The Rites of Zoroastrian Initiation



Baptism was by either blood, urine, or water. In contrast the Jewish rite of initiation was Egyptian custom of circumcision. The Zoroastrian doctrine of Zvarnah is the idea that emanations from the sun are collected in the head and radiate in the form of nimbus and rays. Zoroastrians celebrated the birthday of Mithras on December 25th.The primary ritual of Zoroastrianism was the homa ceremony.



"The Homa ceremony consisted in the extraction of the juice of the Homa plant by the priests during the recitation of prayers, the formal presentation of the liquor extracted to the sacrificial fire, the consumption of a small portion of it by one of the officiating priests, and the division of the remainder among the worshippers. As the juice was drunk immediately after extraction and before fermentation had set in, it was not intoxicating.

 
The ceremony seems to have been regarded, in part, as having a mystic force, securing the favor of heaven; in part, as exerting a beneficial effect upon the body of the worshipper through the curative power inherent in the Homa plant. The animals which might be sacrificed were the horse, the ox, the sheep, and the goat, the horse being the favorite. A priest always performed the sacrifice, slaying the animal, and showing the flesh to the sacred fire by way of consecration, after which it was eaten at a solemn feast by the priest and the people."

 

The universal law of Zoroastrianism was asha-arta
(in Vedic India, artha) "the true prayer". Centuries later
in Greece this became Logos, or "true sentence"
and like in Persia it was associated with fire.
Belief was the basis of Zoroastrianism.
If one said the true prayer, one would
have everlasting life.

 
History of the Festivals

 

 

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