Zoroastrianism

Some say the world will end in fire. Zoroastrians say it was born of fire, the most important symbol for God. Flames danced high above a deep urn during a recent initiation rite for teenagers at the Zoroastrian fire temple in Westminster. Six young people, most of them from family trees rooted in Iran, wore white and tied hemp cords around their waists to symbolize their commitment to the faith during the Sedra-Pushi, a Farsi term that refers to a rite of passage into adulthood.

With the sun peeking out through scattered clouds Sunday morning, hundreds of people gathered inches from Huntington Beach's waters to celebrate the ocean through song and prayer. The Blessing of the Waves is an annual celebration that includes officials from various religions. This year organizers decided to include a more somber note: a moment of silence for victims of recent natural disasters in Southeast Asia. "The ocean is the center of our community here," said Ryan Lilyengren, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.

In solemn ceremonies featuring pungent sandalwood incense and hot coals, flowers and plates of fresh fruit, Southern California's Zoroastrian community is celebrating its new year this week. Azrir Bhandara, 37, a Zoroastrian priest, welcomed a dozen of the faithful to his Irvine home, where he set out a white sheet on which he and the others, many dressed in white to symbolize purity, knelt in prayer. Before beginning, Bhandara covered his mouth with a white scarf.

One of the world's oldest religions is establishing a new American temple outside the nation's capital, the Zoroastrian Center and Darb-e-Mehr. "You will see a magnificent building that reminds you of old Persian architecture," said Farhad Shahryary, assistant secretary of the temple committee. "This is a really joyful day. There's been a lot of hard work. This has been a dream for about 20 years." Once the state religion of an empire that stretched throughout much of the ancient world, Zoroastrianism has about 200,000 adherents worldwide, although some estimates say the number is fewer.

In solemn ceremonies featuring hot coals, pungent sandalwood incense, flowers and plates of fresh fruit, Southern California's Zoroastrian community is celebrating its new year this week. Azrir Bhandara, 37, a Zoroastrian priest, welcomed a dozen of the faithful Wednesday to his Irvine home, where he set out a white sheet on which he and the others knelt in prayer. Before beginning, Bhandara covered his mouth with a white scarf.

So the Supreme Court is confused about how to apply the First Amendment provision about religion to the display of creches, saying that it is all right in one situation but not in another. That the Supreme Court can't make up its mind whether or not it is all right to display a creche is odd because the First Amendment is straightforward and to the point about religion. Paraphrased, it says, "Don't establish an official religion and do let people practice religion freely." All that is necessary in judging a situation is to turn those two ideas into the questions: "Does it establish an official religion?"

"Preservation of the Zoroastrian Identity Through Adaptation to Changing Environments" is the theme of the fifth North American Zoroastrian Congress, to be held next weekend in Hollywood. The conference title is a capsule description of how this religion, cradled in the Middle East, has survived through nearly three millennia.

About 500 people of Persian descent sang, exchanged hugs and prayed Sunday evening at the California Zoroastrian Center's celebration of two of the most important events in their ancient religion. Nouruz, the Persian New Year, took place during Wednesday's vernal equinox. And the 3,764th anniversary of the birth of Zarathustra, prophet to the religion, occurs today.

'Tis the season to be jolly: Christmas, Hanukkah, Yalda. Yalda? Tonight, at the California Zoroastrian Center in Westminster, members of one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions will demonstrate that the festivities of this season are not limited to Christians and Jews. Yalda is a non-religious festival marking the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, the same celestial phenomenon favored by early pagans and Christians alike for winter holidays, including Christmas. Dr.

Soaring above luxury apartments in an exclusive section of Bombay, vultures swoop toward the Parsi Towers of Silence on Malabar Hill. It is time for another "burial" at the "vultures cemetery," where the Parsis--Indian followers of the ancient faith of Zoroastrianism--refuse to bury their dead. The Parsis believe fire, earth and water are sacred, so they will not cremate or bury their dead. Instead, the bodies are left on circular stone towers to be picked clean by vultures.

In solemn ceremonies featuring hot coals, pungent sandalwood incense, flowers and plates of fresh fruit, Southern California's Zoroastrian community celebrated its new year last week. Azrir Bhandara, 37, a Zoroastrian priest, welcomed a dozen of the faithful Wednesday to his Irvine home, where he set out a white sheet on which he and the others knelt in prayer. Before beginning, Bhandara covered his mouth with a white scarf.

In solemn ceremonies featuring hot coals, pungent sandalwood incense, flowers and plates of fresh fruit, Southern California's Zoroastrian community is celebrating its new year this week. Azrir Bhandara, 37, a Zoroastrian priest, welcomed a dozen of the faithful Wednesday to his Irvine home, where he set out a white sheet on which he and the others knelt in prayer. Before beginning, Bhandara covered his mouth with a white scarf.

Some say the world will end in fire. Zoroastrians say it was born of fire, the most important symbol for God. Flames danced high above a deep urn during a recent initiation rite for teenagers at the Zoroastrian fire temple in Westminster. Six young people, most of them from family trees rooted in Iran, wore white and tied hemp cords around their waists to symbolize their commitment to the faith during the Sedra-Pushi, a Farsi term that refers to a rite of passage into adulthood.

They helped build nations and mega-corporations. They enriched the world's arts and culture. What India's dwindling Parsi community cannot do, it seems, is save itself from extinction. While many small ethnic groups in South Asia find themselves in jeopardy from proselytizing Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, the threat to the Parsis comes from within their own restrictive religion.

Soaring above luxury apartments in an exclusive section of Bombay, vultures swoop toward the Parsi Towers of Silence on Malabar Hill. It is time for another "burial" at the "vultures cemetery," where the Parsis--Indian followers of the ancient faith of Zoroastrianism--refuse to bury their dead. The Parsis believe fire, earth and water are sacred, so they will not cremate or bury their dead. Instead, the bodies are left on circular stone towers to be picked clean by vultures.

About 500 people of Persian descent sang, exchanged hugs and prayed for hours Sunday evening at the California Zoroastrian Center during a celebration of two of the most important events in their ancient religion. One of the events, Nouruz, the Persian New Year, took place during Wednesday's vernal equinox; the other celebrates Zarathustra, prophet to the Zoroastrian religion, who is said to have been born 3,764 years ago today.

They helped build nations and mega-corporations. They enriched the world's arts and culture. What India's dwindling Parsi community cannot do, it seems, is save itself from extinction. While many small ethnic groups in South Asia find themselves in jeopardy from proselytizing Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, the threat to the Parsis comes from within their own restrictive religion.

About 500 people of Persian descent sang, exchanged hugs and prayed Sunday evening at the California Zoroastrian Center's celebration of two of the most important events in their ancient religion. Nouruz, the Persian New Year, took place during Wednesday's vernal equinox. And the 3,764th anniversary of the birth of Zarathustra, prophet to the religion, occurs today.