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

The Twelve-Month Curriculum
Initiation into Magic

These are the general guidelines for the work to be completed in each month of the Twelve-Month Curriculum of initiation into Mazdan magic. Ideally, you would start on Nowruz (New Year) on the Spring Equinox and conclude during the five-day period just before the next New Year. But this timing is not necessary and should not be used as a way to avoid beginning the work as soon as is feasible.

Below suggestions are made about what to do during each of the twelve months of work and study. You should do inner work and also study about the Mazdan way and the cultural history of Iran, the cradle of Zarathustran culture. Readings are geared so that you will have a good amount of context and knowledge about the great truths before being exposed to random facts and things of lesser importance to understanding. A study of the Gathas of Zarathustra is important. They should be read and studied or meditated upon during the first nine months of the curriculum. These are most conveniently collected in The Hymns of Zarathustra by Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin. Meditate on at least two of these Gathic texts per month.

The Twelve-Month Curriculum makes use of the structure of the Avestan calendar to provide a schedule of twelve thirty-day cycles of invocations of the yazatas (angels and archangels). During this time students will develop powers of memory, meditation, concentration, visualization, and thought control. The mechanics of ritual will be mastered. Furthermore, they will work on ethical training: truth-telling, kindness, and care for all of the good creations with conscious awareness of thoughts, words, and actions on a constant basis. Awaken and remember your self.

Month One

Follow the standard seven-point daily working plan. Do it at least once a day, more if you feel the need. Read the sîrôzah for the day in English and begin to memorize them. Mainly read and think about the meaning of the yazata to whom the day is dedicated. Learn to recite the Ashem Vohu in Avestan by heart. Engage in silent meditation for five to ten minutes a day while gazing at the open flame. As we have seen in the Gathas (43:15), this practice has been a part of the Mazdan way for almost four thousand years. Read at least two books from the reading list.

Month Two

Again conduct the normal daily working schedule. Memorize the daily sîrôzah in English. Memorize the Ahunvar (“Yatha ahu . . .”) in Avestan. Extend the silent meditation on the open flame to twenty minutes. Read three more books on the reading list.

Month Three

Daily routine remains unaltered. Continue to memorize formulas of the second month. Learn to recite the days of the month and realize the meaning of each day. Make notes concerning all the Avestan/Pahlavi formulas necessary for the performance of the âfrînigân ceremony and begin to memorize these. Acquire and use a bell or ringing bowl to ring vigorously at the outset of your daily exercises. Read two more books on the reading list.

By the end of this month, you should be able to perform the daily ritual in the following format.

1. Preparation

Gather everything you need for the ritual: any written material you need to read from, a fire vehicle (candle, wood, etc.), and a mode of lighting the fire are all that you really need.

2. Opening

As you light the fire (candle), chant “yazdân ni yâd ” until the flame is well lit, then say “nemase te atarsh Mazdao.” Now recite the Ashem Vohu three times and the Ahunvar three times.

3. Sîrôzah-Invocation

Recite or read the sîrôzah invocation in English and in Avestan. The Avestan can be repeated three times.

4. Silent Meditation

Meditate and contemplate Ahura Mazda or the Amesha Spenta or yazata of the month.

5. Memory Work

Recite from memory a selection of manthras you are working on or have mastered as practice.

6. Closing

Recite the Ashem Vohu three times, the Ahunvar three times, and then the concluding words “atha jamyât yatha afrînâmî.”

7. Recording

Record your results as usual.

This general format of work can be used as a ritual of meditational magical work at any time. The default invocation is that of Ahura Mazda; that is, the invocation of the first day of any month.

Month Four

Continue with the basic curriculum. Work on perfecting the memorizations of the sîrôzah-manthras and other basic ritual utterances necessary for the performance of the fire ritual and the yasna. When the time to use them in special ceremonies comes, you want these to be second nature. Begin to meditate daily on the construction of the cosmos, its origins, and development. Visualize the origin of the order of the world, its violation by Angra Mainyu, and the counterattack by the forces of asha. Visualize the various keshvars of the cosmos as described in chapter 3, as well as figure 3.2, and the place of the individual magician within them. Begin the reading and study the Bundahishn. Read at least one other book from the reading list. Begin to obtain the ritual tools (âlât) necessary for more advanced ceremonial.

Month Five

Carry on with the monthly curriculum of the sîrôzah. If you have not already done so, expand your schedule of activity to at least twice a day. Continue with meditations on the order of the world and finish any as yet undone memorization work. Read at least two additional books from the reading list.

Month Six

Now is the time to undertake the meditative study of the structure and substance of the body-soul complex. Meditate on the various parts of the body-soul complex as shown in figure 3.2 and visualize the reality of these states of being within your soul and body. Additionally, begin the serious work of contemplating your own fravashi. This work is basically outlined later in this chapter under the heading Fravashi-Work. This kind of work probably should not be engaged in during your daily work with the sîrôzah, but instead it is something to be done over the course of the day in an informal way. This is a process of self-analysis and assessment of one’s potentials. This kind of work is essential to the hope of attaining the goal of ushta as a part of a magical curriculum. Otherwise continue with the daily curriculum and read at least two additional books from the reading list.

Month Seven

At this point in your work it is time to engage in meditations on the energy centers in the body/soul known as “wheels,” or charkhs. Refer back to the study of these presented in chapter 3 and begin a daily meditation on these centers, visualized as balls of light in the color indicated in figure 3.3. Sing the name of the Amesha Spenta from the first wheel at the base of the spine to the seventh at the crown. As you begin this work, concentrate on the first day on the first wheel, Asha, only. Only after you have meditated on this center and felt that it is manifest in your body/soul do you add the second wheel, and so on, until you reach the crown. This embodied meditation emphasizes the fact that the Mazdan tradition of magic is one rooted in the truth of the nobility of the physical realm and the sacred link between the spiritual and physical. Read at least two more books from the reading list.

Month Eight

Daily work continues, as it probably will for the rest of your life, if you have come to absorb the power of the manthras connected to the daily invocations. Continue to practice with the exercises of the charkhs. The acquisitions of ritual equipment you will need for the performance of your initiatory ritual should be completed during this time. You should bring your work with the idea of the fravashi to some sort of preliminary conclusion as to the nature of your being as you are and as you will yourself to become. Acquire the material you need for the self-initiation ritual outlined in chapter 5. Read at least two additional books from the reading list.

Month Nine

It is during this month that you should undertake your self-initiation ritual. This is outlined in chapter 5 of this book. This ritual does not confer any sort of mastery on the initiate; it is an affirmation of intent, seriousness of purpose, and dedication to certain philosophical principles. It is after the completion of this rite that full magical rituals can be undertaken with the greatest assurance of effectiveness. The magician should continue with daily work, but this will increasingly assume the tenor of daily magical work rather than “training.” The initiatory rite of self-dedication can be postponed until you feel you are ready, up to the twelfth month of the curriculum.

It is now that the student should undertake the study of translations of Avestan and Pahlavi texts. Begin with the Bundahishn. There is a Greater (or Iranian) Bundahishn and a Lesser (or Indian) Bundahishn.

Month Ten

With the tenth month a new phase can begin wherein experimentation with various ritual formats becomes possible. These are outlined in chapter 5. The student is also obviously free to explore the vast array of ritual types practiced by Mazdans and Zoroastrians throughout time. The best guide to these rites is to be found in J. J. Modi’s The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Parsees.²

Continue with the general program of reading and education in Mazdan culture and history. Now is the time to begin to read the Avesta in translation. Concentrate on the Gathas of Zarathustra. These texts almost defy translation, so do not necessarily rely on any one translation of them. Meditation on these texts should be made a formal part of your work; as a better understanding of them is gained, changes are made in individual consciousness.

Month Eleven

In this month concentrate on the practice of silent meditation. This can be done either with or without gazing into Âtar. If there is no fire, do the meditation with closed eyes and allow yourself to be illuminated from within. Build up to being able to comfortably mediate for extended periods of time, up to an hour. (Set a timer to alert yourself to the elapsed time.) At first allow thoughts to rise and fall in your mind. Never try to repress them in a forceful way. In silence you will find your way back to the source of all consciousness, Lord Wisdom. As your workings are guided by this consciousness, you will grow ever more toward the goal of ushta—happiness.

Go on with the reading and educating yourself on the history and culture of ancient Iran and the Indo-Europeans. The Internet is a treasure trove of information for the student of Mazdan magic. A search of the word Zoroastrian in combination with any topic will yield a mountain of useful information. The only warning is that without a solid background in the fundamentals the student can get lost in the ocean of data. Minor points of obscure lore can be mistaken for something essential, and one can lose a sense of developmental balance.

Continue to read the Avesta in translation. Concentrate on the Yasnas and Yashts, which reintroduce the tradition of many of the old gods and goddesses as yazatas.

Month Twelve

If you have faithfully followed this curriculum to the twelfth month I am sure you will know what to do for yourself from this point forward. If, however, you feel you have not followed the curriculum faithfully enough, you can always begin again and deepen your basic skills and abilities until the transformation takes place within you. This inner awakening is something that is experienced differently by each individual. It is the moment when you have opened the channel of communication between your soul and your fravashi, or “holy guardian angel.”

The twelfth month is the time to undertake the high magical ritual in chapter 5 on a regular basis until the mechanics have been mastered and the operation can be performed in full concentration. Such work can begin as early as the tenth month with some assurance of success, but some students may wait until this time to finish this kind of work. By mastering the mechanics of the high ritual format, certain transformations will occur that cannot occur any other way.