Lectionary Readings for Thursday, March 28th, 2019

3rd Quarter Moon

Book of God’s Word Chapters XI and XII

Chapter XI

1. By this authority then, I, Zarathustra, by the power of I’hua’Mazda, reveal the created
creations.

2. Ormazd created a good creation. First, the land and water and firm things; out of
the unseen and void created He them. Second, the lights, heavenly; and the heat and the
cold everywhere. Third, all living animals, and fish and birds. Fourth, man and woman.

3. Then spake Ormazd through His Son, Vivinho, saying: Speech! Voice! Words!
and man and woman were the only talking animals created in all the created world.

4. Ormazd then created death, Anra’mainyus; with seven heads created He him. First
vanity (uk), then tattling (owow), then worthlessness (hoe’zee), then lying (ugs’ga), then
incurable wickedness (hiss’ce), then evil inventions for evil (bowh-hiss), then king and
leader (daevas).

5. Ormazd then created association (clans) by words bringing men together, Haroyu.

6. Ormazd then created habitations (oke’a). And then He created dwelling-places for
the Gods, with four good corners and four evil corners, created He them, Varena.

7. And Ormazd created sustenance for the living and the dead, haoma. Then He created
the boon of rest, for the weary, haraquaiti. After that he created sweet-smelling and richgrowing pastures, Urva.

8. And Ormazd created combination, which is strength, chakhra. Then power to receive
knowledge, haden’amazd.

9. Ormazd then created the holy day (rak). Then He made the four signs of the moon,
Uk’git, E’git, Ki’git and M’git, for all holiness.

10. And He said: Six days shalt thou labor, O man; and worship on the seventh, because
they are the moon’s times.

11. Then Ormazd, the Creator, created the power to live without kings; like the I’hins in
the east, and the name of this power He created was Ranha.

12. Then spake I’hua’Mazda to Zarathustra, the All Pure, saying: To attain to Ranha; how
to attain to Ranha; this, then, is the holy Mazdian law:

13. Ormazd shall be King, and thou shalt acknowledge no other. He shall be thy All
Highest love forever, and above all other loves.

14. Thou shalt disown all other rulers, and kings, and queens, and Lords, and Gods.

15. Thou shalt not bow down in reverence save to Ormazd, thy Creator.
16. Thou shalt covenant thyself to thy Creator every day, and teach thy children to do so
also.

17. Thou shalt keep holy the four moon days, for they are the change of watch of the
Gods and angels over them.

18. Thou shalt not kill what thy Creator created alive.

19. Thou shalt love thy father next to thy Creator, and obey his voice, and honor thy
mother, because she brought thee forth by the will of thy Creator.

20. Thou shalt not suffer thy desires to lead thee after woman.

21. Thou shalt not take that which is another’s.

22. Thou shalt not be vain, for nothing is thine.

23. Thou shalt not speak untruth.

24. Thou shalt not talk of thy neighbor behind his back, for Ormazd heareth thee, and the
angels will go tell thy neighbor’s soul what thou hast said.

25. Thou shalt not be idle or lazy, or thy flesh will become weak and bear down thy soul.

26. Thou shalt not envy, nor harbor hatred against any man nor woman nor child.

27. Thou shalt not reprove any man nor woman for their evil, for they are the Creator’s.

28. Thou shalt reprove thine own child, and teach him the right way.

29. Thou shalt not lie with thy wife during pregnancy.

30. Thou shalt not take to wife any of thy kin, save beyond the fifth generation.

31. Thou shalt not take to wife a woman of unclean habits.

32. Thou shalt not commit the self-habit.

33. Thou shalt not desire of thy neighbor more than thou wouldst give.

34. Thou shalt fast one day of the fourth moon all thy life, neither eating fish nor flesh,
nor bread nor fruit; nor anything but water shall enter thy mouth.

35. One whole year of thy life thou shalt dwell with the poor, live with the poor, sleep
with the poor, begging for alms for the poor.

Chapter XII

1. I’hua’Mazda said unto Zarathustra, the All Pure: Three castes have I made; the first
are the I’hins, sacred above all other people, because they keep my commandments;
second, the I’huans, more powerful created I them than other people, because by them
I will subdue the earth; and third, the druks, the evil people, who will not learn.

2. I’hua’Mazda said to Zarathustra, the All Pure: Remember the caste of men; keep thy
blood in the place I created thee; nor shalt thou marry but in the caste I created thee.

3. I’hua Mazda said: A thousand castes I created among the I’huans: The king, the
doctor, the magician, the priest, the farmer, the bearer of burdens, the messenger,
swift-footed, and for all other occupations under the sun. Each and all within their
own castes created I them; nor shall they marry but in the caste I created them.

4. Zarathustra responded to I’hua’Mazda, saying: I will keep thy commandments. Thy
seventy commandments, and seven hundred and seven thousand.

5. I will preserve sacred the castes thou hast created, O I’hua’Mazda. And I will teach
these holy truths to my children; to my servants, and unto all men.

6. Then I’hua’Mazda wrote all the commandments, as hereabove, and he stooped down
and kissed the books, which were of stone and of cloth, saying: This is my holy book.
Take it, O Zarathustra, thou All Pure, and go thou forth into all the world, teaching it, and
explaining it.

7. Then Zarathustra, the All Pure, stooped down and kissed the book, saying: This is thy
holy book, O I’hua’Mazda. I take it; and I will go into all the world, teaching it, and
explaining it.

8. Thus was completed the first sacred, most holy book created for mortals. And
Zarathustra rose up from his writing, tall and handsome, inquiring of I’hua’Mazda, saying:
Whither shall I go first, O master?

9. Then answered I’hua’Mazda, creator of the Ormazdian law, the Zarathustrian law,
saying:

10. Take my holy book, the Ormazdian law, the Zarathustrian law, first, to Asha, king of
the I’huans, king of Oas, the City of the Sun. Him have I prepared for thee and thy work
since the day of his birth; since the day of thy birth, the day I spake to him in thy infancy.

11. Then went forth Zarathustra, strong in faith; and he came to Asha, the king. And the
king said unto him: Thou hast tarried so long! Behold, I have cast the horoscope
a hundred times, a thousand times. I have proved all the stars in heaven and named
them, and made maps of them. And I have measured the power of one star over another
star; and the powers of the stars on this world, and the powers of the sun and moon.

12. Yea, I have sent into the great cities of the east, to men of great learning; and to the
south and north and west, to men of great learning. And then I sent to the kings of Jaffeth
and of Shem; to Bow-gan-ghad; to Bing-thah; and to the great city of Huug-sin, where the
great philosopher, Ah-tdong, liveth. And from all of these I have obtained great wisdom.

13. Hear me, then, O Zarathustra; I will speak to thee as if thy philosophy were true; but
yet I believe it not: First, then, in all the stars there is nothing but lies; neither mattereth it
if a man be born under this star or that star! I am old now and have observed thousands of
men, yea, kings and queens, as to whether the stars rule over them, and I declare unto thee
that the philosophy of the stars is nothing but lies. Yea, I have searched in mine own self,
and I find I am often doing things contrary to my first intentions; but as to the cause, I
know not.

14. This also have I discovered; there is one kind of causes that lie with individuals; and
there is another kind of causes that lie with kings and kingdoms; but, yet, I perceive that
each and every man is bound in his own channel by something stronger than himself. To
find the cause of this, I have searched to the extent of all the stars in the firmament, but
found not the truth.

15. Now I ask thee, in the name of thy Gods, if thou canst prove this matter to thy king?

16. Then answered Zarathustra, saying: Through my hand hath I’hua’Mazda written a
most holy book, explaining many philosophies. This book have I brought unto thee,
according to the commandments of my God; read thou it.

17. Then the king took the book and read it; and on the next day Zarathustra came again
before the king. The king said: Thy book saith thus and so, but it proveth little. Thy God
asserteth he hath done thus and so, and that he created thus and so. First of all, then,
I know not if there be a God; second, if there be a God, I know not that he cometh to
thee; and third, if he come to thee, and he be a just God, why he cometh not to me.
And yet, after all this, for I doubt not thy wisdom will give sufficient answers to these
questions, if it be true there are Gods unseen that rule over us, and spirits of the dead
that come to us, persuading our souls unconsciously to ourselves, what mattereth it
whether we try or not, to obtain truth and wisdom? Shall not all things be left to the
spirits and Gods and Lords? Knowest thou not that the ancients believed these things?

18. And yet what of the ancients? Were they not in darkness, and addicted to horrid
rites and ceremonies, and murders, and savagery? With our wisdom of disbelief in
their religions, have we not attained to great cities and empires? Behold our
thousands and tens of thousands of large cities! And do they not all have just reason to
be proud? For there is not one city but that its walls and gates are adorned with
thousands of the skeletons and skulls of serpents and lions, and the scalps of druks.

19. Then spake I’hua’Mazda to the king, speaking through the voice of Zarathustra,
saying: Hear thy God, O king, and be considerate of my words. There are two births
unto all men; the first is from the mother’s womb, and the second is from the
corporeal body. Prior to the first birth, the will and power of the child is nothing as
to shaping its own destiny. But prior to the spiritual birth, which is the mortal
death, the man hath much to do as to shaping his future destiny in the next world.

20. I declare unto thee, O king, that the corporeal man is, therefore, but half accomplished
as to his real life. He is but half his own master; but half the controller of his place and
behavior in the mortal world; nevertheless, he is the first half, the first chooser. Think not
that spirits and Gods rule men as if they were slaves or toys; for another power also lieth
over man, which is neither spirits nor Gods nor stars, nor moon nor sun; but the corporeal
surroundings that feed his earthly desires.

21. This is the Ormazdian law; not the corporeal stars, or corporeal earth, or corporeal
moon, or corporeal man, ruleth over the spirit; but the subtle, the unseen to mortals, is the
cause and ruler of all things.

22. Asha said: O that I could believe this! O that I knew this were true! O that the unseen
worlds could be opened up to my understanding! For I perceive there is more power and
virtue in thy philosophy than in my decrees. But touching thy book, O Zarathustra,
answer thou me this: Who do the people in the world belong to, if not to me, the Sun
King? Are not the people mine?

23. I’hua’Mazda said: All belong to Ormazd. Is it not here taught that man shall
acknowledge obedience and worship to Ormazd only?

24. Asha said: I so perceive. Answer me this, O Zarathustra: To disown the king and the
king’s kings; will not this bring anarchy? For will not the rulers declare thy doctrine
robbeth them of subjects? To which I’hua’Mazda suffered Zarathustra to reply. He said:

25. Is it not hard for a man not to have the privilege to choose his own master? Behold,
they are now impressed into war; yea, thou keepest standing armies, trained in the labor
of death. And this for the glory of the Sun Kingdom. Now hear me, O king, for I am now
speaking on my own accord, and no God is speaking through me. And I declare unto thee,
I have attained power to go in soul into the unseen worlds and behold with mine own eyes
how it is with the souls of the dead. And I declare unto thee there are great torments for
the wicked. I have seen them in hell, with walls of fire going up around them day and
night; suffocating fires of brimstone, from which they cannot escape. And those slain in
war, both those that are for the king, and those against the king, are equally cast into
ceaseless torments, and even kings and queens with them, where all are wailing and
gnashing their teeth, and cursing; and in their madness, doing wickedly unto others with
all their might.

26. The king said: If it be that thou canst go into heaven and hell, it must be true thou
canst go to places on the corporeal earth in the same way. Prove thou this to me, and I
will believe all thou hast said. Then Zarathustra said: Tell me whither I shall go, that I
may convince thee, O king?

27. Ashar said: Go thou to the tower of the horoscope and find the words on the calendar.

28. Then spake I’hua’Mazda, saying: Have I not said, spirit cannot be proved but to spirit!
Have I not said I am I’hua’Mazda; and Zarathustra hath said he is Zarathustra. But this
thou canst not see. Behold, thou shalt witness now thine own craft. Here returneth
Zarathustra.

29. Then spake Zarathustra, saying: Thou saidst to me: Go to the tower of the horoscope
and find the words on the calendar. Lo, I have been there, and am already returned before
thee. These, then, are the words of the calendar: To-ka, Seis, ctvai tnong, biang loo-singooh wotchich; an porh, an oot, an dhi, an git.

30. Asha said: This is true. But how shall I not determine that thou gatheredest not the
calendar from my heart? For I had the knowledge in my heart since sunrise. Then
answered Zarathustra, saying: Try me once again; yea, thou shalt ask me for some toy of
thine, and I will go fetch it.

31. Asha said: Behold, when I was a boy I let fall into the river betwixt the cliffs, at the
outer wall, a golden case; go, thou, bring it.

32. Then spake I’hua’Mazda: Two conditions belong to all men, belief and unbelief. They
are as seeds, planted in the soul of men whilst he is yet in his mother’s womb; and when
he is born forth into the world, they begin to grow within him. If man favor one only, it
will grow at the expense of the other. Because of unbelief in man, he searched after truth
and knowledge; but because of belief in man, he findeth happiness; but the latter may
lead to stupidity, and the former to cruelty. It is a wise man, therefore, that keepeth these
two talents evenly balanced.

33. Now even whilst I’hua’Mazda spake, the long-lost golden case fell at the king’s feet,
and it was yet dripping with water. The king examined it, and then exclaimed: This is
true. And yet, if there be spirits and Gods, how shall I determine which one brought this?
May it not have been an evil spirit as well as a good one?

34. Then spake I’hua’Mazda, saying: Have I not said: I will show thee thine own craft in
finding some other reason than the right one?

35. Asha said: O ye Gods, cannot ye heal me of my unbelief? My judgment showeth me
I am diseased in my heart. O that my mother had been a believing woman before I
was born! Tell me, O Zarathustra, or I’hua’Mazda, whoever thou art, for I perceive thou
art not like any man under the sun, tell me what I shall do, that I may become thy servant?

36. I’hua’Mazda said: On the morrow at sunrise I will come to thee, with Zarathustra, and
I will tell thee many things.