Ahriman West Asia
The principle of evil in Persian mythology. As Angra Mainya, ‘the destructive spirit’, who first introduced death into the world, he led the forces of evil against the host of Spenta Mainya, ‘the holy spirit’, who assisted Ahura Mazdah, ‘the wise lord’–the final victor of the cosmic struggle.‘In the beginning,’ said Zoroaster, ‘the twin spirits were known as the one good and the other evil, in thought, word, and deed. Between them the wise chose rightly, not so the fools. And when these spirits met they established life and death so that in the end the followers of deceit should meet with the ...