irits. The soldiers of Ormuzd are the good angels (yazatas), those
of Ahriman the evil demons (devs). The angels dwell in the East in the
light of the rising sun; the demons in the West in the shadows of the
darkness. The two armies wage incessant warfare; the world is their
battleground, for both troops are omnipresent. Ormuzd and his angels
seek to benefit men, to make them good and happy; Ahriman and his
demons gnaw around them to destroy them, to make them unhappy and
wicked.

=Creatures of Ormuzd and Ahriman.=--Everything good on the earth is
the work of Ormuzd and works for good; the sun and fire that dispel
the night, the stars, fermented drinks that seem to be liquid fire,
the water that satisfies the thirst of man, the cultivated fields that
feed him, the trees that shade him, domestic animals--especially the
dog,[30] the birds (because they live in the air), among all these the
cock since he announces the day. On the other hand everything that is
baneful comes from Ahriman and tends to evil: the night, drought,
cold, the desert, poisonous plants, thorns, beasts of prey, serpents,
parasites (mosquitoes, fleas, bugs) and animals that live in dark
holes--lizards, scorpions, toads, rats, ants. Likewise in the moral
world life, purity, truth, work are good things and come from Ormuzd;
death, filth, falsehood, idleness are bad, and issue from Ahriman.

=Worship.=--From these notions proceed worship and morality. Man ought
to adore the good god[31] and fight for him. According to Herodotus,
"The Persians are not accustomed to erect statues, temples, or altars
to their gods; they esteem those who do this as lacking in sense for
they do not believe, as the Greeks do, that the gods have human
forms."[32] Ormuzd manifests himself only under the form of fire or
the sun. This is why the Persians perform their worship in the open
air on the mountains, before a lighted fire. To worship Ormuzd they
sing hymns to his praise and sacrifice animals in his honor.

=Morality.=--Man fights for Ormuzd in aiding his efforts and in
overcoming Ahriman's. He wars against darkness in supplying the fire
with dry wood and perfumes; against the desert in tilling the soil and
in building houses; against the animals of Ahriman in killing
serpents, lizards, parasites, and beasts of prey. He battles against
impurity in keeping himself clean, in banishing from himself
everything that is dead, especially the nails and hair, for "where
hairs and