Farmers those waiting for relief and those keeping the calendar
Symbols
StarWhite horseRain
Mythology Summary
Tishtrya is the yazata of the star Sirius and of the rains, whose hymn is Yasht 8 of the Avesta: as a shining white horse he fights the drought demon Apaosha, is weakened when the sacrifice is withheld and strengthened by the offering of haoma, and by his victory the waters flow and the harvest is assured. His festival, Tiragan, is kept in early summer and is bound up with rain and with the arrow-legends of Arash, and the star's cycle is one of the tradition's markers of the year. The Persian name Tir is also the name of the planet Mercury, but Tishtrya's own identity in the Avesta is the star, not a planet.
Modern Practice
Invoked for rain, for the relief of drought and for the keeping of the agricultural year; modern correspondence work uses him for the timing of seasons, for patience under dry conditions, and for the defeat of what starves a land.