culture and context: John the baptst and Zoroaster.

         The culture and context around my two mystics are pretty comparable. Both john the baptist and Zoroaster were alive during times of political division. Both mystics also grew up in cultures where mysticism was normal, and both were prophets of their own religious reform.

    John the baptist was born Jewish and according the the gospels was born into the family of a Jewish priest. because of this John likely received a robust religions education from a young age. 100 years prior there had been a major war and rebellion called the Maccabean revolt which was both a civil war and a war against the Seleucid empire.the war ended with a free Jewish state heavily dependent on Rome. shortly after Jerusalem was conquered by Rome and later given to Herod the great as a client king. all of this unrest lead to political division among the Jews. Flavius Josephus outlines the three major religious and political factions: the Pharisees, sadduces and Essene. some historians believe that john the baptist was at some point affiliated with the Essene, because he followed similar religious practices like living in the wilderness and baptism. lastly what made john the baptist different from other Jews is that he preached baptism for the remission of sin. the Essene also practiced ritualistic bathing, however it was not for the same purpose.

    Zoroaster Has a similar story, He also received a religious education from a young age. Zoroaster grew up in the Avestan culture in northeastern Iran. according to author Mary Boyce it can be assumed that war and conflict was common in that culture because gods were always depicted in war chariots and the generic word for man translates to 'he who can drive chariots'.  we know from the gathas and Zoroastrian tradition that Zoroaster received an education in mystical thinking in the Avestan religion. like john the baptist Zoroaster criticized the sources of political division among his people. by denying the validity of the local regional gods he brought the Avestan people together.