Editing Zoroastrianism (section)

==== Cosmogony ====
According to the Zoroastrian [[creation myth]], there is one universal, [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]], all-good, and uncreated supreme [[creator deity]] Ahura Mazda,<ref name="Boyce 1983" /> or the "Wise Lord" (''Ahura'' meaning "Lord" and ''Mazda'' meaning "Wisdom" in [[Avestan]]).<ref name="Boyce 1983" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Duchesne-Guillemin|first=Jacques|title=Zoroastrianism|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/658081/Zoroastrianism|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=4 January 2024|access-date=3 August 2013|archive-date=22 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122162414/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/658081/Zoroastrianism|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Zoroaster]] keeps the two attributes separate as two different concepts in most of the [[Gathas]] yet sometimes combines them into one form. Zoroaster also proclaims that Ahura Mazda is omniscient but not omnipotent.<ref name="Boyce 1983"/> Ahura Mazda existed in light and goodness above, while [[Angra Mainyu]], (also referred to in later texts as "Ahriman"),<ref name="AHRIMAN">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=AHRIMAN |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahriman |access-date=13 July 2019 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517083623/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahriman |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1979|pp=6–12}}.</ref> the destructive spirit/mentality,
existed in darkness and ignorance below. They have existed independently of each other for all time, and manifest contrary substances. In the Gathas, Ahura Mazda is noted as working through emanations known as the Amesha Spenta<ref name="AMƎŠA SPƎNTA">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=AMƎŠA SPƎNTA |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amesa-spenta-beneficent-divinity |access-date=13 July 2019 |archive-date=17 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517003615/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amesa-spenta-beneficent-divinity |url-status=live }}</ref> and with the help of "other [[ahura]]s".<ref name="Hinnells-2007"/> These divine beings called ''Amesha Spentas'', support him and are representative and guardians of different aspects of creation and the ideal personality.<ref name="AMƎŠA SPƎNTA"/> Ahura Mazda is [[immanent]] in humankind and interacts with creation through these bounteous/holy divinities. In addition to these, He is assisted by a league of countless divinities called [[Yazata]]s, meaning "worthy of worship." Each Yazata is generally a [[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|hypostasis]] of a moral or physical aspect of creation. Asha,<ref name="Boyce 1983" /><ref name="AṦA">{{cite encyclopedia |title=AṦA (Asha "Truth") |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/asa-means-truth-in-avestan |access-date=14 June 2017 |archive-date=26 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526212011/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/asa-means-truth-in-avestan |url-status=live }}</ref> is the main spiritual force which comes from Ahura Mazda.<ref name="AṦA"/> It is the cosmic order and is the [[antithesis]] of chaos, which is evident as ''druj'', falsehood and disorder, that comes from Angra Mainyu.<ref name="Druj">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Druj |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/druj |access-date=14 June 2017 |archive-date=5 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005075152/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/druj |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Boyce-1983"/> The resulting cosmic conflict involves all of creation, mental/spiritual and material, including humanity at its core, which has an active role to play in the conflict.<ref>{{cite web|title=Zoroastrianism: Holy text, beliefs and practices|date=1 March 2010|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/zoroastrianism-i-historical-review|website=Encyclopedia Iranica|access-date=14 June 2017|archive-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205062939/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/zoroastrianism-i-historical-review|url-status=live}}</ref> The main representative of Asha in this conflict is [[Spenta Mainyu]], the creative spirit/mentality.<ref name="AHRIMAN"/> Ahura Mazda then created the material and visible world itself in order to ensnare evil. He created the floating, egg-shaped universe in two parts: first the spiritual (''menog'') and 3,000 years later, the physical (''getig'').<ref name="GĒTĪG AND MĒNŌG" /> Ahura Mazda then created [[Gayomard]], the archetypical perfect man, and [[Gavaevodata]], the primordial bovine.<ref name="Cavendish-1980">{{Citation|title=Mythology: an Illustrated Encyclopedia|pages=40–5|first1=Richard|last1=Cavendish|first2=Trevor Oswald|last2=Ling|publisher=Rizzoli|year=1980|isbn=978-0847802869|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdEnAAAAYAAJ}}</ref>

While Ahura Mazda created the universe and humankind, Angra Mainyu, whose very nature is to destroy, miscreated demons, evil ''daevas'', and noxious creatures (''khrafstar'') such as snakes, ants, and flies. Angra Mainyu created an opposite, evil being for each good being, except for humans, which he found he could not match. Angra Mainyu invaded the universe through the base of the sky, inflicting Gayomard and the bull with suffering and death. However, the evil forces were trapped in the universe and could not retreat. The dying primordial man and bovine emitted seeds, which were protect by [[Mah]], the Moon. From the bull's seed grew all beneficial plants and animals of the world and from the man's seed grew a plant whose leaves became the [[Mashya and Mashyana|first human couple]]. Humans thus struggle in a two-fold universe of the material and spiritual trapped and in long combat with evil. The evils of this physical world are not products of an inherent weakness but are the fault of Angra Mainyu's assault on creation. This assault turned the perfectly flat, peaceful, and daily illuminated world into a mountainous, violent place that is half night.<ref name="Cavendish-1980"/> According to Zoroastrian [[cosmology]], in articulating the [[Ahuna Vairya]] formula, Ahura Mazda made the ultimate triumph of good against Angra Mainyu evident.<ref name="AHUNWAR">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahunwar-middle-persian-form-of-avestan-ahuna-vairya-name-of-the-most-sacred-of-the-gathic-prayers-y|title=AHUNWAR|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=13 July 2019|archive-date=29 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529042646/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ahunwar-middle-persian-form-of-avestan-ahuna-vairya-name-of-the-most-sacred-of-the-gathic-prayers-y|url-status=live}}</ref> Ahura Mazda will ultimately prevail over the evil [[Angra Mainyu]], at which point reality will undergo a cosmic renovation called [[Frashokereti]]<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/frasokrti|title=FRAŠŌ.KƎRƎTI|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=13 July 2019|archive-date=5 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005153239/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/frasokrti|url-status=live}}</ref> and limited time will end. In the final renovation, all of creation—even the souls of the dead that were initially banished to or chose to descend into "darkness"—will be reunited with Ahura Mazda in the [[Kshatra Vairya]] (meaning "best dominion"),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sahrewar|title=ŠAHREWAR|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=13 July 2019|archive-date=17 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517162840/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sahrewar|url-status=live}}</ref> being resurrected to immortality.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}