Introductory Pages

Please note these introductory articles have been written over time and don't reflect our latest teaching in every detail.

Zartian Mazdaism

Zartian Mazdaism is the philosophical variety of Zartianism or neo-Zoroastrianism, which seeks to encourage people to be good servants of the living world, inspired especially by the teachings of Zarathustra.

While grounded in Zoroastrian ideas, Zartian Mazdaism is also influenced by Greek philosophy.

Zartian Mazdaism could be described as a new variety of religion grounded in the ancient tradition of Zoroastrianism. At its heart is a system of moral philosophy which encourages people to look at the world in a particular way, and then to act beneficially to help themselves and others.

Characteristic of our Zartian philosophy is a concern for the world we live in, and a desire to make it a better place. Fundamental is a belief in a distinction between Good and Bad, Good and Evil, and that this distinction is built into the nature of reality and is not purely a human construct.

We believe there is real distinction between the Good Existence and the Bad Existence and that we should strive to gain the Good Existence. We believe that our actions can make a difference as to whether we can attain the Good Existence, and so we strive to take the necessary good actions. We believe that our mental understanding of reality impacts our values and goals and hence the actions that we take. Therefore we strive to attain a good mind, one which naturally wishes to take good actions, which are the ones which lead to good results.

We believe that the well-being of all human beings is something of ultimate importance and that truly moral behaviour would take into account the impact it has on all other human beings in so far as this can be known..

We recognise that the impact of our individual actions often depends very much on the actions taken by those around us. Thus we pay attention to collective action as well as individual action.

Triads

Triads are runes or concepts in groups of three. Currently there are four triads we promote in Zartian Mazdaism. One of these is the Thaliotria:

Thaliotria

The Thaliotria points us towards the good. The Triad is Auramazda, Arta and Thalia. Auramazda is the Active Wisdom which produces Arta or Good Order, which in turn leads to Thalia or flourishing.

Amerta Spenta

The Amerta Spenta (also called the Agathoi) are the 'immortal life-promoters'. They are headed by Auramazda but also include other beings such as Eunoia (Good Thinking) and Eudaena (Good Moral Vision).

Magoi Ekkritoi

Alongside the Amerta Spenta are the Magoi Ekkritoi (select wise men) who are considered the foremost teachers of wisdom to pay attention to. Most usually we list seven in particular. These are Zartus (Zoroaster), Gotama (Buddha), Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Nietzsche and Jung.

Chrestores

A Chrestor is a good or useful person. A chrestor is the human agent of Auramazda, the wise creative and sustaining power. Zartian Mazdaism is primarily concerned to encourage and educate people into being good chrestors who can make a positive difference to the world at large.

Why Zartian Mazdaism?

We believe that modern people need a good philosophy or religion to help them navigate the times they live in. Many are not satisfied by the well-known offerings and are open to considering alternatives. We believe that Zartian Mazdaism and its sister ideas such as Zartian Mithraism and Christomazdaism will provide some people something a little different and a little better than they can get elsewhere.

updated June 4026 ZHE