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Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), an ancient Iranian prophet, was perceived by Greeks and Romans as a legendary "magician," founder of the Magi, and inventor of astrology.
While historically a 10th–6th century BCE religious reformer, Western tradition long misunderstood him as a Chaldean sorcerer, associating his name with "magic" and occult knowledge
Historical vs. Mythical Zoroaster
The Prophet: Founder of Zoroastrianism, a dualistic religion focusing on the cosmic struggle between Ahura Mazda (good) and Angra Mainyu (evil).
The "Magus": Ancient Greek writers saw him as the archetype of the magician, often linking him to Babylonian "Chaldean" traditions of astronomy and divination.
The Legend: Later legends, such as those discussed in, claimed he was a wonder-worker who could command spirits, a view that persisted through the Middle Ages.
"Magic" and the Magi
The word "magic" stems from the Magi, the priestly class of Zoroastrianism.
These priests were associated with fire worship and interpreting signs, leading to the perception of them as sorcerers in the West.
Pliny the Elder and other classical writers considered Zoroaster the originator of magical arts.
Appearance in Later Culture
Art & Music: Zoroaster appears as a magician (Zoroastro) in Handel's 1733 opera Orlando, largely due to 18th-century European fascination with his image as an oriental wizard.
Literature: He is often mentioned in literature regarding the "mystical East".
Geomancy, from Late Greek *γεωμαντεία *geōmanteía, translates literally to 'earth divination'. In Latin it becomes geomantia. Earlier Greek renditions of this word borrowed the Arabic word raml ('sand') directly, rendering it as rhamplion or rabolion. Other Arabic names for geomancy include khatt al-raml, darb al-raml, and 'ilm al-raml, (literally 'the science of the sand').
The origins of geomancy are Arabic and the original geomantic figures were created by "making lines of random numbers of dots in the sand".
Geomancy was one of the forms of divination throughout Africa and Europe, particularly during the Middle Ages. However it was classified by Christians as one of the seven "forbidden arts", along with black magic, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, chiromancy (palmistry), and scapulimancy.
axis mundi – also called the cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, center of the world, or world tree – has been greatly extended to refer to any mythological concept representing "the connection between Heaven and Earth" or the "higher and lower realms". Mircea Eliade introduced the concept in the 1950s.
Axis mundi closely relates to the mythological concept of the omphalos (navel) of the world or cosmos. Items presented as examples of the axis mundi by comparative mythologists include plants (notably a tree but also other types of plants such as a vine or stalk), a mountain, a column of smoke or fire, or a product of human manufacture (such as a staff, a tower, a ladder, a staircase, a maypole, a cross, a steeple, a rope, a totem pole, a pillar, a spire). Its proximity to heaven may carry implications that are chiefly religious (pagoda, Temple Mount, minaret, church) or secular (obelisk, lighthouse, rocket, skyscraper). The image appears in religious and secular contexts.
The axis mundi symbol may be found in cultures utilizing shamanic practices or animist belief systems, in major world religions, and in technologically advanced "urban centers". In Mircea Eliade's opinion: "Every Microcosm, every inhabited region, has a Centre; that is to say, a place that is sacred above all."
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