Portal:Zoroastrianism
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Zoroastrianism was once the state religion of Sassanid empire, and played an important role in the preceding Parthian and Achaemenid empires as well. The religion, which is also known as Mazdaism, began in what is today Central Asia and was once predominant in the areas stretching from eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus river. Although its followers once numbered in the millions, its adherents today number far fewer, with clusters remaining in India and Iran. Nonetheless, the religion remains very much alive and dynamic. The Vendidad, aka Videvdat, is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of Avesta. Unlike other texts of the Avesta, the Vendidad is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual. The name of the texts is a contraction of the Avestan language Vî-Daêvô-Dāta, "Given Against the Demons", and as the name suggests, the Vendidad is an enumeration of various manifestations of evil spirits, and ways to confound them. 
 Zoroastrian angelology, or the doctrine of angels, deals with the hierarchical system of divinities introduced by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster). Zarathushtra re-organized the multitude of divinities of proto-Indo-Iranian religions in a complex order under the supremacy of Ahura Mazda, the Creator of everything.
Maneckji Limji Hataria, a Parsi Zoroastrian with British citizenship, was born in the village of Mora Sumali near Surat in 1813. The name Amesha Spenta (Aməṣ̌a Spənta in Avestan or Amahraspand in Middle Persian), meaning 'Holy Immortals', is first attested in Yasna Haptanhāiti and was almost certainly coined by the prophet himself. This key theological expression is applied specially to the great six divinities of Ahura Mazda's creation. The Amesha Spentas represent qualities and attributes of Ahura Mazda himself. Source: Boyce, Mary (2001). Zoroastrians, their religious beliefs and practices. London: Routledge |
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