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Farohar

*Faravahar or Farohar, Zoroastrian Symbol
Color reconstruction from Persepolis*

The */Faravahar/*, or */Farohar/*, is to remind one of the purpose of
life on this earth, which is to live in such a way that the soul
progresses spiritually and attains union with */Ahura-Mazda/* (the Wise
Lord); this state is called /Frasho-kereti/ in Avesta.

In the center of the figure is a circle which represents the soul of the
individual. For the soul to evolve and progress, it has two wings. In
each wing there are five layers of feathers. These remind one of the
five jzhirums with which the soul is linked. To achieve the ultimate
goal of reaching Ahura-Mazda, the soul has to pass through all the
jzhirums. The five layers can also represent the five Divine Songs
(/Gathas/) of Zarathustra, the five divisions of the day (/Gehs/), and
the five senses of the human body.

In nature, there exist two opposing forces: /Spenta-Mainyu/ ­ the good
mind or /assar-i roshni/ ­ and /Angre-Mainyu/ ­ the wicked mind or
/assar-i tariki/. A continuous conflict goes on in nature between these
two. A person's soul is caught between the two and is pulled by each
from side to side. The two long curved legs on either side of the circle
represent these two forces.

To help the soul balance itself between these two forces, the soul is
given a rudder in the form of a tail. This tail has three layers of
feathers, which reminds one of the path of Asha ­ */Humata/* (Good
Thoughts), */Hukhta/* (Good Words), and */Hvarasta/* (Good Deeds), or
*/Manashni/*, */Gavashni/*, and */Kunashni/* ­ by which the soul is able
to make its own spiritual progress.

The head of the figure reminds us that Ahura-Mazda has given every soul
a free will to choose either to obey divine universal natural laws or to
disobey them.

The figure also has a pair of hands which hold a circular ring. The ring
symbolizes the cycles of rebirths on this earth and other planes which
the soul has to undergo to make progress on the path of Asha. If these
divine laws are obeyed through /Manashni/, /Gavashni/, and /Kunashni/,
our soul will be able to attain union with Ahura-Mazda. This far-off
event, towards which the whole of creation moves, is called /Frasho-kereti/.

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