Amesha Spenta

plural Amesha Spentas

1. ZoroastrianismAny of the six immortal beings created by Ahura Mazda plus Ahura Mazda himself, often equated to archangels, virtues, and elements of nature.

   Having created Asha,^([divine order]) Ahura Mazda was its first follower. He rules through His Divine Powers, the Amesha Spenta, the immortal Shining Ones, collectively known as the Haft Amshahspands, the Seven Amesha Spenta.

   2003, Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi, “8: The Notions of Divine Being in various Religions”, in Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi, editor, World Religions and Islam: A Critical Study, Part 1, page 125

   2 more examples

   Thus whereas Bousset, for instance, regarded the Amesha Spentas of the Zoroastrian religion as a textbook example of the process by which concrete divine beings could be evaporated into abstract figures,² it is now recognized that the development ran, in fact, in the opposite direction, that is, from the personification of abstract concepts to concrete protecting spirits, while the ancient Persian gods were the object of Zoroaster′s fierce attack.³

   1967, Walter Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, page 195

   Each Amesha Spenta retains his or her⁵ individual nature and life which was given at their creation.[…]and it is an act he also accomplishes through the guardianship and identification that the Amesha Spentas have for and with the world.

   1998, Peter Clark, Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to Ancient Faith, page 30

   Synonyms: Ahura Mazda, Ameretat, Asha Vahishta, Haurvatat, Khshathra Vairya, Spenta Armaiti, Vohu Manah