The struggle between the forces of good and evil, whether between the gods or men themselves, has nearly always been a part of human history. Nearly every human religion has some form of this eternal battle going on. Nowhere is that fight more apparent, however, than in the teachings of Zarathustra, also known in the west as Zoroaster. The remnants of this ancient faith are known in India today as Parsees, where the great majority of them live now.

      In the so-called Zoroastrian faith good is personified by the force known as Ohrmazd, or Ahura Mazda, during different periods of time in ancient Persian history. Persia, or Iran, is the country where Zoroastrianism started. Evil is personified in the force known as Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, also during different periods of time. Throughout this article we will refer to these not as gods, but as forces, the last of which many followers of Zarathustra today believe them to be, and so they call them.

      The ancient faith of Persia, now known as Iran, stemmed from early incursions into the country from what is now known as India. Thus the early, pre-Zarathustran, religion of Iran was close to that of the Hindus a very long time ago. In India the daevas were basically the forces of good, leading eventually to the evolution of such words as divine. In Iran they became the opposite; forming the ranks of the evil forces. Thus the word daeva, by way of a long evolution of meaning, came to mean demonic in modern English. In India the ashuras were the forces of evil. In Zoroastrianism asuras were the forces of good. So Hinduism and Zoroastrianism, though sharing a common origin, became opposites, largely due to Zarathustra the prophet himself, who succeeded in completely changing the ancient religion of his country.

      Zarathustra was born approximately 600 B.C.E., Before the Common Era. Therefore his message, considered by most to be a message of monotheism, predates that of Jesus Christ by more than half a millenium. The ancient faith of Persia was akin to that of the contemporary religion of India. They believed in many vying gods and goddesses. Zoroaster whittled this down to a battle between two opposing forces. That of good versus evil. Many scholars believe that good represented the settled life of the cities and villages, while evil was representative of the old, unsettled ways of the nomads. At least it was in the ideals of Zarathustra.

      Evil persons who follow the lie are called Dregvants in the old Persian language. It is the eternal battle between these two forces which is at the crux of Zoroastrian theological thinking. These two opposing forces, according to Zarathustra, were born at the same time and are, in effect, something akin to twins. So one might consider Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu to be like twin brothers. Of course, to Zarathustra, the force of good was the more important of the two.

      Evil persons in Zoroastrianism are characterized as people who are vicious, angry, jealous, forgetful, envious, prideful, slothful, derisive; those who refrain from doing good; they lie, steal, are treacherous, have an evil eye, wish ill of others, ridicule others, remain idle, procastinate, and are obstinate.

      So, in theory, wherever there is good, there should also exist, side-by-side, its' opposite force, evil. And so as we look at the world, such a conundrum does exist for real. Except in many cases, good can co-exist with evil, sometimes within the same being. Witness Adolph Hitler, the late leader of Nazi Germany, who loved children and dogs, but killed many so-called "undesireables," including children.

      The concept of evil is personified by Angra Mainyu; or Ahriman in the Middle Persian dialect. The forces of the Lie consist of such thoughts as powers of the lie, evil mind, false appearance, cowardice, hypocrisy, misery and extinction. The Evil Mind is the mind of the force of evil, Ahriman.

      Other concepts of evil are disorder and disunity, fury, wrath, and outrage (Aeshma), personification of brutality and intoxication.

      One daeva, which is subservient to Ahriman, is called Azhi Dahaka. Azhi Dahaka is portrayed as having two heads, six eyes and three jaws. His body is full of lizards, scorpions, worms, bugs, snakes, ants, flies and other creatures considered to be evil and vile by Zoroastrians. A fearsome and loathsome creature of evil if ever there was one, indeed. If Azhi Dahaka were to be cut open, the world would be filled with these vile creatures; and Azhi Dahaka does wish to destroy the world.

      Furthermore, Azhi Dahaka was said to have sought to extinguish the eternal flame, but was foiled by the hero Yima. In revenge, Azhi Dahaka stole the daughters of Yima and sawed Yima in two. It was then up to the hero Thraetaona to save the daughters of Yima from the demon and thereafter he banished the demon to Mount Demavend. Azhi Dahaka is supposed to stay in the mountain until the end of history, when he therefore attacks the world, eats one-third of the creatures of it, and smites water, fire and food until he is slain by the resurrected hero Keresaspa.

      The force of evil takes on other aspects, if you will, in Zoroastrian theology, throughout the ages. For instance, a corpse demon is called a Druj-Nasu. This demon is the very spirit of corruption, contagion and impurity. Associated with this demon is a female demon called Jahi (menstruation), who is the embodiement of debauchery. This takes us into the realm of life after death, and what Zoroastrians think about this important subject.

      In the Zoroastrian faith, called the Good Religion by its' faithful practitioners, the modern Parsees, after death, the soul crosses to what is called the Chinvat Bridge. The soul at the Chinvat Bridge learns the nature of its' earned reward. That is the Bridge of Judgment. Here the soul goes either to heaven or hell. Journeys to this last dreadful place have been described in Zoroastrian literature.

      A Zoroastrian writer by the name of Arda Viraf, in the "Vision of Arda Viraf," supposedly took a journey to hell or the otherworld. He said that there the dead suffer as much in three nights as one person suffers in an entire lifetime of hardship. An old hag was said to have led Arda Viraf to hell, where there was intense cold and intense darkness. It was said that the stench there was so powerful and overwhelming that one could cut it with a knife. Tormented souls were packed in tightly, and giant creatures were everywhere to be seen, tearing at the lost souls of the wicked. Arda Viraf in his vision desribed the place of evil more than he did heaven.

      The early faith believed this hell to be eternal, but later Zoroastrians didn't think so. To them it is to be a long age of darkness, filled with foul food and the cries of woe and anguish of the tormented souls. There is to be an eternity of bliss and an eternity of woe, but during the last days the evil ones will escape their punishment finally. So punishment for evil deeds is not really eternal. Therefore, evil loses out in more ways than one. This is diametrically opposed to the Christian view, in which punishment of evil persons supposedly does last for all eternity.

      It can be seen here that the Zoroastrian vision of the enbodiement of evil, hell, is much like its' Christian counterpart. Zoroastrian ideas such as this influenced the budding Christian faith some 2,000 years ago. Of course, there are bound to be many differences, due mostly to the differences in ancient cultures. And both views evolved over the centuries. Which leads us to the time and to the Zoroastrian concept of when the world will end. This subject is important to many Christians at this time, as the third millenium, according to the Christian calendar, is coming up, in the year 2001.

      According to the Zoroastrian faith, Earth history spans 12,000 years. The first 3,000 years are given up to the original creation. The second 3,000 years go according to the will of Ohrmazd, the force of good. The third 3,000 years go according to a mix of the wills of Ohrmazd and Ahriman. The fourth 3,000 years Ahriman, the evil force, will be destroyed. We are now living in that fourth quarter of history, which started with the birth of Zarathustra in 600 B.C.E. If that is true, then the world should end, according to Zarathustra, about 2400 A.D. In about 300 more years. Which is not what many Christians believe, of course. But both faiths do have a belief in the eventual end of the world, in which the victory of the forces of good, and the destruction of the forces of evil, will occur.

      In this last period of history a savior will appear every 1,000 years. Demons with dishevelled hair will atack the old country, Persia. Then there will come demons of fury, when the sun and moon won't give off proper life. All ordered Earth life will be destroyed, earthquakes will occur, and showers of stars will fortell the birth of a righteous prince, who will overcome the armies of evil, will restore the land and the throne of Persia to the Good Religion (Zoroastrianism, of course), prior to the birth of the first savior.

      Both Zoroastrianism and Christianity have saviors as well. The Zoroastrian savior will be named the Sayoshant. The Sayoshant will be born of a virgin, will revive the dead, reward the good and punish the evil. Does that sound familiar? Much the same is said about Jesus Christ, whom most Christians believe will return to life and to Earth. So, evil will be defeated. As it is supposed to be in Christianity.

      There are many similarities between Zoroastrianism and Christianity, that we won't get into in this article. Suffice one more example to speak for this idea. In the New Testament there are three Magi who come to Bethlehem from the east. Magi is a term for a Zoroastrian priest, and Persia is east of Israel or Judea. Those Magi, therefore, were Zoroastrian priests who supposedly visited the new-born Christ. Which shows that the New Testament authors even recognized the influence that the Good Religion had on Christianity.

      The names of the forces may have suffered some change over the centuries in Zoroastrianism, but the faith remained basically the same. Zoroastrianism evolved, as did Christianity. Magis became important to the Good Religion, as did sacred fire, and worshipping upon mountaintops.

Here we should tell you that the Zoroastrians are not "fire worshippers." Even in some recent literature, including a brochure from a quality company which sells historical and ancient artifacts, the Zoroastrians were called by that inaccurate term. The Zoroastrians do not worship fire, just as Roman Catholics do not worship the saints.

      Many of the Good Religion were forced by the conquest of their homeland by the Muslims, to leave Persia for India over the centuries that followed. Although there are Zoroastrian villages in Iran to this day. Zoroastrianiam is a battle between the forces of good, Ohrmazd, and the forces of evil, Ahriman. Good wins in the end, while evil loses and is destroyed. That seems to be the nature of both forces in most human religions and faiths.

Author's note. This article is so far unpublished. Copyright 2005, Steven A. Arts