Angra Mainyu
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- "Ahriman" redirects here. For other uses, see Ahriman (disambiguation).
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In Zoroastrianism, Angra Mainyu is the Avestan language name of the hypostasis of the "malign spirit". The concept/entity appears as Middle Persian Ahriman in the Zend commentaries on the Avesta.
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[edit] In Zoroastrianism
[edit] In Zoroaster's revelation
In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta and believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, the poet does not mention a manifest adversary.
Instead, Zoroaster perceives Ahura Mazda to be the one uncreated Creator of all (Yasna 44.7) but simultaneously also as the Creator of only the good (Yasna 31.4). This is not a contradiction, for in light of Zoroaster's background of the 10th century BCE Central Asian steppes, the opposition of Creation implies (abstract) anti-creation and not the effect of (substantiated) evil.[1] In Zoroaster's revelation, Ahura Mazda's Creation is empirical "truth", asha, that which is observable. In contrast, anti-creation - the negation of empirical truth, which Zoroaster alludes to in the abstract as the "lie" (druj) - is manifest only as decay or chaos (that opposes order).
In Gathic Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is not omnipotent, but will utimately prevail. Until then, the role of mankind is to maintain the order - by resisting chaos - through good thoughts, words and actions. This concept of a free will is perhaps Zoroaster's greatest contribution to religious philosophy.[2]
In Zoroaster's revelation, the daevas, which in later Iranian culture and religion are interpreted to be the forces of evil, are simply the "wrong" or "false" divinities, the followers of which are to be brought back on the path of righteousness.
[edit] In Zurvanite Zoroastrianism
In Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism), Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu are the "twin" offspring of Zurvan, 'Time'. This monist development, with 'Time' as the supreme and transcendental (but aloof and unapproachable) God, retained Ahura Mazda as the Creator, but made Angra Mainyu the former's adversarial equal.
Zurvanism is first attested (locally) in 3rd century CE Western Iran but was probably already a popular form of Zoroastrianism in the 4th century BCE, and very possibly a product of the contact with Chaldea. Zurvanite Zoroastrianism is attributed to Magi influence.
In the Vendidad, the Magi-mediated texts of the youngest portion of the Avesta, Angra Mainyu is the all-destroying Satan, the source of all evil in the world and like Ahura Mazda, existed since the beginning of the world. Ahriman created disease in order to bring death early. He did his greatest evil deed by adding color to fire, which was pure when created by Ahura Mazda, and gave it the harsh character of smoke. Thus it is said he polluted the holy fire made by Ahura Mazda. On Judgment Day, he will be defeated by Spenta Mainyu and will disappear from the present world forever.
[edit] In present-day Zoroastrianism
In 1884, Martin Haug proposed a new interpretation of Yasna 30.3 that provided an escape from (what was considered to be) the dualism implicit in the Gathas. According to Haug's interpretation, the "Twin spirits" of 30.3 were Angra Mainyu and Spenta Mainyu, the former being the 'Destructive Emanation' of Ahura Mazda and the latter being His 'Creative Emanation' (see Amesha Spenta for details on the relationship).
In effect, the Angra Mainyu versus Spenta Mainyu theory was simply a rediscovery of the precepts of Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism), with the difference that Angra Mainyu was now not Ahura Mazda's equal, but an emanation of Him. Haug also developed the idea further, interpreting the concept of a free will of Yasna 45.9 as an accommodation to explain where Angra Mainyu came from since Ahura Mazda created only good. The free will, so Haug, made it possible for Angra Mainyu to choose to be evil.
There is no trace of such philosophy in Zoroastrian tradition,[2] but Haug's interpretation was gratefully accepted by the Parsis of Bombay since it provided a defence against Christian missionaries who were attacking the Zoroastrians for the dualism inherent to the idea of (substantiated) Evil that was as uncreated as God was. Notwithstanding the oversight that Zoroastrianism, as an eastern religion, did not hypostatize evil as western religions did, Haug's ideas were subsequently disseminated as a Parsi interpretation, thus corroborating the theories. Haug's ideas were so popular that they are now almost universally accepted as doctrine.
[edit] In Anthroposophy
Rudolf Steiner, the initiator of the anthroposophy movement, has published detailed and elaborate studies on Ahriman which he claims is an actually existing spiritual being that plays a role and causes events in contemporary politics and society. He claims that Ahriman, the biblical Satan (distinct from Lucifer) and the Hebrew demon Mephistopheles can be considered as the same entity. According to Steiner, the biblical demons Mammon and Beelzebub are Ahriman's associates.
Ahriman's assignment, according to Steiner, is to alienate humanity from its spiritual roots and to inspire materialism and heartless technical control. As such, his influence is highly relevant (if not identical to) to present-day Western culture. His great opponent is the archangel Michael, equal to the Babylonian god Marduk. Ahura Mazda and the vedic Vishva Karman would in fact represent Christ's spiritual aura around the Elohim, the spirits of the Sun sphere.
[edit] Bibliography
- ^ Boyce, Mary (1975). History of Zoroastrianism, Vol. I. Leiden: Brill, Chap. 2.
- ^ a b Boyce, Mary. (1982). "Ahura Mazda". Encyclopaedia Iranica 1: 684–687. Cosa Mesa: Mazda Pub.
