Environmental Ghosts and Omens in Ancient Iran: Between Care for Life and Apocalyptic Terrors

The perception of the environment expressed in Ancient Iranian culture and texts, here primarily Zoroastrian religious writings, demonstrates a symbolic interpretation of nature in geographical and ecological terms, in which the natural world is considered to be under the regency of a divine custodian. From the heavenly zone to the earth, and in the in-between levels (of air and atmosphere), everything is understood as being mastered by spiritual energies and gods, most notably the supreme god Ahura Mazdā and other associated divinities. This network of divine protection aims to support life against the devilish Ahriman and his demons of corruption and death, who are the emblems of ‘anti-life’. The world, then, is a place of supernatural communication, and the various natural environmental phenomena, such as earthquakes, tempests, comets and eclipses, are understood to be omina, portents or signs of the future that provide specific information about the destiny of world, historical events and the health of society.