Keepers of the Stars: Zoroaster
The desert night stretches wide, and the air is cool beneath a canopy of stars. In the distance, a flame burns in a stone altar, its light unwavering, fed by sacred oils so that it will never die. Men and women gather around it, their faces solemn, their eyes fixed on the fire. For them, this flame is not mere light — it is truth itself, a reflection of the Sun, of the stars, of the eternal order that binds the heavens to the earth.
From the shadows steps a man with piercing eyes and the calm presence of one who has seen beyond the veil. He is Zoroaster — or Zarathustra — the prophet of ancient Persia. Born into a world of many gods, rituals, and sacrifices, he came to believe there was something greater, something higher. The stars had shown him that the universe was not ruled by chaos, but by a single divine source of light and wisdom.
The Prophet of Light
Zoroaster taught that there is one supreme God — Ahura Mazda, Lord of Light and Wisdom — whose presence shines in the Sun, in fire, and in the stars. But he also taught that this God’s eternal enemy, Angra Mainyu, the spirit of lies and darkness, works tirelessly to corrupt creation.
Thus, to Zoroaster, the cosmos itself was a battleground: every soul, every choice, every action tipping the balance between truth and falsehood, light and shadow. The stars above were not just distant lights, but watchful eyes of the divine order, bearing witness to the eternal struggle.
Sacred Fire and the Heavens
To his followers, fire became the most sacred of elements — not worshipped as a god, but revered as the purest symbol of Ahura Mazda’s truth. Fire temples were built where eternal flames burned without end, flames that echoed the Sun by day and the stars by night.
Zoroaster’s calendar was guided by the movements of the heavens. His holy days were marked by solar and seasonal cycles, his rituals tied to the stars that lit the Persian night. In their rising and setting, his people saw the ceaseless turning of the cosmic struggle.
The Vision of Renewal
Zoroaster spoke not only of this battle but of its end. One day, he said, light would triumph over darkness. The dead would rise, the world would be cleansed by fire, and creation would be made new. This vision — a final judgment, a savior, a restored world — echoed down through history, leaving its mark on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Concepts of heaven and hell, angels and demons, even the messianic hope of a world redeemed — all bear traces of his teachings.
A Keeper of the Stars
We do not know exactly when Zoroaster lived — some say as early as 1200 BCE, others closer to 600 BCE — but we know his voice carried far. His hymns, preserved in the Avesta, still speak of truth, righteousness, and the eternal flame of wisdom.
He was no distant philosopher. He was a man who looked up at the stars and saw not chance, but meaning. A man who dared to tell his people that the many gods they worshipped were not the truth, that there was only one God of light, and that every person had a role to play in the great cosmic struggle.
Zoroaster lived and died as a prophet, but his fire still burns. In the temples where the eternal flame has never gone out, in the stories of angels and demons, in the idea that light will one day overcome darkness — he lives on.
He is a true Keeper of the Stars, not only because he read the heavens, but because he saw in them the eternal choice: to walk in truth and light, or to fall into the shadow of lies. And he called humanity, then and now, to choose the path of the stars.