Founded in ancient Persia, by Zarathustra (or Zoroaster as the Greeks call him), Zoroastrianism is one of the eldest religions in the world, dating back to roughly 1200 BCE (Gill 181). Now, with approximately 200,000 followers, all focused around Iran and India, Zoroastrianism is a dying religion (Rogers and Hickman 98). The irony in that is, Zoroastrianism not only laid the foundation for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but also heavily influenced the notions of, “final judgment, heaven, hell, the resurrection and a savior” (Gill 183).

To appreciate the complexity and simplistic beauty of Zoroastrianism, one must first understand the respect the followers of Zoroastrianism hold for their environment and fire. In Zoroastrianism, fire is considered the most sacred of elements, symbolizing both immortality and Ahura Mazdah’s purity (Champion and Short 54). As a tribute to this, a Divine Fire is continually burning at altars (Champion and Short 54). Fire, which is connected to the idea of Truth, is one of the Yashts and the sun, which possesses an indirect link to flame, is also respected and bowed to every morning (Champion and Short 55). As well, Zoroastrians believe that the environment should be kept unpolluted due to the fact Ahura Mazdah created each element in his own image (Zaehner 12).

Consequently, it is no wonder why Zoroastrians would consider death to be impure and polluting (Zaehner* 56). Dahkma-Nashini is the process in Zoroastrianism in which the priests or magi dispose of the dead (Havewala). The Vendidad’s (a holy text in Zoroastrianism) states that three hours after a human dies, their corpse is infected with the spirit of putrefaction (Havewala). Once this spirit is within a corpse, only the Nassesalars (special corpse bearers) can touch the body (Havewala). Much like the Chevra Kadisha in Judaism, the Nassesalars are a group of individuals that are pious and live apart from the rest of the Zoroastrian community (Havewala). As hygiene is a high priority in Zoroastrianism, the Nassesalars purify the spiritually and physically unclean corpse in a bath of Taro or urine of a white bull (Havewala). The cleansing is a lot less elaborate that that of Islam and Judaism, taking roughly an hour and a half to complete (Zaehner* 75). As soon as the body is cleansed, it is wrapped in a religious garment called a Sudreh, a woolen cord called a Kusti is tied around the waist and the face is kept uncovered (Havewala).

After the body is done being purified, those in the Nassesalars must purify themselves (Zaehner 28). To do this, they must bathe in a religious bath called a Nahan (Zaehner 28). The Nahan consists of Taro, which the Nassesalars pour on themselves and then take a sip to cleanse their spirit (Zaehner 28). Corpse bearers then place the dead body on a slab of marble near a holy fire and sandalwood is kept burning to ward off evils (Havewala). The Dastur or fire priest recites special prayers in the Aryan language Avestan as a type of memoriam for the newly deceased (Havewala).

The day after the body has died, the Dastur takes part in the Geh-Sarna ceremony (Havewala). According to the Vendidad, the soul of the deceased still wanders the earth and stays particularly close to the dead body (Havewala). The soul is weak and susceptible to attacks of evil spirits, so the Geh-Sarna ceremony helps strengthen the soul and ward off the evil (Havewala). Sadly, pregnant women are not allowed to be present at a Geh-Sarna for fear the prayers will affect the unborn child inside her and the evil spirits will attach themselves to the soul of the baby (Havewala).

At the Geh-Sarna ceremony, the family members bid their final farewell to the corpse and corpse bearers take the body to an iron bier in preparation for its final voyage (Turner 234). Once again, the body is placed on a marble slab and a dog is released in the room to ward off all evils that might be present (Turner 234). A day later, the body is brought to a Dakhma, or as they are called now, Towers of Silence (Turner 234). Towers of Silence are large, well shaped buildings with no roof, which are situated upon high hilltops and are completely out public view (Brodd 176).

Since no Zoroastrian would contaminate the sanctity of the flame, cremation does not and has not occurred since the beginning of this religion (Rogers and Hickman 98). As soil is also considered holy, no corpse is buried (Rogers and Hickman 98). It is written in the Vendidad’s that Ahura Mazdah cremation was the actions conceived by evil spirits and “taught to humanity to mislead them to pollute the earth and the fire” (Havewala). So how is it that Zoroastrians dispose of their dead one might ask? Simple. As Champion and Short wrote, “honor is paid to sun and ancient custom of neither burying nor burning dead, but exposing them to vultures on the Towers of Silence”. After the corpses are placed in the Towers of Silence, vultures arrive within hours to pick away at the flesh (Brodd 174). Due to the climatic conditions of Iran and India, the sun also plays a vital role in the destruction of the body (Brodd 174). The bodies decay quickly under the intense heat, eradicating the flesh the vultures missed (Rogers and Hickman 98). The Aryan scriptures allocate exactly twelve months to the process of stripping flesh from bone (Havewala). Finally, the bones are collected after a year and are placed in a central well (Zaehner*, 92). March 16th to the 20th is the holy Zoroastrian holiday of Gambar Hamaspathmaedem, which celebrates the creation of human beings and the souls of those who have passed away, are remembered (Breuilly 16).

As mentioned before, Zoroastrianism believes in an afterlife and resurrection; both of which greatly resemble those of Christianity, Judaism and Islam (Gill 183). The unique nature of Zoroastrianism is found not only in its sacred texts, but also in the notion of free will Zarathustra emphasized (Brodd 171). As Zarathustra wrote, life is understood to be a struggle between good and evil or the truth and the lie (Turner 234). Good and evil was personified in Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu, the sons of Ahura Mazdah, who were powerful gods that fought each other and accidentally got the world mixed up in their struggle (Breuilly 19). The truth (Spenta Mainyu) and the lie (Angra Mainyu) thus became two opposing energies in the mind, both representing goodness in people and evil in people respectively (Toropov and Buckles 64). As stated above, it is believed that every individual has the ability to freely choose between the two, thus creating the notion of free will (Toropov and Buckles 64).

If a person were to choose and follow truth, they would become perfect and create a Heaven on Earth (Brodd 174). Likewise, if a person were to choose and follow the lie, they would create Hell on Earth (Brodd 174). This is emphasized in the Fragments Westergaard, chapter 3, verse 2: “All good thoughts, all good words all good deeds will reach paradise All Evil thoughts, all evil words all evil deeds will reach hell.”

Having said that, the House of Best Purpose represents a heaven, while hell is embodied in the Worst Existence (Zaehner 18). The texts in Zoroastrianism all contain vivid portrayals of heaven, hell and the resurrection (Zaehner 18). Since humans are free to determine their own destiny, humans are judged on the one life they lived and do not get a second chance at changing things, much like that of Islam (Brodd 174).

In more detail, on the fourth morning of death, “the soul of the departed person ascends and passes to the Chinvato-Peretu” or the Bridge of the Separator that divides Minoi, the spiritual world, from Geti, the physical world (Havewala). Once on Chinvato-Peretu, the soul meets Kainini-Keherpa, his or her conscience in a physical form (Havewala). The Kainini-Keherpa reflects the way a person lived their lives; either as a beautiful creature or a hideous monster (Havewala). Mithra, the decider, reads an ethical record of each soul and judges whether they are worthy of Garodman (heaven) or drujo-deman (hell), much like the fabled St. Peter in Christianity (Brodd 174). The stereotypical view of heaven as a fluffy paradise and hell as the burning void come from the Zoroastrian belief that paradise was forever in sunshine and its inhabitants were happy whereas hell was thought to have been a disgusting, dark place where the inhabitants were continually tormented and forced to remain alone (Brodd 175). If a person is deemed worthy, they are to pass over a horrible abyss of torment that leads them to paradise; those who are not worthy are cast into said abyss and are left alone to be tormented until the resurrection (Brodd 175).

The notion of a savior stems from Zoroastrianism as well, as Zoroastrians believe the final savior Saoshyant will return to assist Ahura Mazdah judge the souls of every human being (Brodd 175). Though, much like Christianity, priests could offer a temporary penalty or indulgence for those in eternal punishment, who were truly sorry (Totopov and Buckles). In the Gathas (another holy text in Zoroastrianism), chapter 46, verse 11, Zarathustra stresses the absolute importance of passing the final judgment saying “Their own soul and their own self shall torment them when they come where the Bridge of the Separator is, to all time dwellers in the House of the Lie” (Brodd 175).

During the final judgment, both those of the truth and the lie will be resurrected and judged (Zaehner 38). The final test will consist of fire and molten metal, where the evil will pass through the flames and burn and the good will pass through unharmed (Zaehner 38). Then as the Fragments Westergaard chapter 4, verse 3, describes: “The dead shall rise up, life shall come back to the bodies and they shall keep the breath”.

As one can see, there are many links to Judaism, Christianity and Islam in Zoroastrianism. Their death ritual, which is mimicked by no other religion, speaks volumes of the respectful attitude Zoroastrians possess for all living and dead creatures. The only shame is this ancient and beautiful religion is perishing, while the religions it has spawned, flourish.

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