Zoroastrian Worship from an Interfaith
Perspective
Shahin Bekhradnia (Edited from All in Good Faith)
Session
Co-ordinator: Homi Dhalla
The
purpose of Zoroastrian worship is to celebrate life and give
praise for the wondrous creations of the world, to contemplate
good to deprecate evil. The vehicle for some of these activities
is prayer while particular rituals or meaningful actions may
replace or complement prayer.
As
Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion, most of these activities
are directed towards Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord. However,
Zoroastrians also recognise a number of important yazatas
or guardian angels who, as manifestations of God's creative
spirit, have given their names to each day of the month and
each month of the year. There are prayers or yashts which
are translated as hymns of praise in honour of a number of
the more important yazatas. On the day (or day and month)
which carry the name of a particular yazata an individual
may choose to recite the prayer dedicated to the Yazata.
Zoroastrian
worship consists of two sorts: communal acts of worship and
individual acts of worship. The individual acts of worship
are more typically the recitation of certain prayers taken
from the holy scripture known as the Avesta. Traditionally,
this takes place five times a day at set times following the
progress of the sun.
One of the prayers that is always
recited is a confirmation of faith and those who wear the
'badges' of the religion, namely the sedreh (a muslim vest)
and a koshti (a sacred cord) will untie and retie knots of
commitment. Other occasions for individual prayer might be
a visit to the temple on a special occasion, or a visit to
the resting place of a deceased beloved. The other form of
individual worship may involve ritual such as lighting of
a fire in a fire urn, and feeding it with myrrh, incense and
sandalwood, sometimes circulating it around the rooms of a
home while invoking blessings.
Zoroastrians have many communal celebratory occasions integrated
into the religious calendar, most of which involve worship
followed by eating together. Therefore, whether the occasion
is, for example, one of the six annual gahambar (endowment
memorial feast) or a service for a rite of passage, a priest
or a number of priests will perform rituals centred around
a fire urn, with the congregation joining in to repeat the
most frequently recited prayers, Asham Vohu and Yathha Ahu
Vairyo. Afterwards, there will be a communal prayer known
as the Hamazor during which the participants traditionally
confirm their shared faith, and renew bonds of solidarity
by holding hands and reciting the prayer together. Most 'religious'
gatherings are followed by a communal meal or distribution
of food.
In Zoroastrianism, the idea of worship, contemplation and
nature are closely interlinked issues since it is through
meditation upon the harmony and regularity of nature that
people are drawn towards an awareness of God and give praise
to Him. Part of the worship therefore involves meditation
upon God's creations and, for this reason, most of the religious
celebrations are thanksgiving occasions.
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