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

Fravashi-Work
Initiation into Magic

In each person lives a core essence called the fravashi. It is an important part of magical work and initiation to discover the characteristics of this entirely individual entity—normally a mystery to the average person—and to become increasingly transformed by its ideal form. The first stage in this voyage of rediscovery involves rigorous self-analysis. Make notes concerning what you think are your strongest and most positive character traits, then identify your weaknesses or negative traits. It may ultimately be discovered that not all of what you now think of as strengths are actually positive, and by the same token not all of what you at first perceive as negative traits are actually weaknesses. However, bringing these ideas out according to this model will begin to make these features known to your conscious mind. Your fravashi is what it is and always has been. It is your work to uncover its mystery and realize it.

The next phase of discovery is to classify the nature of your fravashi with respect to the mysteries of the Mazdan calendar. This is done by analyzing yourself according to the meaning of your birthday.^*4 Now consult the tables found in appendix E and synthesize the esoteric meanings of the day of your birth with the month. By combining them you will get a basic understanding of your esoteric core. In this computation it is important to know that the Mazdan day begins at sunrise, not at midnight. So if you were born at 3:00 a.m. on conventional October 29, your Mazdan birthday would actually be October 28 (Âbân Mâh), as the sun had not yet risen on October 29.

The purpose and direction of the exercise of gaining an understanding of your core esoteric personality is to acquire knowledge of your angelic nature—your divine self—expressed by your unique fravashi. Knowledge of this entity should be built up over time; it is your ideal self. It does not represent an ideal made up of daydreams and fantasies—often instilled in you by negative forces—but rather one that is real and positive. It is toward this individual spark of the divine that the magician seeks to evolve. It is who you truly are, and so it is this, which you seek to become. Just as the daevas try to hide the true nature of divinity from us, they also attempt to obscure our own individual fravashis.

Record all of your work regarding the discovery of your innermost self as it will become increasingly valuable as your initiation progresses.