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

A Word on Demonology
Theories of Mazdan Magic

Many readers of this book might be wondering why the idea of magic involving the demons of the Mazdan tradition is not dealt with in this book. This curiosity stems from the fact that in the West the use of demons in magic is fairly common. In the Abrahamic religions the entity seen as the divinity or godhead is commonly called Jehovah, and he is more or less opposed by the Adversary (this is the literal meaning of the name Satan). Because of the nature of Jehovah in Hebrew mythology (see the Book of Genesis) as an entity who jealously guards the secrets of knowledge and eternal life from Mankind, people living in cultures dominated by this myth naturally rebel against this conception of God and take the side of his rebellious Adversary (and the minions of the Adversary) in the name of the acquisition of knowledge and eternal life. God is seen as an oppressor and his Opponent as a liberator. Given this model, the use of demons in magic in the West is understandable. Such magicians are not pursuing evil as such but rather the goals of personal power and self-deification. Because the Mazdan tradition is logical and philosophically grounded, this model is impossible in a Mazdan context. Ahura Mazda wants Man to be powerful, immortal, and to attain cosmic knowledge—this is why Man was created. No one in his right mind would rebel against Ahura Mazda. The forces that oppose Ahura Mazda and the yazatas are Angra Mainyu and the daevas. They are manifestations of the forces of ignorance, stupidity, violence, anger, sickness, and poverty. That the effects of these daevic qualities are felt in the world is undeniable. Mazdans identify them for what they are and set out to combat them in their own lives and in the larger environment. One of the techniques for combating these forces is magic—the craft of practical applied philosophy of the magavan. Each moment of individual happiness, empowerment, and enlightenment is a death blow to the daevas. Zarathustra was known as the Laughing Prophet, and nothing destroys a daeva quicker than a laugh.