Zurvanism
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Zurvanism was a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a first principle (primordial creator deity) who engendered equal-but-opposite twins, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Zurvanism is also known as "Zurvanite Zoroastrianism", and may be contrasted with Mazdaism.
~23 min read
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Origins and background
- Evidence of the cult
- History and development
- Ascent and acceptance
- Decline and disappearance
- The "twin brother" doctrine{{anchor|twin-brother-doctrine}}
- Creation story
- Zurvan wife
- Types of Zurvanism
- Materialist Zurvanism
- Ascetic Zurvanism
- Fatalistic Zurvanism
- Mistaken identity
- Negative view of women
- The legacy of Zurvanism
- See also
- Footnotes
- References
- Further reading
Zurvanism was a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a first principle (primordial creator deity) who engendered equal-but-opposite twins, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Zurvanism is also known as "Zurvanite Zoroastrianism", and may be contrasted with Mazdaism.
In Zurvanism, Zurvan was perceived as the god of infinite time and space and also known as "one" or "alone." Zurvan was portrayed as a transcendental and neutral god without passion; one for whom there was no distinction between good and evil. The name Zurvan is a normalized rendition of the word, which in Middle Persian appears as either Zurvān, Zruvān or Zarvān. The Middle Persian name derives from Avestan (, a grammatically neuter noun).