Zoroaster lower right corner. The prophet is holding a star-studded globe. Zoroaster Zoroaster (, ; "Zōroastrēs"), (Persian: زرتشت pronounced as Zartusht) also known as Zarathustra (, ; "Zaraθuštra"), Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra, was an ancient Persian prophet, spiritual leader and ethical philosopher who taught a spiritual philosophy of self-realization and realization of the Divine. His teachings challenged the existing traditions of the Indo-Iranian religion and later developed into the religion of Mazdayasna or Zoroastrianism. He inaugurated a movement that eventually became the dominant religion in Ancient Persia. He was a native speaker of Old Avestan and lived in the eastern
Hermetism and other religions its indoctrination process. Zoroastrianism plays a large role in influencing Hermeticism. In 525 BCE, Egypt was conquered by the Persian Empire, bringing Zoroastrian ideas along with it. In obscure texts, Hermes claims to look to Zoroaster as a spiritual father, having learned much of the zodiac from him. It is further said that Zoroaster had penetrated the mystery of the zodiac more than any other. Alternatively, it has been suggested that Zoroaster (like so many others) and Hermes are one and the same. However, it is possible that this was from a faked Zoroastrian text. Theurgy is often called Zoroastrian