=Destiny of the Soul.=--The soul of the dead separates itself from the
body. In the third night after death it is conducted over the "Bridge
of Assembling" (Schinvat) which leads to the paradise above the gulf
of inferno. There Ormuzd questions it on its past life. If it has
practised the good, the pure spirits and the spirits of dogs support
it and aid it in crossing the bridge and give it entrance into the
abode of the blest; the demons flee, for they cannot bear the odor of
virtuous spirits. The soul of the wicked, on the other hand, comes to
the dread bridge, and reeling, with no one to support it, is dragged
by demons to hell, is seized by the evil spirit and chained in the
abyss of darkness.
=Character of Mazdeism.=--This religion originated in a country of
violent contrasts, luxuriant valleys side by side with barren steppes,
cool oases with burning deserts, cultivated fields and stretches of
sand, where the forces of nature seem engaged in an eternal warfare.
This combat which the Iranian saw around him he assumed to be the law
of the universe. Thus a religion of great purity was developed, which
urged man to work and to virtue; but at the same time issued a belief
in the devil and in demons which was to propagate itself in the west
and torment all the peoples of Europe.
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