A new religion

Religion is a practice that shapes a person's moral vision and values. This in turn shapes their actions and the nature of the world they produce with their actions. A good religion will bear fruit in a good order of life and the well-being of its practitioners.

We believe that the world today, particularly the Western world, is in a state of moral chaos. We see the results in increasing social disorder and a deteriorating quality of life. We believe this indicates a failure of Western religion.

It seems that our existing religious tradition of Christianity is not up to the task of meeting the modern predicament.

While some seek to reform Christianity by going back to its roots, we believe the very roots of Christianity, as traditionally imagined, are themselves planted in shaky ground. Thus we believe that is not possible to reform traditional Christianity sufficiently to the needs of the time without breaking the mainstream Christian identity.

Thus we have embarked on a project to create a new religious movement to take the place of traditional Christianity.

As a foundation for this we go back to before the time of Jesus to the earliest known religion of our ancestors and to the earliest known and most influential religious philosopher.

Thankfully knowledge of these have been retained as a living tradition from then to now by the people known to the world as the Zoroastrians, and also to themselves as the Mazdayasni or worshippers of the Wise Lord.

However as Europeans and Westerners it is difficult for us to adopt the customs of the traditional Zoroastrians unthinkingly. Indeed we might have doubts that this is the best thing to do in any case. Thus the Zartian movement seeks to start a fresh branch of the Zoroastrian tradition which makes a critical examination of traditional materials and uses them as inspiration for its own teaching.

On these pages you can see the results of our work so far. We believe we have made a good start. Nevertheless we are very conscious that we have only made a start, and there is a huge amount of work still to do. This will require the work of many hands.

We hope that you, the reader, can help in this project, perhaps one of the most important that there is. If you come across others who might be interested in our ideas then please point them towards it. And for those whose interests and talents match the varied tasks required we hope that you can help the acorn seed planted here to grow into a strong and healthy tree in full bloom.

Marcus Zartianus
June 4025 ZHE (2025 CE)

Zartianism

Zartianism is a neo-Zoroastrianism - a refreshing or new formulation of the ancient tradition of Zoroastrianism.

Zoroaster, who maybe lived around 1000BC , was an Iranian religious philosopher who has been immensely influential on the philosophy and religion of the world.

A religious tradition of Zoroastrianism, also known as Mazdaism, has developed since his time and has been maintained continuously to this day.

We believe that there is immense value in Zoroaster's work and the wisdom transmitted by the tradition that has developed around it, and that it needs to be brought to greater attention to people today.

The form of traditional Zoroastrianism practiced today was mostly settled during the late stages of pre-Islamic Iran and has been kept alive since then especially by the Parsis of India.

However we believe that it will be difficult to promote this traditional form to new audiences with no link to the existing Zoroastrian communities. We also believe it is worth trying to see whether it is possible to refresh the Zoroastrian tradition, keeping something of its essence, but making it more accessible and useful for the modern and especially European audience.

On this website we have set out some of our initial ideas for a new Zartian movement, and we hope that others will see something of value in them and seek to build upon them.

April 4024 ZHE (2024 CE)

Zartianism - three identities

We are promoting three different Zartian 'identities'. These can be seen as three different routes into Zartianism. Newcomers are encouraged to pick the identity that suits them best.

Zartian Agathist

Agathon means 'The Good'. Agathists are focussed on 'the Good'. They strive towards the Good, they strive to bring the Good into the world, to make the world a better place.

Agathists are less religious than other Zartians. They are interested in philosophy and in personal practices that help make them a wiser and better person.

Zoroaster or Zartus was himself a philosopher and Agathists focus their attention on his own direct teaching, rather than later religious texts, and they are usually not involved in religious rituals.

Zartian Mithraist

Mithraists worship Yazdan or God in the primary form of Mithras - the Cosmic Father. Mithras brings good order into the world, and especially the human social world. By worshipping Mithras and working as his agents in support of his righteous will, we assist the process of producing the 'good world order' which leads to human flourishing.

Mithras is foremost of the Prosopa or 'Faces' of Yazdan. However Mithraists consider there are many more Prosopa worthy of attention. In particular they revere Anhita, who is the Cosmic Mother, and consort to Mithras.

Mithraic practice is centred on communal rituals. These can often be ritual dramas involving multiple prosopa. Classically rituals are enacted by a team of eight people, of which seven represent seven different prosopa and the eighth is the 'conductor' of the ritual.

Zorochristian

Zorochristians are Zoroastrian Christians. They believe that the origins of Christianity are in the teachings of Zoroaster. They also value the teachings and example of Jesus and of other traditionally venerated saints. They value the New Testament but in common with many early Christians they believe that the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament belong to a separate religious tradition and shouldn't be considered the foundation of the Christian tradition.

Zorochristians thus share viewpoints with those ancient Christians known as gnostics, and indeed we are interested in gnostic writings. Nevertheless we don't share the extreme stances associated with gnosticism, such as rejection of everything to do with the world. Indeed the agenda of Zorochristians, as all Zartians and Zoroastrians, is to make the world a better place, not to try and escape it.

Zorochristians are also be interested in the later, medieval and early modern traditions and texts of the Christian churches, especially those regarded as Catholic or Universal and which sought to speak to the whole society.