Zoroastrian Story of Creation

March 05, 2022 Read time 2 min

Then the evil spirit, unobservant and through ignorance, was content with that agreement; just like two men quarrelling together, who propose a time thus: Let us appoint such-and-such a day for a fight.

Aûharmazd also knew this, through omniscience, that within these nine thousand years, for three thousand years everything proceeds by the will of Aûharmazd, three thousand years there is an intermingling of the wills of Aûharmazd and Aharman, and the last three thousand years the evil spirit is disabled, and they keep the adversary away from the creatures.

Afterwards, Aûharmazd recited the Ahunavar thus: Yathâ ahû vairyô (‘as a heavenly lord is to be chosen’), &c. once, and uttered the twenty-one words; He also exhibited to the evil spirit His own triumph in the end, and the impotence of the evil spirit, the annihilation of the demons, and the resurrection and undisturbed future existence of the creatures for ever and everlasting.

And the evil spirit, who perceived his own impotence and the annihilation of the demons, became confounded, and fell back to the gloomy darkness; even so as is declared in revelation, that, when one of its (the Ahunavar’s) three parts was uttered, the evil spirit contracted his body through fear, and when two parts of it were uttered he fell upon his knees, and when all of it was uttered he became confounded and impotent as to the harm he caused the creatures of Aûharmazd, and he remained three thousand years in confusion.

Aûharmazd created his creatures in the confusion of Aharman; first he produced Vohûman (‘good thought’), by whom the progress of the creatures of Aûharmazd was advanced. The evil spirit first created Mitôkht (‘falsehood’), and then Akôman (‘evil thought’). The first of Aûharmazd’s creatures of the world was the sky, and his good thought (Vohûman), by good procedure, produced the light of the world, along with which was the good religion of the Mazdayasnians; this was because the renovation (frashakard) which happens to the creatures was known to him.

Afterwards arose Ardavahist, and then Shatvaîrô, and then Spendarmad, and then Horvadad, and then Amerôdad. From the dark world of Aharman were Akôman and Andar, and then Sôvar, and then Nâkahêd, and then Tâîrêv and Zâîrîk. Of Aûharmazd’s creatures of the world, the first was the sky; the second, water; the third, earth; the fourth, plants; the fifth, animals; the sixth, manki.

Ancient Persians and Primal Creation

Labels: Zoroastrianism Ancient Persia Zoroaster Ancient World Persian Empire