In
Persian mythology
Iranian mythology, or Persian mythology in western term (), is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples and a genre of ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the worl ...
, Zarik (or Zarich) is a
Daeva
A daeva (Avestan: 𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 ''daēuua'') is a Zoroastrian supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the ''daeva''s are " gods that are (to be) rejected". T ...
in the service of
Ahriman
Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, th ...
.
Etymology
Etymology of Zarik/Zarich comes from
Avestan
Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...
"zairi-gaona" - green/yellow.
Description
Oft-depicted in female form, Zarik is the daeva personification of aging and of poison - she is associated with Soma/Haoma (at first, Zarathustra rejected Haoma, calling it "liquor-piss" in Yasna 48.10 of the Gathas and describing its usage in daeva-worshipping rituals).
Zarik's
amesha rival counterpart is
Ameretat
() is the Avestan language name of the Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian divinity/divine concept of immortality. Amerdad is the Amesha Spenta of long life on earth and perpetuality in the hereafter.
The word ' is grammatically feminine and the divini ...
.
Persian mythology
Demons in the ancient Near East
Daevas
Yazatas
Iranian goddesses
Iranian deities
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