ZARATHUSHTRA IN HISTORY AND IMAGINATION

The earliest records for “Zoroastrian” religious life on the Iranian plateau point to the enigmatic Gathas, reputably authored by an equally inscrutable figure, Zarathushtra. The heritage of Persia being one of the most ancient in the world, the benefit is given to the older date for Zarathushtra — synonymous with the Gathas — placing him in the first millennium BCE. Zarathushtra (Grk. “Zoroaster”), who gives his name to the Iranian religion eventually named after him, Zoroastrianism, becomes for many Western theologians a foundation figure of the monotheistic idea. Yet there is more to Zarathushtra in the way that he is understood and incorporated into the mystical stream of Iran. In contrast to the Zoroastrian establishment, the Sufi view rather depicts him as an early (or “proto”) gnostic who promoted arcane ideas of a mystical lore that were already well entrenched on the Iranian plateau and that flowed from the psyche and imagery of a pagan spirituality. The term “gnostic” is here used to reflect its corresponding notions in the terms magi, kavi or zaotar, which denote a level of required initiation into mysteries, to which a priest or poet like Zarathushtra would have access. As to the actual teachings of this figure, historians and scholars of religion remain uncertain, yet in spite of this no one can understand Persia without coming to terms with the effect of Zarathushtra's teachings.