Original Magic: The Rituals and Initiations of the Persian Magi - Stephen E. Flowers Ph.D. 2017

The Kêshvars
Theories of Mazdan Magic

In the cosmological book called the Bundahishn (XI), we read the following about the keshvars.

1. On the nature of the earth it says in revelation that there are thirty and three kinds of land.

2. On the day when Tishtar produced rain, when its seas rose therefrom, the whole place half taken up by water, was converted into seven portions; this portion (Khvanîras), as much as one half, is in the middle and six portions are around; those six portions are together as much as Khvanîras.

3. The name keshvar (“zone” or “region”) is also applied to them, and they existed side by side; as on the east side of this portion is the Saah region, on the west is the Arzah region; the two portions on the south side are the Fradadafsh and Vîdadafsh regions, the two portions on the north side are the Vôrûbarsht and Vôrûgarsht regions, and that in the middle is Khvanîras.

4. And Khvanîrashas the sea, for one part of the wide-formed ocean wound about around it; and from Vôrûbarsht and Vôrûgarsht a lofty mountain grew up; so that it is not possible for any one to go from region to region except with the permission of the yazatas.¹

The names of the keshvars really only indicate their positions: east, west, southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest. The Earth and the terrestrial world are envisioned as being in the middle and are seen as a place of high value, a zone where heroic action is possible, and from there conveyed to the other regions.

On one mythic level the keshvars, “lands” or “zones,” are seen as quasi-locations in the terrestrial realm; but clearly they constitute a cosmic scheme beyond what we normally think of as the material planet or universe. Figure 3.1 (p. 52) has to be imagined in three dimensions. There is a south—north vertical axis, with the south above and north below. This axis is crossed by an east-west horizontal one: the keshvars on the cross-quarters—southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest—are to be envisioned as if they are on a disk on a slant and tilt. All of this is within the environs of the planet Earth and really portrays a system of dimensions beyond what we usually think of as “space,” yet the mythic paradigm makes use of spatial symbolism for its expression. Beyond this realm are the spheres of the planets and beyond them the starry vault of heaven. This image is just one way of trying to convey the idea that these realms really exist in other dimensions of space/time. Knowledge concerning this esoteric doctrine is derived from the Manual of Khshnoom. It is noteworthy that this model of the universe is in so many ways similar to the Yggdrasill model drawn from the Nordic world. It is likely that they share a common root.

Conceptually, one of the most difficult things to visualize is that the South Pole is the way up and the North Pole is the way down. This is because we in the Northern Hemisphere have come to orient our maps to the North Pole. Going back into prehistory, however, the north must have been considered the downward path as well, because our Germanic word north is etymologically connected to the concept of “under,” and also “leftward.” This also indicates the most ancient orientation was indeed to the east, with the north on the left and the south on the right.²

In general here we have the image of a supernal realm, “beyond the stars,” under which is the vault of the starry sky, below which is the solar system of planets in a series of concentric circles. Our immediate world is complex with a series of “lands,” keshvars, above and surrounding the terrestrial realm.

Cosmology is important to practicing magicians, because it represents a map of the realm in which they operate. One needs to know where one stands in order to map development and goals at the highest levels. The single most important aspect of cosmology for the system of magic taught in this book is that of astrology.

The sphere of the starry sky is divided into 360 segments or degrees, divided into twelve sets or “houses” of 30 degrees each. These originally corresponded to the months of the Avestan calendar, which is the most potent system of time-reckoning for magicians. In this calendar the months correspond as closely as possible with the passage of the sun though the zodiacal signs. Days are strategically added to certain months to keep the beginning of the months in sync with the solar transitions. The big picture is one of the magician surrounded by a great cosmic circle in the vault of heaven marked by 360 divisions each corresponding to a yazata with whom the individual makes a link in order to effect acts of magic.

In the practice of magic, these day-degree correspondences are important for the timing of magical acts relating to the qualities of the days ruled by certain yazatas, as well as for the systematic training involved in the process of magical initiation during the Twelve-Month Curriculum.