general work which the Yazatas perform as a class of spiritual beings, they are severally allotted different functions, which we shall notice under their respective headings.
Offerings and sacrifices to the Yazatas. Libations of milk and Haoma, of the Draonah, or wafer-bread, and of meat are the objects generally dedicated to the angels, who always demand that man shall not forget their invocation and praise. They are ever eager to protect and help man in peace or war, provided that man propitiates them with offerings and sacrifices. To Anahita, as celestial guardian of the waters, to Drvaspa, who protects cattle, and to Vayu, the wind, a hundred horses, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand sheep are consecrated in sacrifice by some of the early kings and heroes. We shall turn to this subject later.
Division of the Yazatas according to their grammatical gender. The Yazatas are both males and females, or rather the personifications of virtues and ideas that are in gender masculine and feminine. There is no distinction between these male and female divinities. Both of them are on the same level, occupy the same place of honour, and receive the same amount of homage. The gentle work becoming to the fair sex is allotted to the female angels, and they are as powerful and awe-inspiring in their own sphere of activity as their fellow-workers of the opposite sex are in theirs. The female angels are: Ushah, Zam, Ardvi Sura Anahita, Drvaspa, Daena, Chisti, Arshtat, Erethe, Rasanstat, Ashi Vanghuhi, Parendi, and Rata. All others are of the male sex.
Group Yazatas. The usual manner of sacrificing unto the angels is to invoke each one separately by his name, or in company of his comrades and co-workers, or in joint pairs. On this last point we shall speak anon under a separate heading. Sometimes all the angels are invoked in a group under the comprehensive title of vispe Yazata, 'all Yazatas,'[1] Closely corresponding to the Vedic vishve Devāh, 'all Divinities.' In fact an entire book of the ritual is dedicated to the various spiritual lords under the title Visparat, literally meaning 'all lords.'
Dual Yazatas. A particular feature common to the Avestan and Vedic religions is the arrangement of certain divinities in pairs, who are revered together. As some of the Yazatas guard more than one abstract virtue or impersonate more than one
- ↑ Ys. 1. 19; 2. 18; Yt. 11. 17; 17. 19; WFr. 5. 1.
