Lectionary Readings for Thursday, March 26th, 2020

Book of God’s Word Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Chapter 7

1. When night came, the king sat privately with Zarathustra; and I’hua’Mazda cast a light
on the wall, and the soul of So-qi came and appeared before Asha. So-qi said: Knowest
thou who I am? And Asha said: Yea, So-qi.

2. So-qi said: True, O king, the soul is immortal! And then it disappeared. Asha said: It
seemeth to be So-qi. And yet if it were he, would he not have called me, Asha, instead of,
O king? Then spake Zarathustra, saying: Call thou for some other spirit? Asha said:
Suffer, then, the soul of my wife to appear.

3. Again the light appeared, and the soul of Asha’s wife inhabited it, and he saw her. Asha
said: It is, indeed. And then she disappeared. Asha said: Had it been she, she had spoken.
Zarathustra said: Call thou for another spirit. Asha called Choe’jon, the songster, who
looked like no other man under the sun. And Choe’jon also appeared; and even sang one
of the songs about the slaughter of the infants.

4. Asha said: It was like Choe’jon; but had it been he, he had surely mentioned the
miracle. Then Zarathustra said: Call yet for another spirit. And Asha called, and another
appeared; and thus it continued until twenty souls of the dead had shown themselves, and
talked with him, face to face, and every one had related things pertinent to themselves.

5. Then spake Zarathustra, saying: To-morrow night shalt thou again sit with me. Now,
on the next night, twenty other spirits of the dead appeared and spake face to face with the
king. But yet he believed not. Then spake I’hua’Mazda through Zarathustra, saying: What
will satisfy thee, O man? For I declare unto thee, that spirit is not provable by corpor,
nor corpor by spirit. There are two things; one groweth by aggregating, and the other
groweth by dissemination, of which All Light is the highest. As by darkness light
is known, and by light darkness known, similarly diverse are corpor and spirit known.

6. I’hua’Mazda said: Thy generations, O king, have been long bred in unbelief in spirit,
and unbelief is so entailed upon thee that evidence is worthless before thee. Who thinkest
thou I am?

7. Asha said: Zarathustra. Then Zarathustra asked him, saying: Who thinkest thou I am?

8. Again Asha said: Zarathustra. To which I’hua’Mazda said: Because thou seest with
thine eyes this corporeal body, and heareth with thine ears this corporeal voice, so dost
thy corporeal judgment find an answer.

9. But I declare to thee, O king, there is a spiritual judgment as well as a corporeal
judgment. There is a spiritual man within all men, and it never dieth. The spiritual man,
which is within, is the only one that can discern spiritual things. It is the only one that can
recognize the spirits of the dead.

10. Then Asha said: How shall I prove there be not some element belonging to thee
personally, that is as a mirror, to reproduce a semblance of whatsoever is within thy
thoughts?

11. I’hua’Mazda said: What would that profit thee if proven? And what profit if not
proven? Hear me, then, for this is wisdom: There are millions of souls in heaven that are
in the same doubt thou art now in, not knowing that they themselves are dead. Especially
those slain in war and in unbelief of spirit life.

12. The king said: Who, then, sayest thou, thou art? I’hua’Mazda said: First, there is
Ormazd, Creator, Who is over all and within all, Whose Person is the Whole All. Then
there are the unseen worlds in the sky; then this world, and the stars, and sun, and moon.
After them, mortals, and the spirits of the dead.

13. Hear me, O king; because the dead know not the All High heavens, the Ormazd,
Whose name signifieth Master of All Light, sendeth His exalted angels down to the earth
as masters and teachers, having captains and high captains, that their labor be done
orderly. The highest captain is therefore called I’hua’Mazda, that is, master voice over
mortals and spirits for their exaltation.

14. Know, then, O king, I, who speak, have thee and thy city and thy country within my
keeping. I am come to stay man’s bloody hand. And through Zarathustra will I reveal the
laws of Ormazd; and they shall stand above all other laws. Because thou art the most
skilled of men, I made thee king; because thou hast seen that man must have an All
Highest Law, I have come to thee. Yea, from thy youth up, and during thy long life, I
have spoken to thy soul, saying: Asha, find thou the All Highest: Asha, thou shalt have a
strange labor before thou diest! Asha, thou, that hast attained to the measurement of the
stars, shalt find a Power behind the stars!

15. The king said: Enough! Enough! O stranger! Thou turnedst my head with wonders. I
scarce know if I am living or dead, because of the mastery of thy wisdom. Alas, my
kindred are dead; my friends are fools! I have none to tell these wonders to. All thy days
shalt thou live in my palace, and whosoever thou demandest for wife, shall be granted
unto thee.

16. I’hua’Mazda said: Till I come again to thee, O king, keep thine own counsel. For the
present, I must return to the forest. Give me, therefore, of thy choicest ink and brushes
and writing cloth, and send thou two servants with me. Asha said: Suffer thou me to be
one of thy servants, and I will abdicate my throne!

17. I’hua’Mazda said: I shall need thee where thou art. Thus ended the interview with
the king. The next day Zarathustra returned to the forest, to write the Zarathustrian laws.

Chapter 8

1. These, then, are the Zarathustrian laws; the I’hua’Mazdian laws; which, being
interpreted into the English language, should be described as GOD’S WORD, transcribed
from the libraries of heaven by the will of Jehovih!

2. That is to say:

3. Zarathustra said: Interpret to me, O Holy One.

4. I’hua’Mazda said: O Pure One, All Pure! Hear thou. I will interpret; write thou.

5. Zarathustra wrote. Then spake I’hua’Mazda to Zarathustra, the All Pure!

6. First, Ormazd was, and He created all created things. He was All; He is All. He was All
Round, and put forth hands and wings. Then began the beginning of things seen, and of
things unseen.

7. The first best highest place He created was the All Possibility. And the second best
highest place He created was the All Good. With Him are all things Possible. With Him
are all things Good.

8. Ormazd then created the first best of places, the longest enduring, the Airyana-vaja
(etherea), the highest of good creation.

9. The third best created places created Ormazd, which was Haraiti, a high heavenly good
place, a Home of Fragapatti, a Creator Son of the heavenly Airyana-vaja, a rescuer of men
and spirits from Anra’mainyus, the evil of blood and bone.

10. The fourth best created places created Ormazd, the Creator, which was Gau, the
dwelling-place of Sooghda, of heavenly shape and straight limbs and arms, and ample
chest, full of music.

11. Out of Mouru, of the regions of Haraiti, came the Voice, created by the Creator
Ormazd; came to I’hua-Mazda; and now cometh to thee, Zarathustra, thou All Pure.

12. Fifth best place created the Creator, the Bakhdhi, with lofty standards.

13. Then came Anra’mainyus, the Black Doubt, the Sa-gwan, sowing seeds.

14. After that, the Creator created Tee-Sughi, the reason of man, and turned his eyes
inward, that he could see his own soul.