ianism was in this respect as pure as the religion of the Jews,
and thus a double bond of religious sympathy united the Hebrews and the
Arians.

Under the supreme God, Ahura-mazda or Ormazd, the ancient Iranic system
placed (as has been already observed) a number of angels. Some of these,
as _Vohu-mano_, "the Good Mind;" _Mazda_, "the Wise" (?); and _Asha_,
"the True," are scarcely distinguishable from attributes of the
Divinity. Armaiti, however, the genius of the Earth, and Sraosha or
Serosh, an angel, are very clearly and distinctly personified. Sraosha
is Ormazd's messenger. He delivers revelations, shows men the paths of
happiness, and brings them the blessings which Ormazd has assigned to
their share. Another of his functions is to protect the true faith.
He is called, in a very special sense, "the friend of Ormazd," and is
employed by Ormazd not only to distribute his gifts, but also to conduct
to him the souls of the faithful, when this life is over, and they enter
on the celestial scene.

Armaiti is at once the genius of the Earth, and the goddess of Piety.
The early Ormazd worshippers were agriculturists, and viewed the
cultivation of the soil as a religious duty enjoined upon them by God.
Hence they connected the notion of piety with earth culture; and it was
but a step from this to make a single goddess preside over the two. It
is as the angel of Earth that Armaiti has most distinctly a personal
character. She is regarded as wandering from spot to spot, and laboring
to convert deserts and wildernesses into fruitful fields and gardens.
She has the agriculturist under her immediate protection, while she
endeavors to persuade the shepherd, who persists in the nomadic life, to
give up his old habits and commence the cultivation of the soil. She is
of course the giver of fertility, and rewards her votaries by bestowing
upon them abundant harvests. She alone causes all growth. In a certain
cense she pervades the whole material creation, mankind included, in
whom she is even sometimes said to "reside."

Armaiti, further "tells men the everlasting laws, which no one may
abolish"--laws which she has learnt from converse with Ahura-mazda
himself. She is thus naturally the second object of worship to the old
Zoroastrian; and converts to the religion were required to profess their
faith in her in direct succession to Ahura-mazda.

From Armaiti must be carefully distinguished the _geus urva_, or "soul
of the earth"--