Goddess: Anahita, the strong undefiled water
In Persia the goddess Ardvi Sura Anahita, the strong undefiled water, is the source of all water upon earth. She is the source of all fertility, purifying the seed of all males, sanctifying the womb of all females and purifying the milk in the mother's breast, From her heavenly home she is the source of the cosmic ocean. She is decribled as strong and bright, tall and beautiful ,pure and nobly born. As befits her noble birth she wears a golden crown with eight rays and a hundred stars, a golden mantle and a golden necklace around her beautiful neck. Such vivid details suggest that from early times statues were used in her worship. Certainly they were part of her cult from the times of Artaxerxes Mnemon, for an ancient Greek historian records that the king of kings erected statues of her in cities as far apart as babylon, Damascus, Ecbatana, Sardis and Susa. She became a popular deity in many lands. She had many temples in Anatolia where the Roman historian Stratbo saya the daughters of noble families were required to practise sacred prostitution at her shine marriage. In Persia she was, and still is an object of deep veneration, the source of life and the object of deeply felt gratitude.
God: Tishtrya and the Demon of Drought
Tishtrya is another figure associated with a natural phenomenon, the rain, but there is no sense of a duality in this god's character. her is a beneficent force involved in a cosmic battle and glorious star. The first star, the seed of the water, the source of rain and fertility. In a hymn dedicated to Tishtrya the battle between the god and the demon of drought is retold. Tishtrya went down to the cosmic ocean in the shape of a beautiful white horse with golden ears and golden trapping. There he met the demon Apaosha in the shape od a black horse, terrifying in appearance with his black ears and tail. hoof against hoof they fought for three days and nights, but it was Apaosha met who proved the stronger, and Tishtrya in woe and distress cried out to the creator, Ahura Mazda, that he was weak because men had not been offered a sacrifice to Tishtrya, who was infused with the strength of ten horses, ten camel, tell bulls, ten mountains and ten rivers, Again Tishtrya and Apaoshe met hoof against hoof by the time, fortified by the power of he sacrifice, Tishtrya proved triumphant and the water were able to flow down unrestrained to the fields and paetures. Rain clouds rising from the cosmoic ocean were propelled by the wind, and the life- giving rains poured down on the seven regions of the earth. The outcome of the cosmic battle between the forces of life and death depends on man's faithful observance of his ritual obligation.
posted by msANNAL @ 8:27 PM
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