Persian deities
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Several important religions and religious movements originated in the cultural continent of Greater Persia. The deities (in the context of monotheistic faiths, the supreme being) of these religions are listed below.
For divinities (but not necessarily deities) in pre-Achaemenid era Iranian religions, see ahuras and daevas, groups of 'good' and 'evil' divinities respectively that already figured in proto-Indo-Iranian religions. Yazata, which initially was an attribute applied to any divinity or divine concept, was later an epithet applied to the 'angels' incorporated into Archaemenid-era Zoroastrianism and came to be synonymous with ahura. For an overview of the divinities of the religions practiced in present-day Greater Iran, see Angels in Islam, Angels in Zoroastrianism.
Deities of the religions of the Greater Persian cultural continent
- Bábísm, a mid-19th century monotheistic religion that was a predecessor of the Bahá'í Faith:
- God, manifest in Báb.
- Bahá'í Faith, an emerging monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh, a 19th century Persian exile:
- The Bahá'í Faith refers to God using the local word for God in whatever language is being spoken. In the Bahá'í Writings in Arabic, Allah is used. Bahá'ís share some naming traditions with Islam, but see "Bahá" (Glory or Splendour) as The Greatest Name of God.
- Mandaeanism, a gnostic monotheism of the 1st century CE:
- Mandā d-Heyyi - "Knowledge of Life"
- Manichaeism, 3rd century ditheistic gnosticism that may have been influenced by Mandaeanism:
- Persian Mysticism, a traditional interpretation of existence, life and love with Perso-Islamic Sufi monotheism as its practical aspect:
- direct perception of spiritual truth (God), through mystic practices based on divine love.
- Yarsan, a religious order of Yazdanism, believed to have been founded in the 16th century:
- God manifests one primary and 5 secondary avatars to form with God the Holy Seven.
- Mazdaism (Mazdaen Zoroastrianism), an ancient monotheistic faith:
- Ahura Mazda – the uncreated Creator of all (God).
- Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism), a monist dualism popular during the Sassanid era (3rd - 7th century CE):
- Zurvan Akarana – the primordial First Principle that created Ohrmuzd and Ahriman, who in turn respectively created the good and evil aspects of the physical universe.
[edit] See also
- Persian religions
- List of deities in Scythian and Sarmatian religions
- Divinities in Persian religions and as supernatural beings in later Persian mythology:
- Ahuras and Daevas; Yazatas and Amesha Spentas.
- Divinities in post-Sassanid era Iranian religions:
