Asrestar is a class of
demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
s in
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
. They appear prominently in the Manichaean
creation myth
A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...
, especially the creation of mankind. Accordingly,
Az decided to create humans in the image of the
Third Messenger and mingled the demonic asrestar with the light particles, that is basically the
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
. Although most asrestar are indistinguishable, an eminent demon called
Šaklūn, features as
demiurgic demon entrapping humans in the material world during the
Adam and Eve narration. Human's urges for evil, such as lying, are remaining parts of the asrestar within the body.
[International Association of Manichaean Studies. International Symposium ''Augustine and Manichaeism in the Latin West: Proceedings of the Fribourg-Utrecht International Symposium of the International Association of Manichaean Studies (IAMS)'' BRILL, 2001 p. 19 (German)]
See also
*
Ur (Mandaeism)
References
Manichaeism
Demons in Gnosticism
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