ISM. ZEND FOLK.
Supposed Source and Relation to Freemasonry (§ 1). Establishment in America (§ 2).
Tenets of Mazdaznan (§ 8).
Outward Life and Sacred Texts (§ 4).
Attitude toward Science (§ 5).
Liturgy and Organization (§ 6).
[The Zend Folk form a sect, termed by its adherents Mazdaznan, which purports to be founded on the teachings of Zoroastrianism (see ZOROASTER, ZOROASTRIANISM)]. They explain their name Maz- ’ daznan from the [alleged] Avestan Maz-da-znan, Maz being held to mean “ great, master,” da “ to think, knowledge,” and znan, or yaznan, as “ worshipful, to be worshiped,” the consequent meaning of the compound being ‘‘ master thought” or “thought that masters.” Mazdaznan is maintained by its followers to have risen to notice in Europe and America after the return of Anquetil du Perron, in
1762, from Surat, India, where he had 1. Supposed made the first translation of the frag- Source and mentary writings of the Avesta of the
Relation Zarathushtrian religion, with the help to Free- of Dastur Darab. About eighty years masonry. after the Mohammedan invasion a
large number of Zarathushtrian fugi-
tives left Persia and settled in India, where they have since lived peacefully, having guarded the sacredness of their monotheistic faith, which had been brought from Bactria, whence, many centuries be- ‘fore, Mazdaism had been spread throughout Asia by the missionaries of Zarathushtra, who was held to have communed with Mazda on the mountain of the “holy Questions,’ where the faith which was to bear his name was revealed to him. It is further maintained by the followers of Mazdaznan that the Freemasons (q.v.), who sprang up in England at the beginning of the eighteenth century, drew most liberally from the Zarathushtrian ritual after the return of Anquetil, and they accordingly hold that freemasonry is indebted to the Zarathushtrian, or Parsee, religion for most of its mystic ceremonies, various points of striking resemblance being alleged to exist between the two systems. Among these are ablution, the acacia, the all-seeing eye, the
RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Zeisberger Zend Folk
apron, the cock, the ear of corn, the annual feast, the sacred numbers three, five, and nine, the right hand, the thirty-third degree, the white color, and the six periods.
During the first part of the nineteenth century attempts were made in Germany, France, Russia, and America to introduce Zarathushtrian teachings from England under various names, and even without special names, the result being the establishment of manifold occult schools and new-thought cults. In 1890 Dr. Otoman Zar-Adusht Hanish formed the firsts Mazdaznan Peace Center in America, giving due credit to the source of his teachings. In 1899
he organized his movement for the
2. Estab- more effectual spread of the ‘‘ message
lishment in of peace,” and established perma-
America. nent headquarters in Chicago, where
there is a magnificent temple of the cult. The Mazdaznan people throughout the country style themselves “ associates of God,” having formed a “ society of collective thought.” In Jan., 1902, their first monthly appeared under the title of Sunworshiper (now Mazdaznan), and at Christmas, 1905, a provisional tribunal was instituted for a term of four years. At Christmas, 1909, the movement was reorganized with a Tribunal of Three, a Celestial Twelve, and a Terrestrial Twelve, which constitute the Supreme Court of the Mazdaznan Association. They consider themselves merely messengers of peace, and their organization simply as a mission of peace to give to every soul, in accordance with the demands of the times, its full due and rightful portion of gratitude. The institution may be termed purely educational, and without obligations. All applications for membership must be voluntary and free from suggestion or influence. The membership is divided into three classes: associates, friends, and fellows.
Mazdaznan recognizes the Bibles of all races as inspired, and regards the Avesta as the key to all final interpretations. The teaching is monotheistic in principle and pantheistic in application. All great men and women, irrespective of nationality and creed, are regarded as incarnations of the “ will of the Lord” and of the “law of holiness,’ and respect and homage are paid to one and all of them.
The sect holds that man takes up where 3. Tenets spirit leaves off, and is incarnated “ to of reclaim the earth, to turn the deserts Mazdaznan. into a paradise, a paradise most suitable unto God and his associates to dwell therein.” It considers the body of man to be the temple of the living God, and, by breathing the formula of “a prayer on the breath,” man awakens to his higher consciousness of a living soul, endowed with the attributes of Mazda. Through a systematic method of religious health exercises, fasting, chastisement, and diet, Mazdaznan proposes to eradicate all prenatal influences and error of ancestral relations. Three methods of healing are recognized: the knife, medicine, and prayer, but for their followers they stress ‘‘ prayer on the breath ”’ (Vendidad, vii. 44, xx. 11-12; Confession, xv.; Declaration, xix.; James v. 15-16).
The followers of this cult are considered to be
admirable culinarists and dietarians, while they also
Zend Folk Zeno of Verona