The New Prophet's message was that people should focus their thoughts on one wise and good God, Ahura Mazda. Eventually Zoroastrianism took root in the kingdom of Bactria ruled by Kai Vishtaspa.
Vishtaspa was one of the rulers of the legendary Kayanian dynasty that ruled in Iran in prehistory. Little is known about him except that he adopted the new religion preached by Zarathustra and that he was willing to defend his belief by fi ghting for it. Vishtaspa’s support enabled Zoroastrianism to grow. After Zarathustra’s death the leadership of the new religion passed to Zarathustra’s son-in-law, Jamaspa, an offi cial of Vishtaspa’s court. Gradually the religion moved outward from Vishtaspa’s kingdom into other parts of Persia. For a thousand years after Zarathustra’s lifetime Zoroastrianism continued to spread across the Iranian Plain.
The Zoroastrianism that developed in the centuries after Zarathustra’s death changed in some ways from the Prophet’s original vision. For one thing Zarathustra had preached against the excesses of the ancient rituals. Nonetheless as Zoroastrianism became more widely accepted ritual returned. No longer, however, was its purpose to appease warlike gods and whip soldiers into a frenzy for battle. The rituals of Zoroastrianism focused on praising and worshipping Ahura Mazda. Many rituals of Zoroastrianism reached back to the ancient Iranian religion that had gone before it. This is not surprising since Zarathustra had been a reformer of the old religion, not the founder of a whole new religion. While boldly new in many ways, it had retained familiar elements, and returning to the old rituals seemed a natural step for its followers.
As Zoroastrianism swept westward it encountered the Magi, a priestly tribe of Medes. The Magi had long held the secrets of priestly ritual for the Median people. They were also the keepers of medical lore and of the knowledge of astronomy. Sometime around the eighth century they adopted Zoroastrianism and claimed Zarathustra as one of their own. They brought additional ritual practices to the religion along with their knowledge of the stars. It was the Magi who first presented and taught the teachings of Zarathustra to the Greeks. Over time Zoroastrianism changed in other ways as well. Zarathustra had not given bodily form to concepts of good and evil and to the Amesha Spentas. However in the following centuries these abstract ideas became more concrete. The Amesha Spentas became the Beneficent Immortals, archangels that fought alongside Ahura Mazda in the battle against evil. Evil itself was given a name—Angra Mainyu, the Lie. Now people could visualize more easily the struggle between Truth and the Lie. Other ideas became concrete too. People told of Ahura Mazda’s creation of the world, and this too became part of Zoroastrian belief.
Zoroastrianism and Best Order of Universe
