Life and Teachings of Zarathustra
What are the verses or hymns that are known as the words of the prophet Zarathustra?
What are Gathas?
What is the holy text of teaching and liturgy, of which only fragments still exist?
What is the Avesta?
What are the six divine powers personified and worshiped as deities after Zarathushtra’s death called?
What are the Ameshta Spenta?
Is Zoroastrianism experiencing a religious revival, or is it currently facing a downfall?
Fill in the blank: “Zoroastrianism: a _____ between Asia and the West.“
What is bridge?
Where is the prophet Zarathustra thought to have lived?
What is Central Asia?
What are texts written or translated in Middle Persian from about the ninth century CE with detailed instructions and customs of the Zoroastrians in Iran called?
What are the Pahlavi texts?
Name the six divine powers of the Ameshta Spenta.
1. Good Mind
2. Righteousness
3. Absolute Power
4. Devotion
5. Perfection
6. Immortality
True or False: In contemporary Zoroastrianism, there is no incentive or pressure to convert people to follow the religion.
True. Conversion to Zoroastrianism is not currently emphasized, partly because of a desire not to dilute the teachings or the identity as a distinct faith community.
What other religion is Zoroastrianism thought to have influenced?
What is Buddhism?
What is the faith system of Zoroastrianism known as in Iran?
What is Mazdayasna, or ”the worship of the Wise Lord, Ahura Mazda?”
What are Persian Zoroastrians who avoided conversion to Islam by migrating to western India called?
What are Parsis?
What is the main symbol venerated as a means of purification?
What is water?
What is the era called in which many Muslims converted to Zoroastrianism (1925-1979)?
What is the Pahlavi dyanasty?
Can Zoroastrianism be considered a more optimistic or more pessimistic religion?
What is optimistic and positive?
What religion/cultural system is Zoroastrianism divided from (retaining associations with forces of nature like the earth, the arch of the sky, water, plants, cattle, and fire)?
What is Indo-Iranian culture?
True or False: It is hard to trace the spread of Zoroastrianism after Zarathustra’s passing.
True. The only recorded relation to Zoroastrianism right after Zarathustra’s death was of the Magi—a tribe of priestly specialists in western Iran whose practices included magic and astrology.
What is another main element used in ritual practices (besides water) for its purifying and transformative power?
What is fire?
What is the name of the program that seeks to strengthen Zoroastrian youth identity around the world by sponsoring visits to important sites in India?
What is the “Return to the Roots” program?
What is the place that Zoroastrians worship in called?
What is a Fire Temple or Agiary?
True or False: Zarathustra was able to convert people to followers of what will become known as Zoroastrianism in his homeland.
False. Zarathushtra was long unable to convince anyone else to follow him in honoring Ahura Mazda above all other gods. He finally was able to persuade a king (Vishtapa) of another kingdom to adopt the truths of his religion after undergoing the long journey to this kingdom.
What is the other large religious system that has threatened Zoroastrianism since its establishment?
What is Islam?
Describe the ritual that occurs when a member of the faith dies.
Must resemble:
When a member‘s physical body dies, it is carried to a Tower of Silence, where vultures can pick the bones clean, thus avoiding polluting the earth with decaying flesh.
Where are the two main surviving communities of Zoroastrianism located?
What are Mumbai, India and Yazd, Iran?
Give brief summary of Zoroastrianist beliefs?
Something like:
Good thoughts, good words, good deeds.