Anahita
Aredvi Sura Anahita is the great yazata of the waters, praised at length in Yasht 5 of the Avesta (the Aban Yasht) as a strong, undefiled and healing power who drives a chariot drawn by four horses - wind, rain, cloud and sleet - and grants boons to those who worship her.
Living tradition: Anahita is a yazata of the Avesta, honoured today by the Aban Yasht and by water offerings - a created, bounteous being worthy of worship rather than a goddess of a pagan pantheon, and not a power to be bound; the tradition's own account is primary. The planetary (Venus/Moon), zodiacal (Pisces/Taurus), tarot and imbolc sabbat values are modern Western overlays; the Venus link comes from later Persian astrology, in which the planet is named Nahid after her, and the tradition has no planetary or zodiacal rulership and no sabbat - the Zoroastrian calendar is its own. The Artemis identification is Hellenistic, and the 'fertility goddess' summary is a modern shorthand for the Yasht's own language about waters, healing and increase.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Venus
Offerings
- Offerings
- WaterMilkHaomaPomegranateWhite flowersIncense
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Aredvi Sura AnahitaAnahidNahidAban
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- The Strong, Undefiled OneLady of the WatersShe of the Four HorsesMistress of AbundanceQueen of the Healing Waters
- Symbols
- WaterFour horsesCrown of starsLilyChariot
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneFlowing abundance and purificationAddressAredvi Sura AnahitaLady of the WatersAnahidRelationshipSource of the waters and of increaseWarningHer gifts are water and fertility not dominionResonanceThose seeking healing purification or children
- Modern Practice
In the tradition she is approached by the Aban Yasht and by offerings at water, for healing, purification, fertility and safe childbirth; modern devotional and occult practice keeps that core and adds Western water and Venus correspondences.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- WatersFertilityHealingPurificationAbundanceThe seed of lifeProtection in childbirth
- Mythology Summary
Aredvi Sura Anahita is the great yazata of the waters, praised at length in Yasht 5 of the Avesta (the Aban Yasht) as a strong, undefiled and healing power who drives a chariot drawn by four horses - wind, rain, cloud and sleet - and grants boons to those who worship her. She is invoked with Ahura Mazda and Mithra in the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II (4th century BCE), and her temple cult is attested at Istakhr, while Strabo describes her shrines in Cappadocia and Armenia. Hellenistic writers identified her with Artemis (Artemis Persike), and later Persian usage names the planet Venus after her as Nahid.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsBlueTurquoiseWhiteSilverScentsLotusRoseSandalwood whiteMetalsSilverGoldCopperAnimalsHorseDoveSwan
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