Mazdean

He often appealed to ancient Zoroastrian motifs, terminology and mythical figures, even Mazdean theology, e.g., in his

Suhrawardi Marcotte, Roxanne 2007

But certain it is that at the beginning of our era certain Mazdean conceptions had already spread outside of Asia.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont

But the Mazdean conception must have combined, at an early date, with the old Semitic idea that Baal was the lord and master of his votaries (_supra_, p. 94 ff.).

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont

The learned doctrines of the Babylonians had also imposed themselves upon the Persian mysteries of Mithra which considered time identified with heaven as the supreme cause, and deified the stars; but they had superimposed themselves upon the ancient Mazdean creed without destroying it.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont

However, although resistance to sensuality is laudable and although the ideal of perfection of this Mazdean sect inclined towards the asceticism to which the Manichean conception of virtue led, yet good does not consist exclusively in abnegation and self-control, but also in action.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont

All these ideas and institutions are so much in accord with what we know of Mazdean dualism, in which the entire life was conceived as a struggle against the malevolent spirits; they are so inseparable from the history even of Mithraism, which always was a soldiers 'religion, that we cannot doubt they belonged to it before its appearance in the Occident.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont

The absence of direct testimony on the development of Mazdean sects during the last three centuries before our era prevents us from gaining exact knowledge of the Parseeism of Asia Minor.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont

When the progressive march of the Romans toward the Euphrates enabled them to investigate the sacred trust transmitted by Persia to the magi of Asia Minor, and when they became acquainted with the Mazdean beliefs which had matured in the seclusion of the Anatolian mountains, they adopted them with enthusiasm.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont

An irresistible invasion of Semitic and Mazdean conceptions nearly succeeded in permanently overwhelming the Occidental spirit.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont

Mazdean dualism continued to manifest itself, during the entire Middle Ages in the ceremonies of the black mass and the worshiping of Satan, until the dawn of the modern era.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont