Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/401

The angels. Izad is the Pahlavi equivalent of the Avestan word Yazata, and is similarly employed as the designation for an angel. These angels are immortal and invisible;^[1] and some of them, who were pre-eminently the genii of the living in the Younger Avestan period, have by this time been transferred more particularly to the sphere of the dead. For example, Srosh, Rashn, and Mihr, three of the most prominent Izads of the Avestan period, have changed their sphere of activity. In the Avestan period they were the genii exclusively of the corporeal world, but now they are converted into the judges of the dead. In the Pahlavi time, the faithful, rather than looking to them for protection and help in this world, solicit more especially their favour for the next world. Srosh still retains some of his earthly functions, but he becomes the genius of the dead first, and of the living afterwards. The angels Hom and Din have extended their sphere of activity by joining Tishtar in his work of producing rain.^[2] Certain qualities that were attributed in the Avestan texts to one angel are now loosely ascribed to another.

The Izads are the loving guides and protectors of men. They first expounded the faith of Ormazd to Gayomard, the primeval man;^[3] and they are ever ready to fulfil the behests of Ormazd, who has created them for the welfare of his creatures.^[4] They most frequently visit the sacred temples consecrated to the fire Bahram.^[5] They help man,^[6] and instruct him in goodness.^[7] It is through their aid that man learns to know God, to dispel demons, and to liberate his soul from the future torments of