Jahi[pronunciation?] is the Avestan language name of Zoroastrianism's demoness of "lasciviousness." As a hypostatic entity, Jahi is variously interpreted as "hussy," "rake," "libertine," "courtesan" and "one who leads a licentious life." Her standard epithet is "the Whore."
In the hymn to Haoma, the devotee rejects the temptations of the "polluting whore" who "sits down devouring Haoma's sacrificial offering".[1] In the hymn to Asha, the Holy term (manthra spenta) is an effective remedy against Jahi and other noxious creatures.[2] In the hymn to Ashi (not to be confused with Asha), "Fortune" wails about how shamed she is by Jahi's improper actions.[3]
Jahi is characterized in the Vendidad as causing Ahura Mazda "the most grief".[4] "Her gaze takes the colors away from a third of [world]".[5][b] It also contains an oblique reference to Jahi's cosmological role as the killer of Gav-aevo.data (MP: Gawi ewdad), the primordial creature from whose seed all animal creation originates.[7]
In the Sudgar Nask[c]fire is sickened by the stench and filth of Jahi and by the irritant "owing to the hussy who, dropping her knee on to the fire-stand, arranged her curls; the falling of damp and moisture from her head, with the hair and filth therefrom".[8]
In tradition
Persepolis mural: The death of Gav-aēvō.dātā/Gawiewdad, the primordial bovine.
In the Bundahishn, a Zoroastrian account of creation finished in the 11th or 12thcenturyCE, Ohrmazd and Ahriman already co-exist at the beginning of time, but Ahriman is not immediately aware of Ohrmazd. During the first 3000years (the first cosmic age), Ahriman espied the light of Ormuzd but "seeing valor and supremacy superior to his own, he fled back to the darkness and fashioned many demons — a creation destructive and ready for battle".[9] Ohrmazd, being omniscient, knows of the inevitability of the attack and creates fire (Adur) "with his thought", with which the universe would subsequently be suffused with goodness (life). Upon being attacked, Ohrmazd recites the Ahunawar invocation, thus revealing His ultimate victory to Ahriman, who then falls back confounded for another 3000years.[10]
Towards the end of the second cosmic age (the second 3000years), Ahriman, who until then has resisted the exhortations of his demons, is roused from his impotence by Jeh's beguiling devices, who promises to destroy the creatures of Ohrmazd.[11] Incited, Ahriman defiles her with a kiss,[d] and from this act Jeh is thenceforth afflicted with menstruation.[12]
Jeh is appointed by Ahriman for the defilement of females, and it is this defilement that causes women to have their menses.[13] Jeh's gaze is said to be powerful enough to kill.[14]
Notes
↑ Menstruation itself is however characterized as being a creation of Angra Mainyu/Ahriman.
↑ The Sudgar Nask is an Avestan text that has not survived but the contents of which are summarized in Denkard9.
↑ The 'kiss' in Bundahishn 3 is frequently considered to be a euphemism for sexual union.
Bibliography
Zaehner, Richard Charles (1955). Zurvan: A Zoroastrian dilemma. Oxford: Clarendon. pp.350–351.
Dhalla, Maneckji Nusservanji (1938). History of Zoroastrianism. New York: OUP. p.405.
Shaki, Mansour. "Gayōmart". Archived copy. Encyclopedia Iranica. Vol.10. Costa Mesa: Mazda. Archived from the original on 2005-01-26. Retrieved 2007-05-22.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
The Avesta is the primary collection of religious literature of Zoroastrianism. It was compiled and redacted during the late Sassanian period although its individual texts were ″probably″ produced during the Old Iranian period. Before their compilation, these texts had been passed down orally for centuries. All texts in the Avesta are composed in the Avestan language and are written in the Avestan alphabet. The oldest surviving fragment of a text dates to 1323 CE.
Haoma is a divine plant in Zoroastrianism and in later Persian culture and mythology. Haoma has its origins in Indo-Iranian religion and is the cognate of Vedic soma.
Angra Mainyu or Ahriman is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, the highest deity of Zoroastrianism. The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman 𐭠𐭧𐭫𐭬𐭭𐭩. The name can appear in English-language works as Ahrimanes.
Mångha is the Avestan for "Moon, month", equivalent to Persian Māh . It is the name of the lunar deity in Zoroastrianism. The Iranian word is masculine. Although Mah is not a prominent deity in the Avestan scripture, his crescent was an important symbol of royalty throughout the Parthian and Sassanid periods.
In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian variations of the term include the contraction 'Ameshaspand' as well as the specifically Zoroastrian 'Mahraspand' and 'Amahraspand'.
A daeva is a Zoroastrian supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are "gods that are rejected". This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian "daiva inscription" of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daeva's are divinities that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws are personifications of every imaginable evil. Over time, the Daeva myth as Div became integrated to islam.
Sraosha, is the Avestan name of the Zoroastrian yazata of "Conscience" and "Observance", which is also the literal meaning of his name.
Fravashi is the Avestan term for the Zoroastrian concept of a personal spirit of an individual, whether dead, living, or yet-unborn. The fravashi of an individual sends out the urvan into the material world to fight the battle of good versus evil. On the morning of the fourth day after death, the urvan returns to its fravashi, where its experiences in the material world are collected to assist the next generation in their fight between good and evil.
Bushyasta is the Zoroastrian demon (daeva) of sloth. Her stock epithet is "the long-handed".
Ahuna Vairya is the first of Zoroastrianism's four Gathic Avestan mantras. The text, which appears in Yasna 27.13, is also known after its opening words yatha ahu vairyo. In Zoroastrian tradition, the mantra is also known as the ahun(a)war.
Zam is the Avestan language term for the Zoroastrian concept of "earth", in both the sense of land and soil and in the sense of the world. The earth is viewed as a primordial element in Zoroastrian tradition, and represented by a minor divinity, Zam, who is the hypostasis of the "earth". The word itself, changed to Zamin in Modern Persian, is cognate to the Baltic Zemes, Slavic Zem, Serbian Zemlja, Greco-Thracian Semele, meaning the planet Earth, as well as soil.
Dahman or Dahman Afrin is the Avestan language name of a Zoroastrian concept, later considered to be the embodiment of prayer, and ultimately (also) as a divinity, one of the yazatas.
Peshotanu is an eschatological figure of the medieval texts of Zoroastrian tradition, in particular in the apocalyptic Zand-i Wahman yasn.
Aeshma is the Younger Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's demon of "wrath". As a hypostatic entity, Aeshma is variously interpreted as "wrath", "rage", and "fury". His standard epithet is "of the bloody mace".
Aka Manah is the Avestan language name for the Zoroastrian daeva "Evil Mind", "Evil Purpose", "Evil Thinking", or "Evil Intention". Aka Manah also known as Akoman in Middle Persian and Akvan in New Persian, represents the malevolent force of sensual desire that was sent by Ahriman to seduce the prophet Zoroaster. His eternal opponent is Vohu Manah. Aka Manah is the hypostatic abstraction of accusative akem manah, "manah made evil". The objectification of this malign influence is the demon Aka/Akem Manah, who appears in later texts as Middle Persian Akoman and New Persian Akvan.
Ameretat is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrian divinity/divine concept of immortality. Amerdad is the Amesha Spenta of long life on earth and perpetuality in the hereafter.
Khvarenah (also spelled khwarenah or xwarra(h): Avestan: 𐬓𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬥𐬀𐬵xᵛarənah) is an Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept literally denoting "glory" or "splendour" but understood as a divine mystical force or power projected upon and aiding the appointed. The neuter noun thus also connotes "(divine) royal glory", reflecting the perceived divine empowerment of kings. The term also carries a secondary meaning of "(good) fortune"; those who possess it are able to complete their mission or function.
In the Avesta, airyaman is both an Avestan language common noun and the proper name of a Zoroastrian divinity.
Gavaevodata is the Avestan language name of the primordial bovine of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology, one of Ahura Mazda's six primordial material creations and the mythological progenitor of all beneficent animal life.
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