Ab-Zohr

The Ab-Zohr (; ; ) is the culminating rite of the greater '' Yasna'' service, the principal Zoroastrian act of worship that accompanies the recitation of the ''Yasna'' liturgy.

As described in the liturgy that accompanies the procedure, the rite constitutes a symbolic offering (, ''zohr'' < , ) to the waters (''aban'' < ''apas'') in order to purify them.

Technical terms

The technical terms Middle Persian and Avestan literally mean "offering to water" (, water; , offering; ''cf'' Apas). The words of the expression have Indo-Iranian roots. The Parsi (Indian Zoroastrian) name for the procedure is (), which reflects the symbolic purpose of the "offering to water", which is to give it "strength" by purifying it (see Symbolism and Purpose, below). "Ab-Zohr" is pronounced ''ab-zor'' in the Zoroastrian Dari language.

The procedure is also called the rite, reflecting the technical name of the liquid, the haoma, being prepared and consecrated during the ritual. In the 9th-12th century texts of Zoroastrian tradition the procedure is also occasionally referred to as the , also reflecting the use of the haoma plant in the rite.

Procedure

Preparation

The Haoma plant (Avestan, middle and modern Persian: ''hōm'') is the source for the essential ingredient for the ''parahaoma'' (middle Persian: ''parahōm''), the consecrated liquid that constitutes the offering (''zaothra''). In Zoroastrian tradition, two independent preparations of ''parahaoma'' are made for the offering.

Both preparations must be made between sunrise and noon, in the ''Hawan gah'' (Avestan: ''havani ratu''), the "time of pressing". The time of day of the ''Yasna'' service is itself dictated by this restriction. The first ''parahaoma'' is prepared during the preliminary rites (prior to the ''Yasna'' service) in which the site of worship is consecrated. The second ''parahaoma'' preparation occurs during the middle third of the ''Yasna'' service.

The recipes for the two ''parahaoma'' preparations, though not identical, are largely the same. In both cases, the ingredients include three small ''haoma'' twigs; consecrated water; twigs and leaves from a pomegranate tree. The second ''parahaoma'' also includes milk (in Iran from a cow, in India from a goat). The consecration of the water and ''haoma'' (accompanied by ritual laving) also occur during the preliminary rites.

First pressing

In the first ''parahaoma'', which is prepared immediately prior to the ''Yasna'' service (during the preliminary ritual that also sanctifies the site of worship), the leaves or small twigs from the pomegranate tree are cut into pieces, and together with the consecrated ''haoma'' twigs and a little consecrated water are repeatedly pounded and strained. The liquid is retained in a bowl, while the twig and leaf residue is placed next to the fire to dry.

Second pressing

The second ''parahaoma'' preparation occurs during the middle third of the ''Yasna'' service. It is prepared by the celebrant priest of the ''Yasna'' and is essentially the same as the first, but includes milk, and is accompanied by even more pounding and straining. This second ''parahaoma'' preparation begins with the recitation of ''Yasna'' 22, and continues until the beginning of ''Yasna'' 28 ('' Ahunavaiti Gatha''). During the recitation of ''Yasna'' 25, the priest dedicates the mixture to "the waters" (see Aban), which mirrors the purpose of the ''parahaoma'' preparation (see below).

The mortar remains untouched during the recitation of ''Yasna'' 28–30. Finally, during the recitation of ''Yasna'' 31–34, the priest pounds the mixture a last time and then strains the liquid into the bowl that also contains the first ''parahaoma''. The twig and leaf residue from the second ''parahaoma'' is also placed next to the fire to dry.

Offering

''Yasna'' 62 marks the beginning of the final stage of the ''Yasna'' service. At the beginning of the recitation of that chapter, the priest who made the first ''parahaoma'' moves the (now dry) twig and leaf residue from next to the fire into the fire itself. Although this is done at a specific point during the recitation of the liturgy, the burning of the residue is not an offering to the fire, but the ritually proper way to dispose of combustible consecrated material.

''Yasna'' 62.11 also marks the beginning of the actual ''ab-zohr''. During the following recital of ''Yasna'' 62, 64, 65 and 68, the celebrant repeatedly pours the combined ''parahaoma''s between two bowls and the mortar, such that, by the end of ''Yasna'' 68, all three vessels contain the same amount of liquid.

The service then concludes with the recitation of ''Yasna'' 72, immediately after which the priest carries the mortar with ''parahaoma'' to a well or stream. There, in three pourings, libations are made to the waters ( Aban), accompanied by invocations to Aredvi Sura Anahita. The remaining ''parahaoma'' in the two bowls is given to persons attending the ceremony. Since the liquid, in its ritually pure state, is considered beneficial, participants may choose to drink a little of it, or provide some to infants or the dying. The remainder is poured away on the roots of fruit-bearing trees.

Symbolism and purpose

The offering (the ''parahaoma'' mixture) represents animal life (the milk) and plant life (the sap of the pomegranate leaves and twigs), combined with the strengthening and healing properties attributed to '' haoma''.

Through the addition of consecrated water, the preparation of the symbolically returns the life given by Aban ('the waters'). The principal purpose of the Ab-Zohr is to "purify" those waters, as is evident in ''Yasna'' 68.1, where the ('offering') makes good for the damage done to water by humanity: "These offerings, possessing , possessing milk, possessing pomegranate, shall compensate thee".

This is underscored in ''Vendidad'' 14.4, where the appropriate atonement for the sin of killing a "water dog" (an otter) is an "offering to the waters." ''Vendidad'' 18.72 also recommends its use as a general penance. According to a passage of the Avesta that survives only as a translation in '' Denkard'' 8.25.24, the ingredients and materials for an offering to the waters were carried by the priests accompanying an army so that soldiers could perform the ritual before battle.

The decontamination symbolism in the Ab-Zohr is a reflection of Zoroastrian cosmogony, wherein the primeval waters (the lower half of the sky, upon which the universe rests, and from which two rivers encircle the earth) fear pollution by humankind. According to ''Bundahishn'' 91.1, Ahura Mazda promised the waters to "create one (i.e. Zoroaster) who will pour into you to cleanse you again."

According to tradition, Zoroaster frequently made the offering to water (''Zatspram'' 19.2-3), and received his revelation on a riverbank while preparing (''Zatspram'' 21.1).

Bibliography

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Zoroastrian rituals
Soma (drink)