The Persian 'Mar Nameh': The Zoroastrian 'Book of the Snake' Omens and Calendar & The Old Persian Calendar (Paperback)

~ Payam Nabarz (Author), S H Taqizadeh (Author)

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Product Description

The centuries old Persian poem 'Mar Nameh' describes in verse a method of augury; what seeing a snake on every one of the 30 days of a month will mean and what omen it will portend. The thirty-two couplets in Persian informative rhyme are shown here in beautifully handwritten Persian calligraphy. The poem is both translated and transliterated into English. The symbolic connection of the snake to Time is discussed and a modern approach to use the 'Mar Nameh' is described using the Zoroastrian Calendars. The Old Iranian calendar describes in detail the foundation of Persian calendar system and its ancient festivals, such as the New Year celebration of Nawruz, the Tiragan festival, and the feast of Mithra. The connection of the Persian calendar to the Egyptian and Babylonian calendars is also examined in depth. This book provides a detailed analysis of a text which has been dormant for several hundred years. It is an essential read for all who are interested in the art of divination.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Twin Serpents Ltd. (July 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905524250
• ISBN-13: 978-1905524259
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,001,010 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Snakes & Omens, January 13, 2009

By	David Rankine "The StarSorceror" (Monmouthshire, Wales) - See all my reviews

I wasn't sure what I would make of ths book with such a long title when it was offered to me. However omens and calendars are two areas of great interest to me, so I was intrigued to see what the authors had to say. In fact this is more like two works in one, the first part being the contemporary work of Payam Nabarz on the Mar Nameh and the second part being a reprint of the 1917 essay on The Old Iranian Calendar by S H Taqizadeh. Both have their fascinations, though for me the life really flows through Nabarz's work in the first half of the book.

So what can you expect and why should you buy this book? Well anyone interested in divination, magick, religion or calendars will find valuable material in this book, which is a pretty big range of people! Nabarz provides the original Persian text, along with both literal and poetic translations of the text. The text itself gives the divinatory meaning for seeing a snake on each day of the month. As the author lucidly demonstrates in his introduction, the serpent has a long connection with time, and so this combination is a logical one, as he convincingly argues. He also discusses the Zoroastrian spirits associated with the days, an area worthy of study by itself, especially in light of their planetary nature and possible role as antecedents to much of the later spiritual hierarchies found in magickal systems.

The essay on The Old Iranian Calendar is somewhat dry in comparison to the passionate flow of Nabarz's style, but interesting nevertheless. In tracing the development of the Iranian calendar, from ancient Egypt through reforms and intercalations, the importance of time and its measurement is impressed in the mind of the reader. The juxtaposition of this essay with the Book of the Snake makes for a unique and interesting sourcework that I thoroughly encourage you to buy and read.