Identifier: persiapastpresen01jack (find matches)
Title: Persia past and present; a book of travel and research, with more than two hundred illustrations and a map
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Jackson, A. V. Williams (Abraham Valentine Williams), 1862-1937
Subjects: Zoroastrianism
Publisher: New York, The Macmillan Company London, Macmillan & Co., ltd.
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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certainty. Most of them are to belocated in Azarbaijan not far from Lake Urumiah. He con-verses with Ormazd and is also privileged to interview theArchangels of Good Thought (Vohu Manah), Best Right-eousness (Asha Vahishta), Wished-for Kingdom (KhshathraVairya), Holy Harmony (Spenta Armaiti, guardian spiritof the earth), Saving Health (Haurvatat), and Immortality(Ameretat). Such are the names of the Persian hierarchy ofAmshaspands, and these allegorical figures or personifiedabstractions stand in waiting about the throne of AhuraMazda with a company of attendant angels. From thesedivine beings Zarathushtra receives commands and injunc-tions which he is to convey to mankind. They inculcate thedoctrine of purity of body as well as of soul; they enjoin thecare of useful animals, especially the cow and the dog; theyemphasize the necessity of keeping the earth, the fire, andthe water undefiled; and from several of their ordinanceswe can see that Zoroaster was a civil reformer as well as a
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Idealized Portrait from a Sculpture supposed to represent Zoroaster REVELATION AND TEMPTATION 63 spiritual guide. Foremost among the commandments is theabhorrence of falsehood, the universal obligation to speak thetruth. This is one of the most fundamental of the ethicaltenets which form the basis of the entire ancient Persian reli-gious system. A revelation of the future is also vouchsafed to the soulof the Prophet during his sojourn in the celestial council,and one of the most precious boons which it is the privilegeof his rapt spirit to receive in these moments of ecstasyis a piemonition of the resurrection and of the future life.Unlike the Mohammedan visions of ethereal bliss, there is nojarring note of pleasures of a physical kind to mar the harmonyand spirituality of this glimpse into the world beyond. Butbefore the ecstatic Messenger is allowed to return to the worldof material things, one word of warning is given to guard himagainst the guile and deceit of the Spiritual Enemy,

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