Rune *uruz literally means “auroch,” and symbolizes “virility, determination, primal raw energies associated with life force, and adventurous spirit.” In short, uruz is the “subconscious will power, passion of the untamed nature.”

Once aurochs ranged throughout much of Eurasia. They were the wild ancestors of the domestic cattle of our day. Aurochs were untamed, fascinating, and most powerful.

Ancient Indo Europeans believed in kinship with, and a mystical relationship between themselves and “strong, graceful, noble animals.” The second element in *Zaraδûštra’s name, Avestan ûštra is in fact a cognate of uruz.

Uruz “Auroch,” Old Norse úrr, Gothic urs, Old English úr, Old High English ūro/ ūrochso, Germanic ur, all go back to reconstructed Indo European*usrus or *usr (See Didier Calin.)

The cognate of uruz in Indo Iranian is Proto*ušra, Avestan ûštra, Pashto ūš, and may mean anything from the wild bovine aurochs to buffalo and/or Bactrian camel.

Another theory suggests that Avestan ûštra in Zarathustra’s name is related to Old High English ustrī “industry” and ustinōn “to function, be industrious, useful.”

The Bactrian camel is native to the steppes of Central Asia, and is the largest mammal in its native range. It is exceptionally adept at withstanding wide variations in temperature, ranging from freezing cold to blistering heat.

Bactrian camels have been the focus of artwork throughout history. For example, Indo Europeans from the Tarim Basin in northwestern China were depicted with their Bactrian camels in numerous ceramic figurines from the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907).

In Diodorus 1.94.2 Zarathustra called Zathrāstēs, is the name of the “Aryan prophet, law-giver” (cf. Schmitt, 1996, p. 94; Gnoli, 2000, p. 100).

The first part of the name *Zaraδûštra or Zaraθûštra, is a cognate of Ossetian Zœrond, and means “grey/white haired, old, albino.”

The name of ZĀL, the legendary prince of Scythians, and father of folk hero Rostam in Šāh-nāma seem to be an exact match for the first part of the ancient seer/prophet’s name. Zāl literally means ALBINO.

Like poet/prophet Zarathustra, Zāl is an extraordinary wise and mystical personality. The legendary, albino prince of Scythians appears as an avid scholar and learner who surpass others in astronomy, religion, art of war, horsemanship, archery, and other military skills.

Zāl is a revered advisor under kávi kings (warrior priest kings,) and is regarded as the last bastion of hope. In Avesta, Zaraδûštra is the wise advisor to kávi Vištaspa.

In the Avestan lore Zaraδûštra is the ultimate ratü “one who has the knowledge of riddles. Zāl in Šāh-nāma is also known for his skillful explanation of riddles (Zaehner, pp. 242-44, 444-46.)

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Rune *kenaz/kaunan symbolizes the “light of knowledge.” The original meaning of *kenaz though is “PINE” or the TORCH of flammable pinewood.

*Kenaz, from the Old Norse kaun is a cognate of the Old English cēn. The Old Indo Iranian term for PINE is a cognate as well, where k is replaced with s. The Russian word for pine sosná comes from the same ancient root, (See Didier Calin.)

An Old English rune poem says: Cen byþ cwicera gehwam, cuþ on fyre blac ond beorhtlic, byrneþ oftust ðær hi æþelingas inne restaþ.

The torch is known to every living man / by its pale, bright flame; it always burns / where princes sit within (Courtesy of Didier Calin.)

The Zoroastrian sacred lore uses the imagery of the torch, and lighting one flame from another, to indicate the immortal spark of the amešá/amertá spentás, the Auspicious or Brilliant Immortals of Ahûrá Mazdá.

The nature of the Immortal Gods is likened to the fire of the TORCH that takes many wondrous forms. The TORCH speaks in words of the eternal flame, the same message of “brilliant energy, inspiring creativity, and intense passion.”

The eternal flame is a long-standing tradition in ancient Zoroastrianism. The eternal flame in the Mazda worshipping religion of the ahuras, must be kept alive only by the burning of the sacred wood. Avesta talks of the ûrvázištá fire or fire that is hidden in ûrvar or trees, (Compare with Latin arbor “tree.”)

Cypress and Pine trees (káj in Persian) play a major role in the ancient Zoroastrian religion. For the evergreen trees represent eternal life, and pinecones specifically represent the continuity and renewal of vital energy and sacred knowledge.

Interestingly, the pine tree was the sacred tree of Roman Mithraism. Romans themselves called Mithraism as the Parsi or Persian Religion, and only knew it by the latter name. Mithraism became the most widespread religion in ancient, pre-Christian Rome. During the Roman holiday of winter solstice (Dec. 17-25th), the pine trees were decorated with shining ornaments according to the Mithraic rites.

Pine trees were also one of the symbols of the Germanic mid-winter festival of Yule.

In conclusion, I shall add that in ancient Druid rituals, pine was burned to commemorate the changing of seasons and to bring back the vitality/energy of the sun. This tradition is kept alive to this day in the Scottish countryside.

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In the runic alphabet *Tīwaz or Týr is a warrior rune, and teaches that valor and a noble cause will ultimately triumph, and carry the day. *Tīwaz is “Day Sky god, the god of sacred struggle, and just cause.”

To the Norse people of Scandinavia and Iceland the rune was known as Týr while to the Saxons it was called Tiw.

*Tīwaz is a cognate of Old Norse Týr, Gothic Teiws, and Old English Tīw. It goes back to reconstructed Proto Indo European *Déiwos “Day Sky god.” From the same root are derived Vedic Dyaúṣ, Greek. Ζεύς Zeus, Latin Iuppiter/Diēspiter, Hittite Sīus, Lithuanian Dievas; and Latvian Dievs, (See Didier Calin.)

In the poetic gathas a cognate from the same root, diva refers to “celestial, heavenly lights,” (See Yasna 31.20, 1^st rhymed verse line.)

Týr is related to Polaris or the North Star in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem. Ancient Norse seamen used Polaris as their main navigational aid in their long journeys. The symbol of Týr as an ARROW pointing upward is a reference to this.

The symbolic link with the astral theme of the “heavenly arrow” is strongly present in Avestan, Vedic and Norse accounts, particularly with respect to tištariia, the “triangle constellation of Canis Major.”

In Avetsa, Tištariia literally the “three-star” refers to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, known also as the “dog star.”

According to the Avestan hymn 8.6-7 and 37-38, Tištar-iia flies in the sky like the ARROW shot by the most valiant archer of the Aryans, the hero araḵš or ereḵšö.

Avestan ereḵšö Old Iranian araḵš, is cognate with Greek arktos, “BEAR,” and goes back to reconstructed Indo European *rtko. In the Avesta, araḵš, is the proto type of the VALIANT WARRIOR fighting for a just, noble cause. The tale of the champion archer araḵš is about sacred struggle, heroism and selfless sacrifice.

The Avestan hymn to tištariia teaches that when all hope has faded, the brightest star/light in the sky will carry the day, and celestial waters will pour down from heaven. The great feast of the three-star is celebrated during the MIDSUMMER in the Avestan calendar.

In Zoroastrianism, life is an epic battle, and man must choose the Gods, goodness and nobility throughout the ages of this world, not because of fear or in hope of favors, but for the sake of virtue and goodness alone.

The idea of selfless sacrifice comes also in association with Týr in rune poetry. Fenris or Fenrir is a monstrous wolf in Norse Mythology. The Gods through the “gift of foresight” foresaw great calamity from Fenris. Týr’s right hand was sacrificed to trick the wolf, Fenris, into being chained.

Thus, Týr is a one-handed god, einhendr áss. The word for god here áss, is the same as Vedic asú and Avestan ahü.

An Old Norse rune poem says:
Týr er einhendr áss//ok ulfs leifar//ok hofa hilmir.
Týr is the one-handed god// and leavings of the wolf //and prince of temples, (Courtesy of Didier Calin.)

Another Norwegian rune poem says:
Týr er æinendr ása//opt værðr smiðr blása
Tyr is a one-handed god// often has the smith to blow, (Courtesy of Didier Calin.)

In conclusion, I shall add that the most solidly reconstructed Indo European constellation is Ursa Major, which is designated as THE BEAR in Greek, Vedic and Avestan, (Compare Latin ursā “bear” with Avestan ereḵšö.)

Eric Hamp has suggested a second constellation, a Triangle inspired by Avestan Tištariia or the “three star” constellation involving Sirius, or Greek Seíros, “the dog star.” This second constellation embraces bright stars in Orion, Canis Major (Sirius,) and Canis Minor Procyon (Avestan paoûrvin “the Preceding Star, the Star in Front,” Persian Parvin.)

It is worthwhile to add that Tištariia, like the Norse Polaris, was the protector of, and the navigational guide of the travelers, (See the book shāyest na shāyest 22.3.)

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In the ancient Germanic runic alphabet*geƀō “gift” represented “generosity and giving.” Geƀō was a rune of Odin as it expressed Odin’s role as the Gift-Giver.

 The exchange of gifts was a sacred tradition of the Indo Europeans. While the ancient Indo Europeans celebrated “giving and generosity,” yet they strongly believed in finding a right balance between giving and receiving. For a gift always calls for reciprocity. To give was a virtue only when it was measured and responsible giving.

Geƀō sanctifies the bond between mortals and the Immortal Gods, For the Gods are “Giver of all the Good things.”

Rune Geƀō is a cognate of Gothic giba, Old Norse gjǫf, Old English ġifu/ġiefu/ġyfu, Old High German geba and German Gabe, (See Didier Calin.)

And Old English rune poem says:
Gyfu gumena byþ gleng and herenys,
wraþu and wyrþscype and wræcna gehwam
ar and ætwist, ðe byþ oþra leas.

“Generosity brings credit and honor, which support one’s dignity; / it furnishes help and subsistence / to all broken men who are devoid of aught else, (Courtesy of Didier Calin.)

In Zoroastrianism, the supreme god Ahûrá Mazdá is referred to as Dátár AhûrMazd or Ahûrá Mazdá the “Giver of Gifts.”

The epithet dátár comes from an ancient proto Indo European root *deh “give.” The root also supplies the base of *dehtér “Giver.”

Avestan dátár is a cognate of Old Church Slavonic dateljî and Greek dótor “giver, giving.” In the poetic gathas, Ahûrá Mazdá GIVES all the good things through spǝñtá mainyü, his “auspicious/splendid mind-force, Willpower.”

The gathic poetry in Yasna 44.7, 5^th rhymed verse line declares that the Mindful Lord through his auspicious/splendid mind power/spirit is the Giver of all Good things, speñtá mainiiü vîspa–nãm dátárem.

Avestan spǝñtá is a cognate of Old Church Slavonic svętŭ and Lithuanian šventas, and means “auspicious, splendid with the life force, shining brightly, luminous and full of energy, Sacred.” Ma.in.iiü ma.in.yü comes from the root man and refers to “mind-force, power of intent, spirit, will.”

The ancient Baga commentary of Yasna 49.12 of the gathas states: the spirits/energies or powers of consciousness/mind mainüg respond to a much higher degree avîrtar to the invoker who yearns yashtár for them foremostly.

For each one of the spirits/mind forces mainüg there is a form of celebration/hallowing yazishn, as the spirit of generosity is (hallowed) through “watchful, selective giving” vichîdár dahišnî, the spirit of right rástî through healthy morals/virtues hû rástî, the spirit of friendship mitrö through healthy reciprocity hû mitröî, and the spirit of Godhood ḵûdáyî through becoming Godlike heartily hû ḵûdáyî.

Because what is desired with “vision and wisdom” dánágî from the Adorable Gods yazdán ḵûdáyán, for making one’s own self worthy arjánîg, becomes a lucky boon from the Adorable Gods yazdán ḵûdáyán.

I shall conclude by another commentary from holy Denkart that states: The knowledge of the Creator/Giver, is through creativity, giving and generosity in undertaking.”

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The third hymn of the poetic gathas/songs of Prophet Zarathustra start with the words at tá vaḵšiia išentö “In this day, of the words of power, I shall speak.”

 Vaḵšiia comes from the root vač/vaḵš “voice, word.” In the gathas, Godhood is “unleashing the marvelous powers of and evolution of consciousness/mind.” Vač/Vaḵš is the vehicle of the unbounded consciousness, the charm of making.

 The odyssey of consciousness through its vehicle vač “power of speech WORDS,” pushes us towards new meanings and limitless horizons.

It is the “melodious speech sound” vač/vaḵš that evokes the powers of spirit/evolution of mind. Through poetic imagery vač/vaḵš “voice, word” in the gathas is connected to vaxš “power to grow, increase” (a cognate of German wachsen, English wax.)

 In the gathas, Reality is being continually formed out of the sea of sounds and melodies. The formula for creation and manifestation in all the worlds lies in the vibrations of consciousness/thoughts. Hence, sounds, words/sacred formulas as vibrations of mind energy, formulate and reshape reality.

The creative, brilliant thought of the Immortals, pulsate through vač/vaḵš “sound speech/formulas” that gives the sacred words/formulas their “power” išentö. The word for power/lordship išentö comes from the root iš “will to command/rule, power to make one’s own,”(German eigen is a cognate.)

This idea of “sacred speech as the cause of the universe, and vehicle of purest knowledge,” is especially true of the 10^th hymn of the gathas starting with the phrase at fra-vaḵšiia “In this day, I shall speak forth of the foremost words.”

In the 10^th song or gatha, vač/vaḵš is the “enchanting, pristine song themes of the Immortals that prefigure the making of the worlds.”

Avestan vač/vaḵš goes back to reconstructed Indo European *wṓkws, and is a cognate of Vedic vā̒c, Tocharian A/B wak/wek, Greek óps, Latin uōx, Spanish voz, French voix, English VOICE, (See Didier Calin, Dictionary of Indo-European Poetic and Religious Themes.)

Persian آوا âvâ /آواز âvâz “song,” váng/báng “cry out a word or words,” and vážae “word,” all go back to the ancient Avestan root vač/vaḵš, (See Didier Calin, Dictionary of Indo-European Poetic and Religious Themes.)

In the Rig Veda, vāč is the goddess of sacred speech, the mother of the Vedas “the hymns of wisdom, knowledge.” It is the sacred sound that is the essence of reality in the ancient Vedic literature.

Like in Zoroastrianism, the ancient Druids were versatile in their use of melodies, charms and songs to induce changes in consciousness.

In fact, according to all major ancient Indo European traditions, the earth and universe were created and brought into form through sound, celestial melodies and songs.

We all know the power of poetry or of a book that can transport us into another world. Consciousness cannot be separated from “words.”

Words, songs, narratives create our lives/worlds, and are a window onto eternity. We must have words or expressions of unbounded meaning/spirit, in order to emerge out of the chaos.

The third gathic hymn starts with the “words of power” vaḵšiia išentö and ends with ûštá “fulfillment of wishes,” from the root vas “desire, wish.”

Through poetic imagery ûštá is linked to ûšá “dawn” (Reconstructed Proto Indo European ausōs,) because the fulfillment of wishes come through a breakthrough in consciousness, and an awakening of the renewed powers of spirit.

In the sacred Zoroastrian lore various abodes of paradise/heaven mentioned: are heaven of good thoughts, heaven of good words, heaven of good works, heaven of boundless lights, and the abode of songs or the house of music of the ahûrás as the supreme heaven.

I like to conclude by a poem from the great Ferdowsi, the author of Shahnamæ, the great epic saga of the ancient Iranian warrior kings, heroes and God-men. Ferdowsi’s name literally means the “man from paradise,” and Shahnamæ is the world’s longest epic poem created by this master poet.

Shahnamæ is three times the length of Homer’s Iliad, and more than twelve times the length of the German Nibelungenlied. This masterpiece is a loving tribute to ancient Zoroastrianism, and sehnsucht “longing” for the noble identity of our ancient people. It is a magnum opus of Indo European poetry.

Ferdowsi writes:

Much I have suffered in these thirty years//
I have revived the ancient noble spirit with my verse//
I am deathless, I am the eternal Lord//
For I have spread the seed of the Word//Splendid monuments will decay//By rain and blazing sun//Yet I have built an eternal edifice of songs//That no storm and calamity shall ever destroy.

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Trees specially evergreens and ancient trees are the symbol of Immortals in Zoroastrianism. The link between trees, “Immortality and deathlessness” ameretát is established in the poetic gathas, See Yasna 51.7.

The original gathic poetry reads as follows: apas-čá ûrvarávs-čá ameretátá haûrvátá. Here the word for “tree” is ûrvar, and the word for “immortality, deathlessness” is ameretát.

Avestan ûrvará “tree” is a cognate of Latin arbor “tree.” Other cognates are Latin arvus “ploughed field,” and Mycenaean Greek aroura “arable land.”

Trees also come in close connection with “prophetic vision and oracles” in the Avestan poetry. The süd-kar gathic commentary of Yasna 31.5 narrates the vision of an immense tree with four branches, of gold, silver, steel, and “mixed-up” iron, which symbolize the four future ages of this world.

The “mixed-up” iron symbolizes the present age of admixture that is the calamitous age of invasion/contamination by demons.

An Avestan passage in Yasht/hymn 12/17, praises the tree of the great mythical “falcon or eagle” saæna that stands in the middle of the “wide-shored ocean” vôúrú-kašahæ.

The eagle/falcon tree is a wondrous evergreen that keeps away decrepitude and death. It is called all healing with good and potent medicine. The seeds of all medicinal plants are deposited on it.

Saæna “falcon, eagle,” of the Avesta, is the mythical bird of Persian Mythology Sīmorḡ who is said to perch every year on this sacred tree located in the middle of wide-shored ocean, to mix its seeds with pure waters, which Tištar (Three-star, Sirius) then rains down on all the 7 climes of the earth, thus causing the growth of all kind of healing plants.

The Avestan saæna, Persian Sīmorḡ is a cognate of Sanskrit śyená. The Russian word for “falcon” sókol is a borrowing from the same word in ancient Iranian.

In the Avestan Yašt/hymn 14.41 Vərəθraγna, the god being of VICTORY, wraps xᵛarnæ, “glory, good fortune,” round the house of the worshipper, in the same way that the great falcon/eagle Saæna, cover the great mountains like the clouds.

In Zoroastrian religious ceremonies, “small branches or twigs” of an evergreen (mostly cypress trees) or fruit tree (usually pomegranate) called barəsman, form an important part of the sacred ritual. Barəsman is derived from the root barəz “to grow high.” German berg “high” is a cognate.

Barəsman “sacred twigs” are one of the requisites of a “fire priest,” Āθravan (See Vendidad 14.8,) and constitute an essential ritual implement for various liturgical services such as yasná “yearning, longing” (Greek zelós is a cognate,) and afrîn prayers, literally “loving charms” that are Avestan benediction formulas.

The Persian word for tree is draxt also dár ó draxt. The word comes from the Avestan daûrû going back to the reconstructed Proto Indo European *dóru, and is a cognate of Russian дерево (dérevo); Polish drewno; Greek δόρῠ (dóru); Gothic triu; Old English trēow “tree,” (See Didier Calin, Encyclopedia of Indo European poetic and religious themes.)

Trees in Mazdyasna “Mazda worshipping religion/Zoroastrianism” are sacred, and embody immense and enduring life and deathlessness of consciousness.

Sarv-e Abar kuh, literally the Cypress tree of the über-mountain also called the “Zoroastrian tree,” is a cypress tree in Central Yazd province of Iran. The tree is estimated to be at least 4,000 years old and believed to have witnessed the dawn of ancient Iranian civilization.

Herodotus (7.31) reports that at Callatebus in Asia Minor, the Achaemenid Xerxes (486-65 B.C.E.) found a plane tree so beautiful that he decorated it with golden ornaments and put it under the care of one of his Immortals.

The sacred attitude toward venerable trees has continued in Iran to the present day, but with the transfer of devotion from Zoroastrian Immortals to Twelver Shiʿite Saints.

Often, the very pine and cypress trees that had flanked Zoroastrian fire temples in the Sassa­nid period continue to shade the tombs of emāmzādas and other shia saints today.

In general, however, Iran has suffered from continuous, great deforestation over the centuries after the arab invasion.

Sanctity of trees in Zoroastrianism meant legal sanctions against profaning or destroying them in the Mazdean Jurisprudence. Such legal protections for trees did sadly not continue into the Islamic age. Yet the folk belief that anybody felling a tree will be short-lived, and cuts on his/her good fortune goes back to the deep-rooted ancient religion of the Iranians.

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The last ten-days at year’s end, are the “All Hallows or All Saints Festival” in the Zoroastrian calendar, dedicated to fravašis or fravars “Valkyrie-like beings” who are the “pristine prototypes of the creation.”

The festival shares many features with Celtic pagan Samhain festival, and in Parsi calendar as well as the Older Iranian Zoroastrian reckoning qadimi, it is celebrated toward the End of Summer.

The Avestan term fravaši or fravar is grammatically feminine. Although there is no concrete illustration of the fravašis, in Hymn/Yašt 13,verse 70, they are said to “descend down like an eagle,” and wings are popularly attributed to them among Zoroastrians.

To prepare for their arrival Zoroastrian families thoroughly clean the house, and light a sacred fire on rooftop, a bowl of pure spring water with sacred twigs of evergreens, fruits and nuts are placed next to the burning flame.

In Iran, the community makes merry around bonfires, and children go to neighbors to ask for sweets and sesame cakes.

Highly meritorious during this period is the planting of evergreen or fruit trees, pilgrimage to the eternal fires, and visiting the towers of silence & cemeteries. Candles lit in the honor of the spirits of the heroic dead shall never be extinguished but allowed to safely burn out.

The concept of fra.vaši or fra.var is ORIGINAL to Zoroastrianism. In the 10^th song of the poetic gathas or Yasna 45, fra-vaḵš account for the “foremost words, first formulas of pristine knowledge.” These “foremost words” form “charms of making, the enchanting song themes of the Immortals” that prefigure the making of the worlds.

Fra.vašis or fra.vars are “the first will, wish, desire behind things, the original archetypes” that manifested in association with the first words/formulas fra-vaḵš. They CHOOSE FORTH the souls of the virtuous and excellent to fight along side Ahûrá Mazdá and his Immortals to bring about a splendid new age of eternal spring.

Bernfried Schlerath CORRECTLY derives their root from var “will, wish, desire, choose” with the prefix *fra meaning the “first, foremost, forward.”

Fra.var are the “first will, wish, desire, intent” behind the existence of things, and appear in the role of “valiant warriors” that pre-existed the material creation. They help in the struggle to defeat aŋra/angra the dark lord of “imperfections, blemishes and flaws.”

Their role is very similar to the valkyries “choosers of the fallen” in Norse Mythology. Valkyries are female helping spirit of the god Odin. Assisting Odin in transporting his favorites among those slain in battle to Valhalla, where they will fight by his side during Ragnarök the “final battle of Gods against monsters and all evil.”

In a beautiful Avestan passage we read: “The sunswept abodes of excellence/truth we yearn for/worship, in which dwell the souls ûrván of the dead, which are the fravašis of the excellent/virtuous.”

xᵛan.vaitîš ašahæ vərəzö yaza.maidæ, yáhu iristinąm ûrvąnö šáyentæ yáv ašaônąm fravašayö, Hymn/Yašt. 16.7.

In the Prose Poetry of the Seven Chapters haptaŋ-háiti attributed to Prophet Zarathustra himself we read: the fravašis of the excellent/virtuous, that of valiant men and women we yearn for/worship Yasna 37.3.

 təm ašáuu.nąm fravašîš nar.ąm.čá náiri.nąm.čá yaza.maidæ

The original concept of the of the fravaši therefore appears to be the GREAT PROMISE of Man and other creatures, that at death only unites with the soul/spirit of the valiant and virtuous.

Among Iranian Zoroastrians the festival of fravašis is known as rozanæ farvardæ-gán “crack, split or break for the fra-vars.

Among the Parsis of India the term moktād or mukhtad “moving freely” of the (fravašis) is used. Mukhtad is derived from Sanskrit, and is a cognate of the Old Avestan môšü “to move speedily” and Latin mox “move as soon as.”

In the Avesta, the fravašis festival precedes the 10 days before the EQUINOX, or the sacred moment when the center/middle position maiδ.iia of the Sun, and the celestial points/paths paθ, are at the same hamaß or equal distance from each other, called Hamaß.paθ.maiδ.iia in the Avestan.

The Avestan new-year ALWAYS begins with the Vernal Equinox. The first month of the spring, the 19^th day of each religious month, and the 4^th watch (gáh) from sunset to midnight, is named in honor of fravašis or fravars who are invoked along the yazatas “hallowed god-beings.”

Yet, at present the Parsi new-year falls on August 17-18, and in the older reckoning of Iranian Zoroastrians known as qadimi new-year starts a month earlier during summer as well.

But WHY is it so? The Avestan calendar is seasonal and lunisolar. It comprises of 365 ¼ days. The additional ¼ time requires a leap day every four years called avar-daad, or an extra month every 120 years as prescribed in Holy Denkart (III.419.)

The older reckoning qadimi of the Iranian Zoroastrians, as well as Parsi calendar NEGLECTED to add a sixth day in leap years, or a 13^th month each 120 years. As a result the new-year has moved to the middle and end of summer.

In conclusion, I shall add that the fravašis bestow the gift of sacred memory, and the deeper understanding of how higher self is linked to us through virtue and the eternal quest for excellence.

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The yew tree figured prominently in ancient Germanic legal and ritual symbolism. References to yew tree appear in sacred ritual and legal texts of the pagan Germanic people, perhaps because of yews evergreen properties and extraordinary longevity.

For example, the judge’s staff was made out of the yew tree. Reference to yew particularly appears in a text that asks for a long reign for the warrior/priest kings while invoking the tree’s longevity.

In the Germanic runic lore, rune Eihwaz, Anglo Saxon Eoh is a symbol inspired by yew tree. It is also believed that the World tree called Yggdrasil (also called Irminsul) in the Norse mythology was originally a yew tree.

An Anglo Saxon Rune poem reads:

Eoh byþ utan unsmeþe treow,

heard hrusan fæst, hyrde fyres,

wyrtrumun underwreþyd, wyn on eþle.

The yew is a tree with rough bark//

Hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots//

A guardian of flame, and a joy upon an estate//

One reputable hypothesis derives all the potential words for yew from a Proto Indo European root *hiei– “brilliant red color, reddish.”

 The Persian word for yew tree is in fact, sorkh-dár literally “the scarlet tree.” Persian dár “tree” comes from the Avestan daûrû, and is a cognate of Russian дерево (dérevo); Polish drewno; Greek δόρῠ (dóru); Gothic triu; Old English trēow “tree.”

Sorkh-dár is one of the exclusive trees species of Hyrcania province, literally the land of “the wolves” in North Eastern Iran (called Gorgān in Persian.) It is mentioned as Varkána– in the Behistun inscription of Darius the Great. (2.92.)

There are only a few forests of yew tree in all over the world, and some of the outstanding forests are in Hyrcania in North Eastern Iran. The yew also flourishes in Anatolia and the north Caucasus. Even the thickest trunks in all other forests are not comparable with the amazingly thick yews in Hyrcania.

In old days, its wood was used in buildings instead of iron. Even today, one can see yew as part of the building material in many old villages of the Gorgán province, especially in some of the old nationally registered houses in the Gorgán city.

In the poetic gathas, sûḵrá refers to the “bright red glow” of the fire. The Zoroastrian sacred lore called Avesta, invokes five categories of fire, (See Yasna 17.11.) “The most joyous” fire called ûrvázišta radiates in ûrvar (arbor) trees. Yew tree is the very tree that embodies the “bright red glow” of this sacred fire.

Aventan sûḵrá “bright red glow” is a cognate of Vedic śukrá light, bright, blazing flame, TocharianB śukye “shining.” The Greek word for SWAN “the white one” is also a cognate. The reconstructed Indo European root is *keuk “to shine brightly, glow.”

Fire was used judicially in ancient Zoroastrian Iran. There are said to have been some 30 kinds of fiery trials in all. Those accused of lying or breach of contract were required as an ultimate test to establish their innocence by submitting to a solemnly administered ordeal by fire.

Thus the illustration of the World tree Yggdrasil (also called Irminsul) in Norse mythology by yew tree would be far more appropriate. For a tree that is a guardian of flame would best symbolize the renewal of the worlds through fiery trial.

In conclusion, I shall add that the scientific name for YEW is taxus baccata.  TAXUS is a cognate of Latin taxus “yew,” Russian tis “yew,” that comes from Scythian taxsa “bow.”

YEW had diverse ritual uses including providing the raw material for bows, as the Scythian term suggests. The Scythians, made archery a quintessential aristocratic skill, using the word taxsa (taxs in Medieval Persian) that is cognate with Greek tóxo occurring about twenty-five times in Homer, including the climactic scene in the Odyssey.

It has often been presumed that the Greek word was borrowed from the ancient Iranian, either during the initial contacts between Greek colonists and ancient Iranian steppe nomads north of the Black Sea in the seventh century BC or after Scythian archers later served as the Athenian police.

It has often been assumed that the Greek word is borrowed from Scythian, sometime after the founding of Greek colonies on the northern shore of the Black Sea (Olbia, Tanais, etc.). Athens was known for having a police force of Scythian archers.
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Special Thanks to My Friend Didier Calin for his notes on Yew Tree and the rune Eihwaz

The lush Caspian Mountains, and Northeastern Iran were the last strongholds of Zoroastrianism after the arab moslem invasion. While according to the Avesta, the Zoroastrian New Year, Nauv-rouz begins with Vernal Equinox, the people of the beautiful Caspian province of Gilan, like the Parsis of India celebrate a parallel New Year ceremony called Nauv-rouz Bal held in August.

Bal “white, shining brightly,” and Nauv-rouz Bal means “the white/shining new dawn/light.”

Bal is cognate of Welsh bal “white faced” Gothic bala(n) “shining, Lithuanian bālas “white” Latvian bāls “pale” Old Church Slavonic bēlū “white” and Russian bélyj “gleaming, white.” The reconstructed Indo European root is *bhelh “pale, white, shining brightly.”

The word Bal “shining brightly” refers to the fires that are lit on top of mountains to herald the arrival of nauv-rouz for the villages below. The timing of the Nauv-rouz Bal suits the rhythm of the settled farmers and migratory herdsmen of the Caspian Mountains, and is referred as OUR Nauv-rouz in their dialects. While, the Avestan Nauvrouz beginning with Vernal Equinox is referred to as the New Year of the SUN calendar.

High summer is a time when the sun is at its highest power/radiance, and traditionally many Indo Europeans have marked mid or end of summer as a time of new beginnings.

For example the Gaelic festival of Samhain comes from Old Irish meaning “summer’s end.” Samhain is a time where the veils between worlds are the thinnest. It is a time to think back over the year, make huge bonfires and honor the heroic dead.

Like Samhain, Lighting huge bonfires, celebrating the bountifulness of crops and nature, and honoring the souls of the departed are parts of Nauv-rouz Bal.

After the arabs invasion, the people of the Caspian Mountains lost track of the leap year calculation.  For this reason, gradually their Nauvrouz like that of the Parsis of India moved to the end of summer. It is a beautiful festival of Caspian Mountains, and a reminder that the bright flame of Zoroastrianism will NEVER be forgotten.

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In the runic alphabet of the ancient Norsemen *laguz “lake,” is the rune of “psyche, spirit, soul, vast bodies of water, the rune of unfolding, revelation.”

*laguz is a cognate of Gothic *lagus, Old Norse lǫgr, Old English lagu A Norwegian rune poem states: Lögr er fællr ór fjalle foss//
en gull ero nosser.

“A waterfall is a river that falls from a mountain side// but ornaments are of gold.”

In the Arthurian legends, “The Lady of the Lake” is best known for her presentation to King Arthur of the magical sword Excalibur.

Merlin “the Druid Wiseman” met the Lady of the lake at the Fountain of Barenton, and fallen so deeply in love with her that he agreed to teach her all his mystical powers.

The lady of the Lake became Merlin’s scribe, who recorded his prophecies. Over the years, the Lady of the Lake became so powerful that her magical skills outshone even Merlin, and she imprisoned him in Glass Tower. The Lady of the Lake was eventually obliged to reclaim Excalibur when Arthur was fatally wounded, and Excalibur was hurled back to misty waters. “Lady of the Lake” was later one of the three Queens who escorted Arthur to AVALON “the isle of eternal youth.”

It is believed that the Arthurian legends show a good deal of Sarmatian and Alan (Ancient Indo Iranian) elements, and there exists some interesting parallels to the ancient Zoroastrian account of the last eschatological powerful lords of time Saôšiiánts.

In the eschatological literature and mythology of ancient Zoroastrianism “the eternal lake” Hámûn is the rising place of the Victorious Saôšiiánts “the powerful lords/giants of ages, time.”

In Yašt 19.92 and in Vi.dæv.dāt 19.5 there are references to the birth of the Saôšiiánt- astvaṱ.ərəta from misty waters of this eternal lake.

Saôšiiánts stems from the verbal root √sü “to swell with power, strength and prosperity.” The reconstructed Indo European root is *keuh “swell with power.” Welsh cawr “Giant”, Lithuanian šaūnas “robust, strong,” Hittite kunna “right powerful hand” and Old Norse hūnn “young, strong” are cognates with Saôšiiánt.

In Avestan Saôšiiánt corresponds to the term yavaæšü– “ever youthful/thriving.” Victorious Saôšiiánt by name he is called because he will swell with life force/power (sávaiiát̰) all the material existence.”

Lakes or “Vast body of Waters” are called zraiia in the Avestan. Sanskrit jráyas “vast expanse” is a cognate. Persian daryá “sea, vast body of water” is derived from Avestan zraiia.

In addition to the sacred lake Hámûn, During Sassanid times, Lake Čēčast enjoyed a great reputation for sanctity, particularly because Ādur Gušnasp, “the Imperial Victorious fire” stood on its shore.

In the Avestan sources few legends are linked with Lake Čēčast. Warrior Priest Kávi Haô-srava (Kay Ḵosrow) was said to have offered a to the “unblemished, pure lady of lakes/waters” Arədvī Sūra Anāhitā beside this lake.

In conclusion, I shall add that the most important lakes/seas in the early history of the ancient Indo Europeans were: Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea and the Baltic Sea. The first 3 definitely fell into the central domain of the ancient Indo Iranians, and are associated with ancient Zoroastrian lore and sacred literature. The Baltic Sea clearly falls into the domain of the ancient Balts and Slavs. Yet, especially close relations found to exist between ancient Indo Iranians and Balto Slavonic tribes. Since the Balts and Slavs did not move far from the earliest recorded positions of the ancient Indo Europeans in the Pontic Caspian realms.

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Special thanks to My friend Didier Calin for his notes on Rune *laguz

In the Elder Futhark symbolism of the ancient Vikings, Othala rune represented the o sound. Othala disappeared from the Scandinavian record around the 6th century, but it survived in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, and expressed the Old English œ.

Viking rune *ōþalą has become ēðel in Old English and uodal in Old High German.
The mystical and magical Rune alphabet starts with fehu, (Avestan fšü) “wealth, prosperity, cattle,” and concludes with *ōþalą “heritage; inheritance, legacy.”

The word ōþalą itself appears to be unique to ancient Germanic, and cannot be traced back to the ancient Aryan/Indo European speech.

However, the concept of “heritage/good lineage,” and the continuation of a sacred legacy going back to the beginning, is strongly present in the poetic gathas of prophet Zarathustra, as well as in the prose and poetry of the sacred Avestan lore of the Zoroastrians.

The Gathic/Old Avestan word for “good genus” is hû-zéntuš, and it appears many times in the gáthás or “sacred songs” of the ancient seer/prophet.

The term for “heritage/inheritance” in the gathas is raæḵna from the root *rik. Vedic reknas is a cognate. The reconstructed Proto Indo European root is *leik. Avestan raæḵna recalls the Germanic noun lehan in the sense of “loan,” that is the “spiritual legacy/advantage” that is LOANED to us, and must be paid back with increase and betterment.

 Othala represents god-powers and sacred knowledge from past generations, as well as realization of paradise here on this earth.

The ultimate realization of Othala as the final rune of the cycle is the coming age of god-men. In that respect, there exist many parallels with the Zoroastrian saôšiiants “giants of the ages.” Saôšiiant literally means to “swell with power of the gods and good fortune,” and heralds in a new age of god men.

Saôšiiánt stems from the verbal root √sü “to swell with power, divine strength,” Welsh cawr “Giant”, Lithuanian šaūnas “robust, strong,” and Old Norse hūnn “young, strong” are cognates.

In the poetic gathas (Lithuanian giedóti “sing hymns”) concerning heritage/legacy (raæḵna, Germanic lehan) we read in Yasna 34.7:

kûθrá töi aredrá mazdá//ýöi vaηhéuš vaædená man.aηhö

séñg.hüš raæḵe.náv aspen.čît sádrá.čît//caḵraiiö ûši.ûrü

naæ.čîm tém aniiém ýüš.mat vaædá//ašá aθá-náv θráž.düm

Where are Thy “fit, strong ones” Mindful lord//who acquiring the wisdom of the Good Mind’s

Edicts and Legacy, can turn any inauspicious event, even sorrow, grief //into wide and beaming smile

I know none other than you// through Excellence, Truth; shelter us.

The word for the “fit/strong ones” is aredrá in the original Avestan. Modern translators have mostly translated this word as “ardent.” Yet as Helmut Humbach suggests the term comes from areta “order, fitness, strength,” (Old Norse ein–arðr is a cognate.)

The term aredrá seems to refer to astvat ereta “embodiment in flesh of the cosmic order, fitness, and divine strength.” Astvat ereta is another name for the future saôšiiant who will rise from a sacred lake, and herald in a fresh, new, resplendent universe, the new age of god-men.

Our true legacy is to inherit the “Good Mind of the Gods” vaηhéuš man.aηhö. Menes is the “energy of consciousness, passion of the spirit, mind power” that enables the warrior to achieve great deeds. Avestan vôhü, vaηhéuš represents “goodness, betterment and brilliance.”

Vaηhéuš, vásu, visi, eús “good, bright,” appears frequently in divine names among Indo European people e.g Gaul divine name Vesu-avus and Latin goddess Vesuna. The Germanic tribal name Visigoths “the good goths” comes from the same root.

In the Zoroastrian tradition, “Good Mind of the Gods” vaηhéuš man.aηhö is the protector of animals, “cattle, wealth” fšü (rune fehu is a cognate.)

Our heritage is to acquire the wisdom (vaædená) of the Gods, the Brilliant Disposition of the Immortals, and through their creative edicts, rulings (Avestan séñg.hüš, Latin censeo,) turn every inauspicious event (Avestan a-spen) and sorrow (Avestan sádrá, Old Norse hadr,) into a wide, beaming smile or opportunity.

Zoroastrianism ONLY sees godhood in “goodness, overcoming of limitations, betterment, and triumph of the spirit.”

Concerning our heritage/inheritance, we read in the Zoroastrian sacred literature: I have come from the unseen world, not from this world. I belong to the Mindful Lord who is all goodness and light, NOT to Ahriman who is a liar and a deceiver, all gloom, and full of death.

I belong to the hallowed gods (Avestan yazatás, Greek hagios,) not to demons (daævás,) to the pure, and not to the vile. I am a man, not a demon, a creature of the God of Mind whose powers are undying, infinite and pure.

My stock and lineage is from *Gayömart (primordial man.) My mother is Speñtá Ármaiti, (“auspicious contemplation and meditation,” embodied in earth), my father is the God of Inspiring Creativity (Mazdá, Greek Muses.) I belong to the Mindful lord, the Creator, and his Auspicious Immortals, NOT to the broken spirit and his host of impure demons. There is only one path and that is of excellence/truth.

I shall conclude, by stating that gayö-mart is the primordial giant, the first man from whom mankind is descended. His account is intertwined with the tale of the sole-created cow. The name gaiia-mareta means “mortal life.” In the Avesta, Gayömart is the primordial giant and beginning of this world, just as Saôšiiáns represents the end of this age, and beginning the new age of the god-men.

The Avestan account on the primordial man presents striking similarities to the Norse/Scandinavian origin myths. A. Christensen (1917, I, p. 37) preferred to reconstruct the transmission of Avestan themes to the Caucasus and from there, through the intermediation of the Ostrogoths, to the Scandinavian tribes.

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I shall thank My good Friend Didier Calin on his notes on Othala

The ancient Zoroastrian spirituality is unequivocally linked to agriculture, animal stewardship, and a celebration of the purity/bounty of nature expressed in the key agricultural festivals of the year.

The most sacred mantra in Zoroastrianism, ahü vairyö “will to become godlike,” states: that the “ahûric dominion or kingship of the Immortal Gods, will be given to those who strengthen/empower the downtrodden tillers of the land,” ḵšaθrem.čá ahûrái á//ýim drigû.byö da.dat vástárem.

Ahûrás are the “Original Immortal Gods of “creative artistry and cosmic order.” The term ahûrás is cognate with Old Norse æsir (plural) and Old Norse óss (singular.)

It is the ahûric dominion or kingship of the Immortal Gods ḵšaθrem.čá ahûrái á, that shall go to those who empower/restore the drigû.byö.

Because Zoroastrian spirituality is so inextricably linked to agriculture and animal stewardship, it is not difficult to understand how terms such as vástár and drigû in the sacred gathic verse, are associated with “rich pastures” and “tyrannized cultivators/growers of the land.”

​The term drigû is unique to ancient Indo Iranian, and it is the case that because some words are elsewhere unattested, the precise meanings of those very words are not exactly certain. Drigû is one such term.

The Old Avestan term drigû conveys the idea of “toil, hard labor, drudgery,” and refers to “the downtrodden, the oppressed cultivators, tillers, farmers and growers of the land who are subjected to the tyranny of the despot lords.”

Prophet Zarathustra imposed an “order of farming nobility” based on “love of animals, stewardship of the land, and fondness for all things that grow, and are fruitful.” This order of Zoroastrian “farming nobility” was opposed by “cattle-raiding warrior bands,” who designated their leaders as Adhrigu “lord,” (he who is NOT drigû).

These “warrior bands” called themselves also “man-wolves,” and mixed blood of the sacrificed cows with sacred mead/wine, in their orgiastic rites. Their cruelty toward innocent animals, and their bloody bovine sacrifices, were especially appalling to the ancient Aryan Seer/Prophet.

It shall be added that in the Vedic Mythology, Marutas, a “band of young warriors,” were Indra‘s shock troops who called Indra their “chief, lord,” Adhrigu (he who is NOT drigû.)

 (See Mircea Eliade A History Of Religious Ideas From The Stone Age To The Eleusinian Mysteries page 305.)

While Avestan drigû is UNIQUE to ancient Indo Iranian, and there exists NO apparent etymological connections, yet definite correspondences to the vocabulary for “warrior bands” in ancient Germanic can be made.

In ancient Germanic military vocabulary, Gothic driugan, meant to “serve as soldier,” Old Norse drjúg “to endure much hardship.” Old Norse drÿgja conveyed the idea of “carry, haul, drag with effort and force,” Old Norse drōttin was the word for the “the warrior elites, the lords,” as well as the Old English dryhten “chief, lord.”

The term drigû “comes 2 more times in the “hymns/songs” of Zarathustra, the gathas. We read in Yasna 34.5: “Through excellence, truth, and good mind or brilliant disposition//give shelter, protection to your downtrodden tillers of the land,” ašá vôhü man.aηhá//θrá.yöi.dyái drigüm ýüšmákem.

And finally the very last verse of the gathas states: “That kingship or dominion, Mindful lord, is Thine, whereby to the right living tillers of the land, is given the better, more excellent,” tat mazdá tavá ḵšaθrem ýá ereže.jyöi dáhî drigaôvæ vahyö.

The kingship or dominion of the Splendid Immortals shall be given to vástár who EMPOWER/STRENGTHEN the oppressed farming nobility drigû.

The Avestan word vástár refers to “rich pastures” originally, and is a term associated with “cause to feed, nourish, nurse, restore, strengthen, empower, and encourage the growth of.”

Avestan word vástár is cognate with Old Norse vist “food,” Gothic wisan “feast, cause to graze,” Gothic wizōn “indulge,” Latvian vesels “healthy, whole,” Old Church Slavonic, veselū “joyful,” Hittite wesi “pasture,” Hittite westara “herdsman.” The reconstructed Indo European root is *wes.

The ancient Indo-Europeans were pastoralists, and it was pleasant to imagine their “rich pasturelands” as symbols of “restoration, and renewed strength.”

For example a Hittite farewell ritual for a king included the prayer: Now, O Sun-god, confirm him in possession of this pasture! Let no one take it away from him (or) contest it legally! May oxen, sheep, horses, and mules graze for him on this pasture!

“Go to the meadow/pasture” was a Hittite expression for the blessed afterlife. Odysseus in Odyssey 11 sees the dead Achilles and Heracles going about in a bountiful pasture. The Latvian righteous dead are also imagined as having their herds in “rich pastures.”

Ancient Zoroastrianism has always maintained that it has NOT reformed anything, but RESTORED the pristine faith of the Aryans to its original purity, that is the celebration of the primordial ahûrás of the “cosmic order, ancient wisdom and virtue.”

Zoroastrianism, ancient or modern, ABHORS all forms of asceticism and poverty. It is a faith that celebrates the EMPOWERMENT of the oppressed farming nobility, the gentle gardeners of this good earth, and stewards of creation. It is to the very those who shall go the kingdom of the Gods.

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Mazdá Ahûrá is the Supreme God of ancient Zoroastrianism. The ancient Aryan Prophet Zarathustra called his Supreme God Mazdá Ahûrá “the god of learning, wisdom, discovery, imagination, mind, memory” or the “Mindful Ahûrá.”

Mazdá Ahûrá of the Old Avestan lore has become Ahûrá Mazdá in later Young Avestan literature. The earliest reference to Ahura Mazda in archaeological records appears to be in an Assyrian text, probably of the 8th century B. C. E, in which assara mazaaš is named in a list of foreign (Indo European or ancient Aryan) Gods.

The reference to Ahura Mazda in the Assyrian document suggests that by 8^th century B.C.E, Zoroastrianism in its later Young Avestan form was prevalent in Western Iranian plateau, and was well known to powerful foreign powers/nations such as Assyria and Babylonia.

The Supreme God of Prophet Zarathustra Mazdá and/or Ma(n)zdá (*mens–dheh-) incorporates the Indo European noun *mens of the stem ménos “mind-force, passion, spirit, will power, determination, resolve” and the verb dheh “to set, establish, do, create.”

Mazdá is thus “power of the spirit/mind to establish, create; passion to learn, discover and innovate.”

Avestan Mazdá “creativity through power of mind, imagination” is a cognate of Old Norse munda “strive for aim,” Welsh mynnu “intention, aim,” Old High English muntrī “passion, zeal,” German münther “lively, passionate,” Gothic mundōn “be mindful of” Lithuanian mañdras “lively, awake, mindful,” Latvian muôdrs “awaken, lively, passionate,” Old Church Slavonic módró “wise, and Vedic medhā “wisdom.”

The root *mens–dheh “inspiring creativity, power of mind, imagination, vision to create” also appears in the following poems in the gathas/sacred songs:

Yasna 28.4: mén gairæ vôhü dadæ hathrá man.aη.há,

Yasna 31.5, mén-čá daidiiái,

Yasna 44.8, mén daidiiái,

Yasna 45.1, ma(n)z.dáv. aη.hö.düm,

Yasna 53.5, mén–čá–î mánz.daz.düm.

While the etymology of Mazdá is closest to the Inspiring Muses in Greek mythology, yet Germanic or Old Norse Wōđan and/or Óðinn as God of “learning, wisdom” is the closest, if not identical to Mazdá of ancient Zoroastrianism in both the idea and intention.

The Old Avestan gathic formula mazdávs.čá ahûráηhö “mazda and his ahuras,” reminds one of the Old Norse Skáldskaparmál 41: Óðni ok öllum ásum “to Odin and all the æsir,” Skáldskaparmál 23: Óðins ok ása “of Odin and the aesir,” Hávamál 143: Óðinn með ásum “Odin with the Æsir,” also Baldr” Gylfaginning 49: Baldrs ok asana, (See Didier Calin, Dictionary of Indo European Poetic and Religious Themes page 139.)

I shall add that ahûrás “the original god-powers-forces” and æsir are cognates.

Edison called his first light bulb Mazda, after the “God of light, discovery” of ancient Zoroastrianism. Also, Matsuda the owner of Mazda Company like many other Japanese was fascinated with ancient Persian mythology. He named his cars Mazda instead of Matsuda.

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In the Zoroastrian sacred lore, Manûš is the ancestor of “thinkers, sages, and the wise, learned scholars”. The Magi priests of the ancient Aryans (or specifically the Indo Iranians) trace their “lineage/ancestry” to Manûš.”

The earthly prototype for Mazdá, “the supreme god of mind, memory discovery and learning,” are the learned wise, brilliant thinkers with highly developed mind powers “man-.”

Manûš-čiθra represents the seed of Manûš, manifested in “thinkers, sages and scholar priests.” Avestan čiθra– denotes “light and ancestral lineage.”

Avestan čiθra or čithra “manifest, apparent, brilliant, shining” is a cognate of Vedic citrá, Old High German heitar“ bright, shining,” and Old Norse heiar “honor, rank.”

Examples of čiθra as “light, brightness, and ancestral lineage” may be seen in the proclamations of Darius and Xerxes to be ariya(-)ciča– “of Aryan light/lineage,” and Ardeshir I, Shāpūr I, and Narseh’s declarations to be “of the line/light of the hallowed gods” kē čihr az yazdān.

The oldest trace of the name Manuš-čiθra denoting ancestry from Manûš, is found in the Avestan hymn of Fravardin Yašt, where the archetype (fravaši) of Manuš-čiθra son of Airya is venerated (Yašt 13.131.) We hallow, hail the archetype (fra-vaši,) of the virtuous Manûš čiθra, son of Airyá: Manûš čiθrahæ airyávahæ ašaônö fravašîm yaza.maidæ.

Airyá “honorable, noble” is the ancestral father of Indo Iranians. Airyá and his two brothers ruled over three realms of this earth. But it was the specific destiny of the descendants of Airyá (Middle Persian Ērič, Modern Persian Iraj) to rule over all the realms as “warrior priests and philosopher kings.”

The Indo Iranians and the ancient Germanic tribes shared a tradition about a “first king,” who divided the world among his three sons.

In ancient Iran, we have the case of the “first physician, healer sage” called thraætaôna, his three sons Airya with his two other brothers, who each ruled over a third of this earth. Thraætaôna literally means “the third, thrice, extremely lucky.”

The ancient Germans also had a similar legend recounted in Tacitus, Germania 2.2. They relate that the ancestor of the Germans, called Mannus, divided the Germanic world between his three sons, who became the eponyms of the three main Germanic nations: Ingaevones (north), Herminones (middle), and Istaevones (south).

Herodotus (4.5-6) attests the ORIGINS legend of the ancient Scythians. Accordingly, their first king begot three sons; the oldest was Lipoxais, the middle Arpoxais, and the youngest Colaxais. They ruled for some time; but, when divine fortune favored Colaxais, the elder brothers made over the whole kingdom of Scythia to him. From these three sprang all of the Scythians. From Colaxais sprang the Royal Scythians or Paralatae.

In the legend, the surname of the Royal Scythians, Paralatae, is the same as the Primordial dynasty of Paraδāta, the first and most preeminent dynasty of ancient Persian mythology. Paraδāta literally means “Primeval law (givers).” It is from this venerable and ancient house of Paraδāta that Airyá and Manuš-čithra hail from.

Manûš of the Avesta is a cognate of Mannus “the ancestor figure of the ancient Germanic tribes,” and rune mannaz of the ancient Norsemen.

A Norwegian rune poem states: Maðr er moldar auki//
mikil er græip á hauki. “Man is growth of the earth; great is the hawk’s claw.”

In the Zoroastrian sacred lore, Manûš represents the unleashing of the powers of man– “spirit/mind,” our ancestral connection to the Immortal Gods, the potential of man to overcome himself, and become of the same “brightness, light” as the race of the hallowed gods” kē čihr az yazdān.

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The first rune in the ancient Germanic alphabet is fehu literally “herds and flocks.” Fehu is the rune of “wealth” and moveable property.

Avestan fšü/pasuu, Gothic faihu, Old Norse fe, Old High German fihu, Latin pecu/pecus and Lithuanian pekus/pekas are all cognates, (See Dictionary of Indo European Poetic and Religious Themes by Didier Calin.)

Cattle and domesticated animals were of great importance to the ancient Indo-European pastoralists, and provided them with a ready point of reference in many aspects of life. The English word fee is a reminder of payment in the form of herds and flocks.

It is therefore not surprising that we find the semantic transition in the ancient Indo European society from “herds, flocks” to “moveable wealth” and “affluence, prosperity, abundance.”

Unlike some faiths, in which poverty is viewed as virtuous and desirable, Zoroastrianism has always viewed poverty and misery, most negatively. Instead prosperity, health and triumph of the spirit define the Zoroastrian faith.

Mazdyasná (The worship of Mazdá, “wisdom, learning, discovery,”) insists that man should have a powerful impact on time and destiny. Gathas or the songs of the ancient prophet Zarathustra teach that the more a man seeks to rise into the heights of heavens and light, the deeper shall his roots grow into this good earth.

Hence, in Zoroastrianism, a true embrace of the spiritual horizons is only possible when we are firmly centered in the material.

In Yasna 31.10 of the poetic gathas, “the virtuous ahûrá/god is the cultivator, bringer of prosperity to brilliant disposition, good energy/mind ahûrem ašavanem//vaηhéuš fšéñg.hîm man.aηhö.

Here the word fšéñg.hîm alludes to “increase, prosperity wealth and affluence” of good energy/mind. Likewise, in the ancient Indo European poetics, a god or ruler is a cultivator, increaser of wealth, a herdsman who guides and empowers.

Theodor Benfey first observed in 1872, that “giver of good things” is the common term for “god” in ancient Iran and the pagan Slavonic countries. This can be inferred from the word for god dátár meaning “dispenser, giver” in the Zoroastrian sacred lore. In Zoroastrian prayers the invocation of dátár ahûrmazd is very common.

Another interesting Avestan term associated with “herds, flocks, affluence,” is pasuu vîrá. The Avestan term can be compared with the Anglo Saxon werewolf “man-wolf.” However, the Avestan hero vîrá, (Anglo Saxon were) is not characterized by bloodthirsty violence. Rather the real hero embodies “prosperity, wealth, the stewardship of animals, and cultivation of the land.”

In the poetic gathas, Zarathustra wants vastriiö fšüiiantö “herders of flocks and cultivators of the fields” to function at the same time as both warriors and priests. In Zarathustra’s vision rise into the heights of spirituality means an embrace of the physical and stewardship of the material creation.

The seer/prophet of the ancient Indo Europeans envisions a noble aristocracy that cultivates this good earth, is a steward of animals and creation, is a fierce warrior, defender of deep roots, and learned keeper of eternal flame.

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One of the key concepts of the worldview of the Norse and other Germanic peoples of pagan Europe was their unique view of destiny.

The starting point for understanding the Norse view of destiny is the mythological image of Yggdrasil and the Well of Urðr, the Well of Destiny

Yggdrasil is a tree that stands at the center of the cosmos and holds the Nine Worlds, the dwelling-places of humans, gods, and all other beings, in its branches and roots.

Another name for Yggdrasil or the world tree is Irminsul, and refers to the pillar of Irmingott.

The Avestan Airyaman is a cognate of Irmin or Irmingott. Yasna 54, the concluding hymn to the poetic gathas of the ancient seer/prophet Zarathustra, is dedicated to Airyaman the god-force of “nobility” or the “noble fellowship.”

The world tree Yggdrasil or pillar of Irmin Gott grows from the Well of Urðr or the Well of Destiny. In the Well of Urðr, live the Norns the three sisters who spin the threads of fate for gods, mortals and ALL the beings who live in the Nine Worlds of Yggdrasil.

Old Norse urðr, Old English wyrd, Old High German wurt, Proto-Germanic *wurðiz were the words that defined fate/destiny in pre Christian Europe.

However, unlike the pronouncements of the Greek Fates, what the Norns carve into water ripples is only a possible form of destiny, and not the necessarily absolute, final form.

The forms carved by the Norns can be reshaped. All beings have some degree of power over their own destiny and the destiny of others. Everything and everyone uses this power in some small way, merely by being a stopping-point in the course the water of the Well of Urðr takes as it cycles through the well and the world tree.

The Norns may be the shapers of destiny par excellence, but they are far from the only beings capable of altering the course of destiny as it flows through the Well of Urðr and Yggdrasil. Just as no life’s course is entirely determined by the Norns, no life’s course is entirely free from the influence of the Norns and one’s fellow inhabitants of the Nine Worlds.

Accordingly, there is no absolute free will, just as there is no absolute unalterable fate. Instead, life is lived somewhere in the enormous range of possibilities that lies between these two mysterious forces.

The imagery of the Water and the Well are central to understanding the concept of fate in ancient Indo European view of fate. Destiny is this mysterious, unknowable force that like water, cycles between past, present and future. In this water/well imagery, fate not only causes the past to exert its influences upon the present, but also includes the influence of the present upon the past and, thereby, the potential for a new and different present and future.

It shall be added that the Zoroastrian fire temples with their eternal flames are always built near a sacred well, waterfall or lake.

Discerning and shaping one’s own destiny is central to the ancient wisdom of Zoroastrianism. For this very ancient faith is all about the triumph of light and the spirit.

Godhood is the brilliant wisdom or wondrous creativity that overcomes limitations and obstacles. In Zoroastrianism, Godhood is defined as “discovery, learning and new horizons, the odyssey/ progressive journey of consciousness, mind and will power.”

The supreme god of “learning, discovery and mind power” Ahûrá Mazdá, by his thoughts, brilliance and music has first ordered cosmos. Each of his thoughts gave rise to the Brilliant Immortals. The light, brilliance of these Immortals is a special force that awakens the Titans/Gods within. Through the wisdom of the Immortal ahûrás (æsir,) mortals can obtain powers/virtues with which they can shape/reshape destiny, and nature splendidly.

In the poetic gathas of the ancient seer/prophet Zarathustra, past, present, and future all happen at the same Moment in eternal time of the Immortal Gods, and are like the different shores of the same ocean.

While the idea of Greek Fates and Indic Karma show very close similarity to each other. The views on fate and destiny are the same in ancient Zoroastrianism and Pre Christian Norse beliefs.

I shall conclude by adding that urðr, the word in Old Norse that designates destiny comes from Proto-Germanic *wurðiz. The root of Germanic *wurðiz hails back to Proto-Indo-European *vert or *vérete/o: “to turn, rotate, come to pass, become.”

Avestan as one of the most ancient and earliest languages of the Indo European peoples, has few roots that are cognates, such as Avestan vart “to turn, set in motion, come to pass, become.”

In the Zoroastrian sacred lore, vart is closely associated with the verb varz “to work, have power, strength, energy to achieve a change/result.”

The emphasis of the magical word play here is that the turning of events always comes with the power, energy, opportunity to achieve a desired result and reshape destiny.

Other verbs associated with vart “to turn, set in motion, become” and varz “to work, have power, energy to achieve a desired result,” are the verbs vard “to grow, become energetic, worthy,” and varš to “rain.”

Again, we see an allusion to the water imagery and fluidity of reality. Truth is that reality is extremely fluid, and our focus, vision, and intensity of intent determine our reality and the power to reshape destiny.

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The celebration of Winter solstice is an age-old Zoroastrian sacred rite. The time of winter solstice in the Zoroastrian sacred lore symbolizes the defeat of darkness and gloom in the moment when all hope has faded. It is in this exact moment that the Invincible Sun, the energy of light/brilliance triumphs over sorrow and sadness.

The Sun is described as follows in the poetic gathas/songs of the prophet Zarathustra: sraæštãm at töi kehrpém kehrpãm ávaæda.yá.mahî mazdá ahûrá//imá raôčáv barezištem barezi.ma.nãm//avat ýát hvaré avácî.

“The fairest, most beautiful of thy bodies, Mazdá Ahûrá, is known to us //to be this light, highest of the high// expressed in voice/words to be the sun.”

Despite whatever moderns might think/say, the ancient Roman Mithraists themselves were convinced that their religion, the religion of SOL INVICTUS or the “Invincible Sun,” was founded by none other than the seer/prophet of the ancient Indo Europeans, Zarathustra.

The Roman Mithraist religion was centered entirely on “Deus Sol Invictus Mithras.” Thus, Mithras was ahûrem berezantem, the “lofty god-force,” he was the “unconquered light/energy,” associated closely with the Sun and other Cosmic Powers of “life, fertility, abundance, and prosperity.” Mithras was worshipped as the source of “reciprocal friendship” with all the Immortal God Powers/Energies.”

Avestan mithrá-, Vedic mitrá– comes from reconstructed Indo European root *meit– “reciprocity” and is cognate with Latin mūtō, Gothic maidjan, Latvian mietot, (See Didier Calin Dictionary of Indo European Poetic and Religious themes.)

To the identity of Roman Mithras as the Sun/Light Energy and to his Invincibility must be added his Persian-ness, a “fact” known to outsiders as well as to his initiates. Mithras is depicted specifically with ancient Persian garb and ancient Persian Mithraic Cap in the Pagan Roman Iconography.

The hat known as Santa Hat today is modeled after the Phrygian Cap, or more accurately the classic Mithraic Cap used in the worship of the Sun and other Cosmic Powers of fertility, life-force, abundance, and prosperity.

Hargrave Jennings, in his Rosicrucians states: A Phrygian Cap or Mithraic Cap is always sanguine [Blood Red] in its color. It then stands as the “Cap of Liberty” a revolutionary form. . . . It has always been regarded as most important hieroglyph or figure. It signifies supernatural simultaneous “offering to the Gods” and “triumph.”

Another ancient rite associated with Zoroastrianism, is the custom to worship with sacred branches of evergreen trees in hands during prayers and religious ceremonies. The use of evergreens to symbolize IMMORTALITY, Avestan ameretát is a custom that all the ancient nations observed concerning the Zoroastrian/Magi Priesthood mode of worship.

In the beautiful religion (as Zoroastrianism calls itself,) the offerings to the Immortals, sacred space, and home are decorated with clippings of evergreen shrubs during religious holidays.

Tree worship was also common among the pagan Europeans, and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the forces of darkness/death, and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmas time.

Likewise, in ancient Zoroastrianism, as part of winter solstice celebrations, living trees were decorated with food for the wildlife.

Today, if it is not possible to decorate trees with food for the peaceful wildlife, an effort must be made by devout Zoroastrians to put food out for the deer as part of the winter solstice festivities.

It shall be added that the decoration of trees was deemed as PAGAN by the early Church fathers, and became popular again around the early 19^th century.

The night of solstice is a night of poetry, delicious wines, nuts, seasonal fruits such as pomegranates, and hearty dishes. It should be celebrated into the dawn hours, but if not possible at least celebrations must continue pass midnight with festivity and much joy.

I shall conclude by adding that when the exact moment of Winter Solstice falls during early morning hours or around high noon, both the night before and the night after must be celebrated.

If the exact moment of Solstice falls in the afternoon the following night must be celebrated. If Winter Solstice falls during night hours, the same night must be celebrated. However, if Winter Solstice falls during early dawn hours, the night before dawn is the night of great festivity with celebrations that must continue into the early dawn hours.

Winter solstice teaches that when all hope has faded, and darkness is at the zenith of its power, in that exact moment, the energy of the Invincible Sun, and Cosmic Powers of fertility, life force will TRIUMPH over gloom and darkness.

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The Zoroastrian maiδ-yaar “mid-year” festival, starts on December 31 and ends on or about January 4^th. Maiδ-yaar ranks after Vernal Equinox, as the SECOND MOST FESTIVE and SACRED thanksgiving holiday in the Zoroastrian religious calendar.

The Avestan word yaar reminds us of a time that YEARS were counted by the passage of WINTERS. The time to celebrate maiδ-yaar corresponds very closely with the winter festivities of Yuletide in the Pagan Scandinavian Europe.

The importance of maiδ-yaar as “the second most important holiday” is cited throughout the ancient Avestan texts. We read in an Avestan ritual text: “In the case that a person does not celebrate “Maiδ-yaar,” he/she must be expelled from among the community of the Mazda worshippers.”

In the Avesta, the word yaar refers also to “auspicious, turning points during seasons, and cycle of time.” The six most sacred, religious holidays in ancient Zoroastrianism, known today as gahan-bár or “gatha banquets,” are called yaair.iia ratvö  “sacred rituals/year round festivities” in the Avestan original.

The Avestan word yaar is very ancient, and goes back to Proto Indo European ancient past. A number of cognates are Old High German jār, Gothic jēr, Old English gēar, German Jahr, Old Church Slavonic jara, Luvian āra/i, and Greek hôrá. The reconstructed Proto Indo European form is *yéhrom also *yóhr̥, (See Didier Calin Encyclopedia of Indo European poetic and religious themes.)

In the ancient Germanic, mystic alphabet, rune *jērą “year, cycle of time, turning point(s),” has the same ancient Proto Indo European root as the Avestan yaar.

Andreas Nordberg suggests that (much like the Zoroastrian yaair.iia ratvö  “sacred rituals/year round festivities,) the heathen Scandinavian calendar was also divided into auspicious, turning points, marked with festivals and religious gatherings such as Yuletide.

Rune Jera teaches “right timing,” and to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, and seasons of the year. Living in tune with nature was believed to result in happiness, abundance and plenty. An Old English rune poem says:
Ger byÞ gumena hiht, ðonne God læteþ,
halig heofones cyning, hrusan syllan
beorhte bleda beornum ond ðearfum.

Year is a joy to men, when God lets, / the holy King of Heaven, / the earth bring forth / shining fruits for rich and poor alike.

The theme of the holy kings of heaven in the above rune poem, reminds one that the Zoroastrian maiδ-yaar ceremonies end a day or two before Epiphany or the time when the three Kings/Wise Men, or more accurately the three Zoroastrian MAGI (priests) have supposedly visited the Christ child.

There is NO record in the entire Zoroastrian literature that would independently corroborate the Epiphany story. However, it is important to understand the symbolic meaning of Epiphany for the early Christian Church fathers. Epiphany emphasized the physical manifestation of Jesus to the children of Japheth.

In the biblical tradition, Japheth is the ancestor of the Indo European peoples of the ancient world, from Europe to west Asia. Magi represented the hereditary, Zoroastrian priesthood of the ancient Aryans. So any supposed visit by the Wise Magi Priests to the Christ child was considered a strong confirmation of Jesus “revelation to the gentiles.”

The early Christian Church fathers saw their mission as universal in scope, but during his earthly ministry, Jesus of Nazareth explicitly declared his mission to be focused only on the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 15:24,) a statement made upon Jesus’s initial refusal of a Gentile woman who asked for healing for her daughter.

The Magi story validated the extension of the Christian message to the children of Japheth without having any basis in historical realities.

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The legend of the three “Wise Men or Kings” from the East who supposedly visited the savior child is very popular, and widely accepted in the Christian literature. The three “Wise Men or Kings” were actually Magi, or “hereditary Zoroastrian Priests” during the Parthian era. Parthia in the East (the second great, ancient Iranian Empire,) along with Germania in the north, posed the gravest danger to the once mighty Roman Empire.

Magi (Avestan magá, Old Persian magûs) were the designated terms for the ancient Zoroastrian hereditary priesthood. According to Herodotus (1.101), Magi were one of six Median tribes and formed the priestly clan of the Zoroastrians. He adds that Magi were scholars, tutors, skilled dream interpreters, and gave very accurate prophecies of the future events. An integral part of the wisdom of the Magi was connected with heavenly lights/stars, and white magic (hence the Greek term mageía “magic”; see Rose, p. 22.)

Classical authors such as Herodotus, Strabo, Pompeius Trogus, Apuleius, and Ammianus Marcellinus have provided significant information on the ancient Magi. According to them, the Magi were disciples and followers of seer/prophet of the ancient Aryans, Zarathustra.

According to the classic Greek authors, the Magi served ancient Aryan Gods (the supreme god, Ahûrá Mazdá, and his Brilliant Immortals), were outstanding memorizers (*framazdá, Greek mnemon,) held sacred twigs in hand when chanting the hymns of the Immortals, tended to the fires of ancestral hearth and altars, were of a very tall stature, dressed always in pure white, wore pointed hats or Phrygian-like caps, covered their mouth with white masks while tending to the sacred fires or offering pure libations to the Gods, and used the elixir of Immortality or haômá wine for ritual purposes.

Herodotus adds that no offerings could be made by the ancient Persians without the presence of a Magus who performed the appropriate rites and chanted hymns of the virtues/powers of the gods (gathas of Zarathustra.) Herodotus also narrates that the Magi did not bury their dead but left them on mountaintops to be torn by birds of prey (vultures) or wild canines, (1.140.)

In his Histories Herodotus also states that Xerxes (the third Achaemenid ruler) did not undertake any important decisions without advice of the Magi. The Magi interpreted his dreams, and gave him prophecies; they also accompanied the Persian army on campaigns with the sacred fire (see, e.g., Hdt., 7.19, 37).  Upon orders of Xerxes, the Magi performed libations to the sea/waters in the Hellespont.

Xenophon, in his Cyropaedia (Education of Cyrus) writes that Magi were ancient priests. Both nobility and laity followed their instructions in spiritual/religious matters.  Besides, the Magi were not only expert performers of worship rites but also scholars, tutors and teachers of sciences.

It is also known from Curtius Rufus that ancient Persian soldiers carried the sacred, victorious flame on silver altars in front of their troops, and the Magi proceeded behind them singing sacred hymns, (Historiae 3.3.9.)

Images of the Magi are attested on seal impressions on several clay tablets from Persepolis, the ancient, majestic capital of the Achaemenids.  These seals show usually two priests, under the sun-wheel/disk, holding a mortar and pestle before a fire altar (Schmidt, p. 55 and pl. 7, seal no. 20).

Émile Benveniste believed that Avestan term magá– signified a priestly or shamanic-warrior clan among the ancient Aryans/Iranians, renowned for their “wisdom, abilities, and skills,” (Benveniste, 1938, pp. 13, 18-20.) The term according to Benveniste preserved such a meaning also in the Avesta according to whom the Magi became the hereditary priestly class in Zoroastrianism.

The preserved portions of the Old Avesta/gathas of Zarathustra contain indisputable references to the Magi, as the closest disciples/inner fellowship of Zarathustra. Prophet Zarathustra, in his poetic gathas/songs calls his fellowship airyá “noble, honorable, Aryan,” or magá of “mightily powers and abilities.

Avestan magá suggest “great powers and abilities,” and goes back to the reconstructed Proto Indo European *magh-“to be able,” Old Norse mega “be able”, Old High German magan Old English magan, Gothic magan, German mögen, modern English may “enable, make possible.”

In the Younger Avesta, the designated term for priests is āθra.van- “keeper of the (hearth) fire/flame,” a term that most likely referred to the Western Magi of Media and Caucasus.

The Magi or the Magá fellowship of the gathas/songs of Zarathustra referred however to the ancient Zoroastrian Priesthood of Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (or BMAC,) dated to c. 2300–1700 BCE. The BMAC site also known as the “Oxus Civilization” was located in present-day northern Afghanistan, north- eastern Iran, and former Central Asian Soviet republics. These sites were discovered and named by the former Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi (1976.) BMAC along the neighboring Yaz Culture has been regarded as a likely archaeological reflection of early Zoroastrianism as described in the Avesta.

With its farming citadels, steppe-derived metallurgy, amazing water canals dug from the mountain glaciers to fertile oases, and most intricate art & ceramics; Raphael Pumpelly hypothesized that “the fundamentals of European civilization—organized village life, agriculture, domestication of animals, weaving, etc.—were originated on the oases of Oxus Culture long before the time of Babylon.”

The connection of BMAC and Eastern Magi to the pagan European Civilizations appears Not to be only cultural, and linguistic, but also GENETIC.

The most frequent Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup among the Iranian Zoroastrian Priesthood seem to be I M170, and I P215, or the original I and I2 haplogroups. (My personal lineage is I M170.)

Today, Haplogroup I is the most common halpogroup in the Dinaric Alps and Scandinavia, and it is believed to have arisen in Europe, and not outside Europe. Yet, the Paleolithic continuity of Haplogroup I in Europe does NOT really make sense, based on the very young age estimate for haplogroup I. Furthermore, living examples of the precursor Haplogroup IJ* have been found only in northeastern Iran and Turkmenistan. This highly suggests that both the original haplogroup I, and its ancestor haplogroup IJ originated in BMAC. In that case, I2a-Din was brought to the Dinaric Alps by the early Indo-European migrations, and was part of the original collection of Y-DNA of early Indo Europeans.

Along Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups I M170, and I P215, the third most common haplogroup among the Iranian Zoroastrian Priesthood is T1a2.

While the original I haplogroups appear to go back to the Magis of Zarathustra and BMAC culture, the latter T1a2 haplogroup must hail back to the Median Magi from the West. T1a2 or (T L131) has been found as far East as the Volga-Ural region of Russia and Xinjiang in north-west China. T1a2 penetrated into the Pontic-Caspian Steppe of Eurasia during the Neolithic, and became integrated to the indigenous R1a peoples (Proto Indo Iranians) before their expansion to Central Asia during the Bronze Age.

During the Copper and Bronze Ages haplogroup T would have been an important lineage among ancient peoples such as Sumerians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians.

The Parsi Zoroastrian Priests of India on the other hand, overwhelmingly belong to Y DNA haplogroup R1a1a, sharing many close similarities to the Corded Ware Culture of Mesolithic Northeastern Europe. Interestingly, the genetic results of ancient Corded ware Culture of Northeastern Europe is closest to the Sintashta genomes. The Sintashta culture of northern Eurasian steppe on the borders of Eastern Europe and Central Asia dated to the period 2100–1800 BCE is believed to be the urheimat of the ancient Indo Iranians.

In conclusion, I shall add that the line of ancient Zoroastrianism goes back to the very beginning of early Indo-European people. It is the noble fellowship of ancient shaman warriors of Eurasia who saw themselves as kin to the Gods. It CANNOT be understood without its deep roots and its line to the very beginning. It is a faith that is in soul and blood. It is passed down through the honorable generations of very ancient people. Zoroastrian faith is not only a bridge to the Immortal Gods, but also a pact to all the noble ones, those who have gone before, and all those who will come thereafter.

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In Norse mythology, Ragnarök, is the final great battle of the world, in which gods and heroes will fight demons, gloom and forces of darkness. Ragnarök translates into the final “lot, destiny” rök of the rulers/gods ragna. German Götterdämmerung, used by Richard Wagner as the title of the last opera in the Ring cycle, refers to this twilight of the gods.

The accounts of Ragnarök have an almost identical match in the vast Zoroastrian apocalyptic literature. The modern Persian word for “Resurrection” rasstáḵiz is rooted in the Avestan riḵti “legacy, inheritance, lot/destiny that is inherited.”

In the Zoroastrian apocalyptic account, it is the awakening of the Titans, the primeval Gods (ahûrás, Norse æsir,) and their “wondrous legacy” that will bring about a fresh, new order, and splendid universe.

The idea of rasstáḵiz “resurrection,” springs to mind many parallels to the virtuous Hyperboreans who live in the far north beyond the home of the north wind. An age of eternal spring, a sacred race of god-men, untouched by the ravages of old age, disease and death will usher in after the coming of saöšiiant “Mighty Lord/Giant of the Ages.”

Admission to this splendid, new universe is reserved for the righteous, and the heroic, mortals related to the brilliant gods. There will come an age when there will be neither sickness nor age, nor death, where new horizons will be discovered, in an age of eternal progress.

In Zoroastrianism, death, disease, all flaws are the handiwork of the evil spirit and his demons. Godhood is overcoming limitations and triumph of the sacred will to discover new horizons. Resurrection is the final triumph and overcoming over all these flaws and limitations.

The godhood of the ahûrás, the brilliant Immortals of Mazdá, lies in their eternal quest for excellence, and their superb wisdom. The Immortals of Zoroastrianism resemble the titan Prometheus who brought the “secret of fire and illumination” to the world.

In Rig Veda 5.63.7, we come across the term ásurasya māyáyā  “magic of the ásuras, the magical substance, brilliant mind stuff of the ahûrás.” This probably is the closest description of Ahûrá Mazdá, the supreme god of Zoroastrianism in the Vedas.

For it is through “creative imagination, insightfulness,” into the cosmic order that the Immortals will usher in a fresh, splendid, new age of eternal spring. Making creation splendid anew is the destined legacy of the Immortals

Concerning the final battle between Immortals of light and demons of gloom and darkness, we read in the poetic gathas of the ancient seer/prophet Zarathustra:

ýezî adáiš ašá drûjem véñ.(a)ηha.itî

 hiiat ãnsa.šûtá ýá daibi.táná fraôḵtá

 ameretá.itî daævá.iš.čá mašiiá.iš.čá

 at töi savá.iš vahmem vaḵšat ahûrá

“When at that (new) creation, excellence/truth wins over treachery and lies,

It will come to pass, what they said are delusions, and lies,

Immortality triumphs over demons and men

Then increases your auspicious, brilliant vitality, and sacred praise, god-force/ahura.”

I shall conclude by adding that the first part of Ragna-rök, comes from the Old Norse rógn, “guide, govern, rule, god/kingship,” that is preserved in the Avestan ražn “reign, rule” from the very early Indo European times.

Also the term uz.ere.diiá in the gatahs/songs of the ancient prophet refers to the “rising of the new order/creation,” that must spring up/emerge from the inner soul first.

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