HOME | DD

Description
Zoroastrian mythological beings usually belong to either one of two antithetical forces; those of good presided over by the god Ahura Mazda, and those of evil ruled by his adversary Ahriman. However, an exception to this rule are the Parī.

Parīs are a race of beautiful winged female creatures from Persian mythology that were morally ambivalent, their actions depending on circumstance rather than loyalty to a given cause. They could either punish or misdirect the deserving, help those in need as divine messengers of the Yazata, or be helpless damsels persecuted by Divs. Despite this being the most common depiction, in the original Avesta of the Sassanian Period (224-651 CE) they were demonic witch-like creatures called Pairikā, created by Ahriman to bring about strife in the world and tempt men away from the path of righteousness. They would also be later incorporated into Islam, where they were redescribed as either mischevious human souls barred from heaven until their penance was paid, or purely benevolent creatures created by Allah.

To incorporate all these different beliefs, my reinterpretation of the Parīs is that they were indeed originally created by Ahriman to do evil, but then grew weary of his desires and cut themselves off to live peacefully. Most are still neutral and self-serving, but some hope to redeem their past sins through serving the Yazata or Allah. As such, there are still some traces of their demonic heritage in their beautiful visage.

In both traditional Persian and Islamic art, these creatures are shown with a multitude of differently-colored wings to the point where they can be mistaken for angles (for some reason, angels in Islamic art have colorful wings). These are just a few examples of what color combinations their wings could have, but they are not the only ones. I based their wings on pigeons since Parīs can turn into them, which is also what I based their vestigial demonic traits like their eyes and talons on. Their torsos look abnormal because I had to modify their bodies in a way that could support wings.

Let me know which one is your favorite.

Description
Zoroastrian mythological beings usually belong to either one of two antithetical forces; those of good presided over by the god Ahura Mazda, and those of evil ruled by his adversary Ahriman. However, an exception to this rule are the Parī.

Parīs are a race of beautiful winged female creatures from Persian mythology that were morally ambivalent, their actions depending on circumstance rather than loyalty to a given cause. They could either punish or misdirect the deserving, help those in need as divine messengers of the Yazata, or be helpless damsels persecuted by Divs. Despite this being the most common depiction, in the original Avesta of the Sassanian Period (224-651 CE) they were demonic witch-like creatures called Pairikā, created by Ahriman to bring about strife in the world and tempt men away from the path of righteousness. They would also be later incorporated into Islam, where they were redescribed as either mischevious human souls barred from heaven until their penance was paid, or purely benevolent creatures created by Allah.

To incorporate all these different beliefs, my reinterpretation of the Parīs is that they were indeed originally created by Ahriman to do evil, but then grew weary of his desires and cut themselves off to live peacefully. Most are still neutral and self-serving, but some hope to redeem their past sins through serving the Yazata or Allah. As such, there are still some traces of their demonic heritage in their beautiful visage.

In both traditional Persian and Islamic art, these creatures are shown with a multitude of differently-colored wings to the point where they can be mistaken for angles (for some reason, angels in Islamic art have colorful wings). These are just a few examples of what color combinations their wings could have, but they are not the only ones. I based their wings on pigeons since Parīs can turn into them, which is also what I based their vestigial demonic traits like their eyes and talons on. Their torsos look abnormal because I had to modify their bodies in a way that could support wings.

Let me know which one is your favorite.