Written by Childhood & Early Training (Birth – Age 20)
“He showed remarkable detachment to materialistic world; but at the same time, showed intense love for every living being.”
— Ancient biographical tradition
He Was Trained to Perform Blood Sacrifices. He Refused.
That refusal would change history.
The Family
Zoroaster is recorded as the son of Pourushaspa of the Spitama family, and Dugdōw. His father’s name means “possessing gray horses,” his mother’s means “milkmaid.” They were of the priestly class—shepherds, cattle-herders, people who lived close to the land and the sacred fire.
The Spitamans had 5 sons in all. Rathushtar, Rangushtar, ZARATHUSTRA, Nodariga and Nivedis. Zarathustra was the third son—two older brothers, two younger.
Born into a lineage of priests, his path seemed predetermined. His father, Pourusaspa, was probably a priest and his son would become one as sons usually followed in their fathers’ professions.
But this child was different.
From birth, he glowed with divine light. He laughed instead of crying. And as he grew, those around him began to realize: something about this boy was not normal.
The Unusual Child
From an early age he was an unusual child, showing great wisdom.
While other children played, Zarathustra watched. While others accepted what they were told, Zarathustra questioned.
He was educated at an early age, suggesting a family of significant means in that he was not sent to work nor is there any suggestion of his having any occupation other than priest.
This wasn’t typical. Most children of that era worked—herding cattle, gathering wood, assisting with daily survival. But Zarathustra was being prepared for something different.
He was being trained to mediate between humans and gods.
But the gods he was being taught about? He didn’t believe in them.
Age 7: The Assassination Attempt
Soon after his birth an evil man named Durasarun planned to kill Zarathustra. He had heard that Zarathustra was sent by Ahura Mazda to get rid of evil.
The attempts began in infancy—fire, trampling cattle, wolves. All failed.
But at age 7, the assassination attempts took a darker turn.
Zoroaster’s training for priesthood probably started very early around seven years of age.
The same year he began formal priest training, the forces arrayed against him escalated. They recognized what he was becoming: a threat to everything they controlled.
Why age 7?
Because that’s when a child transitions from innocent observer to active participant. That’s when questions become dangerous. That’s when training can still shape—or break—a mind.
The old priests knew: If they couldn’t kill his body, they’d have to control his mind.
They failed at both.
The Training: What He Was Taught
The Old Religion
Before Zarathustra, ancient Iran practiced a polytheistic religion remarkably similar to Vedic India. The Iranian pantheon was similar to that of other Indo-European religions. It contained a large number of deities, primarily male.
The Daevas:
Daiva, which means “heavenly one”, is derived from the common Proto-Indo-European word for “god”, which is the meaning it has in the Vedas.
These were the gods Zarathustra was taught to worship. Gods of war, storm, violence. Gods who demanded:
Blood Sacrifice
The ancient Iranians practiced a sacrificial ritual yazna. In this ritual fire and the sacred drink hauma played a key part.
Sacrifices were made at these temples, most likely in the form of grains, animals, precious metals, and objects, which became the property of the priests. In time, the priestly class grew wealthy from these sacrifices and their probable control of rich farmlands.
The economic model was simple:
- Gods demand blood
- Priests perform the killing
- People pay the priests
- Priests get rich
- Repeat
Zarathustra was already a priest by the age of 15, possibly apprenticed to an older clergyman, and left his home at the age of 20. Which type of priest he was is unclear, but he objected to the ritual of animal sacrifice practiced by the karpans. Zarathustra suggests he witnessed such sacrifices many times, possibly even participated in them, but found them distasteful and antithetical to the goodness of the gods.
He was trained to kill animals in the name of the gods.
And it broke something inside him.
The Question That Wouldn’t Go Away
While other young priests learned the rituals by rote, Zarathustra asked one question over and over:
“Why do the gods demand suffering?”
The daevas—these “heavenly ones”—appeared to delight in war and strife.
The rituals required blood, pain, death.
The priests grew fat while the people grew poor.
Animals screamed. Fires consumed flesh. And the priests claimed: “The gods demand it.”
But young Zarathustra looked at the cattle—gentle, trusting, essential for survival—and thought:
“What kind of god demands the murder of innocent beings?”
The Care for Living Things
Traditions further maintain that Zarathustra was trained to be a priest… he refers about himself as `ZAOTAR’; a fully qualified priest.
But something set him apart: He seems to have showed a remarkable care for humans and cattle.
This was revolutionary.
In an age where animals were commodities to be sacrificed, Zarathustra cared about their suffering.
In an age where human value came from tribe and rank, Zarathustra cared about all people.
After completion of his training, Zoroaster remained with his parents for five more years. During this period, he showed remarkable detachment to materialistic world; but at the same time, showed intense love for every living being.
Detachment from wealth. Attachment to life.
That’s not what priests were supposed to teach.
The Growing Conflict
As Zarathustra progressed through his training—age 7, 10, 15—the tension grew.
He learned the prayers. He memorized the rituals. He understood the theology.
But he didn’t believe it.
The Karapans and Kavis:
The names of two types of priests are given as karpans and kawis, but the distinction between them is unclear as are their roles in religious observance.
These were his teachers. His colleagues. The gatekeepers of religious authority.
Zarathustra attacked the worshippers of DAEVAS, a class of the gods common to the Indians and the Iranians alike. The leaders of his opponents, KAVIS and KARAPANS, were a priestly caste. He attacked their traditional religion and practices.
But he couldn’t attack them yet. Not as a child. Not as a teenage apprentice.
So he watched. He learned. He waited.
And he asked the question that would eventually destroy their entire system:
“What if there’s only ONE god? And what if that god wants ethics, not blood?”
Age 15: Fully Ordained
He became a priest probably around the age of 15, and according to Gathas, gaining knowledge from other teachers and personal experience from traveling when he left his parents at age 20.
At 15, Zarathustra was a zaotar—a fully qualified priest.
He could perform the yazna ceremony. He could chant the sacred hymns. He could sacrifice animals to the daevas.
He had every credential the old religion could offer.
And he hated it.
The Five Years of Silence (Age 15-20)
After completion of his training, Zoroaster remained with his parents for five more years.
Why?
Because he was trying to reconcile two impossible truths:
- He had been trained to believe the daevas were gods
- He knew in his soul they were false
The daevas demanded blood and chaos.
The cattle he loved were slaughtered for nothing.
The priests exploited fear for profit.
The people suffered under a religion of violence.
And young Zarathustra—ordained, educated, empowered to continue the system—refused.
During this period, he showed remarkable detachment to materialistic world; but at the same time, showed intense love for every living being.
The other priests accumulated wealth. Zarathustra gave it away.
The other priests demanded respect. Zarathustra showed compassion.
The other priests perpetuated the system. Zarathustra questioned everything.
For five years, he tried to find a way to reform from within.
For five years, he realized: The system cannot be reformed. It must be replaced.
Age 20: The Breaking Point
When Zarathustra became 20 years old he felt the need to get closer to God. He left home and spent ten years in prayer and meditation on the mountains.
Something happened at age 20 that forced the final decision.
Maybe it was one sacrifice too many—watching an animal’s terror, hearing its death cry, seeing the priests pocket the payment.
Maybe it was one conversation too many—hearing the karapans laugh about how easily the people were controlled through fear.
Maybe it was one prayer too many—chanting to gods he knew didn’t exist, perpetuating lies in the name of tradition.
Whatever it was, at age 20, Zarathustra made a choice:
He would leave everything—family, security, status, comfort—and search for the truth.
Not the truth the priests taught.
The Truth.
What This Childhood Reveals
1. He Knew the Enemy Intimately
Zarathustra didn’t reject blood sacrifice as an outsider.
He was trained to perform it.
He didn’t condemn the priestly class from ignorance.
He was one of them.
When he would later attack the karapans and kavis, he knew exactly what he was attacking—because he had been on the inside.
2. Compassion Was His Heresy
He seems to have showed a remarkable care for humans and cattle.
In a world where animals were expendable and humans were ranked by birth, caring about suffering was revolutionary.
The old religion didn’t teach compassion. It taught obedience.
Zarathustra’s “heresy” wasn’t theological complexity. It was simple kindness.
“Don’t hurt living things” was the most dangerous idea possible.
Why? Because it threatened the entire economic model of the priesthood.
3. The Question Was Always “Why?”
Most priests accepted: “The gods demand sacrifice.”
Zarathustra asked: “Why do the gods demand suffering? And if they do, are they worthy of worship?”
That question—“Why?”—is the beginning of philosophy.
And Zarathustra asked it 1,700 years before the Greeks claimed to invent philosophy.
4. He Chose Truth Over Comfort
At age 20, Zarathustra had:
- A secure position as an ordained priest
- Status in his community
- A predictable future
- The support of his family
He gave it all up.
He left his parents at age 20.
Why? Because living a lie—even a comfortable lie—was unbearable.
The Pattern That Would Repeat
At birth: Demons tried to kill him through fire and beasts.
At age 7: Assassins tried to kill him when training began.
At age 15: He was ordained into the system he would destroy.
At age 20: He walked away from everything to find truth.
For the next 10 years: He would search.
At age 30: He would find the answer.
For the next 12 years: The priests would try to kill him again.
At age 42: A king would finally listen.
For the next 35 years: He would build what would become the Persian Empire’s faith.
At age 77: A priest of the old religion would murder him.
The old priesthood was his enemy from birth to death.
Because he represented the one thing they couldn’t tolerate: Truth that doesn’t need them.
The Theft Begins Here
When Zarathustra left at age 20 to search for truth, he was walking away from:
- Polytheism (worship of many gods)
- Blood sacrifice (appeasement through violence)
- Priestly mediation (you need us to reach the gods)
- Fate and predestination (you have no choice)
- Ritual over ethics (obedience matters more than morality)
What he would discover in 10 years:
- Monotheism (one God)
- Ethical sacrifice (good thoughts, words, deeds)
- Direct access to God (no priest required)
- Free will (you choose your destiny)
- Ethics over ritual (how you live matters most)
Where do we see these concepts today?
In Judaism (post-Exile, 539 BCE+):
- One God (adopted from Zoroastrianism)
- Ethical monotheism (adopted from Zoroastrianism)
- Personal responsibility (adopted from Zoroastrianism)
In Christianity:
- Personal salvation through choice (Zoroastrian)
- Heaven and hell as rewards/punishments (Zoroastrian)
- Satan as cosmic adversary (Zoroastrian: Angra Mainyu)
In Islam:
- Five daily prayers (Zoroastrian Gah system)
- Final judgment and resurrection (Zoroastrian)
- Emphasis on good deeds (Zoroastrian)
In Greek Philosophy:
- Ethics as central to philosophy (Zoroastrian)
- The “examined life” (Zarathustra asked “Why?” first)
- Moral choice as defining humanity (Zoroastrian free will)
Every major religious and philosophical tradition that came after Zarathustra adopted concepts he discovered during his 10-year search.
None of them credit him.
Because acknowledging Zarathustra means acknowledging that:
- Monotheism began in Persia, not Israel
- Ethics began in Iran, not Greece
- Personal moral choice began with a Persian priest, not Moses or Socrates
So the source is erased.
The Central Irony
The priestly class that tried to kill Zarathustra as a child—
The karapans and kavis who opposed his teaching—
The blood-sacrifice system he rejected—
All of it was eventually destroyed.
By the very ideas this one priest discovered when he walked away at age 20.
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Greek philosophy—all of them practice theology Zarathustra invented because he refused to accept what the priests taught him.
4.3 billion people today follow the thinking of a man who, at age 20, looked at the religious establishment and said:
“This is wrong. There must be a better way.”
And then walked into the wilderness to find it.
NEXT: Episode 3 – The Ten-Year Search
For 10 years, one man asked the question that would split history: “Why does evil exist?” The answer he received would create monotheism.
“He showed remarkable detachment to materialistic world; but at the same time, showed intense love for every living being.”
That combination—rejecting wealth while embracing compassion—made him more dangerous than any warrior.
Because you can fight warriors. But you can’t fight truth spoken with love.
For the complete Zarathustra series and more on the systematic theft of Persian contributions to human civilization, visit efiretemple.com
The priest who refused to kill animals gave humanity the concept of ethical living.
The least we can do is know his name.