hasan shamyan

Legends and oral traditions are important sources of the manifestation of mythology and culture of Iran's past. One of the important components of these traditions is magic and extraordinary acts that originated from the imagination of ancient mankind. Transformation is one of the most important and imaginative effects of local legends. According to the climatic and cultural conditions, the legends of South Khorasan are the origin of wishes and dreams, culture and various mythological rituals. In this essay, an attempt has been made to investigate the legends of the region in an analytical-descriptive way in order to answer the questions of what is the figure-turning in these legends, what are its types, and what are its mythological roots. With the conducted investigations, the results were obtained that transformation exists in most legends and one can see all kinds of transformation in them, including the transformation of human into animal, animal into human, and human into plant. This type of personification has been the most repeated and all these personifications go back to mythological roots such as plant gods or descent gods and the important roles of animals in human life as helpers of gods.

In the eyes of pre-Islamic Iranians, lie or druj was so disgusting and ugly that the demon of Druj was considered an assistant to the devil and sometimes it was imagined as Ahriman himself.  The present article tries to study the root of the word “druj” in the Avestan language by using descriptive-analytical method. By delving into the lexical structure on the one hand, and exploring comparative concepts on the other hand, it is attempted to give a different perspective on the subject. From this perspective and with regard to the discursive discontinuities, druj as a demonic concept is compared to the goddesses of the pre-Aryan period, and by reflecting on the functions of the ancient goddesses, such as Mitra, Anahita, etc., it is tried to describe the semantic and linguistic changes of the term. The main emphasis in this study is on the feminine identity of the concept. According to the characteristics of the ancient goddesses and of a female-dominated society, the feminine aspect of druj is inferred. The studies show that some of the female archetypes in the religion of Mazdayasna have changed their nature. The archetypes that were in opposition to this religion, manifested in the form of demonic beings and druj is one of these beings.

Ancient stories and folktales are one of the most appropriate contexts for the manifestation and continuation of the life of gods, goddesses and Amesha Spentan; they continue to live in different forms through metamorphosis. Khosrow and Shirin, composed by Nizami Ganjavi, is a famous tragic romance which its main source is local narratives. The mythical figures and characters of ancient Iran are present in this book. By using descriptive-analytical and comparative method, the present research tries to examine the characters of Khosrow and Shirin including Hormizd, Khosrow Parviz, Mahin Banu, Shabdiz, Golgoon, Shirin and Shapour, and to compare them with Amesha Spentan including Vohu Manah, Asha Vahishta, Kshatra Vairya, Spenta Armaiti, Haurvatat, Ameretat, Anahita and the god of wind. The results show that the characters mentioned have much in common with Amesha Spentan. Also, the book provides a platform for the presence of the ancient Iranian gods, goddesses, and Amesha Spentan, and it should be considered more than just a collected lyric poetry.