Imagining the End: Visions of

dew

; Av. 

daeva

) and evil creatures.

18

 All creations

except man have the inherent nature of  their creator, which means that beings

belonging to Ohrmazd can only be good and creatures of  Ahriman have no

choice but to be wicked. Man, however, is capable of  moral choice and thus

of  playing a crucial role in the cosmic drama by aiding and strengthening the

side of  his choice.

19

At the end of  the ideal material state Ormazd is said to have celebrated a

religious ceremony (

yasna

), and to have invited the eternal part of  human

souls (

fravashi

) to enter the world of  ‘Mixture’ (viz. between good and evil)

that was to come, in order to contribute to the fight against evil. The 

fravashis

agreed to the invitation to come to the world.

20

The world of  Mixture – the dynamic phase of  world history during which

good and evil are mixed and time progresses – then began with a successful

attack by Ahriman on Ohrmazd’s ideal world. Ahriman entered the shell-like

sky and proceeded to kill or spoil all that was in it: where there was light he

brought darkness, sweet water he turned briny, and he polluted fire with

smoke; he further pounded the first plant and killed the first bull and man.

For a short time he appeared to be victorious, but then Ohrmazd’s creations

began to act according to their inherent nature, which meant fighting against

evil and pollution. From the first plant, animal and man sprang all species of

good living beings, and eventually the world became as we know it: with birth

and death, night and day, sweet and salt water, good and dangerous animals,

plains and mountains, and the forces of  evil pitted against those of  good.

Although the fact that the world was in essence created by Ohrmazd is

taken to mean that it must eventually return to its true nature, it is never-

theless implied in many Zoroastrian texts that this ideal state cannot come

about without the active cooperation of  man. In fact the entire Zoroastrian

system of  ethics is based upon the concept of  human choice, and its con-

sequences. Given the Zoroastrian view of  the world of  Mixture, it is clear that

the good cannot automatically expect to be rewarded in this life. Zoroastrianism

---

36

Origins

teaches that justice will come after death, when the individual soul will face

a judgment at the ‘Bridge of  the Separator’, and will either be rewarded by

heavenly bliss, or expiate its sins in hell.

21

 After death, a person’s existence is

thus once more a ‘spiritual’ one.

Eventually, however, when the world has almost fulfilled its function as an

arena and evil will be sufficiently weakened, the process leading to the

‘Renovation’ will begin. That term (Phl. 

Frashegerd

;

 

Av.

 frasho-kereti

, which

perhaps means ‘making perfect’),

22

 denotes a renewed non-dynamic, timeless

and ideal state, but one in which all evil has been eliminated from the world

and all men will be restored to physical life (the 

tan i pasen

 or ‘final body’).

The process begins with the appearance of  the Saviour (Saoshyant), born of

a virgin who will conceive when bathing in a lake where Zarathustra’s ‘essence’

is preserved.

23

The Saoshyant will bring about the Resurrection, and will hold an assembly

of  all men and women in which they will realize their good and wicked deeds.

There will be a Final Judgment and those to whom sin still clings will undergo

another short period of  punishment in hell (this time not as spirits but in the

material body), while the righteous will again enjoy the delights of  paradise.

Then all the metal contained in the mountains of  the earth will be melted.

A river of  molten metal will thus be formed, through which all men must

pass; for those who are free of  sins, this will be like a bath in warm milk, but

those whose sins have not been completely atoned for will experience a fierce

burning. All men, thus cleansed, will then meet together and praise Ohrmazd.

Ohrmazd and the good divine beings will seize their evil opponents and

ultimately defeat them. First the Saoshyant will celebrate a religious ceremony

(

yasna

), after which the divine beings will engage in the final battle, which

will drive out the powers of  evil for ever. After this Ohrmazd himself  will

perform a final