Strong beliefs in the demon of fire have persisted among Albanians until today. In Albanian mythology the deification of fire is associated with En or Enji, a fire deity firstly worshiped by the Illyrians whose name continues to be used in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday ( enjte) and Jupiter ( Enjëti).With the coming of Christianity, En was demoted to demonic status, although his name has been preserved in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday ( enj-te). In the Vaishnav branch of Hinduism, Agni or Fire is considered the tongue of the Supreme Lord Narayana, hence all the sacrifices done even to any demigod ultimately is a sacrifice to the Supreme Lord Narayana. Related concepts are the Agnihotra ritual, the invocation of the healing properties of fire the Agnicayana ritual, which is the building of a fire altar to Agni and Agnistoma, which is one of the seven Somayajnas. ![]() ![]() In Vedic disciplines of Hinduism, fire is a central element in the Yajna ceremony, with Agni, "fire", playing the role as mediator between the worshipper and the other gods. Fire simply exemplifies a medium for spiritual wisdom and purity, but is not worshiped. Zoroastrianism, however, is sometimes mischaracterised as a fire-worshiping religion, whereas it is a monotheistic faith with Ahura Mazda as its central figure and a dualistic cosmology of good and evil. Sadeh and Chaharshanbe Suri are both fire-related festivals celebrated throughout Greater Iran and date back to when Zoroastrianism was still the predominant religion of the region. In the present day this is explained to be because fire burns ever-upward and cannot itself be polluted. In Zoroastrianism, fire is considered to be an agent of purity and as a symbol of righteousness and truth. Įvidence of fire worship has also been found at the Indus Valley sites of Kalibangan and Lothal. Whereas cremation became ubiquitous in Hinduism, it was prohibited in Zoroastrianism. Fire worship was prevalent in Vedic and the ancient Iranian religion. Īrchaeologically, evidence for Indo-Iranian fire worship and the rite of cremation is found at the transition from the Sintashta-Petrovka to the Andronovo culture around 1500 BC. Sanskrit agni, English ignite from Latin ignis, Polish ogień and Russian ogon), and an inanimate type * péh₂wr̥ (cf. In Indo-European languages, there were two concepts regarding fire: that of an animate type called * h₁n̥gʷnís (cf. Religious or animist notions connected to fire are assumed to reach back to such early prehuman times. Fire has been an important part of human culture since the Lower Paleolithic. Worship or deification of fire (also pyrodulia, pyrolatry or pyrolatria) is known from various religions. Agni the Hindu deity of fire, has a very prominent place among Rigvedic deities.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |