January 6

Today is the twelfth day of Christmas. It is also the day that Christmas was originally celebrated before it became a Roman Holiday. Traditionally January Sixth is the day the three wise men arrived to pay homage to the Christ child. These wise men were from the Zoroastrian religion which was the traditional religion of the Persian Empire. Zoroaster lived around 1000 B.C. and was widely followed until Mohammed and his followers absolutely destroyed the culture and killed all the adherents. A few people were able to escape to India where they are known today as the Parsis. Most of the original texts were also destroyed and are now lost to history. Zoroaster was a learned and educated man that preached tolerance, wisdom, and personal responsibility. He is also know as Zarathustra and Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a famous book about him called "Thus Spake Zarathustra."  Merry Christmas... Happy New Year... Good Luck and have a nice day.


Curious footnote:
Satan was a deity in the Zoroasterian religion and is mentioned by name in surviving fragments of the Zend Avesta (Holy Scriptures of Zoroastrianism). Apparently, Satan was introduced into Judiasm during the Persian Exile. This was the same time that the concepts of life after death, the soul, Heaven, and Hell were introduced into Judiasm from Zoroastrianism. It is amusing to think that the deity Satan is in some ways "more powerful" than any "God" because he exists as the same personality in several entirely different religions.


copyright (c) 2020
William Schaeffer