From 1993 till about 2001 I did an in-depth study of the ancient and still-living religion of Persia, Zoroastrianism. There aren't that many left, a few hundred thousand or so. They are the descendants of the first monotheistic religion. In the Middle Ages, Zoroastrian communities fled persecution in Persia and settled in India, near Mumbai. These monotheists are known as "Parsees." Some Zoroastrians still remain in Iran. From India, Parsees have emigrated all over the world. The famous rock star "Freddy Mercury" was actually Farrokh Bulsara, a Parsee whose family had settled in east Africa.
I traveled in the USA and Canada visiting Zoroastrian families and places of worship. I also went to conferences, meeting in person with the scholars and priests whose books and lectures I studied. This drawing was done at a conference in Massachusetts, conveniently close to my own parents' house. The event is a fire ceremony called a "jashan," in which priests chant ancient Persian texts and honor the fire with incense and sandalwood. The flame is at the center. Zoroastrianism uses a well-kept fire as the symbol of the One God, a symbol which attracted me to the religion in the first place. Around the fire are four Parsee priests, all clad in white which means purity. They wear white masks on their faces to symbolize not breathing impure air onto the fire. They hold the books of the Avesta, the scripture of the religion, in their hands when they chant.
I spent as much time as I needed with the Zoroastrians, and after a while I moved away from them, leaving the promotion of their religion to their own folk. And after 2000, I moved toward mathematics and physics, after a visit to the great particle accelerator Fermilab. It would be another form of sacred fire.
Black tech pen on sketchbook page, 5" x 7 1/2", November 15, 1997.
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