Pagan Religions - Who Is ANGRA MAINYU?

 

 

Zoroastrianism's wicked spirit or deity.

• Angra Mainyu is another name for Ahriman. 

• The supreme god Ahura Mazda is always at battle with the Zoroastrian divinity ANGRA MAINYU.
• He personifies the dark aspect of divinity in the Zoroastrianism and is also proclaimed as the overarching "Spirit of Evil".
• Six archdemons are normally present when Angra Mainyu appears.

Zoroastrian Dualism.

Popular culture has portrayed Zoroastrianism as the archetypal instance of extreme dualism, which introduces us to two deities: 

• Ahura Mazda, the benign deity, and Angra Mainyu, the evil deity (or Ohrmazd and Ahriman respectively, to give them their Pahlavi names).

Despite the widespread belief that there is only one ultimate god with multiple sides, including the presence of Good (Spenta Mainyu) and Evil (Angra Mainyu). 

• It is unclear from scholarly research and scriptures if these two are "self-generated" that is "self-born", or whether the "Lord of Wisdom" (Ahura Mazda), who is sometimes equated with the Good Spirit, formed them.

Ahura Mazda seems to have been above these two forces of duality. 

And both Good (Spenta Mainyu) and Evil (Angra Mainyu) identify strongly with contemporary deities of Mithra and Indra.

Looking at old Avestan texts and the Gathas, Mithra has a strong association with fire like Spenta  Mainyu.

Many of the Vedic deity Indra's role is taken from Mitra and the cult following of Indra or the Warrior like Angra Mainyu soon overshadowed and eventually eclipsed the saintly qualities of Varuna and Mitra among the proto-Indian tribes during their migrations.

Indra shares with Ahriman or Angra Mainyu or the force of evil, the quality of destroyer who slays in order to bring about the next cycle of creation.

 

~Kiran Atma

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Who is Angra Mainyu?

The wicked, destructive spirit in Zoroastrianism's dualistic theory is called Angra Mainyu (Avestan: "Destructive Spirit").

What was Angra Mainyu curse?

Being Angra Mainyu, which translates to "All the World's Evil," is a curse that has concentrated all of the world's ills on one individual.

Is  Angra mainyu all powerful?

Being a Primordial Deity, Angra Mainyu is a very powerful being. He is very strong, quick, and durable, and nothing other than a Primordial, an Outer God, or an Arcutha can damage him.

Who created Angra Mainyu?

Since Ahura Mazda created both Angra Mainyu and Spenta Mainyu, they should be seen as his respective "creative" and "destructive" emanations.

Is Angra Mainyu The Beast?

Angra Mainyu, who was born as an Evil of Humanity with the characteristic of Retribution, has the ability to transform into a Beast by manifesting from the Greater Grail and joining forces with host Sakura Matou. By the time the other half of the planet was covered in Holy Grail Mud, Grand Servants would have responded.

Who was Ahriman?

An enemy of God in the Zoroastrian faith, AHRIMAN (Avestan: Angra/Ara Mainyu; not mentioned in Old Persian) is a demon. The sparse evidence in the Gathas on this subject may perhaps be expanded by subsequent sources, although he seems to have been a creation of Zoroaster.

Who is Ahura Mazda?

Zoroastrianism's deity is Ahura Mazda (from ancient Persia, now Iran.) One of the first adherents of monotheism, Zoroaster believed that Ahura Mazda, the source of both light and darkness, was the only real deity. Darkness and evil were personified as Angra Mainyu, one of the many personified elements of Ahura Mazda.

References And Further Reading:

• Stepaniants, Marietta. “The Encounter of Zoroastrianism with Islam.” Philosophy East and West 52, no. 2 (2002): 159–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1399963.

• KREYENBROEK, PHILIP G. “On Spenta Mainyu’s Role in the Zoroastrian Cosmogony.” Bulletin of the Asia Institute 7 (1993): 97–103. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24048432.

• Fox, Douglas A. “Darkness and Light: The Zoroastrian View.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 35, no. 2 (1967): 129–37. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1460843.

• A. V. Williams Jackson. “Zoroastrianism and the Resemblances between It and Christianity.” The Biblical World 27, no. 5 (1906): 335–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3140852.

• Boyd, James W., and Donald A. Crosby. “Is Zoroastrianism Dualistic or Monotheistic?” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 47, no. 4 (1979): 557–88. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1462275.

• KRONEN, JOHN D., and SANDRA MENSSEN. “The Defensibility of Zoroastrian Dualism.” Religious Studies 46, no. 2 (2010): 185–205. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25676936.

• Silverman, Jason M. “Iranian Details in the Book of Heavenly Luminaries (1 Enoch 72–82).” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 72, no. 2 (2013): 195–208. https://doi.org/10.1086/671461.

• Scott, D. A. “Zoroastrian Traces along the Upper Amu Darya (Oxus).” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 2 (1984): 217–28. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25211708.

• HINTZE, ALMUT. “Monotheism the Zoroastrian Way.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 24, no. 2 (2014): 225–49. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43307294.

• Nichols, Andrew G. “THE IRANIAN CONCEPT AA AND GREEK VIEWS OF THE PERSIANS.” Studi Classici e Orientali 62 (2016): 61–86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26494975.