The Mysterious Rituals of Death in Zoroastrianism

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Professor and member of the Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman.

10.22103/jis.2024.22958.2582

Abstract

Propose: "Death" is an idea that has always occupied the human mind and to find a solution to this inevitable phenomenon, a multitude of rituals and beliefs have been formed around it and it has become one of the most important initiation rituals in the history of human life. The term “initiation” refers to a set of rituals and teachings that are repetitions of the mental archetypes of any society and ultimately bring about a fundamental change in the physical, cultural, religious, and social status of an apprentice. Although the rituals related to “initiation” have changed over time, but they have continued to this day and are performed in all the prominent and sensitive moments of human life from birth, puberty, and marriage to death.
Method and Research: This research has been done by library method and document analysis, by an inductive method based on the observation of events and their relationship with each other to reach general rules.
Findings and Conclusion: This article, for the first time, takes a closer look at the rituals of death in Iranian belief and has shown that the three stages of "separation, transition and connection" that can be recognized in all rituals, are slightly different in the rituals of death in Iranian belief, which, of course, can be the result of Iranian dualistic thought: According to the present study, each of the stages of separation, transition and connection in Iranian rituals can be classified into two parts: "first separation and final separation, two-period transition, first connection and final connection."

Keywords

References

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Journal of Iranian Studies
Volume 23, Issue 46 - Serial Number 46
December 2024
Pages 81-105

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