The Agathoi and Kakoi

Agathoi    Kakoi    Chrestus Spentaman Eunoia Eudaena Eusebia Euthymia Arta Eukratia Eunomia Harvatas Amortas Eudemonia   

Agathoi

The Agathoi are the 'good ones' and are all aspects of Agathon the Good.
In this list 12 Agathoi are given pride of place. NB Their order is not necessarily fixed:

1. Chrestus Magtus is the Mighty Servant and the conscious human aspect of Auramazda the Wise Lord. Chrestus is the agent of Auramazda who is the righteous lord or right-regulating power who produces right-order or Arta. Chrestus Magtus has a desire to see living beings flourish and the capability to help them. Chrestus is sensitive to the truth of what exists and has knowledge as to the interconnection of things.

2. Spentaman - the 'Life-increasing Spirit' is the being that changes minds, by bringing wisdom, changing values, developing the abilities of the mind and enlivening the life-loving energies of the soul.

3. Eunoia - the Good Mind or Good Consciousness. Eunoia is the mind of Good Purpose, a mind which wants to do the right thing.

Metanoia is a transformation of the state of mind (the 'Hexis' of the mind) from one state to another.

4. Eudaena is Good Moral Vision or Good Conscience.

5. Eusebia - good reverence and devotion, piety. This is the mental attention to the productive powers of life and the practical devotion to them.

6. Euthymia - Good Spiritedness - may include curiosity, courage, care etc.

7. Arta or Artista - Best Order or Rightness . Artista in our minds is perfect understanding of reality. Artista in our words is truth-telling. Artista in our actions is righteous action. Artista in society is a situation of perfect connection, where the needs of each are met by the actions of others.

Arta Thalica is the 'Flourishing Order'.
Related is Thalia - (Collective) Flourishing, Synthalia - Flourishing Together, Conviviality and Pantothalia - Common flourishing

8. Eunomia - Good Law, Good Custom, Good Habit - includes the sense of good distribution of things

9. Eukratia - Good Power, Good Rule . This is the good exercise of power and strength to regulate the activities of the world.

10. Harvatas - Health, Wholeness, Integrity. Where all the parts of ourselves work in balance in happy harmony.

11. Amortas - Non-dyingness, long-livedness, Where we continue to live without injury or disease for there is nothing to cause us damage.

12. Eudemonia 'Good Spirit' is roughly similar to Ushta which can be translated as Joy or Radiant Happiness and is (at a minimum) the passive presence of the Agatha.


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Kakoi

The Kakoi are the 'bad ones' and are the evil counterparts of the Agathoi.

1. Opposed to Chrestus is Azidus the cold-hearted lustful one.

2. Opposed to Spentaman is Angraman the deceitful one who leads astray.

3. Opposed to Eunoia is Akonoia the Bad Mind or Bad Thinking

4. Opposed to Eudaena is Akodaena the Bad Moral Vision

5. Opposed to Eusebia is Akosebia the Wrong Devotion

6. Opposed to Euthymia is Akothymia the Bad Spiritedness

7. Opposed to Arta is Dreg the Deviation from what is right and true.

8. Opposed to Eunomia is Akonomia the bad customs, laws and distributions.

9. Opposed to Eukratia is Akokratia the Bad Rule or bad use of strength

10. Opposed to Harvatas is Aegrotas which is Illness or Disharmony.

11. Opposed to Amortas is Mortas which is Death.

12. Opposed to Eudemonia is Akodemonia which is the Bad Spirit or feeling, unhappiness or pain.

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Chrestus Magtus

Chrestus Magtus ("The Mighty Servant") is the ideal human agent of the agenda of God, which is to see living beings flourish.

Chrestus works through human beings but only if they have a character which conforms with His own.

Chrestus-Aristus - "the Good and the Best" is an alternative name for Chrestus Magtus.
Superchrestus is Chrestus Magtus imagined as a single supernatural being at work in the world.
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Spentaman

Spentaman - the Holy Spirit.
Spentaman is the spirit of love of life, the spirit-being that transforms us for the Good.

Sometimes we distinguish between Spentamantor who is a being outside of us who changes us for the better, and Spentamania which is the christian spirit within us.

Spentaman - the 'Life-increasing Spirit' is the power that changes minds, by bringing wisdom, changing values, developing the abilities of the mind and enlivening the life-loving energies of the soul.
A Mania is a mental-spirit - a kind of spirit or movement that affects the mind. A Mania can possess a mind so that it affects its operation. A Mania in one mind can also impact other minds in communication with it, and transfer over to it.

From Zoroastrian tradition we recognise two manias in particular. These are Spentamania which is a life-enhancing spirit and Angramania which is a life-decreasing spirit.


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Eunoia

Eunoia - the Good Mind

Eunoia is the mind of Good Purpose, a mind which wants to do the right thing. Its opposite is Kakonoia or the Bad kind of Mind. Eunoia is regarded as a characteristic possession of Mithras.

Metanoia is a transformation of the state of mind (the 'Hexis' of the mind) from one state to another.
N.B. Eunoia can also be spelled as Vohumanah or Humanah
Noia is a person's state of consciousness. It is how the world appears to them. From their Noia a person decides what is the best way to act. Thus it is a crucial importance whether someone has Good Noia (Eunoia) so that they will naturally do what they should be doing for their own best interests and the interests of the wider world. If they have Bad Noia (Kakonoia) then even when they think they are doing the right thing their actions will actually work against their best interests and the common interest of all.

Metanoia is the process of changing one's Noia, especially from a bad to a better one. It is the origin of the idea of repentance in the Christian tradition. However in Mithraism a person is not necessarily held responsible for their bad Noia. Often they will just not be aware that there understanding of life is so bad, and they may not have the right conditions to change. It is up to others to step in and try to help them.
A Daena (or Dena) is a way of looking at the world. It can be translated as a 'world-view', a 'moral-system', 'beliefs and values', an ideology, a religion.

Each person can have their own private Dena, but we often talk of shared Dena's. Denas can more or less good or bad to the extent they help a person act righteously or not. An important part of our collective human life is in constructing Denas and sharing them with other people. To a major extent the happy flourishing of human life depends on enough people subscribing to good Denas.

The concepts of Daena and Noia are quite close, and if someone is introduced to a new Dena and comes to identify with it then this will inevitably change their Noia.

Daena has often been translated as 'a religion' however this is misleading. Firstly there are many kinds of world-view that are not considered religious as such but still affect how people act and so are still Daenas. Also the word religion includes religious practices, acts of worship etc which are not part of the meaning of Daena.

A Daena can be quite a complicated affair as it gives us an understanding and value judgement on lots of different aspects of life. A religious or secular wisdom tradition can thus have a large corpus of work to explain its Dena. The traditional Zoroastrians first had the Avesta as their religious scripture to explain their Dena. They called it the Hu-Daena or Good Daena. In later times the Daena was set out in a book known as the Den-kard. The Denkard is an encyclopedia of Zoroastrian wisdom, and useful for modern Mazdeans to study.

The Zartodaena is a name we can give to the world-view and value-system of modern Zartians. We have made a start at explaining it on these pages.
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Eusebia

Eusebia - good reverence and devotion, piety. This is the mental attention to the productive powers of life and the practical devotion to them.
Sebia is devotion. It is what a person is devoted to. It is what they attend to, what they give their time and energy for. It can have both a religious and practical sense, but these are tied together. If we are devoted to good religious practice then this ought to have a positive impact on us so that we come to appreciate what is of ultimate importance. This should then lead us to devote ourselves to those practical things that matter most in life and can make the biggest positive difference.

Eusebia is good devotion. The word is often translated as Piety. The word piety has lost some of its original meaning in modern English, but the ancients considered piety of great importance. In the major Roman epic story of the Aeneid, the hero Aeneas is known as Pious Aeneas as highest praise.

Connection has also been made between Eusebia and the Indian concept of Dharma. Eusebia is perhaps exactly about performing one's own correct Dharma, the actions someone in your position or condition of life should best take to support the good functioning of the world. Often means helping those who are closest to you. However Eusebia is not only about selfless action. You should also devote sufficient attention to your own needs.




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Eukratia

Eukratia - Good Power, Good Rule . This is the good exercise of power and strength to regulate the activities of the world. Where there is perfect Eukratia, there is the Kingdom of Mithras.
Kratia is the use of force to impact the wider world. This can be done in a good or bad way - Eukratia or Akokratia. Kratia includes the concept of 'ruling', and Eukratia is commonly translated as 'Good Rule'. However it would be wrong to think that only people at the top of society are involved in Kratia. We all potentially have some power and can use it to influence others. However whether we should do so or not depends on our Noia, our awareness of the world. If we have bad Noia, because we don't really understand how the world works for instance, then our actions may make things worse and we might have been better doing nothing.
Arkeia (or Archeia) meaning 'influence' is the use people make of the influence they can have over others. Arkeia and Kratia often go hand-in-hand, but the two terms have different connotations. With Arkeia the emphasis is on people's will and how they get others to go along with what they want. This may be through use of Kratia or force, but also more subtle methods maybe used.

When looking at society as a whole then we can see there are particular patterns of Arkeia. Some people are major sources of Arkeia which spread out to others. They make decisions which have a major impact on the wider society. Other people may be much more on the receiving end and live their lives within the constraints that have been set. There can also be a more equal exchange of Arkeia where one person may be a source of Arkeia in some ways, and a receiver in others.

For the happy flourishing of life in a society it is crucial that the overall patterns of Arkeia are good ones. Generally this means that those who have most influence over society should have Eunoia and Spentamania - a right understanding of life combined with the desire to make life flourish. This may not happen automatically and it requires continual effort by good people to keep society in good order. Otherwise those who are clever but cold-hearted and ruthless can get into a position of power and use it for their own narrow benefit at the expense of everyone else.
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Artista

Artista (or Asha) - Best Order or Rightness . Artista in our minds is perfect understanding of reality. Artista in our words is truth-telling. Artista in our actions is righteous action. Artista in society is a situation of perfect connection, where the needs of each are met by the actions of others.
Arta is a process where actions meet needs so that life is sustained.
Artista is the best kind of Arta, a situation where each person's actions is exactly of the right kind to support a situation where everyone receives the best possible, or their maximum flourishing and happiness.
Asha is an alternative spelling for either Arta or Artista.

Anarta is the absence of Arta.

Dreg is deviation from the right path. It can refer to wrong thoughts, wrong words or wrong actions. These are all deviations that hinder the continuation of Arta and hence harm the flourishing of life. NB Something can be Dreg (deviant/wrong) regardless of motivation. Dreg can be translated as 'Lie' , 'Error' or 'Unrighteousness'.

(Dregor (or Dreggor) is a being that causes Dreg. It is our recommended name for 'the Great Devil', which has also been called Ahriman in Zoroastrian tradition (though properly Ahriman=Angramentor))



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Eunomia

Eunomia - Good Law, Good Custom, Good Habit
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Harvatas

Harvatas - Health, Wholeness, Integrity. Where all the parts of ourselves work in balance in happy harmony.

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Amortas

Amortas - Non-dyingness, long-livedness, Where we continue to live without injury or disease for there is nothing to cause us damage.

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Eudemonia

Coming with the presence of the Agathon

Eudemonia ('Good Spirit') is individual flourishing

Ushta is Joy or Radiant Happiness.

Eudemonia can also be spelled as Eudaimonia

Agathoi

The Agathoi are the Good Beings.They are more abstract than the personalities, deities or angels of Mithraism or other religions. Many are derived from traditional Zoroastrian teaching.

The Agathoi are those beings recognised as being close to Agatha the Good or of partaking of her nature. They are sometimes regarded as her children with Urvan, the active Soul. They are the consequence of the successful striving of Urvan towards the Ideal Good which is Agatha and his union with Her. There are twelve Agathoi given pride of place. These include Chrestus-Magtus the human son of Auramazda, Spentamentor the mind-improving power and Arta, the righteous order of the world.


There are twelve Agathoi recognised officially. These include Chrestaristus (Good One and the Best), Spentamantor (Life-promoting spirit), Eunoia (Good Thinking), Artista (Best Order) and Eudemonia (Happiness).

Artista (or Arta Thalica) is the (Ideal) Righteous Order or Righteous Progression of the world - a process where the actions of each fit harmoniously with the actions of others and the pre-existing nature of things. We believe it is the key requirement for a world which is congenial to life.

Kakon

Kakon - The Bad - is pure badness whether as an abstract idea, an active presence or a passive experience.


The eternal drama of existence sees Urvan continually striving for Agathon and seeking union with Her. However there are all sorts of obstacles and impediments to this happening and Urvan is continually frustrated and suffering as a consequence.

Kakoi

The Kakoi are the Bad Beings. Each of the Agathoi has a Kakus as an opponent.