IRAN

Ormazd, the eternally wise and good lord, and Ahriman, the ignorant lord of evil existed in the beginning. Ormazd knew of Ahriman, but Ahriman knew not of Ormazd. Ormazd began creation, and this act scared Ahriman so that he declared war on it from the beginning. Ormazd told Ahriman he need not declare war on creation, but Ahriman was suspicious and continued his conflict. Ormazd then recited a sacred verse. This startled Ahriman and he fell back into Hell, which allowed Ormazd to continue his creation for some time.

Ormazd created his Eternal Attendants, the Immortals and the Amesha Spentas, first. They are personified versions of good and morality They include Vohu Mana (good mind), Asha (truth), Sraosha (obedience), Armaiti (devotion), and twins Haurveta (integrity) and Ameritat (immortality). Together, they are called "the children of God".

Next Ormazd created the Yazatas (angels). They served as messengers and warriors who defended all things good. When Ahriman was released from Hell, he created a group to oppose Ormazd's angels These were evil angels and were inferior to Yazatas. They existed simply to make life hard for mankind.

Ormazd had both male and female aspects. To create our bodies, he was our father, and to create our souls, he was our mother. He created all living things, and since he was light, all living things needed light to survive.

Ormazd's final creations were Gayomart (the first man) and his ox. Gayomart shone like the sun and the ox shone like the moon since they came from Ormazd's hand. The two knew peace for 30 years, until Ahriman was released from Hell. As soon as he was free, he began creating disease, germs and annoyances such as flies and mosquitoes. Johi, one of Ahrimad's servants, volunteered to kill Gayomart and his ox. She was the source of prostitution, vanity, gossip and nagging, among other things, but that is not to say women in general are evil. They were a part of Ormazd's creation as well, and could possibly be more moral than men.

Johi made the ox sick, and tried at first to seduce Gayomart. As he had no sexual desire, she then made the ox become even more ill, so that it was near death. Ormazd gave the ox marijuana to make its pain go away, and it died.

Gayomart, too, became mortally ill. When he died, his body filled the earth with gold and silver. A small plant with a male and female shoot grew from his sperm, which then turned into a tree whose fruit was the 10 races of mankind. The tree split in two, the male half becoming a man called Mashya and the female half becoming his wife, Mashyane.

Ormazd loved these two people and gave them everything they needed without making them work for it. Ahriman hated them and tried to deceive and corrupt them.

The couple were unaware of evil, and began to believe it was Ahriman that had created them, and not Ormazd. Their lie was the first sin. Ormazd came to earth and told the couple that from now on they would have to work for their food, and that they would have to offer praise and sacrifices only to himself or they would have no protection at all from Ahriman and would be destroyed. He taught them how to make love so as to procreate.

Ahriman and Johi took away the couple's sexual desire for fifty years because they wanted them to flounder and die out. When the two could finally make offspring, the demons ate the children. Ormazd saved the human race by taking away some of the sweetness from the children, so that the demons would not eat them.

Ormazd loved the human race and wanted it to survive and flourish. The triumph of good is inevitable, but Ormazd needed the help of the human race to fight and defeat Ahriman.