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Among the remarkable documents found inserted into the 4th century AD work known as the Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine by Eusebius Pamphilus, one of the most intriguing is a letter penned by Constantine himself to Shapur II, the young king of Persia. The reliability of this document is fairly well established. A detailed scholarly discussion of the authenticity, dating, and purpose of this letter may be found in this excellent article by David Frendo. In his Vita of Constantine, Eusebius introduces the letter as follows: The king of the Persians also having testified a desire to form an...

In Iran, the tradition of "Charshanbe Soori" is the festival of fire, which occurs every year on the night before the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar year. During this festival, which dates back to the 7th century, Iranians traditionally celebrate by lighting bonfires and jumping through the flames. In this ancient custom, they sing: "Sorkhie to az man, zardie man az to," which means: "I give my ill to the fire and receive the redness and warmth from fire." This ancient Persian "Festival of Fire," with its historic and ceremonial roots, is one of the most beloved celebrations among...

Zarin Havewala doesn't call herself a professional matchmaker, but her track record suggests otherwise. "So far, 55 couples have found their partners through my efforts — 53 couples are already married, and two more couples are engaged to be married soon," says Ms Havewala, a Mumbai-based mother-of-two. Ms Havewala is a Zoroastrian — or 'Parsi' (meaning 'Persian') as they're known in India — a member of an ancient monotheistic faith that pre-dates Islam and Christianity. Zoroastrianism was the official religion of Persia, its birthplace, for more than a millennium, but today the community is a fraction of its former size,...

“We saw attacks by terrorists on the police and army, and we said this is mutual violence. These extremist groups have attacked churches and we said that they think it is a [different] religion, not Islam, and it is hostile to them, and then we said it is okay, but how [can these groups attack] Muslims?,” Magdi said. It is good that she was suspended, but where did she get this idea in the first place? Straight from the Sharia. In Islamic law, Muslim lives are explicitly worth more than those of non-Muslims. The Shafi’i Sharia manual ‘Umdat al-Salik dictates:...

The social makeup of Iran’s population is very complex, because there is actually no such thing as an Iranian people. There are, instead, Iranian citizens divided into many ethnic groups: Persians make up about 60% of the population, while the rest are Azars, Kurds, Blouchis, Arabs, Turkmen and tens of smaller ethnic groups. The main religion in Iran is Shia Islam, adhered to by 90% of the country’s people, while Sunnis – mainly Kurds and Blouchis – make up about 10%. The country recognizes Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism and reserves a parliamentary seat for each religion. Zoroastrianism is based on...

The social makeup of Iran's population is very complex, because there is actually no such thing as the Iranian people. There are, instead, Iranian citizens divided into many ethnic groups: Persians make up about 60% of the population, while the rest are Azars, Kurds, Blouchis, Arabs, Turkmen and tens of smaller ethnic groups. The main religion in Iran is Shia Islam, adhered to by 90% of the country's people, while Sunnis - mainly Kurds and Blouchis - make up about 10%. The country recognizes Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism and reserves a parliamentary seat for each religion. Zoroastrianism is based on...

Yule is observed on the day of the Winter Solstice. Also known as Jul, Yule predates the Christmas holiday by thousands of years. There is some debate as to the origin of the word Yule. Some linguists suggest the word is derived from “Iul”, the Anglo-Saxon word for wheel. This makes a connection to a Celtic calendar, the Wheel of the Year. In the Norse culture, “Jul” refers to the god, Odin. Odin was celebrated during Yule as well. Yule celebrations included bonfires, decorating with holly, mistletoe and the boughs of evergreen trees, ritual sacrifices, feasts and gift giving. Do...

There has been a recent surge in conversions to Zoroastrianism among Kurds at home and abroad. Andaz Hawezi, chief of the Zoroastrian Temple in Sweden says thousands have joined the faith. In 2011 he was elected to lead the temple. Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest religions to which most Kurds trace their ancestral faith. Hawezi says not all the new converts or followers are Kurds. There are Arabs, Turks, Persian, Swedish, Polish, British and other nationalities. “We hope to come back to Kurdistan. That’s why we named the Temple Kurdish Zoroastrian.” Hawezi says. The Temple in Sweden is...

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — “We Muslims have a lot of problems with our religion, for a lot of reasons,” the words of Sanger Najim, a young man living in Erbil, echo the sentiments of a growing population in the Kurdistan Region who struggle with questions about their faith. Many Muslims are confronted by the violent extremism of the Islamic State (ISIS) and wonder how to reconcile their personal beliefs with the actions of the extremist group. The Kurdish population is approximately 94% nominally Muslim. Recently, however, there have been many reports of Kurds leaving Islam or converting to other religions....

When Parsi Zoroastrians, having fled Persian persecution, arrived on Indian soil sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries, the story goes, an Indian ruler sent a cup full of milk. The intention, clearly, was to convey that India was filled to the brim. The Zoroastrian king inserted either sugar—or in some tellings, a ring—and sent the cup back to suggest that not only was there room for his people, but they would also enrich Indian society if permitted to settle. Certain restrictions curbed the private and communal lives of the Zoroastrian asylum seekers, but they were largely allowed to thrive...

According to Dr. Joel Mathews, the phrase "In God We Trust" was first printed on our coins in 1864 and on paper bills in 1957. It had been proposed that "Our Country, Our God, Our Trust" be used, but that was shortened to be able to stamp the motto onto coins. Kansas State University Polytechnic's March Civic Luncheon began with Kansas Weslyan University's Dr. Philip Meckley asking: o How can we look at comparative religious traditions? o How can we live with differences for the sake of our human community? Matthews, a K-State Polytechnic instructor, began the lecture by saying...

Continuing on the theme of what Muslims did - or more likely did not do - for the world, there is a widespread misconception that they "invented algebra". Maybe this fallacy is due to the fact that "algebra" is a word of Arabic origin, but historical questions are not solved by etymological answers. Yes, the English word "algebra" derives from the Arabic. So does "sugar" (from the Arabic "sukkar") but that doesn't mean that Muslims invented sugar. The word "algebra" stems from the Arabic word "al-jabr", from the name of the treatise Book on Addition and Subtraction after the Method...

How the Jihad ravaged Christian Byzantium for 800 years, and how valiantly the Byzantine Christians held back the Arab and Turkish hordes, saving Europe from Islam. [ Full title ]. While the Zoroastrian Persians were defeated and were being subjugated, the Muslim hordes turned on their other neighbor the Christian Byzantines. The two armies met at the battlefield of Heiromyak. Lessons from the Battle of Heiromyak (Al Yarmuk). At the Battle of the Yarmuk (river), between the Muslim Arabs and the Byzantines, the Muslim Arabs were losing the battle in the initial stages. When the victory seemed certain for the...

One day in the 1970s, George Lucas screened a rough cut of his new movie, Star Wars, for his influential Hollywood friends. And almost none of them liked it. The plot seemed incomprehensible, the made-up fantasy names absurd. Director Brian De Palma, who had just had a big hit with Carrie, made fun of everything about the film, including Princess Leia’s hairstyle: “Hey, George, what were those Danish rolls doing in the princess’s ears?” Almost 40 years later, De Palma is mostly making low-budget movies, and the most-anticipated film of the year is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first...

Members of the Parsi Zoroastrian community in Calcutta have filed a petition in a local high court against the music video for the song “King” by Amitis featuring Snoop Dogg, calling it blasphemous and disrespectful toward their faith, the Times of India reports. Zoroastrianism is a millennia-old faith with roots in ancient Persia and a flourishing community in India; its scripture emphasizes the sanctity of nature and the duality of existence. Amitis is an Iranian-born singer who now lives in Atlanta; “King” appears to be her entrance into the realm of Western pop. Snoop Dogg is Snoop Dogg — in...

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — After over a millennium, the Zoroastrian faith is returning to its original habitat. The Ministry of Religion in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital Erbil has registered the religion, locally known as Zardashti, and suggested to the Kurdish government the ancient faith should be given its own directorate general and its believers be allowed to build new temples. “Now it’s time,” says Nouri Sharif, one of the initiators of the movement that established a Zoroastrian organization in Europe in 2006 and in March announced in Erbil its official return to Kurdistan. In April, a Supreme Council of Zoroastrians...

Seeps from which gas and oil escape were formative to many ancient cultures and societies. They gave rise to legends surrounding the Delphi Oracle, Chimaera fires and "eternal flames" that were central to ancient religious practices - from Indonesia and Iran to Italy and Azerbaijan. Modern geologists and oil and gas explorers can learn much by delving into the geomythological stories about the religious and social practices of the Ancient World, writes Guiseppe Etiope of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy. His research is published in the new Springer book Natural Gas Seepage. "Knowing present-day gas fluxes...

Tehran, Dec 20, IRNA -- Millions of Iranians all over the world Monday night will celebrate 'Yalda', the longest night of the year and the first night of winter as a token of victory of the angel of goodness over the devil of badness. 'Yalda' is a Syriac word meaning birth and according to Mithraism, a faith that initially originated from Persia and later spread out throughout the ancient civilized world, the first day of winter which falls on December 21 this year, was celebrated as the birthday of Mithra, the angel of light. Ancient Iranians believed that two groups...

Nowruz 2569 (1389) will begin on: با شادباش نوروز - تحويل سال نوتحويل سال نو ۲۵۶۹ - ساعت ۹ و ۲ دقيقه و ۰۰ ثانيه بعد از ظهر شنبه اول فروردين ۱۳۸۹ در ايران Tehran: Saturday:      09:02:00 PM      March 20, 2010 New York: Saturday 01:32:00 PM March 20, 2010 Chicago: Saturday 12:32:00 PM March 20, 2010 Denver: Saturday 11:32:00 AM March 20, 2010 Los Angeles:      Saturday 10:32:00 AM March 20, 2010 London: Saturday 05:32:00 PM March 20, 2010 Paris: Saturday 06:32:00 PM March 20, 2010 Rome: Saturday 06:32:00 PM March 20, 2010 Berlin: Saturday 06:32:00 PM March 20, 2010 Athens:...

Not Christians or Shi’ites this time, but the Yazidis, whose numbers reach as high as 600,000 in Iraq — and dropping, especially in Sinjar. The sacking of Sinjar has forced the Yazidis to flee to nearby Mount Sinjar to escape brutal execution. What they face on the mountain is a death just as certain, though, and perhaps as torturous: Stranded on a barren mountaintop, thousands of minority Iraqis are faced with a bleak choice: descend and risk slaughter at the hands of the encircled Sunni extremists or sit tight and risk dying of thirst. Humanitarian agencies said Tuesday that between...