#0143 | ecological

Submitted by Kate in Edwardsville, Illinois.

Here’s Kate’s story:

“Zoroastrianism is widely considered to be the first monotheistic religion. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all borrowed from it. However, Zoroastrianism has traditionally emphasized ecology more than the other monotheistic religions have. Polluting the
natural wonders created by Ahura Mazda (the Zoroastrian name for God)is considered a big sin.

Thus, instead of either burning or burying their dead, the Zoroastrians have traditionally placed corpses inside a tower of silence. The tower contains three concentric rings. Children’s corpses are placed in the innermost ring; men’s corpses are placed in the outermost ring; and women’s corpses are placed in the ring between them. The tower remains open to the sky, and vultures who live near the tower quickly devour the bodies’ flesh.

I myself am not a Zoroastrian, but this death ritual intrigues me greatly, and I’d love to see a haiku based upon it!”