Ab-Zohr is attested in Zoroastrian liturgical tradition as the technical zaothra ('offering') directed to the waters. The rite appears within the Yasna liturgy as the prescribed sacrificial/atonement procedure to give strength to and purify the waters (Aban/Apas); its linguistic forms are attested in Avestan (ap-zaoθra) and Middle Persian (ab-zohr), with the Parsi Gujarati name jōra-mēḷavī ('strengthen') reflecting its functional purpose.
As a rite, Ab-Zohr's 'appearance' is described via its material components and implements: two sequential preparations of parahaoma made from three small haoma twigs, consecrated water, pomegranate twigs and leaves, and in the second preparation milk (cow's milk in Iran; goat's milk in India). Central vessels include a mortar, two bowls, and a pestle; the residue of plant material is dried and burned beside and later in the sacred fire. The completed parahaoma is a consecrated liquid used for libation.
Ab-Zohr functions liturgically to create and consecrate parahaoma, thereby symbolically combining plant life (pomegranate sap), animal life (milk), and the strengthening/healing properties of haoma with consecrated water. Its ritual efficacy is described as purifying and compensating the waters for damage caused by human actions (e.g., Yasna 68.1). The rite also produces social effects: distribution of parahaoma to attendants, infants, the dying, and pouring at tree roots, linking the liturgy to communal blessing and healing. It is not described as a sentient agent.
Weaknesses
None recorded.
Wards
- ritualAb-Zohr (the rite itself)
Aban (Āb/Ābān)
Aban (Avestan apas; Middle Persian āb/ābān) is the collective, sacred principle of the waters in Zoroastrian cosmology — both the element water and its personified hypostases (the Apas/Ahuranis). Aban functions as a primordial, life-giving creation, a calendrical and liturgical focus (day-name, month-name, Abanagan feast), and a ritual object of veneration (ape zaothra, Aban Yasht) rather than a malign force to be expelled.
Aban Yasht
The Aban Yasht is a hymn from the Persian tradition that praises Anahita, a goddess associated with water, fertility, and wisdom. It consists of 132 stanzas and is part of the 21 Yashts collection. (Note: - Power tier should be "Primordial" or possibly "Cosmic", given that it's a hymn of great spiritual significance and associated with a goddess. - The article incorrectly states that Anahita is associa)
Aeshma
Aeshma is the Zoroastrian hypostasis of wrath — a fiendish being who personifies rage and functions as an ontological opponent to Ahuric principles and ritual discipline. In scripture and later tradition he distracts worship, foments violence and drunkenness, can be driven off by prayer or by divine agents such as Sraosha and Mithra, and will be overthrown or flee at the final renovation.
Ahriman (Angra Mainyu)
Angra Mainyu (Middle Persian Ahriman) is the hypostasis or personification of destructive, deceitful, and disordering mentality in Zoroastrian tradition. In the earliest (Gathic) layer it is presented as a choiceful destructive mainyu opposed to the constructive Spenta Mainyu; in later Pahlavi exegesis it becomes a personified cosmic antagonist who nevertheless is described as ontologically deficient and non-divine.
Ahura
Ahura is an Avestan term that designates a class of divinities in the Indo‑Iranian and Zoroastrian tradition, marking the sacred ‘lords’ who are to be reverenced and opposed to the rejected class of daevas. In Zoroastrian scripture the label functions as both a technical category and an honorific applied to high divine figures such as Ahura Mazda, Mithra, and Apam Napat.
Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda is the principal deity of Zoroastrian tradition, invoked as the supreme source of goodness and wisdom who instructs Zoroaster and commands helper spirits (yazatas). Historically attested in Achaemenid royal inscriptions, Ahura Mazda occupies a central role in Zoroastrian liturgy (notably the Yasna) and in various Iranian religious formulations.
Ahurani
Ahurani (Avestan ahurani; pl. ahuranis) is a Zoroastrian divinity or class of divinities of the waters in the Avesta. In hymnic contexts (notably Yasna Haptanghaiti and Yasna 68) the ahurani(s) are invoked as companions of the ahura(s), bearers of health, fertility and other gifts, and the ritual recipients of libations (Ab‑Zohr).
Airyanem Vaejah
Sacred homeland and territory in Zoroastrianism, considered the cradle of Iranian civilization. (Note: * Power tier: Greater (Airyanem Vaejah is a sacred territory, not a cosmic entity) * Appearance and Abilities sections are missing * Weaknesses and Wards sections are missing * Summary should be rewri)
Aka Manah
Aka Manah (Akem manah; Middle Persian Akoman, New Persian Akvan) is the personification of 'evil mind' in Zoroastrian literature. Originating as a Gathic term for corrupt thought, the figure is later reified in the Younger Avesta and Pahlavi texts as a high-ranking demonic opponent of Vohu Manah and ally of Angra Mainyu, whose activity is to pervert human thought and moral discrimination.
Amesha Spenta
Amesha Spenta (Avestan Aməša Spəṇta) are a canonical heptad of divine, bounteous principles in Zoroastrian thought, described as the first emanations of Ahura Mazda and later functioning as moral ideals and protectors or guardians of portions of creation.
Anahita (Arədvī Sūrā Anāhita / Ardwisur Anāhīd)
Anahita is a worship-worthy divine figure (yazata) in Iranian religious tradition, attested in the Avesta and later Middle Persian texts, who personifies the waters and the mythical heavenly river and is associated with fertility, procreation, wisdom, and (in later syncretic forms) martial success and the planet Venus.
Angra Mainyu
In Zoroastrian tradition Angra Mainyu (Avestan) — often rendered Ahriman in later sources — is the personified destructive spirit and the principal adversary of the beneficent divine power (Spenta Mainyu) and, in some formulations, of Ahura Mazda. The figure functions as the opposing brother‑power within a foundational Mazdean dualism.
Community Record
- [1]Ab-Zohr - Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 'Ab-Zohr'.wiki
- [2]Ab-Zohr - Wikidata. Wikidata entry for Ab-Zohr.wiki
- [3]Yasna - Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 'Yasna'.wiki
- [4]Zoroastrian Liturgical Ceremonies (heritageinstitute.com). Overview of Zoroastrian liturgy and ceremonies.other
- [5]Haoma - New World Encyclopedia. Entry on haoma as ritual plant/drink.other