IAJS 2024, Farânak Mirjalili: Good and Evil at Work in the Zoroastrian Creation Story
March 23, 2026 at 02:29AM
IAJS 2024 Online Conference
Jung & Duality

Farânak Mirjalili

Good and Evil at Work in the Zoroastrian Creation Story

Abstract:

Creation stories often weave together narratives of creation and destruction, offering cultural and ancestral meaning to the universe and grounding the human psyche. The Zoroastrian creation story stands apart in its intricate interplay of opposites, reflecting Zoroaster’s teachings of stark duality. In this narrative, the forces of good and evil, represented by Ohrmazd (God of light and wisdom) and Ahriman (his shadow twin), exist from the very beginning. In the heretical branch of Zurvanism, these forces are even born as twin brothers from the same source. Remarkably, Ahriman is not solely destructive; rather, he serves as a catalyst for the transfiguration and regeneration of life on Earth. This presentation offers a psychological interpretation of this cosmic drama, drawing on Analytical Psychology to explore its archetypal significance. The work of Donald Kalsched, particularly his theory on the ‘light and dark angel,’ provides a contemporary Jungian framework to understand the archetypal dichotomies of good and evil depicted in the Zoroastrian creation myth. By integrating Jung’s exploration of the ‘dark side of God,’ this presentation delves into the cosmic drama of duality that has resonated with humanity for millennia.

Bio: Farânak Mirjalili is a Jungian analytical therapist, trained in The Netherlands and currently completing her final round of analytical training at the C.G. Jung Institute in Küsnacht. Her therapeutic work centers on feminine consciousness, embodiment, and cultivating mythic imagination. Farânak earned a Research Master’s degree from the Center for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, where she conducted three years of field research on psycho-spiritual alchemy. She is the founder of the Anima Mundi School, collaborating with a collective of women to blend depth psychology, ecopsychology, and mythic imagination in a three-year program called “Ecologies of the Imagination.”
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