The Hidden Roots of Zoroastrianism

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky · Blavatsky Speaks Series · 19 pages

Nineteen pages arranged as a set of answers, and the arrangement is deliberate. A Parsi gentleman had written in with several questions; rather than run the letter whole or bury the replies in footnotes, the paragraphs are separated and answered seriatim, which she says will help the reader follow both the questions and the answers. The first is the one the piece is remembered for: viewed from the standpoint of occult philosophy, is Zoroastrianism monotheism, pantheism, polytheism, or atheism?

The answer refuses the choice. It depends on how the question is put, she replies — and if one asks about Zoroastrianism loosely referred to as Magianism, Mazdaism, fire-worship or Parsiism, then it is all of those things at once, including atheism when placed in contradistinction to modern theism, each qualification depending on the epoch under discussion. The wider argument follows: that modern Zoroastrianism is a distant echo of Magianism or Sabaeanism, the oldest science of astrology and occultism, and that under the lifeless mask of the modern religion the pulse of the Magi of old still beats. The front-page image is the Ashvattha tree; the end page shows Persepolis.

Read the full text (PDF, 0.8 MB, 19 pages)