We hope that this order will simplify the work and help the reader to understand the meaning of the questions and answers better than in the traditional posting of letters without any intervals and commenting on readers' questions in footnotes.

"Can you or any of your collaborators say whether Zoroastrianism, from an occult point of view, is monotheism, pantheism, polytheism, or atheism? I could not understand this from Colonel Olcott's scientific lecture on the "Spirit of Zoroastrianism"."

The answer depends on how the question is asked. If we are asked what Zoroastrianism is—inaccurately and casually called magic, Mazdaism, fire-worship, and parsism—then we answer, "He is all of the above." This is "monotheism, pantheism, polytheism" and even "atheism" - in its opposition to modern theism - the corresponding characteristics depend on the era. But if we had to describe in general terms the origin of this religion from the position of authoritative occult teachings, we would designate it with the original simple definition of "magic". It began to emerge in the vast expanses covering the territory between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of ????Okhotsk and unexplored deserts stretching from Altai to the Himalayan mountains, in those ancient times, which modern scientists have not even dreamed of, and which are therefore rejected by all but the most thoughtful and courageous anthropologists. We have no right to record in our journal the exact number of years, or rather centuries, which have elapsed - according to the doctrines of the arcane science - since the first seeds of magic were sown by the hand of the Entity, whose duty is to raise, nurse and direct the uncertain steps of reborn human beings. races awakening to new life on each planet after another "obscuration". Magic is the same age as our present Manvantara, since the seeds sown in the First Root Race, having sown in the infant brain of its representatives, grew stronger and began to bear fruit in the second half of the Second Race; and in the third race We have no right to record in our journal the exact number of years, or rather centuries, which have elapsed - according to the doctrines of the arcane science - since the first seeds of magic were sown by the hand of the Entity, whose duty is to raise, nurse and direct the uncertain steps of reborn human beings. races awakening to new life on each planet after another "obscuration". Magic is the same age as our present Manvantara, since the seeds sown in the First Root Race, having sown in the infant brain of its representatives, grew stronger and began to bear fruit in the second half of the Second Race; and in the third race We have no right to record in our journal the exact number of years, or rather centuries, which have elapsed - according to the doctrines of the arcane science - since the first seeds of magic were sown by the hand of the Entity, whose duty is to raise, nurse and direct the uncertain steps of reborn human beings. races awakening to new life on each planet after another "obscuration". Magic is the same age as our present Manvantara, since the seeds sown in the First Root Race, having sown in the infant brain of its representatives, grew stronger and began to bear fruit in the second half of the Second Race; and in the third race to nurse and guide the hesitant steps of the resurgent human races awakening to new life on every planet after yet another "obscuration". Magic is the same age as our present Manvantara, since the seeds sown in the First Root Race, having sown in the infant brain of its representatives, grew stronger and began to bear fruit in the second half of the Second Race; and in the third race to nurse and guide the hesitant steps of the resurgent human races awakening to new life on every planet after yet another "obscuration". Magic is the same age as our present Manvantara, since the seeds sown in the First Root Race, having sown in the infant brain of its representatives, grew stronger and began to bear fruit in the second half of the Second Race; and in the third race1 fully developed into what the occultists call the "Tree of Knowledge" or "Tree of Life" - unfortunately, later the true meaning of both concepts was distorted and misunderstood by both Zoroastrians and Christians. But we can tell our correspondent the following: magic in the days of its full maturity and application 2 and many centuries before the birth of the first of the twelve great religions (its direct offshoots) - mentioned and casually described by Muhsin-Fani in "Dabistan" and even long before the advent of the first followers of the Hushang religion, which, according to Sir W. Jones, 3 "existed much earlier than Zeratushta" 4, the prophet of modern Parsees - so, then, even then, magic was an "atheistic" religion in its essence, which we can irrefutably prove. In any case, Kapila and Spinoza, Buddha and our Mahatmas, Brihaspati Charvakas and modern Advaists, as well as nastikas and atheists, would call it that. One thing is certain: all true magicians 5did not teach the doctrine of a personal God, a single gigantic man - although now, as before, the existence of a number of divine entities is still recognized. Therefore, Zoroaster, the seventh prophet (the 13th, according to the Desatyr, whose compilers confused and mixed up the fourteen Zaro-Ishtars, high priests and initiates of the Chaldean hierophant magicians) can be considered an atheist in the modern sense of the word. All Orientalists, led by Haug, are unanimous that there are no direct or indirect references to the doctrine of God or to any theology in the oldest, or second, part of Yasna 6 .

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1. Anyone who has studied "Fragments of Occult Truth" knows that the current race is the Fifth and that we have to go through two more races before we cease to incarnate on this planet.

2. "In the Middle Ages, nothing was known of Mazdaism, except the name of its founder, who was transformed from a magician into an exorcist and teacher of arcane sciences," writes James Darmesteter (SBE, Introduction to "Vendidad", 2nd ed., Oxford, 1895, p. xv), who knows as much about them as his exoteric science permits; but, being completely ignorant of the esoteric sciences, he is greatly mistaken. No one could become a mage-priest without being at the same time what is now known by the vulgar name of "sorcerer". But more on that later.

3. William Jones - founder and first president of the Indian Academy of Sciences - ed.

4. Asiatic Researches, Calcutta, 1790, vol. II, pp. 48-49.

5. We want to clarify that we are not talking about "magicians" at all, regardless of whether they are considered by some Orientalists (for example, Darmesteter) as one of the Median tribes (?), based on the vague statements of Herodotus, or a priestly caste such as the Brahmins - as we think. We are talking only about their dedicated representatives. The Secret Doctrine teaches that the origin of brahmins and magicians goes back through the darkness of ages to the same source. At first it was a hierarchy of adepts, people who had the deepest knowledge in the physical and spiritual sciences and the occult; they were representatives of different nationalities, kept a vow of chastity and replenished their ranks at the expense of voluntary students, to whom they passed on their knowledge. Then, when their numbers increased enough to overpopulate Aryana Vej, the adepts went in different directions and it can be traced how they founded their own hierarchies in all parts of the world after the original type; each hierarchy grew to such an extent that it was forced to impose restrictions on admission; "half-adepts" returned to the world, got married and laid the foundations of "left" science, or sorcery, which is confused with Sacred Knowledge. In the third stage, the true initiates with each age became smaller and more inaccessible; tougher tests for students. Temple Mysteries appeared. The hierarchy is divided into two parts. A select few, the hierophants - a state within a state - remained virgins, and the exoteric priests legalized their marriages and attempted to pass on the adeptship by inheritance, but failed. So there were brahmins and magicians, Egyptian priests and Roman hierarchs and augurs enjoying family life and inventing religious laws in their own justification. There is no need to remind the reader of what he learned from the course of history and his intuition. Today there are descendants, heirs of ancient wisdom, scattered all over the world, living in small isolated and unknown communities, the purpose of which is misunderstood and the origin forgotten. And only two religions that arose as a result of the educational activities of the priests and hierophants of antiquity. The latter can be seen in the form of pitiful remnants, called, respectively, Brahmins and Dasturs, or Mobeds. But a nucleus has survived (although its existence is stubbornly denied) of the heirs of the original magicians, the Vedic maghas and Greek magos - ancient priests and gods,

6. Yasna - one of the books of the Avesta, containing the text of the Zoroastrian liturgy - ed.

"The lecture explains many obscure and absurd, from an occult point of view, statements in the Avesta. But they are so few that the young men taught by the colonel, I am sure, have not become wiser. Can anyone tell me if the colonel meant that in order to understand their religion, young Parsis should study yoga and the occult?"

Our president never meant that they should practice yoga. The only thing he wanted to instill in them was the idea that before they mock their own religion, in which they understand so little, and become either modern agnostics or convinced materialists, they should study the philosophy of Zoroastrianism in the light of esoteric science, which only one can reveal the truth to them, explaining the hidden meaning of various signs and symbols.

"The learned colonel said that the Parsees inherited their knowledge from the Chaldeans and that the Chaldean and Hebrew Kabbalah shed light on the content of the Avesta. Where and in what language can these books be found; and are they also so allegorical that in order to comprehend them it will be necessary to resort to the aid of occult philosophy?"

The lecturer stated a fact. The Parsis, more than the Brahmins, are the heirs of the Chaldean wisdom, for they are the direct, though the latest offspring, of Aryan magic. Occultists are very little concerned about the obvious disagreements with the Orientalists, who attributed the "Chaldean" magicians, with all their priests and initiates - whether they be Medes, Scythians or Babylonians - to the Semitic group, and the ancient Persians to the Aryan. The classification of these nations into Turans, Akkadians, Semites, and God knows who else is, at best, arbitrary. The word "Chaldean" refers mainly not to a native or inhabitant of Chaldea, but to "Chaldey" - the most ancient astrological and occult science. And in this sense, the Zoroastrians are the true heirs of the Chaldean wisdom, "the light that shines in the darkness", although "modern darkness does not understand him" and the Parsis themselves now know nothing about him. The ancient Hebrew Kabbalah is just an echo of the Chaldean, its echo, which, having passed through the corridors of time, absorbed all kinds of related sounds along the way, which were mixed with the original key notes that sounded in prehistoric times, unknown to modern ignorant generations, and reached later researchers. Hebrew teaching in the form of an obscure and somewhat distorted sound. And yet, one who has sufficient perseverance and patience will be able to learn a lot from it, for first of all he will have to study gematria, notarikon and themaru. absorbed along the way all kinds of related sounds, which were mixed with the original key notes that sounded in prehistoric times, unknown to modern ignorant generations, and reached the later students of Hebrew teaching in the form of an obscure and somewhat distorted sound. And yet, one who has sufficient perseverance and patience will be able to learn a lot from it, for first of all he will have to study gematria, notarikon and themaru. absorbed along the way all kinds of related sounds, which were mixed with the original key notes that sounded in prehistoric times, unknown to modern ignorant generations, and reached the later students of Hebrew teaching in the form of an obscure and somewhat distorted sound. And yet, one who has sufficient perseverance and patience will be able to learn a lot from it, for first of all he will have to study gematria, notarikon and themaru.1 . Speaking of the Kabbalah, the lecturer had in mind a universal, and not any particular esoteric system already adapted to later exoteric belief, as happened at the present time with the Jewish occult science. The word "Kabbalah" comes from a Hebrew word meaning "receiving knowledge"; and, in essence, it applies to the ancient systems transmitted orally, and is very close to the Sanskrit "smriti" and "shruti" and the Chaldean "zend" 2. It will not suffice for a Parsi or a Hindu to study only the Hebrew or even the Chaldean Kabala, since a vast literature on this subject is written in Hebrew or Latin. But both of them will get to the truth if they extract identical knowledge hidden under the exoteric veil from the Zend-Avesta and Brahmanical books. And this they can do by creating, by intelligent, serious people, a small society for the study of symbolism, especially Sanskrit and Zend. They could get information about esoteric concepts and a list of necessary literature from some advanced members of our society.

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1. Gematria, notorikon, themura - Jewish methods of researching the secret meaning of manuscripts. Gematria shows the numerical value of words by summing up the values ??of their constituent letters. Notarikon deals with the formation of words from the initial and final letters of words in each sentence, or vice versa - it forms a sentence from words whose initial or final letters belong to some word. - ed.

2. Of course, as established by Orientalists, the word "Zend" does not apply to any language, active or dead, and never applied to any language or dialect of ancient Persia (See Faehang-i-Jahengoro in the Persian Dictionary). As correctly noted, it means "commentary or explanation", but it also means something about which the Orientalists seem to have no idea, namely, "the translation of an esoteric text into an exoteric one", a veil used to hide the true meaning of the texts. written in senzar, the secret language. Now it can be found in several undeciphered inscriptions; it is still studied and used in their secret communications by Eastern adepts, calling it, depending on the locality, senzar and brahma or deva-bhashya.

"The Colonel advises the translation of the prayers. Did he mean by this that the translation of the prayers in their present state would improve the enlightenment of the youth? If not, then did he mean that the meaning of the entire Zend-Avesta, explained by a conscientious occultist, could become clearer and deeper?"

That is what he meant. With the help of an accurate translation, or rather a correct explanation of the ritual prayers, and with an initial knowledge of the true meaning of even a few of the most important symbols - mainly those that seem the most meaningless and absurd in the eyes of modern Zenda students, such as a dog that plays a very important role in the Parsi ceremony* - the "young Parsis" will acquire the key to the true philosophy which lies at the basis of their "pathetic prejudices and myths," as they are called by the missionaries, who are ready to impose their own on the world instead of them.

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* Compare the so-called "Akkadian incantation formulas" of the earliest period known to Orientalists (indeed, very late periods), to which many of the injunctions from the Vendidad (Fargard, XIII) refer, regarding the dog, imprinted on charms and amulets. It seems almost unbelievable that even the most obtuse Zendu experts could not understand that, for example, in verse 49 (163) from the same "Fargard", which says: "For no house created by Ahura could exist on earth , but only at home for my two dogs: shepherd and domestic" - this is not about these real animals. The comment made on this verse ("Saddar", 31) is absurd and ridiculous. It is said that it should not be understood as saying that "no animals will survive except dogs", and that all mankind, endowed with the highest intellect in the animal world, under the leadership of Angra Mainyu will destroy itself due to the presence of "dogs" - the two highest spiritual principles. The dog Wanghapara (a hedgehog, according to the commentator!), "a good creature from among the creations of the Light Spirit, which from midnight (the time of our ignorance) until sunrise (spiritual enlightenment) walks and kills thousands of creatures of the evil spirit" ("Fargard", XIII, 1) is our spiritual consciousness. The one who "kills her" (silences her voice in himself) will not cross the Chinvat bridge (leading to paradise). Then compare these allegories with the inscriptions on the Akkadian talismans. Even in the distorted translation of J. Smith, seven dogs are described - "blue", "yellow", "speckled", etc., which brings to mind the seven human principles stated in the occult. All the "spell formulas" of the so-called Akkadian collection are replete with references to the seven evil and seven good spirits, which are none other than our principles in their duality.

"Prayer is contrary to atheistic principles. How then does the learned Colonel explain his advice to the Parsis to put more soul into prayer? Or does he also mean that occult philosophy justifies the prayers of the Zend-Avesta to the sun, moon and almost all supposed pure creations? If he thinks that concentrating on such objects helps to free oneself from earthly desires and thoughts, does he also think that the modern generation will believe in all these prayers and theories and will follow them?

"As far as we know," Colonel Olcott was never an atheist; he is an esoteric Buddhist who rejects a personal God. In addition, true prayer, that is, the manifestation of a strong will in relation to events (usually caused by blind chance) in order to influence the course of their development, never aroused antipathy in him. Even prayers in the conventional sense are not "disgusting" from his point of view, but are simply useless, if not absurd and ridiculous, as in the case of praying for the rain to stop or start, etc. By prayer, he understands the will, desire, or order, expressed magnetically, for something desirable for us or someone else to happen. The sun, moon and stars have an allegorical meaning in the Avesta, especially the Sun, which is a concrete and most successful symbol of a single universal life-giving principle, and the stars are an integral part of occult science. yima1 never prayed, but went "to meet the sun" in the vast celestial space and, returning with "the science of the stars, put a golden seal on the earth" and (thus) made Spenta-Armaity (the spirit of the earth) stretch out in different directions and give birth to flocks birds, and herds of animals, and people 2 .

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1. Yima (zend) - the first person. - ed.
2. "Fargard", II, 10.

But since nowadays no one knows the "science of the stars" and there are not enough Zendu specialists, the best thing to do at least to begin with is to translate the prayers. As far as we know, the lecturer had no intention of advising everyone to accept modern prayers in their present liturgical, exoteric form, or to "act in accordance with them." Precisely because for the overwhelming majority, who repeat them like parrots, they remain incomprehensible, they should either be corrected, or, in case of complete indifference and disgust for them, stop using them and soon consign them to oblivion. The word "prayer" received its modern meaning as an appeal to a major or minor deity only after how the once widely known and true esoteric meaning was obscured by the exoteric curtains that soon hid behind the hardly soluble shell of anthropomorphism. Magicians were not aware of any supreme "personal" individuality. They recognized only Ahura - "lords", the seventh principle in man - and "prayed", that is, during many hours of meditation, they made efforts to assimilate and combine the rest of their principles, dependent on the physical body and constantly experiencing the influence of Angro-Mainyu (or matter), with the only pure, holy and eternal principle in itself, with its divine monad. Who else can they pray to? Who is "Ormuzdom" if not the chief Spenta Mainyu, the monad, our own inner divine principle? How can the Parsees now consider his hypostasis of the "one Supreme God" independent of man, if even in the pitiful remnants of the sacred books on Mazdeism it is well known that he was never perceived in this way? They are full of his shortcomings, impotence (when his personality is connected with a person) and his frequent failures. Questioning him, Zarathushtra each time refers to him as "the creator of the material world." He invokes Vayu1 , "created from the light of the victorious god of light" 2 (or true knowledge and spiritual enlightenment), the lord of demons (passions), to help in the fight against Angro Mainyu, and at the birth of Zarathushtra he begs Ardvi-Sura Anahita 3 so that the newborn does not left him, but stood beside him in his eternal struggle with Ahriman.

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1. The Holy Spirit of the Mazdeans.

2. "Jashts", XV, 3.

3. We dare to ask our European Sanskrit scholars and Zenda scholars whether they know who the Mazdean goddess Ardvi-Sura Anahita was? We affirm and can prove it that the mentioned character, called by Ahura to help, and Sarasvati (Sarasvati, the brahminical goddess of secret, or occult, truth) are identical. Where is the logic in that the Supreme God, "the omnipotent and omniscient All", turns to his own creation for help?

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Yima rejected Ahura Mazda's offers to give him instructions. Why? "Because," he replies, "I was not born, I was not trained as a preacher and bearer of your religion. ". Yes, he was not born, occult science tells us, for from whom could he be born if he was the first man (let modern anthropologists and physiologists try to explain how this could happen). But it developed from the previous form and as such did not yet need the laws and teachings of its seventh principle. The "Supreme" and "Almighty" are satisfied with this answer. He only takes from him a promise to take care of his creations and make them happy, which was fulfilled by the "son of Virangvanta". Does this not prove that Ahura Mazda is a concept that can only be explained and defined by occult doctrine? And she wisely explains to us that Ahura is our own inner personal God and that he is our spiritual light and "creator of the material world," that is, the architect and builder of the microcosm - man, when he knows how to resist Angra Mainyu, or Kama (lust, or physical desires), relying on the one who stands for his protection, namely, Ahura Mazda, or spiritual essence. The latter invokes Vayu, who, according to esoteric Mazdaism, is the Universe, for he is the individuality, the light in man. Hence his prayer appeal to Vayu so that Zarathushtra, the entity that teaches the truth to his followers, would stand next to him, Ahura, and help him defeat Ahriman, since without such support even he (our seventh principle) is powerless to save a person from himself, since Ahriman is an allegorical depiction of the lower human principles, while Ahura Mazda personifies the higher principles. Next, consider the symbolism of Yima,2. He is too spiritual, too pure at the first awakening to life, to need the truths of the secret science that serves as the common foundation of all great religions. Consequently, the "great shepherd" Yima refuses Ahura's instructions in view of the fact that Ahriman does not yet have power over an innocent baby who is not aware of the moral and physical danger and is not responsible for it. He "keeps (spiritual) death and sickness out" of his people and "enlarges the earth three times" as the root race multiplies and "begets sub-races seventy times seven." But Zarathushra, according to the "Vendidad" and other sources, recognizes and idolizes Ahura Mazda, because this prophet, in the general sense of this name, is a representative of the second half of the Second Race. And now, let the Parsi mathematicians calculate how long ago the first Zara-Ishtar, or Zoroaster, lived, and let them study true Mazdaism, and not its later layers, which were formed in the cycle of times and races. Which of the Zarathustras was the true legislator of Chaldean Mazdaism? Certainly not the one to whom Ahura Mazda addresses with the words: "Beautiful Yima... Oh, holy Zarathushra was the first mortal before you... with whom I, Ahura Mazda, spoke, whom I taught the religion of Ahura, the religion of Zaratushra "3. The story of Zarathushtra's teaching of the laws of Zarathushra long before the birth of Zarathushra himself is associated with one of Moses, who described his own death and burial in his "Pentateuch". In the Vendidad, Ahura is the "creator of the material world," that is, the human microcosm, and Yima is the true creator of the earth. There he is shown as the master of Spanta-Armaiti, the spirit of the earth, and by the power of his innate natural light and knowledge, simply by reason of the absence of Angro Mainyu, who appears later, causes "the earth to increase in size and give birth to flocks of birds, herds of animals and people at their will. and desire as much as he wants." Ahura Mazda is also the father of Tishtrya, the rain-giver (sixth principle), who irrigates the scorched soil of the fifth and fourth principles and helps them to produce good results by their own efforts, that is, by eating the fruits of Haoma, the tree of eternal life, at the time of spiritual illumination. And finally, Ahura Mazda is rightly named after the leader and father of the six Amesha Spanta, or six principles, of which he is the seventh. He is "Ahura", or rather Asura - the animating "spirit in man", the first of the 20 different names he gave himself is "Ahmi" - "I am". Precisely with the aim of drawing the attention of the listeners to the special importance of understanding and complete trust in this only God (hence the appeal to him in prayer), from which humate, hukhte and huvareshte arise and are concentrated. tree of eternal life, during spiritual illumination. And finally, Ahura Mazda is rightly named after the leader and father of the six Amesha Spanta, or six principles, of which he is the seventh. He is "Ahura", or rather Asura - the animating "spirit in man", the first of the 20 different names he gave himself is "Ahmi" - "I am". Precisely with the aim of drawing the attention of the listeners to the special importance of understanding and complete trust in this only God (hence the appeal to him in prayer), from which humate, hukhte and huvareshte arise and are concentrated. tree of eternal life, during spiritual illumination. And finally, Ahura Mazda is rightly named after the leader and father of the six Amesha Spanta, or six principles, of which he is the seventh. He is "Ahura", or rather Asura - the animating "spirit in man", the first of the 20 different names he gave himself is "Ahmi" - "I am". Precisely with the aim of drawing the attention of the listeners to the special importance of understanding and complete trust in this only God (hence the appeal to him in prayer), from which humate, hukhte and huvareshte arise and are concentrated. Asura is the animating "spirit in man", the first of the 20 different names he gave himself is "Ahmi" - "I am". Precisely with the aim of drawing the attention of the listeners to the special importance of understanding and complete trust in this only God (hence the appeal to him in prayer), from which humate, hukhte and huvareshte arise and are concentrated. Asura is the animating "spirit in man", the first of the 20 different names he gave himself is "Ahmi" - "I am". Precisely with the aim of drawing the attention of the listeners to the special importance of understanding and complete trust in this only God (hence the appeal to him in prayer), from which humate, hukhte and huvareshte arise and are concentrated.4 - the purified quintessence of all moral and social human laws - Colonel Olcott advised "young Parsis" to study their prayers. According to Darmesteter, it is very probable that "in the 5th century BC Herodotus could hear the same ghats sung by magicians 5 that are sung today by mobeds in Bombay"; but it is extremely doubtful that the ghats now being performed are not just a "husk" of ancient ghats that have lost their life-giving spirit, which can be restored through the efforts of the resurrected energies of the occult sciences.

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1 "Fargard" II, 3 (7).
2. See Fragments of Occult Truth.
3. "Fargard", II, 2 (4).
4. Purity of speech, purity of deeds, purity of thoughts.
5. Gata (Sanskrit) - a metrical song or hymn composed of ethical aphorisms - ed.

"Will the learned Colonel Olcott kindly express his opinion as to whether the Zend-Avesta is a collection of the true precepts of Zoroaster, or whether it is full of distortions and additions made before and after its written presentation?"

We believe that we can do this instead of the colonel, since we have common views with him and we learn from the same Master. At present, the Zend-Avesta is only a general system, so to speak, a dead letter of the laws of Zoroaster. If the Orientalists are unanimous that most of the Avesta was written in the era preceding the reign of the Sassanids 1 , nevertheless, they find it difficult to determine the exact period of its origin.

As Darmesteter aptly put it, the Parsi "sacred books are the fragments of a religion." Avesta, revised and translated into Pahlavi 2Ardeshir Babagan, is not the Avesta of modern Parsism, with its innumerable insertions and arbitrary comments, made up to the last days of the Sassanid dynasty; in the same way, the Avesta of Ardeshir is not identical to that which was discovered by Zara-Ishtar (the thirteenth prophet of "Desatir") and handed over to Gushtasp; neither is the latter analogous to the original zend, although even this version was only an exoteric version of the doctrines written in senzar. As Burnof has shown, the Pahlavi version in almost every case strangely deviates from the true meaning of the original (?) Zend text, while this "true meaning" diverged very strongly (or should I say, was veiled?) from the esoteric text. This is because the Zend text is a secret code of certain words and expressions, invented by the first compilers, the key to which is held by the initiates. Western scholars may object: "The key to the Avesta is not the Pahlavi, but the Vedas," to which the occultist will answer: "Yes, but the Secret Doctrine is the key to the Vedas." The former quite correctly assert that the Vedas and the Avesta have a common source, to which students of the occult ask: "Are you familiar with at least the basics of this source?"

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1. Sassanids - a dynasty of Iranian shahs in 224-651. - ed.
2. Pahlavi is the literary language of Iran during the Sassanid era. - ed.

One example will suffice to prove that the occultists are right in their irreverent remarks. In paragraph 7 of the introduction (ch. IV) to part I of the Zend-Avesta (to the "Vendidad"), Mr. J. Darmesteter writes the following: "The ancestors of the Indo-Iranians were allowed to speak of seven worlds, the Supreme God is often depicted as septenary, as well as the worlds subject to him ... The seven worlds in Persia became seven Karshvars, only one of which is known and accessible to man - the one in which he lives, namely, "khvaniratha", which is tantamount to asserting the existence of seven lands." Such a world view is attributed, of course, to ignorance and superstition. We are also not entirely sure that this opinion will not be shared by those of our readers who are not chelas or who have not read Fragments of Occult Truth. But we leave it to lay chelas and others to decide for themselves whether such a septenary division* is the basis of occult doctrines. The correspondence found between the statements of Plutarch and the Avesta in Anquetil's translation testifies only to the authenticity of the latter, but this does not at all prove that Plutarch gave a correct interpretation of the hidden meaning of the Zoroastrian religion. Perhaps Sir W. Jones was right in stating that the Avesta of Ankvetila, full of silly tales and absurd laws, could not have been made by a saint like Zoroaster! that Plutarch gave a correct interpretation of the hidden meaning of the Zoroastrian religion. Perhaps Sir W. Jones was right in stating that the Avesta of Ankvetila, full of silly tales and absurd laws, could not have been made by a saint like Zoroaster! that Plutarch gave a correct interpretation of the hidden meaning of the Zoroastrian religion. Perhaps Sir W. Jones was right in stating that the Avesta of Ankvetila, full of silly tales and absurd laws, could not have been made by a saint like Zoroaster!

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* See "Fargard", IX.

The Greeks say that the first Zara-Ishtar was a Mede born in the city of Rai 1 and date the heyday of his activity five or six thousand years before the start of the Trojan War; and according to the Secret Doctrine, this "first" was the "last" or seventh Zarathushtra (the thirteenth in the Desatira) - although after him there was another Zuruastara or Suryacharya to Zarathushtra), who lived during the time of the first Gushtasp (not the father of Darius, as some scholars believed) 2. The last of these is called, very inaccurately, the "founder" of modern monotheistic parsism, since, besides being the regenerator and interpreter of modern philosophy, he was the last to make a desperate attempt to restore pure magic. It is known that he came from Shiz to Mount Zebilan, to the cave where all the initiated magicians went, and after leaving from there he returned with a newly translated and commented by himself Zend-Avesta. It is claimed that this original commentary is still kept in secret libraries among other ancient works. But its copies, which are now at the disposal of ignorant mankind, have the same resemblance to it, as does present-day Christianity to the true teachings of the Founder of this religion. So, when we are once again asked: "If there really are people, Instead of benefiting people, they would only harm the followers of these truths. And as for the question of giving the world more information about the region known as Ariana Vajo, we refer to that place in Fargard where Ahura Mazda tells Spitama "the most benevolent" that he has made every edge, even if there is no charm, dear to the hearts of its inhabitants, otherwise "the whole existing world would have rushed to Ariana-Vejo" (I, 2) Instead of benefiting people, they would only harm the followers of these truths. And as for the question of giving the world more information about the region known as Ariana Vajo, we refer to that place in Fargard where Ahura Mazda tells Spitama "the most benevolent" that he has made every edge, even if there is no charm, dear to the hearts of its inhabitants, otherwise "the whole existing world would have rushed to Ariana-Vejo" (I, 2)3 .

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1. The ruins of this city are located in the vicinity of Tehran - ed.

2. The theory that King Vistaspa was the last in the Kayan dynasty that ruled in Bactriana has now been refuted; and Bactriana was conquered by the Assyrians in 1200 BC. Our first Zend explorers are guilty of more than one such serious error. So, Histaspes was turned by historians into the crusher of magicians and the revivalist of the pure religion of Zoroaster - one might think that these were two completely different religions; while on the tombstone of Darius, or Darayavush, it is written that he (the destroyer of magic!) Was himself "a teacher and hierophant of magic!" (See "Isis Unveiled", vol. II, pp. 141-142).

3. Why in "Bunda-hish" Zoroaster proposes to make a sacrifice in "Iran-Vega" (a distorted name of Aryana-Vejo), and where is this country and what is it like? Some orientalists consider it fictitious, while others localize its geographical position as the basin of the Araks River, which is completely wrong. The last Zarathushtra could choose - and did so - the banks of the Araks for the cradle of his newly revived religion; in this cradle the baby was born again, and was fed in another place, namely, in Aryan-Vejo (the true "seed of the Aryans", who later became the bearers of everything noble and truthful), which is located in the same place as the Shambhala of the Hindus and Arhats, now considered to be fiction. In "Fargard" (II, 21 (42)) it is said that Ahura Mazda summons "heavenly Yazats" and Yima, the first person of "beautiful mortals" to meet in Aryan-Vejo - "far in the land of the rising sun", as it is said in the Chaldean "Book of Numbers", written on the banks of the Euphrates. Let those Parsees who have ears hear and draw their conclusion; it may also be proved that the Brahmins who came to India from the north, bringing with them the teachings of the secret wisdom, came from regions more northerly than Lake Manasarovar.

Unable to fully satisfy the curiosity of our readers, we can only say very little. If our opinion can be useful to our correspondent to some extent, we are ready to share our thoughts with him and inform him that, unlike Zenda researchers and Orientalists, we believe that the Persian theologians of the second half of the Sassanid dynasty not only completely distorted their sacred books, but also, thanks to the presence of Pharisees and rabbis in Persia and Babylonia in the pre- and post-Christian period, borrowed from the Jews no less than the latter from them. If the holy books of the Pharisees owe their angelology and other speculations to the Babylonians, then the modern commentators of the Avesta have no doubt borrowed from the Jews their anthropomorphic God, as well as their illogical notions of Heaven and Hell.

"The learned colonel would do a great favor to the Parsees if he shared his opinion on the following excerpt from W. Draper's "History of the Conflict between Religion and Science": "Persia, like all empires that have endured for a long time, has gone through the change of many religions. She professed the monotheism of Zoroaster, then adopted dualism and changed it to magic. During the campaign of Alexander the Great, she recognized a single world Reason - the Creator, Preserver and Manager of all things - which is the most sacred essence of truth, the giver of all blessings. He could not be presented in the form of any image or idol.
The last years of the empire's existence were marked by a gradual and steady predominance of magic over Zoroastrianism. In fact, magic was a cult of the worship of the elements, of which fire was considered the most worthy representative of the Supreme Being.

Colonel Olcott would probably reply that Professor Draper is right about the many phases that the great religion of Persia, if you can call it that, has gone through. But Draper listed only monotheism, dualism, magic—a kind of purified vishishta advaita—and fire or elemental worship, when he could have mentioned a good dozen transitional stages. Moreover, he began the list in reverse order. If monotheism was ever the religion of the Parsees, it is only now, and not in former times, that is, under Zoroaster.

"With a few exceptions, the Zend-Avesta did not differ significantly from the Vedas. The gods, rituals, ceremonies, the type of prayers and their content only repeat the Vedas. Then, for sure, when diverging from the Brahmins, Zoroaster could not mechanically transfer their pantheism, or polytheism, to another language. Some may say that he renounced Brahmin idolatry, but I think that the Brahmins were idolaters before they left Aryana. Does it not appear from this that the magicians who professed Zoroastrianism adopted everything from their immediate neighbors, Brahmins, and mingled with borrowings the common and trustworthy name of Zoroaster, forgetting, probably under the influence of the changeable and widespread superstitions of their age, the true teaching of Zoroaster.whose knowledge is admirable (do not take it as flattery) - will render a great service to the Parsis if he kindly expresses his thoughts on the true teaching of Zoroaster.

We believe that enough has already been said in the previous clarifications to understand what we think of the "true teachings of Zoroaster". Only in such rare non-liturgical fragments as, for example, "Hadhokht Nask", one can still find the true teaching of Zarathushtra Spitama or the teachings of primordial magic, and even these passages should be read as a secret code that needs to be deciphered. Thus, every word in the doctrines of Hadhokhta, which is related to the fate of our soul after death, is filled with occult meaning. It is incorrect to say, even in connection with the later versions of the Zend-Avesta, that all gods, prayers and rites are "only a reflection of the Vedas." Neither Brahmins nor Zoroastrians copied each other. There are no borrowings from the Vedas, except for the word "Zervana" in its later sense "limitless time" instead of the meaning "limitless spirit", "one eternity", interpreted graphically as the Brahmin chakra, or infinite circle. Both the Vedas and the Zend-Avesta originate from the same source and, of course, use the same symbols, only they explain them in completely different ways, however, maintaining an equivalent esoteric significance. Professor Max Müller, speaking of the Parsis, calls them "the disinherited sons of Manu," and declares elsewhere that the Zoroastrians and their ancestors came out of India in the Vedic period, which "can be proved as definitely as that the inhabitants of Massilia come from Greece.* Of course, we do not question this hypothesis, although in his presentation it looks like a personal point of view. Undoubtedly, the Zoroastrians lived in India before moving to Persia, and many centuries later returned to Aryavarta again, when they really succumbed to "the influence of changeable and common superstitions and forgot the true teaching of Zoroaster." But this theory is vague, for it does not prove either that they returned to India together with and simultaneously with the first Brahmins who came there from the far north, nor that the latter did not "dwell" in Persia, Media, Babylonia and other places before. than they immigrated to the land of the Seven Rivers.

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* "Chips from a German Workshop", vol. I, p. 84 (ed. 1881).

Between Zoroaster, the primordial founder of the cult of the "Sun", and Zarathushtra, the first interpreter of the occult properties and transcendental powers of the divine (Prometheus) fire, there is a centuries-old abyss. This Zarathustra was one of the early hierophants, one of the first athravans (priests, teachers of "fire"), while Zoroaster "Gushtaspa" lived around 4000 BC. Indeed, according to Bunsen, Zoroaster lived in Bactriana, and the Bactrian immigration to India took place in 3784 BC. And this Zoroaster taught what he had learned with the Brahmins, and not from them, in the Ariana Vaejo, for symbols identical to those of the Brahmins are found only in the earlier Vedas, and not in the later commentaries; it can even be said that the Vedas themselves, despite being composed in the land of the Seven Rivers, were known many centuries before in the northern regions.

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* Ammianus Marcellinus. "History", book XXIII, ch. VI, 32.

"The mystic Hargrave Jennings extolled fire as the best symbol of deification, but he nowhere wrote about any legitimacy of the direct worship of fire as one of the elements of nature, as prescribed by the Zend-Avesta. The learned colonel, in his lecture on the spirit of Zoroastrianism, defends the fire-worshippers, but does he really perceive them as such? The veneration of fire is borrowed from the Vedas."

We don't think so. The worship of fire, or rather the veneration of fire, was universal in ancient times. Fire and water are the elements in which, as occult science teaches, the active and passive creative forces of the universe are represented, respectively. Hippocrates writes: * "All living beings ... animals and man originated from two principles, different in their potentialities, but serving the same purpose. I mean Fire and Water ... Father-fire gives life to all things, and Mother- the water feeds them." Has our friend, who seems to have a clear contempt for the allegories of his own religion, studied the symbolism of other peoples? Has he ever been told that at all times there has been no religion, but a reverence for the Sun and Fire as the most universal symbols of life, hence the life-giving principle; and that even now on our planet there is not a single faith (including Christianity) that would not preserve such worship in its rituals, despite the distortion and change of symbols over time? The only significant difference between modern Parsi mobeds and Christian priests is this. The former, being absolute adherents of their ancient religion, undisguised in their obvious nakedness - although they could forget about its origins, sincerely submitted exoteric Zoroastrianism to the human court, which takes into account mainly only evidence; and Christian theologians, being more sophisticated, constantly modified Christianity in exact accordance with scientific achievements and the educational level of mankind, until, finally, did not hide the true face of their religion under a thick, though very fragile mask. All religions, from ancient Vedic, Zoroastrian and Jewish cults to modern Christianity, the illegitimate and unrecognized offspring of the latter, are descended from archaic magic, or a religion based on knowledge of the occult nature, and sometimes referred to as Sabeism - "worship" (?) of the Sun , moon and stars. See what Ewen Powell Meredith writes in his "Correspondence on the Divine Origin of the Christian Religion" with a Waplode vicar: based on the knowledge of the occult nature, and sometimes referred to as Sabeism - "worship" (?) of the Sun, Moon and stars. See what Ewen Powell Meredith writes in his "Correspondence on the Divine Origin of the Christian Religion" with a Waplode vicar: based on the knowledge of the occult nature, and sometimes referred to as Sabeism - "worship" (?) of the Sun, Moon and stars. See what Ewen Powell Meredith writes in his "Correspondence on the Divine Origin of the Christian Religion" with a Waplode vicar:

animals, humans or cattle. In "a fiery chariot harnessed by fiery horses" - very similar to the phaeton and horses, which are controlled by the sun in the view of the pagans - the prophet Elijah ascended to heaven.

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* "De Diaete", book I, iii.

We are told that Jehovah appeared before the Jews in the form of a “devouring fire”, and we are assured that not only the Jews of their Jehovah Aleim have a “devouring fire”, even a jealous God (or, as in some translations, a consuming God), but also among Christians their god Zeus (Jovue, Jove, Yove, Yupiter, etc.) is the essence of the fire eating! We find out that Jehovah's sacred fire was located on Mount Zion, just as divine fire burned in the temples of Vesta or Minerva (The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, xxxi, 9), and we find even more successful proof of the identity of the fire-worship of Jews and other peoples in the Old Testament book of Leviticus (Lev., vi, 13), which says that the fire of Jehovah on the bronze altar was to be maintained constantly - never to be extinguished. In a similar way, the sacred fire was guarded in the temples of Diana among the Persians. Persian and Chaldean magicians took care of the preservation of this divine fire. The sacred fire always burned in the temples of Ceres and Apollo. The preservation of the fire in the temples of Minerva was entrusted to a group of young women; in the same way, the Vestal Virgins were obliged to watch over the priceless fire in the temples of Vesta and, on pain of death, prevent it from dying out.

The custom of maintaining the sacred fire is more ancient than Jewish mythology. Diodorus Siculus* relates that it was adopted by the Romans from the Greeks, and by those from the Egyptians (who adopted it from the Chaldeans). There is almost no doubt that it is as old as the cult of the Sun, and that this fire was originally perceived in worship as a symbol of the solar deity. In the view of the ancients, God had a fiery body, and all those who worshiped him attributed to him eternal existence and the creation of not only all other luminous bodies, but the entire Universe. He was considered the "father of light" and the ruler of all other luminaries, such as the moon, stars, and so on. As the Creator, he was called Helios Demiourgos - the Sun-Creator, or the Solar Creator.

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* Probably Diodorus Siculus (c. 90-21 BC), author of the "Historical Library", which simultaneously outlines the history of the ancient East, Greece and Rome. - ed.

In the Psalms, as in other parts of the Bible, the creation and control of the world is attributed to a solar deity (See Vossius, "De orig. ac. progr. idol," lib ii, c. 5. Bochart, canaan, lib. ii, pp. 5). As the Head of the heavenly bodies - the lower gods, in the view of the ancients - the Helio-deity is constantly referred to in the Bible as the God of the Heavenly Forces, the Lord of the Angels, the Lord of the Higher Forces, etc. (Jehovah Tsabaoth, Alei Tsaboath). In those places of the Hebrew Bible where the God of the Heavenly Forces is mentioned, without a doubt, the author had in mind the Sun (Lord of the Star Host). We often read about the light, splendor and radiance of the God of Heavenly Forces, for example: "O Lord of the Higher Forces, let your face shine" ("Psalms", l xxx, 3, 4, 7)".

We invite our correspondent to re-read Hargrave Jennings' Rosicrucians more carefully if he wants to discover traces of the ancient fire cult in the rituals of modern Christian theology. Fire is present at the basis of all active forces of nature. Fire and water are the elements to which all organized and animated entities on our Earth owe their existence, in any case, the sun is the only visible and indisputable creator and transformer of life.

"If you skim through the Zend-Avesta in Spiegel-Blick's translation, you will notice that fragments written in Zend, and not in other languages, are italicized. In addition, italics are also marked - similarly to several other translations of the Avesta - all without exception inserts from the doctrines of a very late period, devoted to repentance. Could a learned colonel - or you, or one of your employees - kindly explain what Zoroastrianism looks like, purified from the doctrine of repentance? then I don't think it will contain any useful information."

We would formulate the last sentence differently and say that the Avesta in its present form will not contain any useful information if "the few surviving non-liturgical fragments" and a few "Fargards" and "Yashts" are esoterically explained from it. Prodicus and some of the early Gnostics were the last to possess some of the secret books of Zoroaster. The proof that the "secret" books mentioned were not the Avesta in its present form is the unattractiveness of its texts to mystics, which contain nothing (as has just been shown). Prodicus had the secret code and the key to it. The few adepts of ancient magic who lived at that time were known to the public, for Clement of Alexandria speaks of the followers of the heresy preached by Prodicus,

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* "Stromata", book. I, ch. 15.

"You and your Theosophist brothers often say that Christians live in a glass house and that Theosophists know what Christians are. The same is said about Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Buddhism. But we have never been told what Christians really are or what their true doctrine should be. Do Theosophists think that such general remarks, without the slightest attempt to back them up with proofs more successful than those found in ordinary history books, will serve any purpose? If their arguments are not based on occult philosophy , then, I believe, they will face the same difficulties that blocked the way for Christian missionaries in India.

The followers of all the great exoteric religions now in existence "live in glass houses." A weighty argument in support of this accusation is provided by the windows, which by now have been almost completely broken out by the mutual attacks of the neighbors on each other. We believe that it is enough to study Christianity and compare its hundreds of conflicting and destructive sects with each other in order to understand what they are or, rather, are not; for surely a true Christian who tries to imitate Christ is now as rare as a white cow. However, within the framework of our journal, we will not show the "real appearance" of all of them, just as until now - at every opportunity - we have not neglected our duties to give "general characteristics"; but in view of that the truth is inexpressible, and that they characterize their moral character by their actions better than we do by words, we consider it a waste of time even to put a mirror in front of them. Modern free-thinking writers perfectly cope with this task, in whose works one can find any evidence. Our task, through occult philosophy, is to separate the wheat from the chaff, to show what a thing is not, and to give ignorant people the opportunity to judge and decide for themselves what it really is.

"The above questions have been bugging me for several months, and I hope that, in spite of their vagueness, you will be so kind as to publish them in the next issue of The Theosophist. I will be satisfied even if they arouse the interest only of the learned Parsis (to which, unfortunately, I do not belong).

We have done everything in our power to comply with the request of our correspondent. The subject under discussion is of great interest to all thinking Parsis, but in order to gain more knowledge, they must make an effort themselves. Their religion has not yet died, and under the lifeless mask of modern Zoroastrianism, the pulse of ancient magic still beats. We have tried to explain as briefly as possible, though superficially, the purpose and spirit of true magic. All of our claims are supported by evidence.