IN SEARCH OF ZARATHUSTRA is a quest to trace the influence of the prophet the Greeks called Zoroaster and considered the greatest religious legislator of the ancient world. Passing via Nietzsche¿s interpretation of Zarathustra for a post-religious age, the Cathars of 13th-century France, the Bulgars of 9th-century Balkans, and the prophet Mani¿s revision of Zarathustra¿s message in the later Persian empire, Paul Kriwaczek then explores the religion of Mithras ¿ before going back past Alexander the Great¿s destruction of the Persian Empire, and the era of the great Persian kings Cyrus and Darius in the 6th century BC, to the beginning of the first pre-Christian millennium. Over several decades, Paul Kriwaczek, an award-winning television producer, has cast his film-maker¿s eye across Europe and Central Asia, from Hadrian¿s Wall to the Oxus river, from the Pyrenees to the Hindu Kush. Long before the first Hebrew temple, before the birth of Christ or the mission of Muhammad, Zarathustra had taught of a single universal god, of the battle between Good and Evil, of the Devil, Heaven and Hell, and of an eventual end to the world.
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(And I’m not talking about those who are mail-order brides who work hard at keeping the home and raising children, I’m talking about actual paying work.) We both agreed that up until ten or fifteen years ago, in Christian fiction, characters (especially females) had “soft” to almost non-existent jobs partly because most of what was being published was historical (they lived on a farm or ranch or they were part of a wagon train), and partly because whatever the person did for a living didn’t have much, if any, impact on the story. While on vacation last week, my mom and I got into a discussion of fictional characters’ jobs. He felt on the sudden like a cramped and zoo-born animal who wakes one morning to find the door of his cage hanging quietly open and the savanna stretching gray and pink to the distant rising sun, while all around new sounds are waking. The moment became a longer moment, and suddenly it was a very long moment, so long one could hardly tell where all the time was coming from.įor Arthur, who could usually contrive to feel self-conscious if left alone long enough with a Swiss cheese plant, the moment was one of sustained revelation. “There was a sort of gallery structure in the roof space which held a bed and also a bathroom which, Fenchurch explained, you could actually swing a cat in, ‘But,' she added, ‘only if it was a reasonably patient cat and didn't mind a few nasty cracks about the head. Have a read for yourself below and you'll see why! So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams This week's reading suggestion is a little ditty called So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams and it's sure to put a smile on your face! This one is all about that wonderful feeling of unexpectedly falling head over heels for someone, a fun, quirky piece that will no doubt raise a few giggles from your guests. Ceremony readings don't have to be cheesy, in fact, they can be inspired by whatever like you - the lyrics to a song, your favourite poem or even an extract from a much-adored book. |