Rouhollah Hadi; sahand aqaei; Jaleh Amouzgar
Abstract
In cosmology of certain Shamanisms, and specifically the Asian Shamanism, the universe is embodied with three different cosmic regions, connected to each other through a central axis. Shamans are able to ascend to the skies and convene with the Gods, or descend to the underworld and battle with ...
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In cosmology of certain Shamanisms, and specifically the Asian Shamanism, the universe is embodied with three different cosmic regions, connected to each other through a central axis. Shamans are able to ascend to the skies and convene with the Gods, or descend to the underworld and battle with the demons of death. In the state of ecstasy, they descend to the underworld, and learn the ways to conquest the demons from those Gods ruling the underworld. For Altaic people, “The descent to the underworld” is the function of Black Shamans whereas “The magical flight” is that of the White Shamans. Several of the most famous journeys to the underworld in epic literature and mythological sources are structurally shamanic. The mystics use the Shaman methods to reach the state of ecstasy.In this article, we have investigated the effects of the duality phenomenon in Shamanism, By looking at the Iranian mythical resources, we have analyzed two mythical characters named Jam and Afrasiab’s trips to the underworld, which are named “Var Jamkard” and “The Descend of Afrasiab to The Underworld”. We have also used the universal symbolism of “the difficult bridge or the passageway,” that has examples in the rapturous trips of the Asian Shamans, to discuss the Zoroastrianism myth of Chinvat..
Iraj enayatizadeh; Jaleh Amouzegar
Abstract
The Zoroastrians has the burial custom of offering their dead to the dakhme. The early dakhmes were extremely simple buildings on the wall of the mountains. In the Islamic era, the handmade dakhmes of clay and stone were called borj (tower). In India, the immigrant Zoroastrians, called Parsis, preserved ...
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The Zoroastrians has the burial custom of offering their dead to the dakhme. The early dakhmes were extremely simple buildings on the wall of the mountains. In the Islamic era, the handmade dakhmes of clay and stone were called borj (tower). In India, the immigrant Zoroastrians, called Parsis, preserved their burial custom. Over time, the Parsis made newer dakhmes in accordance with the humidity of India. The custom of burial in dakhme is called Tana among Parsis. The ceremony included principles such as laying the foundation of dakhme, sanctifying it, and driving 301 nails into the ground and rolling a cotton rope around them. The description of these ceremonies is recorded in texts such as Revayat-e Farsi and Wijarkard-e dini. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the dakhme ritual has been abolished in Iran as a result of the religious intellectual movement. In India it became a challenge between the radical and reformist religious Parsis. In this research, various types of Zoroastrian dakhmes are studied. Also, the evolution of dakhme building is evaluated, regarding its ritual and religious aspects, and the position of Zoroastrian dakhmes in the present time is regarded as well.
