The Manifestation of Three Animal Representations of Anahita in Persian Folk Legends

Persian goddesses like Anahita, due to their potent presence in ancient historical periods and the mystical world and also by having motives from archetype of the Great Mother continue their existence in different arenas of the human mind. Persian folk legends, which are extracted from people's unconscious mind, have prepared the ground for Persian goddesses to continue to live through history, so that by analyzing such legends we can observe the presence of goddesses and their functions in different human and animal representations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the animal representations related to the existence of the water goddess (Anahita) in Persian folk legends. Through an analysis of sources, the results of the current study reveals that Anahita, the water goddess has some animal representations in Persian folk legends which are manifested as a horse, snake and bird, and thereby she is able to perform her functions in a superhuman model.