Zurvanism: A Median Legacy

Before the existence of Earth or Heavens, the great and ultimate being Zurvan (boundless time) existed alone. Wanting a son, he offered sacrifice for a thousand years. The offering of sacrifice does not imply that he was praying to any other being. After a thousand years, however, he began to doubt the fulfillment of his desire. He doubted the power of sacrifice to produce a son. At the moment of his doubt twins were conceived within himself. The twins were Ormazd, the fulfillment of his desire, and Ahriman, the personification of his doubt.

The implications drawn from this myth were mainly of a philosophical nature and because of this, it has been plausibly argued that Zurvanism was mainly the religion of the intelligentsia. One of the developments of the belief in Zurvan was the idea of a materialistic evolution of the universe. The idea was that the creation of the universe was not an act of God but an evolutionary development of formless primeval matter; infinite Time and Space (Zurvan) into all forms. The infinite thus becomes finite.

This process can, of course, stand without belief in a creator and it seems that with this evolutionary idea went a denial of heaven, hell and all future rewards or punishments. In short, this attribution of the evolution of the world from the primal Time/Space, Zurvan, was based on a thoroughly materialistic interpretation of the universe, fundamentally alien to the orthodox Zoroastrian belief in a creator, a life after death and a stress on rewards or punishments.

The evolution of the world from Time was taken by some to imply that the world was bounded and controlled by the heavenly sphere. In terms of astrological myth this meant that the fate of the individual was pre-determined by the cosmic battle between the twelve signs of the zodiac, representing the forces of good, and the seven planets which oppress creation by ruling over its fate.

This fatalism exerted quite a degree of influence in Persian thought. It not only entered some Zoroastrian writings, but also appears in some passages of the vast epic, the Shah name. The poet recounts the questioning of one Zal by the Magian hierarchy. As a test of his religious knowledge he has to interpret a set of riddles. One such is about a man who;

"with a great sharp strides insolently towards the meadow, full of greenery and streams. Moist and dry he mows down, and if thou make supplication he will not hear thee."

The interpretation of this riddle is that the man with the scythe is Time, and we are the grass. All are treated alike by the mower, no amount is taken of youth or old age, all in his path are cut down. The nature of the world is such that if it were not for death in the world there would be no birth either.