Mytho-Mystic Literature
Year:2016 | Volume:12 | Issue:44|Papers Count:11

lion that have been created by Angra Mainyu to destroy the good world. In Avesta and Pahlavi texts, some manners are proposed to eliminate these devil creatures. The influence of Ferdosi and his book, Shahnameh, on Iranian language and culture are clear. Yet an explanation is needed to show that how much his idea about khrafstars are influenced by Avesta and Pahlavi texts. By using descriptive and analytic method, the authors of present article try to study and compare the creatures that in Zoroastian religious texts are called khrafstar which are mentioned in Shahnameh. The research shows that in Shahnameh not only the term “khrafstar” is not mentioned but also it is not referred to an animal as devil creature. But, there are similarities between Ferdosi's ideas and Avesta and Pahlavi texts about noxious creatures. Finally, it has been referred to the role of these creatures in the myths of other nations and has been compared with Avesta and Pahlavi texts and Shahnameh.

Myths are rooted in deeds and beliefs that once were sacred to man and had an indispensible relationship with his material and spiritual life. These deeds and beliefs can be found in various cultures in the passage of time, sometimes they were preserved their original form and sometimes later they have been transformed and reflected in literary books. We can find some of mythical beliefs and deeds in Asrar al-Tawhid (The Mysteries of Unification), a work of 12th century Persian literature about the Sufi mystic Abu-Said Abul-Khayr. Indeed, it is a good source to follow them. By using descriptive and analytic method and regarding to the ideas entertained by myth scholars, like Carl Gustav Jung, James George Frazer and Mircea Eliade, the present article tries to study the subjects of number seven, old man, and incantation, symbol of circle, initiation and cleaning hair in Asrar al-Tawhid.

In analyzing Iranian mystical literature, the critics and literary scholars have mainly focused on Persian poems, but in recent decades, prose writings, especially short stories, have played an important role in reflecting mystical beliefs, deeds and doctrines. More charming than green, written by Ali Moazzeni, is one of these short stories. The aim of present article is to analyze the story by using descriptive method. The story is considered in three levels: theme, literary images and narrative method, in order to show that how mystical concepts have been reconstructed in the story. In this story, the concepts like spiritual journey (suluk), self-knowledge, God's testing, peace and friendship, saintship, unity of vision and ease of mind have joined with religious issues and mystical themes and have been presented in new forms. Using literary images and different methods of narration associated with mystical themes have led to coherence of the story.

Verbal presupposition is a linguistics subject that is paid attention in interpreting texts. Verbal presuppositions, as hypotheses and ideas about linguistic knowledge and outlook of writer of a text, are shared with potential readers. We are connected to the old texts by reconstruction of historical situations and the thoughts that were in common use at the time which the text was produced. Sama (ritual that often includes singing, dancing, recitation of poetry and prayers) is one of disputed subjects in the history of Sufism and there are many contradictory evaluations about it, so for understanding the meaning of these evaluations, we need to know their verbal presuppositions. The aim of present article is to compare the concept of sama in the works of Abu Abd ar-Rahman as-Sulami and Ahmad Ghazali by using lingusitic and semantic method. Also, we try to show the function of presuppositions in a comprehensive recognition of the ritual’s historical development. According to the presuppositions, there are two periods in the formation of sama: generation and stability. Abu Abd ar-Rahman as-Sulami, based on his phenomenological and wholistic approach belongs to the period of generation, and Ahmad Ghazali, with regards to his metaphorical language and phenomenological-psycological approach belongs to the period of stability.

Aryan Iran is cradle of Mithraism, a mysterious religion that traversed the cultural and religious borders and spread in all of the world. So the mystical beliefs of Mithraists and many of their mores and cults become as a part of Iranian and world’s people historical heritage and culture. The influence of this ancient religion on Zoroastrianism, Christianty and Islamic mysticism is well known. The traces of Mitra, the great Iranian ancient deity and the goddess of light, can be clearly seen in Persian historical and literary texts. Some of Mithraic thoughts are presented in Tarikh-e Balami (history of Balami), by Abu Ali Muhammad Bal’ami. Many of issues about Iranian culture and civilization are widely reported in the book. By using analytic method, the present article tries to examine Mithraic themes in Tarikh-e Balami.

Sea has a special place in the myths of nations. Mythical seas can be nominally compared with real seas, but geographically they have different situation. Bundahishn, as one the great books of middle Persian language, contains many names of the mythical seas. The aim of the present article is to study them in Bundahishn. By using descriptive and analytic method, the goal is to examine the names of the mythical seas from etymological and mythical points of view, and to compare them with real seas. As a result, the mythical seas are located in the south and behind Vourukasha (Fraxkard Sea). The correspondence of the mythological names with the natural geography is done. Sometimes they can be adapted with the location of real seas.

In Persian classic literature, Nizami Ganjavi is the most prominent poet of lyrical poetry, and his Panj Ganj (Five Jewels) are well-known and have great importance. Among these five books, Haft Paykar is an outstanding one, because its legends and fables present myths, symbols and codes to the reader. Every described character, region, planet, dome and color, have a symbol or code. Among these myths and symbols, vegetables, especially trees, are most salient. Some of the symbols can be found in the myths of other nations, but some of them are special and unique to this book. Using descriptive-analytical and library methods, the authors of present article attempt to examine symbolic trees in the legends of Haft Paykar.

Nostalgia, as a psychological term, has been put forward in Persian literature from way back and has an especial place in lyrical poetry. By using descriptive-analytical method the present research is to study the different aspects of nostalgia in personal, politico-social and mystical levels in Hafez poetry. In the history of Iran, the era of Hafez was a critical situation, so the influences of abnormal politico-social events in his poems are distinct. Many of nostalgic cases in the poems of Hafez are rooted in political and social backgrounds of his period. His mystical thoughts about eternity and the fall of man to the terrestrial globe are connected to the nostalgia of sepreation, a distinct view which is worthy of study. On the other hand, we can find the contrary cases in his poems, cases like joy, fighting with sadness, hope to future, resignation to God and submission to Him. These were the methods which helped him to keep his serenity and peace in spite of the discouraging circumstances of the age.

The story of the castle of Fortress of Forms (Qaleh Zat o-Suvar or Hooshroba) is the unfinished and the last long tale in Masnavi Manavi. The topic of the tale is struggle of three princes to succeed in obtaining a Chinese princess. Using descriptive-analytical and library methods, the present article attempts to analyze some archetypes of the story in the light of Carl Gustav Jung's views. The findings indicate that the holy union is a mystical interpretation of self-knowledge and the mean that helps reaching station of the Perfect Man. Beloved or the woman in the story is an image of archetype of anima that in difficult stages of the journey appears dream like figure to the hero and helps him to know the dark aspects of himself and purify his soul and body from worldly attachments. In other word, the Chinese princess is the unconscious character of the poet and three young princes, she appears in the form of a gentle and solemn woman and guide them to unite with the eternal truth.

The issues of separation from higher world, spiritual nostalgia and return to origin have been expressed with symbolic language in allegorical texts of Iranian-Islamic mysticism. One of the most important texts is Sohravardi’s Ghorbat al-gharbiyah (the Occidental exile). Sohravardi proposes the concept of “the Occidental exile” in a utopian and an idealistic geography. By using descriptive-analytical method, the present article tries to study this concept in Masnavi Manavi of Jalal al-Din Rumi and to show his hermeneutic and mystical apprehensions with regards to Sohravardi’s allegories. The research shows that how Sohravardian terms like ideal east and west, utopia, corps astral, being imprisoned in tenebrous well and mystical journey (suluk) to the east and higher world, all have been manifested in Masnavi Manavi. Doing so, it reveals that the common source of these two scholars, is, Quranic hermeneutic. They interpret the tales and allegories of Quran and indicate that the man can obtain his/her divine and luminous identity and understand that his/her true place is not the material world, and must resort to intuition and purification.