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Visperad[ pronunciation? ] or Visprad is either a particular Zoroastrian religious ceremony or the name given to a passage collection within the greater Avesta compendium of texts.
The Visperad ceremony "consists of the rituals of the Yasna, virtually unchanged, but with a liturgy extended by twenty-three [a] supplementary sections." [1] These supplementary sections (kardag) are then – from a philological perspective – the passages that make up the Visperad collection. The standard abbreviation for Visperad chapter-verse pointers is Vr., though Vsp. may also appear in older sources.
The name Visperad is a contraction of Avestan vispe ratavo, [b] with an ambiguous meaning. Subject to how ratu is translated, [c] vispe ratavo may be translated as "(prayer to) all patrons" [2] or "all masters" [1] or the older and today less common "all chiefs." [3] or "all lords."
The Visperad ceremony – in medieval Zoroastrian texts referred to as the Jesht-i Visperad, [4] that is, "Worship through praise (Yasht) of all the patrons," – developed [d] as an "extended service" for celebrating the gahambars, [4] the high Zoroastrian festivals that celebrate six season(al) events. As seasonal ("year cycle") festivals, the gahambars are dedicated to the Amesha Spentas, the divinites that are in tradition identified with specific aspects of creation, and through whom Ahura Mazda realized ("with his thought") creation. These "bounteous immortals" (amesha spentas) are the "all patrons" – the vispe ratavo – who apportion the bounty of creation. However, the Visperad ceremony itself is dedicated to Ahura Mazda, the ratūm berezem "high Master." [4]
The Visperad collection has no unity of its own, and is never recited separately from the Yasna. During a recital of the Visperad ceremony, the Visperad sections are not recited en bloc but are instead interleaved into the Yasna recital. [5] The Visperad itself exalts several texts of the Yasna collection, including the Ahuna Vairya and the Airyaman ishya , the Gathas , and the Yasna Haptanghaiti (Visperad 13-16, 18-21, 23-24 [6] ) Unlike in a regular Yasna recital, the Yasna Haptanghaiti is recited a second time between the 4th and 5th Gatha (the first time between the 1st and 2nd as in a standard Yasna). This second recitation is performed by the assistant priest (the raspi), and is often slower and more melodious. [5] In contrast to barsom bundle of a regular Yasna, which has 21 rods (tae), the one used in a Visperad service has 35 rods.
The Visperad is only performed in the Havan Gah – between sunrise and noon – on the six gahambar days. [4]
Amongst Iranian Zoroastrians, the Visperad ceremony has undergone significant modifications in the 20th century. [7] The ritual – which is traditionally an "inner" one requiring ritual purity – is instead celebrated as an "outer" ritual where ritual purity is not a requirement. Often there is only one priest instead of the two that are traditionally required, and the priests sit at a table with only a lamp or candle representing the fire, so avoiding accusations of "fire worship." [e] [8]
| a) ^ | Subject to translation, there may be either 23 or 24 sections. [9] Karl Friedrich Geldner has 24, Mills has 23. |
| b) ^ | vīspe ratavō [10] in the Geldner/Bartholomae transliteration scheme, vīspe ratauuō [2] in the Hoffmann scheme. |
| c) ^ | the stem rat- is literally "to (ap)portion," (from base ar- "to get" and "to cause to get, give") with the matter being portioned ranging from time (ratav, a segment of time) to material goods (cf. Kellens' [2] ratu "patron") and justice (ratu then being a "judge," and ratav then being a judicial ruling). For the various meanings of ratav, see Bartholomae 1904, cols. 1498-1504. |
| d) ^ | It has been speculated that the Visperad ceremony developed between the 3rd and 7th centuries. [1] Since it is unlikely that the Avestan Visperad texts were actually composed at such a late a date (and yet in time to make it into the Sassanid archetype of the Avesta), they must then be extracts from other texts that have however since been lost. |
| e) ^ | "... da man nicht in den Ruch der Feuerverehrung kommen will." [8] |
Zoroastrianism or Mazdayasna is one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions. It is a multi-faceted faith centered on a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate conquest of evil with theological elements of henotheism, monotheism/monism, and polytheism. Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian-speaking spiritual leader Zoroaster, it exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda, as its supreme being. Historical features of Zoroastrianism, such as messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell, and free will may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including Second Temple Judaism, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy, Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and Buddhism.
The Avesta is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in Avestan language.
The Gathas are 17 Avestan hymns believed to have been composed by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) himself. They form the core of the Zoroastrian liturgy. They are arranged in five different modes or metres.
Atar, Atash, or Azar is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire". It is considered to be the visible presence of Ahura Mazda and his Asha through the eponymous Yazata. The rituals for purifying a fire are performed 1,128 times a year.
Yasna is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's principal act of worship. It is also the name of the primary liturgical collection of Avesta texts, recited during that yasna ceremony.
In Zoroastrianism, the Avestan: 𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬱𐬀 𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬧𐬙𐬀, romanized: aməša spəṇta 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'.
Daeva is an Avestan language term for a particular sort of 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 daevas are divinities that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws are personifications of every imaginable evil.
Yazata is the Avestan-language word for a Zoroastrian concept with a wide range of meanings but generally signifying a divinity. The term literally means "worthy of worship or veneration", and is thus, in this more general sense, also applied to certain healing plants, primordial creatures, the fravashis of the dead, and to certain prayers that are themselves considered holy. The yazatas collectively are "the good powers under Ahura Mazda", who is "the greatest of the yazatas".
Sraosha is the Avestan name of the Zoroastrian yazata of "Conscience" and "Observance", which is also the literal meaning of his name.
Apas is the Avestan language term for "the waters", which, in its innumerable aggregate states, is represented by the Apas, the hypostases of the waters.
The Vendidad /ˈvendi'dæd/ or Videvdat is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the Vendidad is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual.
Asha is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right(eousness)', 'order' and 'right working'. For other connotations, see meaning below. It is of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, aṣ̌a/arta represents what has been called "the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism". The opposite of Avestan aṣ̌a is 𐬛𐬭𐬎𐬘 druj, "deceit, falsehood".
The airyaman ishya is Zoroastrianism's fourth of the four Gathic Avestan invocations.
Amerdad /əˈmərətət/ 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.
Haurvatat /ˈhəʊrvətət/ is the Avestan language word for the Zoroastrian concept of "wholeness" or "perfection." In post-Gathic Zoroastrianism, Haurvatat was the Amesha Spenta associated with water, prosperity, and health.
The Yasna Haptanghaiti, Avestan for "Worship in Seven Chapters," is a set of seven hymns within the greater Yasna collection, that is, within the primary liturgical texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta. Chapter and verse pointers are to Yasna 35-41. The name is from Yasna 42, a Younger Avestan text that follows the seven chapters.
In the Avesta, airyaman is both an Avestan language common noun as well as the proper name of a Zoroastrian divinity.
A barsom is a ritual implement used by Zoroastrian priests to solemnize certain sacred ceremonies.
An Atash Behram is the highest grade of a fire that can be placed in a Zoroastrian fire temple as an eternal flame, the other two lower graded fires are Atash Adaran and below Adaran is the Atash Dadgah- these three grades signify the degree of reverence and dignity these are held in. The establishment and consecration of the Atash Behram fire is the most elaborate of all the grades of fire. It involves the gathering of 16 different types of fire, including lightning, fire from a cremation pyre, fire from trades where a furnace is operated, and fires from the hearths as is also the case for the Atash Adaran. Each of the 16 fires is then subject to a purification ritual before it joins the others. A large team of priests are required for the purification and consecration ceremonies, which can take up to a year to complete.
This is an alphabetical list of topics related to Zoroastrianism. This list is not complete, please add more to it as needed.
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