Last week, I finished reading Persian Myths by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis. I read this book as part of my continued exploration and study of the ancient Persian culture. The book was short, but I expected that. However, I enjoyed reading the myths of this culture that we still know so little about.
The book begins with a brief history of the Persian people, including where they lived and what the environment was like. It then moves on to explore the Avesta, holy book of Zoroastrianism, and its history. From there, the book goes on to actually dive into the mythology, beginning with the deities from their myths. This included:
The book then goes on to explore the creation myth from the Persian people. It held similarities to other Indo-European cultures, but was unique in other ways. I love reading different creation myths and trying to compare them to other cultures and understand why the myth may be what it is. It's told in a way that I really enjoyed in this book. From here, the book moves on to explore demons, creatures, and heroes. It explores the evil beings known as Yatu and Div. It also describes fabulous creatures, like Saena, the falcon who spreads all of the seeds in the world with their wings. The book then explores the life of the first man from his creation to his death, to the lives that came from his demise. It's a fascinating myth to describe the existence of humankind, but for me it definitely share some parallels with the biblical story of human creation, which was very interesting to see. Curtis then moves on to a dive into Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, the Book of Kings, where she highlights some of the myths that are told throughout the epic poem. It shares the tales of the ancient kings, their lives and battles. I originally read part of this poem during my research of evil in ancient Indo-European cultures and really find it absolutely enthralling. Next on the list was a brief dive into mythological creatures, like Ralesh, the horse friend of Rustam, and Simurgh, the King of the birds. Curtis then explores the different encounters with dragons that are found within Persian myths. It's fascinating to see the importance that dragons played in their mythology as the embodiment of greed & evil. The last set of myths covered are the myths around the lives of Zoroaster, Cyrus, and Alexander the great. It's interesting to consider that mythology was so important to their culture that even a conquerer like Alexander now has a place in the lore. The book ends by describing the continuation of these ancient traditions through the oral and written traditions of ancient priest and minstrels. They told the myths, sang the songs, and eventually wrote them done. They created fairy tales and passion plays and created beautiful stories along the way. This book was very interesting for me as someone who really enjoys reading about the mythology from different cultures. It was written in a way that was entertaining, educational, and approachable, even for someone like me who has no real experience with the Persian culture. It was something I enjoyed reading for sure.
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Earlier this week, I finished reading Original Magic by Stephen Flowers, PhD. I decided to read this book after thoroughly enjoying The Magician Tarok and wanting to explore more of the Persian magical system.
This book begins by exploring and trying to define the beginnings of magic, describing the wisdom and science of magic as the first great mystery. He dips briefly into the Tripartite system and the different levels of power affiliated with each group. After these explanations have been explored, Flowers begins to explore the religion of pre-Zoroastrian Persia. He begins with a brief explanation of several deities (called ahuras). From there he discusses the theory of the religion, which indicated that humans can gain benefit from the gods by engaging in gift giving. This reciprocal relationship is something we see in many different ancient cultures, like the Xenia of ancient Greece, and the term *ghosti which is a re-constructed word regularly used in ADF. It’s interesting to see so many correlations in religions that appear at first to be vastly different. Flowers then begins to discuss the important actions found in their religion, which includes a large emphasis on sacrificial fire. There is also a brief exploration of some of the culture’s mythology, including a creation myth, cosmological view, and a description of what happens after someone dies. From here, the book moves on to descriptions of the Amesha Spentas which were “beneficial immortals,” which are often interpreted to be Angels or minor deities. This description includes an explanation of Fravashis or the inner guardian angel & guide that lives inside each human. After all of this information has been shared, Flowers begins to describe a magical practice that leads the reader toward initiation. It includes a twelve-month program that involves daily training sessions with meditation, multiple prayers each day, recommended reading, and additional learning of specific words or phrases (both in English & Avestan). The program is quite involved and changes each month to allow the participant to explore themselves and their spirituality in the way of the Avestans. At the conclusion of the study program, the book also contains descriptions and scripts for several different Mazdan Magic rituals. The book ends with a number of appendices, including: History of Eranshahr, Avestan Pronunciation Guide, Analysis of Avestan Manthras, 101 Names of Gods, Astrological Lore, and Resources. Overall, this book has a lot of information in it, and is presented in a way that feels approachable. The study program seems like a good way to establish a daily practice, so I will be experimenting with it personally to see how I like it. While this book isn’t for everyone, I enjoyed learning more about the practices of the ancient Persians and look forward to seeing where these studies take me. Last week, I finished reading The Magician Tarok: The Origins of the Tarot in the Mithraic and Hermetic Traditions by Stephen Flowers, PhD. In this book, Flowers attempts to tie the history of the Tarot cards that we know today to the divination symbology found in ancient Indo-European cultures. While the cards themselves did not come into existence until the 15th century, Flowers believes that the messages and imagery can be related to other symbol sets, such as the Greek Alphabet Oracle.
This book begins with a deep dive into Iranian mythology, exploring the creation myth and how it ties into the mystery initiation cult of Mithras, known as Mithraism. This cult was based on the warrior traditions of the Persian people and involved an in-depth initiation process, involving astrology, mythology, and much internal work. The explanation of this mystery cult is fascinating and well detailed. This initiation system began in what is now modern Iran, but made its way to both the Roman and Greek empires. He explains the different "Grades" or levels of initiation, as well as the deities that were involved in Iranian, Greek, and Roman cultures. As someone who truly enjoys watching the progression of mythology both through history and across cultures, I found this section of the book to be quite enjoyable. The myths and descriptions were detailed but easy to read and understand. I appreciate the knowledge and it gave me the desire to want to learn more about the cultures and practices described. After exploring Mithraism, Flowers then moves onto the Greek Alphabet Oracle, and the ties that he made between those symbols and the Mithras initiation process. He breaks down each individual letter and describes the tie to the Persian mythology, often tying it back to the interpretation in the Olympian oracle use. He then walks through the Major Arcana and ties each of the cards to the Greek Alphabet Oracle. This was a fascinating connection that I had never seen before. I enjoyed this different look at the Oracle, and seeing a different option for interpretation was fascinating. The Greek Alphabet Oracle is the symbol set that I use most often in my personal practice, so additional resources for how to use this symbol set is always appreciated, even if it isn't something that I personally choose to use. At the end of the discussion on the Tarot symbology itself, Flowers ties the Major Arcana and its symbols back to the initiation cycle of Mithraism. Each card represents a specific step in the journey that an initiate would take within the cult. The symbols are shrouded in mystery, so it does not explain the exact steps, but I found this correlation extremely interesting. I plan to do some more research into this initiation process and the practices involved in it. Ultimately, the point of this book is not to say that the cards themselves existed, but that "an archaic system of symbols keyed to sequences of Iranian sirozahs, Greek letters, Roman letters" form the background of icons that came to be the images of the Tarot. While some of the correlations feel like a bit of a stretch, I found Flowers writing style to be easy to read and his opinions well thought out and thoroughly researched. I would recommend anyone read this book if they're interested in mystery cults, initiatory practices, or divination correlation. |
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