Response

Ahriman is an Indo-Iranian fire-bringer and the leader of the daevas, whom Zoroastrians called devils. He is the twin brother of the solar God, Ahura Mazda, and is the rival of the sun god in Persian myth. Ahriman's story is one of revolt against his twin brother, the Heavenly Father, and of the daevas' fall to the underworld. This story gave western Europe its basic myth of the fall of Lucifer, and its dualistic division of the universe between forces of good and evil. Ahriman is also known as the Serpent, and is said to have tempted the first man and woman. He is considered to be the true creator of the earth and all creatures in the mundane world of matter, and is worshipped by the Persian Magi as the source of their magic power. Ahriman is also identified with all chthonian gods like Pluto, Saturn, or Dis Pater, and is seen as a wonder-working spirit in early Christian mystery-plays. In Christianity, the devil is a composite of ancient deities in a single Protean form, and is seen as having goat-horns and hoofs, a trident, a reptilian form, a fiery form, female breasts, a wolf face, quadruple wings, and bird claws. Ahriman is also seen as the source of occult wisdom, and is thought to be more influential in terrestrial affairs than the Heavenly Father.