Some+Thoughts+On+Zoroastrianism+by+Ms.+Vujovich+(EXAMPLE!)

__ Some Thoughts on Zoroastrianism and //Persepolis// __ by Ms. Vujovich 25 April 2012 Truthfully, we don’t know much about the Zoroastrianism religion because we don’t have to interact or confront the religion in our American society. We do talk quite a bit about Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in America, but other religions are generally pushed aside. We quite often do not recognize the religions that are older than our own. Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest **monotheistic religions**. This means that the followers of Zoroastrianism worship only one god, rather than many gods. Other religions that monotheistic are Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. When they worship their one god, they refer to him as Ahura Mazda, which means “wise Lord.” The Zoroastrian beliefs and followers arose much earlier in our world’s history than Christianity’s, Islam’s, or Judaism’s beliefs and followers. The religion was founded by Zoroaster in Iran about 3500 years ago. The picture to the left is a picture of the prophet Zoroaster. Below, there is an image from //Persepolis// where the graphic novelist pictures Zoroaster, as well. Like other religions we are familiar with, they have a holy book called the Agiany. Much like Jesus in Christianity and Muhammed in Islam, Zoroaster is thought to be the person who brought this religion to this world. The Agiany has two parts, an old part with their core beliefs and hymns are believed to be written by Zoroaster himself, and a newer section with commentaries on the old part. Zoroastrians believe in dualism, which means that they believe in both good and evil forces and that these forces are completely separate from one another. Their god, Ahura Mazda is constantly challenged by the evil powers of Angra Mainyu. These good and evil forces exist in the universe, in general, and exist in each power. Each person has the choice to be the helper of the good forces or the evil forces. This idea of choice is an important aspect of their religion. Followers of Zoroastrianism traditionally pray several times a day. Some may choose to wear a kusti, which is a cord knotted three times. Each knot represents the religion’s maxim, or saying, “Good Words, good Thoughts, Good Deeds.” The following image is one from //Persepolis// where Marji, the young female protagonist, explains to us these basic beliefs of the Zoroastrian religion (Satrapi 7). Also, in traditional and conservative Zoroastrian communities all believers (men and women, alike) are asked to cover their heads to keep evil thoughts from entering their minds and their spirits. The picture to the left shows a Zoroastrian family living in Tehran, Iran in 1910 with men, women, and children all with their heads covered. Zoroastrianism still has a small following of believers.In 2006, there were approximately 190,000 Zoroastrians worldwide, according to New York Times article. Since there is a rather small following of Zoroastrians, there are many misconceptions about their religion. Many people from Western cultures and countries (like America) believe them to be a “…cult of so called ‘fire worshipers’” (www.zoroastrianism.cc). Fire is an important symbol in their religion as it represents Ahura Mazda’s light and wisdom and their communal worship is held in an, Agiary, or a Fire Temple. There may be many misconceptions of this religion as an ancient and mythical belief system, but there are still many followers of the religion around the world. While we've been reading //Persepolis// by Marjane Satrapi, I've been looking for ways that Zoroastrianism has played out in Marji's life while she was a young girl growing up in Iran. In the very beginning of the graphic novel, Marji is trying to navigate all of the different religious tensions in her life, when she decides to look to her "holy book" (Satrapi 7). While showing her audience in this picture how she wants to celebrate the traditional fire ceremonies of the Zoroastrian religion, which falls right before the Persian New Year "Norouz, on March 21st, the first day of spring" (Satrapi 7). Keep in mind, that Marji wants to celebrate these holidays while living in a country that is all of a sudden, in 1989 with the Islamic revolution, forcing her to practice the Islamic religion publically. Zoroastrianism is something that is clearly a part of Marji's Persian identity, but this is complicated by Iran's theocracy coming into power in 1989. __ Sources __ www.bbc.co.uk/religions/zoroastrianism/ataglance/glance.shtml www.zorastrianism.cc
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