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MODERN PARSEEISM. of creation. Prayers are addressed to these spirits. Prayer is made that the evil may become virtuous and be pardoned by the mercy of Ormuzd. There is no propitiation of the evil spirits, or prayer to them.
The priesthood is handed down by inheritance from father to son, although priests may become laymen. The The priest. high priests, or dasturs, are the especial religious
hood. authorities, imposing penances and declaring doctrine. The ordinary priests, or mobeds, and the lower priests, or herbads, complete the religious orders of the Parsees. They have a council, or Panchyat, composed of six dasturs and twelve mobeds, which settles all the joint affairs of the Parsee community. At present the condition of the Parsee priesthood is one of progress; two colleges, representing the two sects of the Parsees (marked by comparatively unimportant differences), have been established, under able teachers; and learned works of considerable value bearing on the history and ancient texts of their religion have been produced by Parsees who have studied at German universities and write English with fluency. The Parsee community does not make offerings to the priests and to the temples the chief or only meritorious work; but its charitable institutions are numerous, and a Parsee beggar is unknown.
As to the devotional practices of the laity, a man who is very religious will say prayers many times a day,
Devotions albeit in the Avesta language, which he does of the laity. not understand. Prayer may be said on rising from sleep, after bathing, and after every operation of life, before and after meals, and before going to bed. Among the strangest and most repulsive of Parsee practices, to western notion, is the habit of rubbing nirang (cow's urine) over face and hands, as a specific against devas or evil spirits, a prayer or incantation being recited at the same time. Devotions at the Parsee fire altars
are quite optional, and they may be performed Festivals.
estivals. at any time by the worshippers, who usually give something to the priests. There is, however, a considerable attendance at the festivals, about once a week, and at special seasons, such as the six days' festival in
