Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-07-30

Observation-Disclosures
Later stll they brought II with them
to Bombay. and 1t Is always kept blaz-
ing IN the temples here
The Parsees do not permit strangers
to see this are. They regard their
worship too holy to have IL viewed
by others, and they make no display
of their religion by gorgeous churches
and elaborate religious ceremonies. I
am told that they look upon fire as
the purest thing upon earth. In some
Of their new temples they have start
ed the fires by Goals from tree or
building struck by lightning, and have
fed them with chips and dust Of
sandalwOod. / understand that they
will not spit I'm the fire nor blow out
u light For a time many Of them
would not smoke tobacco, and some
of them have refused to serve in
the fire department here at Bonn bay,
not wishing to sin I'm putting fire out.
This worship Of fire IS by no means
original with the Parsees. our own.
ancestors OF the long ago, the early
Aryans, were worshipers OF fire as
representing the lightning and the
sun. The Hlndoos had a lire god call
cd Agni, and bowed down to IL as
means of publication. They use
sacred Gre in their domestic rites
v,
lighted by priest and the bride and
groom walk around It, Akbar, the
great Mohammedan emperor OF
northern India, made his own sacred
fire by lighting a piece Of cotton
through a crystal lens with the rays
Of the sun. He used this burning
glass several times every year. and
started that way.
zOROASTER THE PROPHET.
The Parsees are often called disci-
pies Of Zoroaster. This man belonged
To- the Magi: he held the same faith
az the wise men who followed tho
star to the stable when Christ was
born at Bethlehem. II is one OF the
oldest Of religions and was Worship
ed by Cyrus the great. Zoroaster was
a boy Of twelve az the time Jerusalem
was taken by Nebuchadnezzsr He
lived in northern Persia and the old
Persian writings chronicle many
miracles as 70 his birth and life. He
went through a period OF religious
preparation and at thirty received a
revelation and came forth 70 re-
form the old creed of the Magi. He
had many visions. He saw the one
God. and was tempted again and
again by the spirit of darkness, but
always came of triumphant During
his life he converted Vishtaspa, one
Of the great kings OF that time. and
his religion spread all over Persia,
II was the chief religion there for
many years, but IL now believed
alone nv the Parsees.
a e-haired, silver bearded old
follower Of this faith tells me that
one Of the chief elements Of the re-
ligion Ia a belief that the soul Is i'm
mortal. and that all human beings are
free moral agents. and therefore re-
sponsiblc. They believe In rewards
and punishments. and that in this
life we settle our future existence. As
to the Parsee God, he IL called the
Door. the Creator and the governor
Of the world lie Is the emblem Of
glory and light and for this reason
the Parsee when he worships stands
before the FIRE or turns his face to
the sun as the symbol OF the AL
mighty.
THE TOWERS OF SILENCE
II seems strange 20 think OF a beau
tiful, well bred. intelligent woman,
the wife OF a millionaire, lighting in
the courts or India for her right to
Parsee burial This means that at
death she Will be laid naked upon
one Of the Towers OF Silence. and
have the flesh picked from her bones
by flock of Vulturcs which have al
ways fed upon human flesh. This is
the universal Parsce disposition OF the
dead They do not bury the body in
the earth nor burn n. Fire Is too
holy and sacred 20 be dofled with a
corpse and the work Of the worms is
too slow and too vile. Instead they
lay their bodies out in the open on
an iron grating under the sky and
the birds pick the bones
The place whore the towers Of the
dead stand is beautiful one II is
on Malabar Hill an elevation rising
almost straight up from the sea. and
washed by the winds fem the ocean
The hill Is covered with a beautiful
garden You walk up 70 II over we'll
paved roads shaded 10y tropical trees
and hordcred with flowers and shrubs.
Winding YOUR way through this luNurl-
ant vegetation you a. last reach a
point rom whence YOU Gan see far out
over the Indian ocean and turning
landwGrd Wow the whole Of Bombay.
Here among tho trees at one side.
shut of by an iron railing 50 that
none but tho priests may enter. stand
five great circular towers as white as
tho bones which lie on their top
LAID UPON 4 GRIDlRON.
Each tower Is about Is feet In height
and 90 feet in diameter. II II crowned
with grating or great circular grid
iron which slopes toward the center.
where well five feet IN width runs
down 10 the sea.
The gridiron grating Is cast in sec.
lions and so formed that there arc foot
paths here and there through H. In
u1ch tower there are certain divisions
for the classes OF the dead one sec
tion is devoted to the bodies Of men,
another TO those Of women. and "A third
to the children. the last part nearest