Anahita: Ancient Persian Goddess and Zoroastrian Yazata

Payam Nabarz has compiled a nice size collection of authors and essays about theMazdean Goddess Anahita. Starting out as the head goddess in the Iranian Mazdeanreligion Anahita found herself fluctuating in importance depending on thereligio-politics of the time .Despite the fact that Iran is a Muslim country traces of Anahita's reverence canstill be seen. Pregnant women go to her shrines for a safe and easy delivery.Female saints are bit thin disguises of who she is.Often times compared to the Mesopatamian Ishtar or Inanna. She is a goddess oflove and war. Her symbols include the eight pointed star, Lions, beaver pelt andsword sheath hanging from her side.Like Aphrodite and Venus she is also a goddess of water. Being most likely ariver goddess, many shrines were dedicated to her that were right beside riversand hot springs. The hot springs with there varying Radon and mineral contentwere often used for hydrotherapy. Her planet is Venus so Anahita is a Venusiangoddess .Zarathustra came up with Zoroastrianism . Zoroastrianism is the monotheisticversion if Mazdeanism. Ahura Mazda is the head god while Ahriman is like thedevil. Such religious ideology had a massive impact on monotheistic religionlike Judaism.Even with the elimination of many gods Anahita found herself at the second placeif the trinity. She is the virgin mother of Mithras. Bestower of sovereignty bybequeathing the sword and rings of power.Reading through this book you will see the Iranian influences if Iran on WesternPagsnism, Christianty and Far Eastern Buddhism. Lady Anahita is the lady andMithras is The Lord .In this book you will also find surveys of art work dedicated to Anahita and ofher . The meaning of her name will be discussed as well. Very thorough andcomprehensive book. You can get it at a good price from Amazon Kindle.

I was really surprised by how engaging this book was. Letting everyone's viewpoints stand without any repercussions made each chapter a great experience.

I found especially noteworthy the discussion of hot mineral springs, developed for medicinal purposes, and associated with Anahita--pages 184-189.The account focuses on the time period of the Achaemenid Empire, without however, delineating the archaeological evidence precisely. It is a worthwhile discussion, but falls short in summarizing evidence.The other aspect of this very important heritage of the Persian influence on ancient Greece and Egypt, involves Hippocrates' who described the virtues of water immersion, for healing of wounds and injuries. It would have been instructive to learn more of the interaction between the Persians, Hindus, Greeks, and Egyptians.

Oh dear, how do I review this? Some of this book is New Age nonsense, but wierdly some of the chapters are serious academic papers by scholars like Matteo Comparetti (whose paper I bought my copy for). Some of these academic papers are unfortunately far less rigorous than others, but two or three are worth reading. Then there is the problem that three of the 'papers' are by occultists, one who claims to be a 'practicing ceremonial magician' of the Alistair Crowley type and another 'training to be an alchemist'. The 'modern practace' they talk about seems to be some form of neo-Mithraism, rather than Zoroastriansism. No, sorry but no! I do not expect to find this sort of writing in close conjunction with serious scholarship. Finally there are some 'artistic representations' of Anahita, nineteenth to twenty-first century European pieces. My score is weighted towards the better papers.

Many thanks.

Very complex and more for academic research than large audience