Amschaspand

The Amschaspand (Avestisch: Ameša Spenta) are the six immortal wise men in the religion of Zarathustra, the seven supreme spirits in the realm of light, who stand by Ahura Mazda in the battle against Ahriman. They are, according to the understanding of some adherents of Zarathustra, pure allegories, and often, especially the last two, are called as goods, which is asked to be given by the Ahura Mazd

In the hymns of Zarathustra, the Gathas, they appear as the essential qualities of Ahura Mazda. In the course of later epochs an increasing personification of these qualities occurred, so that they finally appeared as divinities. In Yasna 45.4 Zarathustra appears as the "father" of Ameša Spenta.

They are partly reproduced with the following terms: virtue, truthfulness, dominion or possession, good sentiment, humility or wisdom, maturity, health and longevity or immortality

This is followed by the six Ameša Spenta, which are subordinate to Ahura Mazda in the Avesta, partly Spenta Mainyu and partly Sraoša. The first is the Avestian, the second the Neupersian, and the third a German translation.

The six Ameša Spentas refer to six months of the year in the Iranian calendar today. Edit source text Edit source text Weblinks Edit sourcetext

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