The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-03-07
THE FIRE WORSH[PERS.
THE ANCIENT TRIBE OF GUEBREs.
FOLLOWERS OF ZoRoASTER

" 1~NS ~ 4-CANC0o 4 IIN
Peculiar Sect i'm Persia with a
Superstitious Reverence for Fire.
An Honest and Reliable People
The religion Of the Guebres is several
centuries older than Christianity. They
are followers of Zoroaster, who regarded
the sun, moon and stars as OBJ ects of
worship, and fire as sacred element to
be tire tied with reverence and awe.
Wherever they are sufficiently numerous
and wealthy, they keep alight in their
temples sacred fires, which are never al.
lowed to become extinct from year to
year aud from generation to generation.
Priests are employed to keep these ever
burning fires atlame by constant attend
ance and feeding them with fuel In
Bombay and other Indian cities, where
the Guebres in India they are known as
Parsees) are still numerous and wealthy,
the sacred flames are maintained at great
expense. The fires are fed with sandal
wood and other fragrant and costly sub
stances, and large quantities of spices
are cast into the flames to be consumed.
They treat the burning fire with tie
'hiAAN 'h l'~l 7AlhAOho ltNNltuNt lildl Alt
Hindoos bestow upon their idols, rich
Guebrcs spending their money freely TO
present it with fragrant woods and
spices. The pliess whose function il is
to replenish the fires with fuel and see
that they are never permitted to go out,
regard the flame as very sacred thing.
So much So that they ave said to wear
gag over their mouth and nostrils when
they approach the sacred flame. lest they
should detile it by contact with human
breath
Cne curious result-which doubt not
many people will regard as a good one
OF the GuCbres' reveI ence for fire, is that
none of them indulge in the habit of
smoking tobacco. They may use tobacco
as snuff, or even chew t if so inclined |
but the Guebre who should be found
with lighted pipe or cigar in his mouth
wo Id at once become an oh ,cct of alb |
hDrence to his co.Ieligionists. They
would regard him tn much repug-
nance, as person who had wantonlv |
deiiled his own god by putting his rep
reSentatiIe, fire, to an uuholy use. Cen |
turies ago, when Mohammedanism the |
religion OF the sword, swept over Persia, |
offering TO the old e-worshiping popu- |
lation the alternative of conversion to the |
new religion or death by the sword, all |
the Guebres that preferred to cling to |
their own belief and could get away |
fled to India. In the City of Bombay |
alone there are now about one hundred |
thousand tire-worshipers, or near one.
seventh of the whole population. They |
are the most enterprising people in India, |
large share of the commerce |
OF the entire country Their business en-
terprise and ability has made them very
wealthy, so much so that the present |
King of Persia, "Nasr-ud- Deem, Shah. |
in Shah, Asylum of the Universe, " etc. |
has lately turned his august mind |
in their direction. Not long ago he sent |
a memorial to the wealthy Guebres of
Bombay, stating how much he loved
them, and inviting them to gather up
their riches and come back to their an
cient home. The Gucbres, however, are
not to be caught in any such oriental trap
as this. They are now enjoying happi-
ness and prosperity under the British
rule in India, and are too wise and wary
in these days to place themselves and
their property within reach of an orien-
'NA 'l'Nh' S'Nb 1iipAAsSl llt NC 81 dluluDlc
A specimen as the Asylum of the Uni
verse"
A curious thing about the few remain
ng Guebres in Persia is, that while the
rest Of the population about them, both
Persian and Armenian, are notoriously
dishonest and hardly know what IT'S to
ell the truth, they are an honest and re-
liable people. As consequence Of this
valuable trait of character in
he fire worshiping families, they are
almost always to be found occupying
positions of trust. Their chief occupa.
ion is that of guardians o er the private
of wealthy Persians. Thus it
would almost seem that the last functions
# the ancient fire w0gsbipers in per,ia
vas to point a moral. to teach us that
honesty is recognized ard appreciated in
very part of the world. Commercial
idgertiser.