YazataA Yazad is a 'being worthy of worship' - a god. We use the term to refer to the demigods - who are partial aspects of the comprehensive creative and right-ordering being that is Ashura-Mazda the Wise Lord. Unlike Aramazda the demigods are imagined in human form for easier comprehension and because their spirits can be seen in the human personality.Currently we recommend these ten yazads for worship by Mazdaic Mithraists. The ten yazads are divided into two groups - the more senior group of three yazads called the Triyazata and the junior group of seven known as the Heptayazata. TriyazataMithras is the demigod of social order. He is the power that connects people to each other in the right way and produces the good social order. Mithras is regarded as the righteous leader of the junior yazata. He is like the crown prince of the Yazata family.Chrestus is the demigod of service, of being good and useful to others. He is concerned to uphold the individual dignity of all, and is willing to sacrifice himself so that others can escape the full consequences of their actions. Chrestus is regarded as younger brother to Mithras. Anhita is the natural goddess of life. She represents the automatic unconscious processes that give birth to life and nurture and protect it. We see her acting as 'Mother Nature' and also acting through the human parent. We can imagine the three as part of the royal family: Mithras is the first-born prince who becomes king. Mithras sees the world as a whole - it is his kingdom and he takes responsibility for its happy progress - that all its parts work in harmony. Chrestus is the younger brother of Mithras. He doesn't have his responsibility and can devote his time to those who are in most need, those individuals who are falling through the cracks in the system. Anhita is mother to Mithras and Chrestus by the divine Agathon the Good. She is mother as she comes first and Mithras and Chrestus are born from her. She can also be considered a working partner to Mithras as she provides what comes from instinct and organically, while Mithras provides what comes from the special qualities of the human mind, and the work of each has an impact on the work of the other. However Mithras is also paired with Hestia , the latter being concerned for the good order of the home and the former the good order of the world as a whole. HeptayazataVatis is a demigod of heightened energy who can rise above existing patterns and create new ones. He has especial sensitivity and ability to see the underlying workings of things. He is the seer , the priest and healer. He is the bringer of music and dance.Hestia is the yazad of the hearth and home. She is the home-maker goddess. She is responsible for the happy functioning of the individual household and the wider 'homes' of the community , city and nation. She has a maiden daughter Vesta who has the role of tending the home-fire. Percus is the yazad of disruptive force. He strikes the world, creating change, upsetting existing patterns and breaking through barriers. He can act for good, being an agent of challenge that stimulates life to grow, and dissolving structures that restrict or do harm. He can also act for bad, undermining good patterns and bringing death. Friya is the yazad of love and desire. Like Percus she has a wild heart and represents the basic desires and drives that animate life. Didascus is the yazad of teaching. He is the bringer of intellectual, emotional and physical development. Harva is the female yazad of healing. Faber is the yazad of manufacture. He is the maker-god. He is the craftsman who crafts the material of the world into new designs. Notes: Some of the yazads can be considered to be in male/female pairs - i.e Mithras+Hestia, Percus+Friya, Didascus+Harva. Anhita is considered the mother of Mithras and Chrestus by Agathon. NB This is a somewhat new and experimental scheme so there is room for argument for instance as to whether the right seven demigods have been included in the heptayazata and whether the names given here are the best ones. Marcus Zartianus, November 4021/2021 |