Mazdayasna: The religion of Mazda worship founded by Zarathustra, preached a universal message for all mankind, regardless of race, nationality, gender or social class. However, Mazdayasna's missionary spirit is not the classical proselytizing style practiced by many religions. Instead of proselytizing, Mazdayasna works to inform.

We provide information on Mazdayasni belief and practice. We do make clear to people, that the choice of life style and religion is of utmost importance and that such a choice should only come after careful reflection, with a clear and unbiased mind, on the choices before the person. This implies the utmost importance of not only choice, but only of a choice that is free and informed. Mazdayasna invites the seeker to compare; the choice is totally and in every way, of the person concerned.

But besides this, Mazdayasna has a deep interest in other religions and in any efforts to make them more progressive, more righteous, more life affirming, promoting the Wholeness of the person and the cleanliness of the environment and the proper use of natural resources. This comes from the Mazdayasni belief that religions are ethical visions of God and reality.

So to the question of Conversion the reply is, that we accept all who of their own free and informed choice, wish to accept Mazdayasna as their vision of God and their way of life.

There are reasons why until recently, the followers of Zoroastrianism have not actively accepted converts in the past. In Iran, historical circumstances, mainly the hostile Islamic conquerors, first worked to cloud the issue, and then made it almost impossible to accept new members into the Faith. On the other hand, in India, a misguided fear of persecution, together with clannishness, brought about the voluntary abandonment, of what was once the very driving force of the religion.

However Mazdayasni doctrine is very clear in this area. Zarathustra tells us that:
" …the growth of serenity and righteousness shall convert many a seeker…" (Song 12. 6).
"…Help me guide all the living to choose aright…" (Song 4. 3).
"The best shall come to the wise person who will propagate my true thought-provoking message…" (Song 4. 6).

So, how does one become a convert to Mazdayasna? In the words of the Fravarane, the prayer of the Choice of religion,
"…choose for myself the Good Religion of worshipping the Wise One…"
In other words, when you are convinced, you make an informed CHOICE. There is no need for anything other than a firm conviction and will; not even a Priest. God is not a distant figure. He is your Friend and Beloved. So there is no need of ritual to propitiate a god, or of an intercessor for man before God.

However, for faith and community building, for a statement to the world and to reinforce our bonds, most of us choose to undergo an Initiation Ceremony. This ceremony DOES NOT need a priest to be ´efficacious´ for, as mentioned before, not even the ceremony is necessary!

What the ceremony needs is the Initiate, witnesses, a coach, which may or may not be a Ratu (teacher or leader) a Sudreh, a Kushti, a small fire vase, a table with produce of Mazda's Living World, and prayers - usually, the Ashem Vohu, the Yatha Ahu Vairyo, and the Fravarane itself.

If any one wishes to have an Initiation, we have para-Ratus and others willing to travel to any western country.

We Offer Certificates of Initiation (Sadreh Pooshti)

The prayers and the ceremonies can at present be done only in Avestan, Dari, English, Farsi, Gujerati, Portuguese and Spanish.  Any one interested in initiations, please feel free to contact us Click here to join the Zoroastrian Acceptance Group. Zoroastrians by choice, new Initiates, seekers and those who are interested in learning about the original teachings of Zoroaster in the Gathas, are welcome. Read the story of a Convert to Zoroastrianism, with photos from the Ceremony.

AN EXPLANATION OF MAZDAYASNI SYMBOLS

FIRE: Fire is the most important of Mazdayasni symbols. It has come down from the old Aryan religion. Zarathushtra applied it to Spenta Mainyu. It is called Fire of Thought and its said to be made strong by Asha. Also it is said to protect the Righteous. Fire is, traditionally, thought to be a manifestation of God's Progressive Mentality. This is so, not only because of Zarathushtra's teaching, but also in Aryan religion Fire, Light and Energy were thought to be symbols of Divinity and to indwell creation. Thus extreme sanctity is attributed to Fire. It is the center of all Mazdayasnis Temples, which are called Fire Temples. It is used in all ceremonies and rituals. We pray before the fire, we meditate before it. In reality it accompanies mazdayasnis from birth to death.

THE FAREHVAR OR FRAVASHI: It is the winged figure with the torso of a man. It is probably not originally an Aryan or a Mazdayasni symbol (that's why we can have one of our own-see below).

Archeologists in Assyria have found a very similar figure. In any case it became one of the symbols of the religion. I have seen different definitions of what it represents. Mine is as follows:
The bird like figure represents the soul of man. The circle represents the wheel of creation. The wings, the soul, its ability to soar to the highest of states. The tail feathers represent the will that guides the flight of the soul, like a gyroscope, through its choices.

The Zasha: You will find the a.m., the same images of Fravashis and others, throughout the web on all Zoroastrian sites. Unfortunately, those sites do not all stand for the same beliefs. Many sites belong to groups, that see Zoroastrianism as a closed religion along ethnic lines and exclusively for those born from Zarathushti parents, and/or practice magic rites, evil spirits and other mystic things, that we firmly take distance from - the Gathas is our only Guide of Realization.

As such we are restorationists, Zoroastrians for Mankind, inviting the World to convert to the Good Religion. We made a symbol for this, the "Zasha" - a curved Z with a central circle and made a logo of it. The Z of course stands for Zoroastrianism, the flames as explained above and the circle stands for the World. Thus we use the winged Zasha instead of the Farehvar, to make the subtile difference, immediately for all to see.

If you run a restorationist Z-site, please feel free to copy the winged Zasha and/or the logo and place it/them on your site and of course, notify us, so we can link up!
(we will take legal action against any abuse of this intention).

THE STARRY HEAVENS: These represent the Endless Lights, which is another name for the Mazdayasni House of Good Mind, which is also called the House of Songs and the Better Existence.

THE PICTURE OF ZARATHUSHTRA: There is no biographical information of Zarathushtra in the Gathas; other than the name of a daughter and the fact that she married and that he officiated the ceremony. This was not coincidental. He did not wish to be the object of a personality cult.

It is thus not a practice of Mazdayasna to do more than to honor the Manthran, like a great teacher and a righteous person. He is called Asho meaning Righteous. However, we do include one pictorial representation in this site, along with his biographical sketch. It is perhaps just an artist's imagination, because possibly no one really knows what Asho Zarathushtra looked like physically. Even the clothes in the representation are probably from the Sassanian era, nearly a thousand years after Zarathushtra.

Questions and/or opinions? You're welcome on the discussion pages!

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