Charles Synyard (@CharlesSynyard)

Old books? If the date of printing is meant, one of these editions squeaks by, from 1974, the other is a new printing. But if date of composition is meant, would be challenging to find a more antique. Bought the Avesta, the sacred text of the Zoroastrians, and composed many centuries BC, in two editions, one a reprinting from an old but respected translation, the other, a prayer book meant for use by actual present-day Zoroastrians. Odd choice? After the positive reference in Alfred Rosenberg’s The Myth of the Twentieth Century, the very derisive treatment in Revilo P. Oliver’s The Origins of Christianity, and the repeated mentions in Edward Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, had been getting more and more intrigued by that now marginal and obscure, though wealthy and influential religious group, the Zoroastrians (some prefer to be called Zarathushti). The namesake prophet, once known in the West as Zoroaster, is more properly Zarathustra, which moniker Rightists will recognize from Friedrich Nietzsche’s inspired philosophical novel, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which is an homage to, though very different from the teachings of, the original teacher. In spite of the English translation by Arthur Henry Bleeck dating from the Victorian era, a quality printing that was not just on-demand slop was hard to find; this 1974 one was by Gordon Press, which republished a number of interesting old books in the 1970s. The Taman Khordeh Avesta, meanwhile, is a new, quality hardback with gilt pages, a color frontispiece of Zarathustra, and a ribbon, printed in Mumbai (Bombay) and only $30 with free shipping, but had to be ordered off a special website, for FEZANA, the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America. Like every other downtrodden oppressed group, there are thousands of them and already a few fire temples in the USA, and within our lifetimes, would not be surprised if there were more stateside than in Iran. https://fezana.org/product/tamam-khordeh-avesta-roman-script/ Niche enough I kind of wanted it as a curiosity or objet d’art. Like traditional Catholics who pray in Latin, they pray in Avestan: the Parsis usually writing it in Gujarati script, but here in English. I can’t read Avestan of course, but as you can see, the Bleeck translation has the passages in English, while the devotional book has notes explaining how Zoroastrians understand the text, and pray it in daily life. Not sure when I’ll get to it, but why read at all? There are so many reasons, not least of which is the current war on their ancestral homeland by the United States and Israel. The White Right being divided between Christians and pagans is old news, with the one side looking to the Old and New Testaments, the other looking to the diverse sources of Classical and Norse mythology for inspiration. Thinking on it, I am surprised Zoroastrianism isn’t studied more deeply, as it has a strong relationship to both. It arose out of an Iranian tradition that is closely cognate to the Vedic religion of the andient Aryans further east. I‘ve read the Rigveda in the 2014 Jamison-Brereton translation, next to which the surviving Avesta is a very slim book and will be a light, not multiyear read. Zoroastrianism, meanwhile, is seen as the earliest surviving monotheistic religion, and many Christians, meanwhile, are familiar with how the Magi, as in the three Magi who gave baby Jesus presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, were the Zoroastrian priestly class, so the religion played a role in salvation history. To be sure, when Zoroastrianism is mentioned at all, it is often as this sad, opaque little religion that is a shadow of its former self, and given its onetime prestige and expansive claims, used to mock the notion of a One True Faith in general. It was once the state religion of the greatest empire on earth, and now counts fewer than 200,000 followers, largely as a result of one military conquest. But aren’t religious Christians, particularly in the West, in a similar boat? Through the late 18th century, one form of Christianity or another was the state religion across almost all of Europe, but since the Revolution, it has been largely disestablished, and practices Christians have always held to be abominations or murder are protected and enshrined in law across the Continent. While liberalism does not present itself as a religion, many or most nominal Christians seem to hold the political ideology dearer than the Faith of their fathers. “But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?” — St. Luke 18:8 It’s an open question, and in mulling it, it’s hard not to see Zoroastrians as prime exemplars of that virtue of perseverance the Lord expects us to live by, when those about us apostatize. Sadly, since the Islamic conquest of Persia, most of the Avesta has been lost, though what we have includes the Gathas, believed to be composed by Zarathustra himself. Sources treat this as a permanent loss, but I am holding out hope that some shepherd stumbles upon a cave with the complete text in a jar sealed with wax. What is the solution that will ensure the survival of the Zoroastrians, who have held to their unique traditions for near fourteen centuries? As a Christian who wishes others to know the truth of the message of Christ, my thought is that there could be a new Eastern Catholic Church set up for Zoroastrian converts, that can incorporate what is good within their folkways into our Faith. That is how the Assyrians and Copts persist to this day: as distinctive Christian ethnic groups. Fire is sacred to the Zoroastrians, a fixture of Catholic churches is the sanctuary lamp beside the tabernacle, and as the Magi were among the first to honor Jesus Christ, they could have special liturgies where the sacred fire is an homage to Jesus. Something like that would present an attractive way that Zoroastrians could convert if they become attracted to Christianity, without giving up their identity. The main obstacle I can foresee, is that there are so few Zoroastrians, widely spread out, that it would be challenging to set up a Church for converts specifically from their tradition. In conclusion! By the time I am done reading the Avesta, I will not only be that guy on Gab who talks about plural marriage more than anyone else, I’ll be that guy who talks about Zoroastrianism, too! Fun fact: polygyny was widely practiced in pre-Islamic Persia, there’s even an article on Encyclopedia Iranica. https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/harem-i/ Fourth pic is from the inside back cover of another old book, the American Heritage Dictionary of 1969, showing the branches of the Indo-European language family. I specifically remember this was when I first learned there was an Avestan language. I always liked the Tocharian part, imagining one Tocharian trying to converse with another in A, only to be told, “Sorry, I only speak Tocharian B.” #Avesta #Gathas #Zoroastrian #Zoroastrianism #Zoroaster #Zarathushti #Zarathustra #FEZANA #ThusSpokeZarathustra #Aryan #Parsis #Persia #Iran #religion #oldbooks #books