History of Witchcraft (part 2)

From Mesopotamia lets move over to Persia.

Unlike  the Mesopotamians, and Egyptians, who believed  that  all 
was  done with either the favor or lack thereof of the Gods,  the 
Chaldean  star  religion taught that luck and  disaster  were  no 
chance  events,  but  were controlled from  the  heavenly  bodies 
(planets/stars) which send good and bad according to mathematical 
laws.  It was their belief that man was incapable of fighting the 
will  of  the  planet divinities. Though, the  more  this  system 
evolved,  the  more the wise men read ethical values  into  man's 
fate.  The  will of the stars was not  completely  separate  from 
man's behaviors. The stars were important, but not omnipotent  in 
deciding  man's fate. It was believed that the star Sirius  would 
carry  messages  to the higher gods and he returned  to  announce 
their will. 

Around  the  7th Century B.C. Zoroaster, the Median  prophet  was 
preaching the doctrines that evil could be avoided and  defeated. 
He  brought  about the principles of the good and  evil  spirits. 
Below,  we will look at the beliefs and influences of this  man's 
life which created the religion named after him. 

The  first of the belief structure had to do with Ormazd  (Ahura-
Mazda) king of light, and his twin brother Ahriman  (Anro-Mainyu) 
prince of darkness.

Zoroaster  brought  about  the belief in  the  "holy  war"  (that 
between  good  and  evil.) In this  faith,  the  archangels  (the 
spirits  of  Divine Wisdom,  Righteousness,  Dominion,  Devotion, 
Totality, and Salvation) and the demons (the spirits of  Anarchy, 
Apostasy,   Presumption,  Destruction,  Decay,  and  Fury)   were 
constantly  at  battle  with one another.   The  archangels  were 
controled by Ormazd and the demons by Ahriman.

This  religion  had it's belief that in the end, Ormazd  and  his 
demons would prevail, but until then, Ormazd would keep the world 
safe.  

It is interesting that the last of the demons (the demon of Fury) 
holds such a hard and fast thought that it was incorporated  into 
the  Hebrew and Christian belief structure. The last  archdemon's 
name is Aeshma Daeva also know to the Hebrews as Ashmadai and  to 
Christians as Asmodeus. 

Asmodeus was the "chief of the fourth hierarchy of evil  demons", 
called  "the  avengers of wickedness, crimes  and  misdeeds."  He 
appears  with  three heads, a bull's, human, and a ram.   He  has 
goose  feet, and a snake's tail. To appear more  frightening,  he 
also exhales fire and rides upon a dragon of hell.

It  is said that Asmodeus is not to be feared.  When you  say  to 
him:  "In truth thou art Asmodeus," he will give you a  wonderful 
ring.   He  will teach you geometry,  arithmetic,  astronomy  and 
mechanics. When questioned, he answers truthfully. 

The  other  demons  tempt people away from the  true  worship  of 
Mazda.   They  are  Paromaiti - Arrogance, Mitox  -  The  Falsely 
Spoken  Word,  Zaurvan - Decrepitude, Akatasa  -  Meddlesomeness, 
Vereno - Lust. 

Much  of the current day Christian beliefs were taken  from  this 
man's  religion.  (That of good and evil forces, the  redemption, 
the "savior" factor, etc.)

From  here, let us move on to Egypt where we will look  at  other 
mystical symbols and more history of magic and the craft.