Zoroastrianism

Painted clay and alabaster head of a Zoroastrian priest wearing a distinctive Bactrian-style headdress, Takhti-Sangin, Tajikistan, Greco-Bactrian kingdom, 3rd–2nd century BCE

Zoroastrianism or Mazdayasna is one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions. It is a multi-tendency faith centered on a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate conquest of evil with theological elements of henotheism, monotheism/monism, and polytheism. 

Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian-speaking spiritual leader Zoroaster (also known as Zarathushtra),it exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord), as its supreme being.

Major features of Zoroastrianism, such as messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell, and free will may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including Second Temple Judaism, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy, Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and Buddhism.

With possible roots dating back to the second millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism enters recorded history in the 5th century BCE.

Along with a Mithraic Median prototype and a Zurvanist Sassanid successor, it served as the state religion of the ancient Iranian empires for more than a millennium, from around 600 BCE to 650 CE. Zoroastrianism declined from the 7th century onwards following the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633–654.Recent estimates place the current number of Zoroastrians at around 110,000–120,000, with most living in India and in Iran; their number has been thought to be declining.

The most important texts of the religion are those of the Avesta, which includes as central the writings of Zoroaster known as the Gathas, enigmatic ritual poems that define the religion's precepts, which is within Yasna, the main worship service of modern Zoroastrianism. The religious philosophy of Zoroaster divided the early Iranian gods of the Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition into ahuras and daevas, the latter of which were not considered worthy of worship. Zoroaster proclaimed that Ahura Mazda was the supreme creator, the creative and sustaining force of the universe through Asha,and that human beings are given a right of choice between supporting Ahura Mazda or not, making them responsible for their choices. Though Ahura Mazda has no equal contesting force, Angra Mainyu (destructive spirit/mentality), whose forces are born from Aka Manah (evil thought), is considered the main adversarial force of the religion, standing against Spenta Mainyu (creative spirit/mentality). Middle Persian literature developed further Angra Mainyu into Ahriman and advancing him to be the direct adversary to Ahura Mazda.^[

Asha (truth, cosmic order), the life force that originates from Ahura Mazda, stands in opposition to Druj (falsehood, deceit) and Ahura Mazda is considered to be all-good with no evil emanating from the deity.^[Ahura Mazda works in gētīg (the visible material realm) and mēnōg (the invisible spiritual and mental realm) through the seven (six when excluding Spenta Mainyu) Amesha Spentas (direct emanations of Ahura Mazda) and the host of other Yazatas (literally meaning "worthy of worship"), who all worship Ahura Mazda in the Avesta and other texts and who Ahura Mazda requests worship towards in the same texts.

Cagliostro (Master Magician of Fraud) and Lorenza

The most flagrant and flamboyant charlatan of the 18th Century was a self-styled magician named Cagliostro (1743-1795).

Born Joseph Balsamo in Sicily of poor parents, this uneducated peasant boy rose from abject poverty to fabulous riches. Many times a millionaire, Cagliostro's obsessive pursuit of fame and fortune, however, brought him only to a final destination—a dank prison cell where he died in agony.

The boy lived in the squalor of Palermo where he learned the techniques of pickpocketing and burglary. An unaccountable curiosity led him to read. He studied mysticism, ancient cults, and supernatural powers. To make his fortune, he decided to become an alchemist. Alchemy was then a process of treating common metals with chemicals that would, it was claimed, change them into silver or gold.

By the time he was seventeen, Balsamo had, through trickery and guile, gained a considerable reputation as a successful alchemist and medium. He swindled considerable gold from a goldsmith and fled to Messina where he adopted the title of Count Alessandro di Cagliostro.

With his stolen gold, Cagliostro toured Africa and Asia. In Egypt, he studied the pyramids and became knowledgeable in the history of secret sects and their rites. From this, he organized a loose brotherhood, which he labeled Egyptian Masonry. At age twenty-three, Cagliostro sailed to the Mediterranean island of Malta where he met the powerful Pinto, grand master of the Order of the Knights of Malta, an organization that stemmed from the crusaders of 800 years earlier and was now a Masonic sect of great political influence.

Cagliostro's wife, Lorenza, an inventive partner in his confidence games; they were tried, convicted and imprisoned by the Inquisition. (image from the Jay Robert Nash Collection)

Pinto was impressed with the erudite and cunning Cagliostro, providing him with considerable funds with which to travel to Italy as a sort of Masonic spy in high places, sending back information to his mentor in Malta. In southern Italy, Cagliostro established a lavish resort, which was little more than a gambling casino. He traveled for some time, meeting the hypnotist, Franz Anton Mesmer, creator of mesmerism, and learned how to hypnotize even the most sophisticated person. (Mesmer, a charlatan of sorts himself, later denounced Cagliostro as a fraud, a clear-cut case of the pot calling the kettle black.).

Queen Marie Antoinette of France, who welcomed Cagliostro to her court, until he was suspected of masterminding the "Affair of the Necklace." (image from the Jay Robert Nash Collection)

In Rome, Cagliostro met a beautiful young girl, Lorenza Feliciani. They married and she joined him in his fabulous confidence swindles. Establishing themselves in various Italian cities as nobles and renting huge villas, Cagliostro and his wife cultivated the company of aristocrats and held séances and demonstrations of his magical alchemy, where he supposedly changed stones into rare gems and rope into strands of priceless silk. These "miracles," of course, were nothing more than the magic tricks Cagliostro had perfected over the years.

All during his travels through southern Europe, Cagliostro continued to establish branches of his own sect of Egyptian Masonry and these naive groups regularly sent him money to establish new chapters. 

His ego bloated by his own impossible claims, Cagliostro insisted that he could read into the future, perform acts of astounding wizardry, such as bringing forth spirits. Cagliostro also claimed that he could heal all manner of illnesses by laying his hands upon sick people and by pronouncing secret oaths. Doubters were fearful of denouncing his frauds, however, since they believed he might bring upon them death-enveloping curses. "Remember," Cagliostro was fond of saying, "I can afflict as well as heal!"

Enormous amounts of money began to flow into Cagliostro's coffers, gifts, donations, and outright payments from the nobility for his cures, his séances, his advice on matters of health, hygiene, and even sex. He became the highest-paid oracle on earth. Coupled to this princely income were great gluts of cash he received from the dozens of Masonic sects he had established in Italy, Greece, Spain, and France. 

He became a court favorite of King Louis XVI and his tempestuous, beautiful queen, Marie Antoinette. In 1785, however, the powerful Cagliostro was undone in the notorious Affair of the Diamond Necklace, a colossal swindle that, ironically, had nothing to do with Cagliostro.

The Count of Saint Germain (1712-1784): The Immortal alchemist

The Comte de Saint Germain  was a European courtier, with an interest in science and the arts. He achieved prominence in European high society of the mid-1700s. In order to deflect inquiries as to his origins, he would invent fantasies, such as that he was 500 years old, leadingVoltaire to sarcastically dub him "The Wonderman"

St Germain appeared in the French court in around 1748. In 1749 he was employed by Louis XV for diplomatic missions.

A mime and English comedian known as Mi'Lord Gower impersonated St-Germain in Paris salons. His stories were wilder than the real Count's — he had advised Jesus, for example. Inevitably, hearsay of his routine got confused with the original.

He predicted Marie-Antoinette's death.

Some of the St. Germain's most important work was done after 1784. 

This fact is brought out in the Souvenirs de Marie-Antoinette, written by one of her ladies-in-waiting, the Countess d'Adhémar. This diary was started in 1760 and ended in 1821, one year before the death of the Countess, and a large part of it is concerned with St. Germain's efforts to avert the horrors of the French Revolution.

Early one Sunday morning in 1788 the Countess was surprised to receive a visit from the Count de St. Germain, whom she had not seen in several years. He warned her that a giant conspiracy was under foot, in which the Encyclopaedists would use the Duc de Chartres in an effort to overthrow the monarchy, and asked her to take him to the Queen. When Madame d'Adhémar reported the conversation to Marie-Antoinette, the Queen confessed that she also had received another communication from this mysterious stranger who had protected her with warnings from the day of her arrival in France. 

On the following day St. Germain was admitted into the private apartments of the Queen. "Madame," he said to her, "for twenty years I was on intimate terms with the late King, who deigned to listen to me with kindness. He made use of my poor abilities on several occasions, and I do not think he regretted giving me his confidence." 

After warning her of the serious condition of France, he asked her to communicate his message to the King and to request the King not to consult with Maurepas. But the King ignored the warning, and went directly to Maurepas, who immediately called upon Madame d'Adhémar. In the midst of the conversation St. Germain appeared. He confronted Maurepas with his treachery and said to him: "In opposing yourself to my seeing the monarch, you are losing the monarchy, for I have but a limited time to give to France. This time over, I shall not be seen here again, until after three successive generations have gone down to the grave,"

The second warning from St. Germain came on July 14, 1789, when the Queen was saying farewell to the Duchesse de Polignac. 

She opened the letter and read: "My words have fallen on your ears in vain, and you have reached the period of which I informed you. All the Polignacs and their friends are doomed to death. The Comte d'Artois will perish."

MORE:

The count of St Germain : the immortal alchemist: http://www.ghostwoods.com/2009/10/the-comte-de-saint-germain-726/

Madame de Guéméné (1743 – 1807): Marie-Antoinette's friend in touch with ghosts and spirits

Victoire de Rohan, Princess of Guéméné  was a French aristocrat who was the governess of the children of Louis XVI of France . She is known better as Madame de Guéméné. 

Madame de Guéméné also was Marie-Antoinette's friend. 

She received many people in her salon and they gamble till mornings. 

She was a strange lady with interests in spirits and ghosts. She said she was in touch with spirits through the souls of her dogs. 

She sometimes looked at her dogs, stopped talking and fell into a kind of transe.