One of the questions that is most often asked about Zoroastrianism by non-Zoroastrians is whether there is a mystical side to the faith. Jews have their Hasidim, Christians have a long history of mystical experiences, writing, and practices; Islam has Sufism. Are there Zoroastrian mystics, and was Zarathushtra himself a mystical Prophet as well as a religious and social reformer?
The subject of mysticism is a difficult one because there is a large amount of misdirection, misinformation, fear, and just plain contempt for mysticism. On one side of the matter, there is an endlessly proliferating forest of miracle-stories, pseudoscience, magic, crystal-gazing, astrology, speculations about the future and the past, imaginative interpretations of scripture and history, and various 19th and 20th century ideological movements featuring a mixture of the "hidden" traditions of East and West. All this is thought, by many, to be what "mysticism" means. But this is not mysticism: this is esotericism, which is outside the theme of this essay.
On the other side there is the attitude of academics and humanists, who either deny that mysticism is important or deny that it is relevant to their studies; they regard it as a concession to irrationality. The important thing about a religion, to them, is not its unmeasurable and subjective mysticism, but its philosophical, moral, and social teachings, along with its texts and documentable history. The rest is for private inspiration only.
As a result, many excellent texts about Zoroastrianism, whether they are written by Westerners or by Zoroastrians, fall into one or the other of these categories, usually the latter. The modern drive to reform Zoroastrianism has caused the reformers to model themselves after the rationalists of the West, and thus mysticism is discounted or ignored. (There are some fine exceptions, such as the work of Dr. Farhang Mehr and the text-analysis of Dr. Helmut Humbach; both openly deal with mystical topics.)
Therefore before I write anything about Zoroastrian mysticism I must define my terms and what I am working with. A mystic is someone who believes, or is believed, to have had a direct experience of the Deity, or God. I define mysticism as an ongoing life lived in the presence of God, a God to which the mystic relates as a Beloved as well as a Source of Wisdom. This mysticism is rationally tested but transcends any rational explanation. Some of the basic factors of the mystical life, as cited by mystics and mystical writings are: a powerful sense of a divine Presence, with which one can sustain inner dialogue and prayer (in the imagination, mentally), the loving and friendly quality of that Presence, the increase in intelligence and alertness it brings - which is often related to a concept of God as Divine Wisdom - a feeling of happiness and peace, and, as a sign, the inner perception of brilliant light. These experiences can be simulated, or counterfeited, by various mind- altering techniques or drugs, but the true experience can be measured by its power to bring about personal and moral transformation towards what is good and constructive - what Zoroastrians call the path of ASHA, or Righteousness.
I believe that the mystical life is universal, and that, in varying contexts and varying degrees, such contacts with the God of Light happen to people in every religion and in every time. But each mystic, of course, describes his/her experience in the context of his/her own faith. The Gathas of Zarathushtra, in my opinion, show that Zarathushtra, their author, is speaking from just such an authentic mystical experience.
These mystical experiences are easily describable in Zoroastrian terms. The mystical perception of God in the "inner eye" or "imagination", the mystical Light, the sense of divine Wisdom, the love between God and human, the infusion of virtue, courage, and perseverence - all these basic factors clearly exist in the Gathas. Anyone who says that there is no mysticism in Zoroastrianism or the Gathas has misunderstood the Gathas, or else has closed himself off to the mystical side of life. In the Gathas (and other texts) mysticism is hidden in plain sight.
Here are some of the ways that true mystical experience blazes forth in Zarathushtra's Gathas.
Yasna 28, the first Song of the Gathas, is composed of
grand invocations; it is sung by the Prophet in relationship with God
and with his prophetic community. In verse 28,2 Z. speaks of the
mystical means of that relationship, how it comes about:
The simple phrase "through good mind," speaks of a high level of
mystical experience. S. Insler, another modern translator of the
Gathas, translates _vohu manah_, the original Avestan, as "Good
Thinking;" but this misses the point of the Prophet's mystical way.
Good Thinking is a human virtue, and approaching God through
good thinking is something a non-mystical liberal Protestant or
rationalist humanist would say. It is far more than "good thinking" to
Zarathushtra. Good Mind is a living emanation of the Wise Lord.
To approach ("be encircled by" in literal translation) Good Mind is
to achieve communion, through the mind, with the Divine Mind, or
Divine Intelligence. It is a sharing of the divine Mind through the
cooperation of human mind and Divine communication. Through
this union of minds comes perception of divine information, the
laws of humanity and nature - perception of ASHA.
Thus, in verse 4, Zarathushtra describes himself as "attuned
to" Good Mind:
It is interesting that Good Mind, and its accompanying
ASHA or Cosmic Order, should be Zarathushtra's key concept. In
other mystical paths, such as Sufism or much of Christianity, the
key concept is not Good Mind, but Love. Zarathushtra's mysticism
is distinctive for its rigorous intellectual nature; love is part of his
way, but is secondary.
In Yasna 31, song 4, Zarathushtra introduces another feature
of mystical life, the "inner fire" or "inner light." This is in verse 3:
The Prophet continues the theme of Light in 31.7, where he
describes the creation, or divine emanation of light. Here I use the
poetic translation of D.J. Irani:
Zarathushtra's use of mystical light metaphors is
accompanied by his description of "inner vision," which occurs in at
least three Gatha verses. Zarathushtra mediates his mystical learning
by two main senses: seeing and hearing, and a lesser one, touch.
Seeing, vision, seems to be the most prominent one. Zarathushtra
asks to SEE the abstract Attribute of God, ASHA, in Y. 28,
I do not believe that these words of "seeing" and "eye" mean
that Zarathushtra actually saw God with his physical eyes. This
"seeing" is an inner event, which does not make it any less real than
an outer event. As I said earlier, modern students of religion,
especially those studying Zoroastrianism, have been heavily
influenced by rationalism and the "scientific" viewpoint, which
denies any reality to things which are not physical or provable by
physical means. As a result, the place of IMAGINATION is
demoted to unreality or even hallucination, or else it is considered
simply a "mental" event without any reference to a wider reality
outside the visionary's head. These passages of Zarathushtra cannot
be completely understood without returning to the idea of true
mystical perception through Imagination, or the "inner eye."
Imagination is not just fantasy, delusion, or hallucination. I believe it
is part of God's gift to human beings through, and in, Vohu Manah.
Is the mysticism of the Gathas only an intellectual
mysticism? Is there any element of love in Zarathushtra's mystical
way? There is, but it runs a distant second to the brilliance of his
intellectual communion. Words for "loving" do turn up in the
Gathas (in verses 28.8 and 28.10). The Divine Attribute of Spenta
Armaiti has often been interpreted as the personification of Divine
Love, but Spenta Armaiti's meaning is too complex to mean one
thing, and sometimes it is so ambiguous or unclear that the idea of
Divine Love can only be tentatively understood from references to
Armaiti.
The clearest description of Zarathushtra's way of divine love
is in his description of his relationship with the Wise Lord as _frya_
or "friend." This occurs in Y. 43.14:
In contrast to the love and passion-themes of Sufism,
Zarathushtra never uses an erotic metaphor to describe his loving
relationship with God in the Gathas. Marriage occurs in the
Wedding Gatha, Yasna 53, but it is between earthly people, not
between God and a human being. The eros which so permeates
Sufi mystical poetry is absent in Zarathushtra's mystical poetry.
Rather, it is a kind of dignified, restrained, even strait-laced type of
love-relationship that Zarathushtra leads with his Wise Lord.
Zarathushtra is neither the drunken lover of the Sufis nor the
passionate bride of the Biblical Song of Songs, re-interpreted by
generations of Christian mystics as the soul in relation to God.
These are some of the mystical references in the Gathas that
stand out, for me, as evidence that a true mystical path exists which
is central to the Zoroastrian experience. I believe that a Zoroastrian
mystic can, with the grace and help of the Wise Lord, travel the
same path of vision and friendship with God than Zarathushtra did
so long ago. I believe this because I have heard hints from many
practicing Zoroastrians, that Zoroastrians even now do have such
experiences. If the religion is to live and survive, these experiences
must be remembered, cultivated, and even encouraged.
In "Zoroastrian Mysticism I" I discussed Zarathushtra's
mystical path, the connection between God and the human soul. It is
a relationship between the devotee and the Transcendent God, who
can be "seen" or "grasped" only with inner senses, a way of
Knowledge and Friendship. This relationship is abstract, inward,
intellectual, and, to use a keyword often cited by the Zoroastrian
philosopher K.D. Irani, "reflective."
But this is not the only mystical path in Zoroastrianism.
There is another way, equally important in the Zoroastrian faith.
This is the path of divine Immanence - devotion and relationship
with God as He is present in the material world. This material world
includes not only what we would call the "natural" world - things
such as stars, oceans, mountains, clouds, forests, and animals - but
also things refined, cultivated, formed, and offered up by human
beings, who are themselves part of the material world. This mystical
path of Immanence belongs to Zarathushtra's vision as much as do
his inner insights of Good Mind and Justice. And the mysticism of
the created world is very much present in the Gathas, as it will be in
all subsequent Zoroastrian scriptures and practices.
One of the most important figures in the Gathas is that of
the _geush urvan_ or "Soul of the Cow." This is an excellent
example of how Zarathushtra portrays the presence of God in the
material world. Western scholars have debated the meaning of the
"Soul of the Cow" for more than a century; is Zarathushtra talking
about real cattle and their welfare, or is he talking about a mythically
exalted Sacred Cow such as is featured in the poetry and devotion
of Hinduism (which sprang from the same primordial Indo-Iranian
civilization as Zoroastrianism) - or is the Prophet referring to the
Cow as a symbol of the whole living world? The answer is: All of
the above. Zarathushtra is a master of multiple meanings layered on
one simple word or phrase. To limit the Cow Soul to an animal or
an abstract symbol is to miss the point. All of the meanings point to
the presence of God: in the animal, in the symbol, and in the whole
living world.
There is a famous passage in Yasna 44 (song 9), verses 3-5
which further illustrates Zarathushtra's devotion to the divine
presence in the created world:
The most important thing to understand about a mysticism
of Immanence is that it regards the entire created world as symbolic
of God and divine realities - it is, as another tradition might put it, a
great book in which the truth of God can be read. Everything
mentioned by Zarathushtra in that passage: sun, stars, moon, earth,
sky, waters, plants, wind, clouds, light and darkness, is a Sign of the
presence of God. To a mystic attuned to the presence of God in the
material world, everything that exists can point to God. Thus the
Prophet speaks of the divine attributes of Righteousness and Good
Mind (ASHA and Vohu Manah) in the same lines as he speaks of
Sun and Wind.
Most of us have been trained to think in the mind-set of
scientific or academic rationalism, a way of thinking that separates
the religious from the material and denies the immanence, or even
the relevance, of God and religious realities to the study of nature or
the material world. The idea that sun, moon, stars, or a Cow are
symbols or signs, or that they have a living soul in which God
participates, is a matter for mythology and faith, not serious study.
But the philosophical world of Zarathushtra, and of all his
Zoroastrian successors, is a world where the spiritual and material
are not separate, but participate in a single wholeness. In this world-
view not only does the material symbolize the spiritual, but it is
CONNECTED to it in ways that cannot be systematized or
rationally proven. Light, Sun, and God; Cow and World; Fire and
Righteousness - all these things are organically connected, and if
you encounter one, you have mystically encountered its
correspondent as well. This world-view is at the very foundation of
Zoroastrian thinking, as well as its prayer and ritual.
Forever after, this view of a seamless universe of God and
the world will guide Zoroastrian devotion and practice. This world-
view is beautifully portrayed in the Yasna Haptanhaiti, or "Worship
in Seven Chapters," an early liturgical text probably composed by
Zarathushtra's contemporaries or immediate successors. The Seven
Chapters contain praises of the natural world, the human world, and
the abstract virtues and attributes of God, united in a divine Order.
Here are some selected verses from this text:
This reverence for Creation is a special feature of
Zoroastrianism, but it is not unique to the Iranian faith. Similar
hymns in praise of Creation occur in the Jewish Bible - for instance,
Psalm 104 which presents a grand panorama of God's work in the
natural world, and the song of the three young men in the fiery
furnace, found in Daniel 3:52-90. It is impossible to say whether
there is any influence from the Iranian traditions in these texts. But
they are quite similar. The song in the book of Daniel is a litany
(repetitive chant) which goes through all the different creations of
the world, blessing the Lord:
"Sun and moon! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to Him. Later on, this immanence was made even more specific, as
the ancient divinities which personified natural forces and
abstractions were brought back into Zoroastrian worship under the
rule of Ahura Mazda. These are the _yazatas_, the "beings to be
reverenced." Though these entities are much maligned by
Zoroastrian reformers as "recycled paganism" or "fantasy," they are
very much in the spirit of the Zoroastrian view of a universe full of
signs of God. The Yashts (worship-hymns) to the various Yazatas
such as Anahita, Tishtrya and Mithra are indeed full of inherited
pagan symbolism, but this symbolism has been transformed by
Zoroastrian monotheism into an iconography of the divine presence
in the material world.
I once asked a Zoroastrian priest, Ervad Noshir Karanjia,
what the Amesha Spentas looked like. Were there any images of
them, icons such as the holy pictures which fill Eastern Christian
churches and are so much a part of Byzantine worship? This
conversation took place at an outdoor Zoroastrian gathering in
summertime. He said, "The image of an Amesha Spenta is in what it
represents." Pointing to the trees and grass, he said that these were
the image of Haurvatat. The earth, he said, was the image of Spenta
Armaiti; the fire, that of ASHA. To a devoted and aware
Zoroastrian, the whole created world - not just human beings, as in
the Jewish/Christian tradition - is in the image of God.
This presence of God in creation is the underlying reason for
the famous Zoroastrian concern for the purity and preservation of
the natural world, and for maintenance of cleanliness and ritual
purity in humans and animals. To pollute waters or earth is to defile
a holy thing. All of the elaborate purity laws in the Vendidad, the
Zoroastrian book of "canon law," have this reverence as their origin,
though as time went on, the living consciousness of God's presence
may have been obscured in an overgrowth of legalistic prescriptions.
In a similar way, the words, actions, and objects of
Zoroastrian ritual all fit into the world-view of a created universe full
of signs of God, connecting the physical and the spiritual. Each
object used in a ritual has its divine correspondence. The cotton
sudreh, the sacred shirt worn by observant Zoroastrians, reminds the
wearer of the Plant Creation; the woolen Kushti cincture worn over
the shirt reminds its wearer of the Animal Creation. At ceremonies
such as the Jashan, the common service of prayer and fire, there is
something to represent each sector of Creation: fire, plants and
flowers, water, milk, metal vessels and implements, a cloth spread
out over the floor to represent Earth or Sacred Space, and the
priests and worshippers, themselves representing the human
creation. Similarly, the materials and used in the Great Yasna
ceremony, performed only in the ritually pure fire temples of India
and Iran, not only represent the Creations but symbolize doctrinal
elements of the faith; the ritual acts are a symbolic demonstration of
God's work in the created world.
These rites are thousands of years old, though, and this
presents a problem for a modern devotee who wishes to recapture
the mystical sense of God's immanence through ritual. Due to the
loss of Scriptures and the interruption of the priestly oral tradition in
the many disasters that have happened in Iran, there is no complete
and solid interpretation of what these ritual acts and objects really
mean. Zoroastrianism has preserved a general idea of the Seven
Creations and their correspondences in ritual, but the specific
symbols are not entirely clear. Learned High Priests such as Dastur
Firoze Kotwal, working with American philosophers and
anthropologists such as James Boyd and Ron Williams, as well as
the Zoroastrian scholar Jamsheed Choksy, have done a great deal to
recover the original meanings of the ritual objects and actions. But
their interpretations are still theoretical. The interpretation of ritual
is an ongoing process, as it is in other religions.
Another problem in returning mystical life to rituals is that
Zoroastrian rituals use ancient languages which very few of the
worshippers understand. Translations are not always available. The
ritual is often assumed to be effective automatically, more like an
applied formula which "works" whether it is understood by the
participants or not. The language then acquires its own mystical
sound-significance, independent of its actual meaning. But this also
limits the intellectual understanding of a ritual and the possibility for
a deeper spiritual commitment to it. The best ritual is that which is
done mindfully, with full consciousness of meaning on all of its
levels. What is needed in the renewal of Zoroastrian ritual is good
scholarship, and a wider education of the faithful in the real
meaning of the language and symbolic actions, all of which will
serve a renewed desire to experience God's presence directly in the
material world.
Thus the Zoroastrian mystical path establishes an ascending
scale for the contemplation of the Created World. Such a
contemplation would start with a physical entity (for instance, fire),
rising to the yazata Atar - the spirit of Fire, an intermediate spiritual
being, worthy of veneration; to the entity of an "archangel" or
Amesha Spenta ASHA, to the abstract concepts of Justice, Truth,
and Cosmic Order, and finally, to the prophetic experience of
Zarathushtra, as he "sees" God with his mystical eyes. There is, in
this scale of being, a place for all levels of spiritual perception, from
the believers who venerate the fire or the divinity Atar, to the more
abstract minds who meditate on Amesha Spentas, to the
philosophical types who find spiritual satisfaction in pure and
imageless concepts. And there is room for the mystic, who can see
God in all of these levels, from the flame of the fire to the living
emanation of the Wise Lord.
Hannah M.G.Shapero
"I, who am attuning my soul to Good Mind, know that the
actions done for the Wise God have their rewards..." (Jafarey trans.)
It is an ongoing perception and union with the Wisdom of God,
through which Zarathushtra's innovative teachings will proceed. A
similar sentiment is in verse 6, where Zarathushtra proclaims:
"Come through good mind, and grant a long life through
righteousness..." (Jafarey)
Vohu Manah occurs in every single verse of Yasna 28, song 1, as
well as in every single verse of the last canto of that Gatha, Yasna
34. Throughout the Gathas, Vohu Manah is repeated in verse after
verse. This rhetorical repetition assures us that Zarathushtra
considers Good Mind of the highest importance in his relationship
with God and in his teaching.
"The happiness you grant, has been promised to the two
parties through Your mental fire and righteousness..." (Jafarey)
The "mental fire" in the Gatha text is again spoken of as an
"instrument:" happiness comes to people THROUGH this divine
illumination, which corresponds, in Zoroastrian practice, to the real
fire that burns as the sign of God in fire temples and at sacred
services. The Parsi scholar Irach Taraporewala calls it the "inner
fire." It corresponds to a universally reported factor in mystical
experience. To those who are gifted with such an experience, it is
not just a metaphor. In mystical perception, this inner light is a sign
that something holy, powerful, and divine is present. The light seen
by mystics represents the light of the good and wise God, or at least
one of His intermediaries such as an angel or Saint. Given the theme
of a mystical interpretation, this is what Zarathushtra is talking about
here. This light will later be elaborated in the Zoroastrian doctrine of
the khvarenah, the holy halo around heroes, kings, and Prophets.
"He who, in the first beginning, thus thought: "Let the
glorious heavens be clothed in light..." (D.J. Irani translation)
In this verse Zarathushtra perceives the universe as filled with the
primal light. This links the inner light/fire perceived by the prophet
or mystic with the light of creation. Zarathushtra goes on to further
link that light with ASHA and Vohu Manah in the second line of
the verse:
"He, by His supreme Understanding, created the principles
of Truth and Right..." (D.J.Irani trans.)
The light is identified with divine Order (ASHA) and Intelligence
(Vahishtem Mano, or Best Thought, the superlative form of Vohu
Manah.) It is these divine emanations, as well as the others
mentioned in the Gathas, that are the subject of Zarathushtra's
vision. This is what Zarathusthra sees in his union with God. His
visions are not just "feelings" or outpourings of love. They are
LEARNING; they have intellectual content. This is why
Zarathushtra says, in the aforementioned Yasna 31.3:
"It is a matter of principle for the discerning, O Wise One,
for our knowledge..."(Jafarey translation)
Zarathushtra's mysticism is one of LEARNING and THINKING,
which, for some temperaments at least, does not in any way
preclude love or even passion.
"Having realized Good Mind, when shall I see you, O
Righteousness?" (Jafarey tr.)
In 31.8, Zarathushtra perceives the Wise Lord Himself with his
inner eye:
"Wise One, I realized You as the first and the last, and the
patron of Good Mind, when I grasped You in my vision...."(Jafarey tr.)
Here two senses are used in perception, the inner eye of vision and
the secondary sense of touch, signified by "grasped." The same
usage of inner eye occurs in Yasna 45.8, line 2:
"I shall seek to turn Him towards us with praises of
reverence, because I have now
conceived Him with my eyes of good thoughts, words, and
deeds..." (Jafarey tr.)
"Just as a wise and powerful man helps his friend, Wise
One, give me your enlightening support...." (Jafarey tr.)
The same word for Friend also appears in Y. 44.1:
"....How shall I reverently pay You your homage? Teach this
to a friend like me, Wise One...." (Jafarey)
and especially in Y. 46.2:
"I appeal to you. Please, Lord, see to it; lend me the help a
friend gives a friend. Grant, through Righteousness, the riches of Good Mind."
(Jafarey tr.)
Taraporewala makes a special comment on this verse, saying "One
finds here the germ of "Sufi" philosophy." His translation of the
same verse is very different from Jafarey's:
"But, Ahura, to Thee I do appeal,
This translation, unlike the other ones of Irani, Insler, and Jafarey,
borrows from Hindu and Sufi ideas, and I regard it as less accurate
in its depiction of the authentic Zarathushtrian mysticism. The word
used by Zarathushtra, frya, does not have the connotations of
erotic or nuptial love.
As Lover to Beloved, teach me how
I may be one with Thee in perfect Bliss."
(Taraporewala translation)Zoroastrian Mysticism II: Zoroastrianism and the mysticism of the
Created World
Many modern scholars, interpreting this passage, marvel at
Zarathushtra's curiosity about the sky, the atmosphere, and the
ecosystem, as if he were a Bronze Age scientist lacking only the
telescopes and the weather-stations of our modern era to complete
his research. Zarathushtra is indeed a vivid observer of the world
around him, but that material curiosity is only one part of the
question which begins each verse.
Who is the foremost creator and parent of Righteousness:
Who made the sun and the stars in their paths?
Who makes the moon wax and wane?
I am, O Wise One, eager to know all this and more.
Who holds the earth below,
who keeps the sky from breaking away?
Who creates the waters and who the plants?
Who lend the wind and clouds speed?
Who is the creator, Wise One, of good mind?
Which artist fashioned the light and the darkness?
Which artist planned sleep and awakening?
Who made the dawn, day, and dusk
that remind the wise of the ultimate goal?"
(Jafarey translation)
This liturgical text has been recited in Zoroastrian rituals for more
than three millennia. The "worship" here needs some clarification:
what is called "worship" might be more properly translated
"reverence," "veneration," or even "praise" since this takes place in a
monotheistic religion in which only Ahura Mazda is worshipped, not
the earth or the waters. All these glories of creation are referred
back to their Creator, Ahura Mazda; they are never worshipped on
their own.
Stars of heaven! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to Him.
Showers and dews, all bless the Lord....Winds, all bless the Lord...
Fire and heat! bless the Lord...Springs of water! bless the Lord...
Seas and rivers! bless the Lord...Animals wild and tame! bless the Lord..."
(Jerusalem Bible translation)
The hymn continues throughout the order of the created world until
it reaches human beings, and the souls of the faithful. All things and
people bear witness to the greatness of the one Lord. Both these
Jewish texts are extensively used in Christian worship as well,
especially in the Eastern churches. And in the Catholic West, much
later on, St. Francis of Assisi, who was much influenced by these
hymns of creation in the Bible, composed his "Canticle of Brother
Sun" which in some verses could almost be a free translation of the
Yasna Haptanhaiti:
"Be praised, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
As the Zoroastrian faith developed, this reverence for
Creation was put together with the symbolism of the Amesha
Spentas, the seven Attributes of God. Each one of the Seven
became personified as a great guardian spirit, having one sector of
Creation to watch over. The exact number of the seven Amesha
Spentas, and the identification of each one with a sector of Creation,
does not occur in the Gathas, though there are some passages that
hint at such connections. The doctrine of the Seven appears soon
after Zarathushtra. The Seven Creations comprise one of the
fundamental teachings of the Zoroastrian faith; it is a structured plan
of how God is present in the material world. For it is through the
Amesha Spentas that God, who is Himself transcendent and beyond
all things, also lives within the Cosmos. Thus Creation is divided
between the Seven: Spenta Mainyu, the creative Energy of God,
cares for human beings, ASHA, Righteousness, presides over Fire,
Vohu Manah, Good Mind, over Animals. Kshathra, God's Power,
protects Metals and Minerals, and in some theories, the Sky and Air
as well; Spenta Armaiti, Devotion and Serenity, cares for the Earth
and the Land. Haurvatat and Ameretat, Wholeness and Immortality,
watch over Waters and Plants.
Especially Sir Brother Sun,
By Whom You give us the light of day!
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor,
Of You, Most High, he is a symbol!
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon and the Stars!
In the sky You formed them bright and lovely and fair....
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water,
Who is very useful and humble and lovely and chaste!
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire,
By whom You give us light at night,
And he is beautiful and merry and mighty and strong!"
(St. Francis, translated by Raphael Brown)
Ushtavaiti
3/16/96