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Zoroastrianism in the Light of Occult Philosophy

By H. P. Blavatsky

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Zoroaster In History And Zarathushtra In The Secret Annals

Good mistakes in history are often no better than the consequences of deliberate distortions, because they leave researchers with a false impression that is difficult to erase. Thus, some of our European philologists are unable to find a more philosophical interpretation of the name Zend-Avesta, except that "it means a tinderbox."

Speaking of the religion of the great Aryan reformer, Professor Monier-Williams rightly remarks in the Nineteenth Century that "perhaps more remarkable facts have been revealed by a critical review of non-Christian systems than the highly spiritual nature of the ancient faith commonly called the religion of Zoroaster", and adds several statements which, if analyzed, turn out to be false. As is usually the case with Christian professors, the whole truth is cleverly veiled and the spirit of bigotry is ever on the alert to make the best use of the meager facts available and try (if only by inference) to exalt the Hebrew Bible at the expense of all other religions. So, for example, he says:

"Only in the last few years, the success of Iranian research has made it possible to understand the true meaning of the text of the Avesta - known as the Zend Avesta - which is for Zoroastrianism what the Vedas are for Brahmanism. As a result of the information received, it becomes clear that simultaneously with Judaism a non-idolatrous, monotheistic form of religion has developed , created by at least one branch of the Aryan race and containing a high moral code and many similarities with Judaism itself.

And the indisputability of this fact is based not only on the testimony of the Zoroastrian scriptures. It is confirmed by numerous allusions in the works of Greek and Latin authors. We know that the father of history himself, writing about 450 years before the Christian era, said the following about the Persians: "It is not customary for them to erect statues, temples and altars. Those who do this, they consider fools." Herodotus explains this by the fact that the Persians do not consider the gods to be humanlike creatures, as the Hellenes do, but identify the entire heavenly vault with the Supreme Being.

We also know that Cyrus the Great, who was probably a Zoroastrian, aroused great sympathy among the Jews; and was called Isaiah "a man of righteousness" (XLI, 2), "the Shepherd of the Lord" (XLIV, 28), "the Anointed One of God" (XLV, 1), who was charged "to do all the will of the Lord" and carry out all his decrees regarding the restoration temple and the return of the chosen people to their native land."*

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* "The Religion of Zoroaster" // Nineteenth Century, vol. IX, January 1881, p.156.

The above lines may be read by hundreds of researchers, and yet not one of them will notice the spirit of their conclusions. The Oxford professor would like to convince readers that "non-idolatrous and monotheistic" Zoroastrianism developed "simultaneously with Judaism"; that is, if we understand the meaning of these words at all, as if the first system arose in the same period of history as the last - then this statement is extremely erroneous and misleading. The religion of Zarathushtra is evidenced - and in the most definite way - by more than one well-known Greek and Latin author, in whose works, by the way, you will not find such a reference to Judaism or the "chosen people" - they were so little known before returning (?) from the Babylonian captivity . Aristotle claims,

Hermipp of Alexandria, who claims to have read genuine Zoroastrian books, shows the great Reformer as a disciple of Agonassis (Agon-ach or Agon-God) and prosperous 5,000 years before the fall of Troy; his statement thus confirms the statement of Aristotle, since Troy fell in 1194 BC and, according to Clement, some think that Er or Erus, the son of Armenia - whose vision Plato narrates in his "Republic", Book X - means nothing more than Zardosht 2 .

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1. Pliny the Elder, "Natural History", book XXX.
2. Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius), Stromata, Prince. V, xiv.

On the other hand, Alexander Polyhistor 1 speaks of Pythagoras (who lived about 600 BC) that he was a student of the Assyrian Nazarate 2 ; Diogenes Laertes 3 asserts that the philosopher from Samos was initiated into the mysteries by "Chaldeans and Magi"; and, finally, Apuleius states that it was Zoroaster who taught Pythagoras.

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1. Alexander Polyhistor (c. 105 -?) - a writer, a native of Miletus. Brought as a prisoner of war to Rome, he was bought by Cornelius Lentulus and was the teacher of his children. During the dictatorship of Sulla, he received freedom and the rights of Roman citizenship and from then on was called L. Cornelius Alexander. He later accompanied Crassus on his expedition to the East. In his literary activity, he joined the Pergamon school of Crates and, like all scientists of that time, was well-versed in all areas of knowledge (hence his nickname Polyhistor - knowledgeable). - ed.

2. Greek writers often refer to Zoroaster as the Assyrian Nazareth. This word comes from Nazar and Nazir (divided, separated) - a very ancient sect of adepts that existed many centuries before Christ. "They were physicians, healers who cured the sick by the laying on of hands, and initiates in the Mysteries"—See the Mishna Nazir in the Talmud, of which nine chapters set forth prescriptions concerning the Nazirites. (M. Jost, "Israelite Indeed", II, 238.) They grew long hair and beards, did not drink wine, and took a vow of chastity. John the Baptist was a Nazirite, and also Elijah, of whom it is said in the Fourth Book of Kings (i, 8): "that man is all in hair."

3. Diogenes Laertes ... - refers to his work "On the life, teachings and sayings of famous philosophers", book VIII, Pythagoras. - ed.

All these contradictions, brought together, prove: 1) that "Zoroaster" is a generic name and 2) that there were several prophets with this name. Once upon a time there was a primitive and pure magism, which was later perverted by the priests, as happens with every religion that has lost its spirit and retained only a dead letter. We again find proof of this in Darius Hystaspes, who went down in history as the one who crushed the magicians and established the pure religion of Zoroaster - the religion of Ohrmazd; nevertheless, an inscription (recently discovered) is carved on his tomb, which states that he, Darius, was "a teacher and hierophant of Magism." But the most convincing proof is found in the Zend-Avesta itself. Being not the most ancient Zoroastrian Scripture, it, like the Vedas, is completely silent * about the Flood, does not show the slightest sign that that its author was ever familiar with the peoples who later adopted his religion, although there were several historical Zarathustras: who established the cult of the sun among the Parsis; appeared at the court of Gushtasp and instructed Pythagoras ...

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* A fact that perfectly proves that the Vedas existed before the flood or that cataclysm that changed the face of Central Asia 10,000 years before Christ. Baron Bunsen places Zoroaster in Bactria and places the emigration of the Bactrians to the Indus at 3784 BC, and the historical and geological flood about 10555 BC ("Egypt's Place in Universal History", Vol. V, p. 77- 78, 88).

In the same way, the titles granted by Isaiah to Cyrus - "Man of Truth" and "Shepherd of the Lord" - prove a lot only to those who believe in the divinity of biblical prophecies, * for Isaiah lived 200 years before Cyrus (from 760 to 710 BC .X.), while the great Persian prospered and began to reign in 559.

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* Many critics (Christian) believe that the last part of the book of the prophet Isaiah (XL-LXVI) was written by an unknown author during the [Babylonian] captivity.

If Cyrus protected the Jews after the conquest of Babylon, it was only because long before that they had accepted his faith; and if he sent them back (and many learned archaeologists now seriously doubt whether there were Jews in Palestine before the age of Cyrus), it was all for the same reason. The Jews, upon their return, were simply a Persian colony, saturated with all the ideas of Magianism and Zoroastrianism.

Most of their ancestors, like the Sabeans, once worshiped Bacchus, revered the Sun, the Moon and the Five Planets, the Sabaoth of the kingdom of light. In Babylon, they came to know the cult of the Seven-Ray God - hence the Septenary System, which permeates the entire Bible, and the Heptaktis of the Book of Revelation; and the sect of the Pharisees (150 B.C.) - whose name can be derived with much more justification from Farsi or Parsi than from the Aramaic Perishin (divided) - whose greatest rabbi was Hillel the Babylonian, and whose "beliefs and practices, inherited from their forefathers ... are not inscribed in the law of Moses," as the Pharisee Josephus says ("Antiquities of the Jews", XIII, x, 5 and 6). All the angelology and symbolism of the Persians, or rather Zoroastrians, was borrowed by them. And the Chaldean Qabalah, which they read and study so much in the meetings of their secret Lodge,1 . The Jews of today are Talmudists who adhere to the later interpretations of the Mosaic Law 2 , and only a few learned rabbis-Kabbalists remain the only ones who can give some idea of ??the true religion of the Jews who lived two centuries before Christ and in the first century after him.

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1. The Kabirs were worshiped in Hebron, the city of Beri-Enak or the sons of Anak.

2. "There is no Hebrew manuscript older than Kennicott Manuscript #154, dated 1106 CE." (Donaldson). "Massora was written down in 506 AD." (Elia Levita).

(Levita Elia Levi (?-1549) - Hebrew grammarian. He called himself "Ashkenazi" (German), also had the nickname "Bachur" (Young man, or Student), which he later appropriated to his Hebrew grammar. Promoted the study of the Hebrew language in Christian circles and wrote many scholarly works on Hebrew grammar, of scientific value are his works on "Massora": "Concordance to the Massora" (1536) and "Massoreth Hamasoreth" (1538. - ed.)

The true history of Zoroaster and his religion has never been written down. The Parsees themselves have lost the keys to their faith and must seek information on this subject not from their learned men. Will we accept the lifetime of Zarathushtra on the basis of Aristotle's testimony - 6000 years before Christ? — or according to the more modern scholar Navroji Faridunji* of Bombay, who dates it to the 6th century B.C. ("Tareekh-i-Zurtoshtee" or "The Debate on the Age of Zoroaster")—everything reveals darkness and contradiction, and every statement is confronted with insurmountable facts. The Rahnuman Mazdayasnan Sabha, founded in 1851 to restore the faith of Zoroaster to its original purity, was no more successful in its pursuits. Should we then be surprised at the inconsistencies, often even nonsense, presented by our modern scientists,

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* Navroji Faridunji (1817-85) - Indian educator and reformer. Adjunct professor at Elphinstone Institute and leader of the Bombay Youth Party. He played a leading role in founding the first girls' school, the local library, a literary society, a debating club, a political association, a society for the improvement of the living conditions of local women, a lawyers' association, an institute for religious and social reform, and the first educational periodicals. H. P. Blavatsky refers to his work "Tareekh-i-Zurtoshte". - ed.

Aristotle, Diogenes of Laertes, Strabo, Philo of Judaea, Tertullian, and finally Clement of Alexandria, and a few others, are the only guides of our European scholars. And how reliable the later Church Fathers are, one can conclude from what his reverend doctor H. Prido 1 says about the doctrines of Zoroaster, analyzing Sad-dar. "The prophet," he declares, "preached incest! Zarathushtra teaches 'that there is nothing illegal in this and that a man can marry not only his sister or daughter, but even his own mother'!! 2

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1. Humphrey Prideaux (1648-1724) - English theologian and orientalist - ed.
2. "An Universal History from the Earliest Accounts of Time to the Present", London, 1747-1754. Vol. V, p. 405.

"The wise man of distant antiquity" - as Plato calls Zoroaster - Christian fanatics turned into a "slave of Daniil" (whose very existence is considered a myth by the present-day men of science) and accuse the "Persian Prophet" of being a false prophet who preached "teachings stolen from the Jews"! (Dr. Prideaux). Warburton truly remarks in his "Divine Legation" that "all this is a complete fiction and contradicts all learned antiquity", and if one Christian writer makes Zoroaster "a contemporary of Darius Hystaspes and a servant of one of the Jewish prophets, then others, in a fit of yet another lie , relate him to the time of Moses and even say that he was Abraham himself, moreover, they rank him among the builders of Babylon. Dr. Prideaux's Zoroaster, says Faber, "and the Zoroaster of ancient times seems to

In this jungle of contradictions, the issues at issue are the following: 1) is there any possibility of obtaining something like reliable information about at least the last, if not the first Zarathustra ; and 2) how the true meaning of the religion taught in the Avesta (including the later Gathas) can be extracted from the allegorical dialogues of the Vendidad.

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* They say about Zarathushtra that he was reborn to life. "I am the one who lives and dies" - this inscription in the Avestan and ancient Bactrian languages ??wraps around the waist of his giant statue, which has been staying for centuries in a round cave in one of the mountains of Bukhara. The cave is dedicated to Mitr-Az, the invisible Deity born from a cave carved into the rock...

We know the answer in advance: "Since the most learned of the Orientalists — Gaugu, Müller* and others — failed to do this, then there is nothing more to hope for." The Avesta has become - and must remain - a book with seven seals for the Parsees, and the doctrine of Zoroaster a dead letter for future generations.

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* Max Muller (1820-1900) - an outstanding English. philologist-orientalist, the largest specialist in general linguistics, Indology, mythology. - ed.

We believe that this opinion is erroneous, at least with regard to the second question. If everything relating to the personality of the Founder himself - no matter how reliably this may be confirmed by identical traditions and material evidence in the form of his statues in various parts of the world and especially in Central Asia - was considered as a mere tradition (and what else is history?), then his religion, at least, could be recreated as accurately as exact science reconstructs the appearance of antediluvian animals from pieces of fossilized bones collected in a hundred different places.

Time, patience, and especially a sincere desire are all that is required. Our Orientalists have never thought about the only grain of true Zoroastrianism that has now settled in the ancient annals. Moreover: until recently they despised it and ridiculed its very name. Until half a century ago it was not even translated, and even today only a handful of true occultists understand it. We are talking about the Chaldean Kabbalah, the very name of which is unfamiliar to hundreds of educated people. Despite all the denials of the profane, we repeat again and again that the key to a correct understanding of the Avesta and its constituent parts is hidden at the bottom of the correctly interpreted books of the Kabbalah 1 , consisting of the "Zohar" ("Shine"), compiled by Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai; "Sefer Jezira", or "Books of Creation" 2(attributed to the patriarch Abraham, but written by a Chaldean priest) and the Commentary of the Sephiroth, the latter being the creative principles or forces identical with the Amesha-Spantam. The entire Avesta is merged with the ethics and philosophy of Babylonia - therefore, it should be sought in the Chaldean Kabbalistic teaching, for the doctrines of Zoroaster spread through Zoroaster - the fifth Messenger (5400 BC) - from Bactria to Media, and then, under the name magicism (Magavas, or "Powerful Ones"), became at one time the universal religion of all Central Asia. It is now called monotheistic, on the same principle that converted vulgarized magic into the monotheism of the later Israelites. If the attributes of Ahuramazda or Ohrmazd closely resemble those of the Jewish Jehovah (though more practical), it is not because that these two are truly the "Mystical Deity" - the Incomprehensible All - but simply because both are human ideals, springing from the same source. Just as Ormuzd, originating from the Primordial Light, who himself emanated from the Supreme incomprehensible essence, called "Zervan-Akarana" - Eternal or Infinite Time - is only the third in divine evolution, so Jehovah in the Zohar is the third of the Sephiroth (besides , female passive power), called "Reason" (Bina) and represented under the divine name Jehovah and Aralim. Hence, none of them has ever been the ONE "Supreme" God. As far as Jehovah is concerned, it is from Ein Sof, the Infinite, the One, that Aur, the "Primordial Light" or "Primordial Point" emanates, which, accommodating all the Sephiroth, emanates them one by one; their totality constitutes Adam Kadmon, the archetype of man. Jehovah, therefore, is only a tenth part (the seventh kabalistically, for the first three are One) of Adam or the intellectual world, while Ormuzd is the head of the seven Ameshaspants or their Spiritual totality - therefore, higher than Jehovah, although not the Most High.

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1. The Hebrew word "Kabbalah" comes from the root "receive". It is therefore a record of the doctrines received by the Chaldean magicians and the initiated Jews (Daniel was the head of the magicians) from Zoroaster, whose doctrines, due to their deepest philosophy, were intended only for the elite, while the exoteric rites of magicism degenerated into popular vulgar magic, Judaism, and others. degraded anthropomorphic and ritualistic systems.

2. Or rather, Evolution. This book lays down a system that considers the universe from a mathematical point of view and shows, by the systematic unfolding of "creation" and the harmony that reigns in all its laws, that it came from the One Cause - Ein Sof - Infinite Nothing. That it never had a beginning and never will have an end; hence the transmission of the dead letter of the book of Genesis, incomprehensible without the help of the Kabbalistic... [The manuscript breaks off].

Let us immediately admit that in our crude material concepts we have anthropomorphized and, so to speak, vulgarized every majestic religious idea that has come down to us from ancient times. Physically and intellectually, we progress and mature in strength and wisdom, but daily we lose in spirituality. We can “strengthen in strength,” but never in spirit. And only by studying the relics of the past and comparing, without any sectarian prejudice and personal prejudices, the religious ideals of all peoples, we will finally be convinced that they are all streams of the same source. Numerous and varied are the shades of light and shadow that our dazzled eye can scarcely follow in the sun-drenched valley. The fool will exclaim: "This shadow is mine - it was cast by my house"! The sage will fix his gaze to heaven and quietly say: "This is only a consequence, and that is temporary!" and will focus on the One Cause - the Great "Spiritual Sun".

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An unfinished note not written in H. P. Blavatsky's handwriting and apparently referring to one of her notes in the above article.

“I am the one who lives and dies,” reads the inscription on the belt of a statue in a round cave temple in Bukhara. According to ancient belief, from time to time Z was reborn to life, but whether in the way in which the Lamaists claim that the Buddhas reincarnate, I cannot say. A brother who visited Armenia, as I have already told you, found not far from Lake Van and a large mountain range, south of Bayezid, "a whole library of cylinders" - like those precious clay cylinders that George Smith 1 unearthed in Nineveh . And he says that these cylinders "one fine day will be able to greatly shake the wild theories and interpretations of all these Anquetil-Duperrons 2 , Spiegels and Gaugs."

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1. Smith George (1840-76) - English Assyrologist. By profession, he is a banknote engraver. Through the influence of Sir Henry Rawlinson, he was appointed assistant in the Assyrology Department of the British Museum. His earliest success was the discovery of two inscriptions: one marked the date of the total eclipse of the sun in the month of Sivan (May) in 763 BC, the other the date of the Elamite invasion of Babylon in 2280 BC. He gained worldwide fame for his translation of the Chaldean flood narrative. Participated in large-scale excavations of Nineveh and Kuyundzhik. One of his best works is Ancient History from the Monuments. "The History of Babylonia" was published after the death of the author in 1877 - ed.

The "Brother" referred to here is the adept known as Illarion Smerdis. - ed.

2. Anquetil-Duperron Giasent (1731-1805) - orientalist. In 1755 he went to India to study the Sanskrit and so-called Zend languages. Returning to Paris, he was appointed translator of Oriental languages ??at the Royal Library. His main work is the publication of the translation of the Zend-Avesta (P., 1771). - ed.

As the Hindu pilgrims say that when approaching the temple in Badrinat, one can sometimes see high in the mountains, among the snows... so there is a similar tradition in Armenia. Rumor has it that every day, at sunset, there appears ...

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This is followed by the second part of the manuscript of E.P. Blavatsky. Probably, it was once conceived as a continuation of the previous part.

The Parsees rightly complain that the mobeds themselves have lost the true meaning of their religion, but among them there are several scholars who are trying to unravel the mystery of Zoroastrianism - but how? Not by reading and studying the Zend manuscripts or by exercising their brains, but by making public what they are told by Western scholars. How distorted the religion of Zarathushtra can be inferred from the following examples. His Reverend Dr. Kh.Prido, for example, commenting on "Sad-dar", assures readers that Zaratusht taught his people incest! But only in support of his argument, he does not cite a single book of the Zend, not a single work written by a Parsi, but refers to such Christian and Jewish authorities as Philo the Jew, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria (See "An Universal History", quoted above) . Eutychius, and he worshiped him; and from that time henceforth magicians worshiped fire. And he appointed a man named Ardeshan as a priest and servant of the Fire. Shortly thereafter, the devil spoke to him from the flames of fire [how did Jehovah speak to Moses from the burning bush?] and said: “No man can serve the Fire or know the Truth of my religion before he commits incest with his mother, sister and daughter, as he is ordained," and from that time on, magician priests practiced incest, but the first inventor of this doctrine was Ardeshan." and he worshiped him; and from that time henceforth magicians worshiped fire. And he appointed a man named Ardeshan as a priest and servant of the Fire. Shortly thereafter, the devil spoke to him from the flames of fire [how did Jehovah speak to Moses from the burning bush?] and said: “No man can serve the Fire or know the Truth of my religion before he commits incest with his mother, sister and daughter, as he is ordained," and from that time on, magician priests practiced incest, but the first inventor of this doctrine was Ardeshan."

So what does this mean? Yes, just a misinterpretation of a dead letter. In the secret doctrine, parts of which are contained in the ancient Armenian manuscripts or the so-called Mesropian manuscripts * (until 312 the Armenians were Parsis), and to this day kept in the oldest monastery of Armenia, Etchmiadzin, the following is said about the initiates or magicians: "Who will penetrate the secrets ( sacred) Fire and merge with it (as yogis connect their soul with the Universal Soul), must first merge soul and body with the Earth, his mother, humanity, his sister and Science, his daughter. There is no need to explain the symbolic meaning of this. Everyone knows how Zarathushtra revered the Earth, how he taught kindness to everything; and Knowledge or Science will never become the daughter or offspring of man, never develop from his mind in all its purity,

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* Mesrop Mashtots (361-440) - Armenian educator, scientist-monk, creator of the Armenian alphabet (405-406). - ed.