Whispers of the Threefold Curse
Zoroastrian Narrative:
In Zoroastrian texts, there is a prophecy describing a 12,000-year cycle, divided into four eras of 3,000 years each.
The first 3,000 years mark the Era of Creation, when Ahura Mazda shapes the world. The second 3,000 years are a paradise, life emerges in purity and goodness.
In the third era, Ahriman, the destructive force, the inevitable twin to Ahura Mazda’s creative power, strikes out of jealousy. He is defeated and lulled into a deep sleep for 3,000 years by the divine song of Ahura Mazda. While the earth is being prepared for its final stage, Ahriman’s forces gather strength in the depths.
The last 3,000 years bring Ahriman’s return. He moves freely across the earth, seducing, corrupting, and unmaking what is good. Yet every thousand years, a savior arises to push back the darkness.
At the end of this age, the final savior, Sōshyant, will appear, defeating Ahriman once and for all, reconciling the duality of good and evil, and restoring humanity’s immortality and divine purity.
In 2017, I encountered this narrative and made it the guiding theme for a series of experimental works using hand-printing techniques. Unconsciously, I found myself drawn to the imagery of Ahriman’s domain, depicting the villains rather than the heroes. Though the series remains incomplete, the work still bears a story worth telling.
It is said that in the final era, amid the chaos and wars sown by Ahriman’s forces, an innocent girl will enter the waters of Lake Hamoon once every thousand years.
In its depths, guarded by sacred fish, lie the seeds of Zoroaster himself. As she swims, the seeds find her, and she conceives a child—destined to rise as the savior of that age.
"The innocent swim"
10*10 cm, aquatint etching print
The envious Ahriman Attacks Earth with his army of Divs and kills Kioumars
The first king of humans
"The Army of Divs"
48*22 cm, Linocut Print
In the years of Ahraiman's Sleep, Jahi, the she-div, prepares the army for the day he wakes.
She makes a vow to deceive all humans alongside Ahriman.
"Jahi summoning the wolves"
10*15 cm, print, etching print
"Vicious Wolf, Hungry for human blood"
10*10 cm, drypoint print
The second curse upon Earth comes from Zahhak the sorcerer, who bears snakes on his shoulders that are hungry for young human brains.
And casts a spell on all good creatures, wandering the Earth and spreading hatred.
"Serpents of death"
10*16 cm, aquatint etching print
He summons the accursed serpents to crawl from their shadows and spread death across the earth.
"Under Spell"
10*10 cm, drypoint print
The third, last, and most dreadful curse was wrought by Malkous, the mighty div. With dominion over wind and storm, he bound the earth in a cold sleep.
The envious Ahriman Attacks Earth with his army of Divs and kills Kioumars
The first king of humans
And for three hundred years all life lay frozen and perished beneath his spell.
"Curse of Malkous"
20*30 cm, aquatint etching print
"Perished in cold"
24*13 cm, Linocut print
And even the fire of Damavand, mountain of resistance and eternal watch, waned beneath the weight of snow.
Yet Jamshid Shah, the righteous king, foresaw this dreadful age. He gathered the pure seeds of humankind, animals, and plants, and hid them within the Var-Jam, an underground city of his making, to guard life in secret. There they would endure for three hundred years, until the fated hour comes, and this divine colony would return to the surface of the earth and renew the world.
"Damavand under snow"
24*13 cm, linocut print
"Life Endures"
20*16 cm, etching print