Yazda

Yazda (and sometimes Yazdan) means 'what is worshipped'. It is based on a Persian term for the English word 'God'.

However Yazda is not just anything that somebody happens to worship. It is the totality of what should be worshipped. It is what humans need to pay attention to and ascribe value to. It what we should regard as important. God is important because it is enables us to live the good life.

Zartians are careful about treating Yazdan as a person. In some ways it can indeed be helpful to do so, but in other cases it can trip us up and cause confusion.

So how should we explain God?

Here are some ideas:

The Seven Names of Yazda

1. Hat - Hat is 'reality'. Hat is 'what actually is', as opposed to what we might imagine.

2. Agathon - Agathon is 'the Good'. We can distinguish between 'intrinsic Good' (what is good in itself) and 'causative Good' (what is Good because it leads to intrinsic Good). Causative Good most obviously are good actions that lead ultimately to intrinsic Good, but also include 'awareness of what is, including awareness of the Bad', because knowledge of the workings of reality is needed in order to take good actions.

3. Khoda - is the 'self-sufficient' or 'sovereign' one. It is what is just itself and not dependent on something else.

4. Arche - Arche is 'the source'. Everything that comes into being, comes from somewhere. That thing it comes from is Arche the Source. Our lives are in constant relationship with The Source. If we act in good ways then we gain the benefits of the Source, but if in bad ways we will be starved of its blessings.

5. Holus - 'the whole', 'the complete'. It is important to consider 'the whole' of something. If we value one part of reality but ignore its impact on other parts of reality which are also important, then we are not valuing the true universal God.

6. Ideala - 'the Ideal one', 'the divine one'. 'Ideala' is also considered the 'realm of divine forms'.

7. Spentor (or Biospentor)- 'the life-promoter or life-expander' .

May 4026 ZHE
These concepts about God of course are not mutually exclusive. They are seven ways for our minds to try and make sense of what God is. There is of course a lot of overlap between them.

Auramazda and Zurvan

Auramazda is considered by many to be the name of the Zoroastrian God. In some historic periods Zurvan has also taken that role.

Zurvan is the underlying expanse of time and space within which all beings live out their lives. It is the ocean in which we all swim.

Auramazda is 'active wisdom' or 'wise creative power' behind the ordered world we experience every day. Auramazda is the positive power of wisdom to bring things together in right relationship to create new higher things.

In Zartian understanding Auramazda is a divine being - i.e. an abstract ideal being, but it is still a real being living in the Universe of Zurvan as we all do. As Auramazda lives inside Zurvan it cannot have created Zurvan. Rather Zurvan is regarded as uncreated and eternally existent. Both Zurvan and Auramazda are aspects of Yazdan the ultimate God, but neither can be said to be identical to it.

Apr 4026 ZHE