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It has influenced Star Wars and Game of Thrones – and characters as diverse as Voltaire, Nietzsche and Freddie Mercury have cited it as an inspiration. So what is Zoroastrianism? Joobin Bekhrad finds out.

• Talk of ‘us’ and ‘them’ has long dominated Iran-related politics in the West.

The Hamazor Prayer of Unity

«Ahura Mazda has promised that He will help and support all those who remember Him with true heart.»

Please note what we call as FAROHAR,IS REALLY THE KHERP.

The Fravahar can be used to illustrate the basic elements of Zoroastrianism.
The Fravahar can be used to illustrate the basic elements of the Zoroastrian religion. Each part of the Fravahar signifies an idea or a philosophy:
1- The male upper body springing out of the central disk represents the human soul or, as some would say, the wisdom of age.

A Jashan is a thanksgiving ceremony performed by 2 or more priests. The officiating priest is known as the Zaotar, i.e. the invoker, and his assistant is called the Raspi, i.e. the helping priest. The Jashan is derived from the Avestan word ‘yasna’ and it denotes a ceremony with offerings.
A Jashan ceremony is enacted for the well-being of both the spiritual and physical worlds. The living thank Ahura Mazda and Amesha Spentas (the Holy Immortals) and pray for their blessings from the spiritual world.

An Atash Behram (Fire of Victory) is the highest grade of a fire that can be placed in a fire temple. The establishment and consecration of this fire is the most elaborate than all the other grades of fire. It involves the gathering of 16 different types of fire which is fires gathered from 16 different sources, including lightning, fire from a cremation pyre, fire from trades where a furnace is operated, and fires from the hearths as is also the case for the Atash Adaran. Each of the 16 fires is then subject to a purification ritual before it joins the others.

Please find the UCT (GMT) times for spring equinox from 2001 till 2023.

Spring Equinox_ 2001 to 2023

Courtesy : Sam M.Billimoria

During his term, Past FEZANA President Rustom Kevala gathered a Naurooz Celebration Committee to coordinate 2007 Naurooz Celebrations among FEZANA Member Associations. One project was to create a common Naurooz Prayer for 20 or so minutes and Ervad Soli P. Dastur was given that project. Soli consulted Dastoorjis, Mobeds, and Scholars from India, Iran, and North America and assembled eight prayers for this project. This book is the culmination of these efforts, and may be a first ever book with prayers in English, Farsi and Gujarati with interpretation.

www.berasad.com
Behrooz Khalili

Mobed Ardeshir Khorshidian instead of being a researchful Mobed is also a specialist Doctor in the field of opthalmology. Participation of such an important person in the International Zoroastrian Congress gave us the instinct of having an interview with him.

At first a short introduction was given by him about his early life .