{"id":14190,"date":"2026-01-12T07:13:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=14190"},"modified":"2026-01-11T21:18:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T04:18:47","slug":"a-pagan-studies-scholar-the-shah-of-iran-and-a-return-to-aryan-native-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=14190","title":{"rendered":"A Pagan Studies Scholar, the Shah of Iran, and a Return to Aryan Native Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DTZYCmMgVdc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:625px; min-width:326px; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/blockquote><script async src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As I write this, tens of thousands of Iranians (or let&#8217;s call them Persians) are demonstrating against the government of m<a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2022\/11\/15\/iran-15000-protesters-execution-rape\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">urderous black-turbaned mullahs<\/a> who let the 1979 revolution and promptly immersed Iran in wars and supporting terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many cases, this demand for a government is coupled with a desire to return to the Old Religion, which for them means <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/articles\/zoroastrianism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zoroastrianism.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/Reza Pahlavi,\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reza Pahlavi,<\/a> son of the shah (king) who was deposed in 1979 and himself a US resident, has issued <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PahlaviReza\/status\/2010480228183740891?s=20\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PahlaviReza\/status\/2010480228183740891?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video statements supporting his revolution<\/a>. I read that many protestors are chanting his name. He remains the crown prince, so if Iran becomes a constitutional monarchy, he would be shah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His father, <a href=\"http:\/\/Mohammad Reza Pahlavi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mohammad Reza Pahlavi<\/a> (1919\u20131980) was dying of cancer when he fled the country. He spent some time in a New York City hospital, where a member of his medical team was a nurse named Loretta Orion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.easthamptonstar.com\/obituaries\/202284\/loretta-orion-77-professor-author-gardener-seamstress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">She, in turn, earned a PhD in anthropology,<\/a> and became interested in the contemporary Pagan movement and in particular  She wrote <em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3N89Dhz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Never Again the Burning Times: Paganism Revived<\/a><\/em> (1994) and <a href=\"http:\/\/It Were As Well to Please The Devil as Anger Him: Witchcraft in the Founding Days of East Hampton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>It Were As Well to Please The Devil as Anger Him: Witchcraft in the Founding Days of East Hampton<\/em> <\/a>(2018), about a 17th-century witchcraft case on Long Island, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I met her at the American Academy of Religion meeting in Philadelphia &#8212; 1995, I think, which would fit, since her book was just out then. There was no Pagan studies group yet, for we were just starting to find each other. She and I went out for a pizza slice or something, and she told me about attending to the shah, which all seemed kind of like ancient history by then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And now the Pahlevi family is back in the news, and my feed on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">X<\/a> is full of Persians saying how they can&#8217;t wait to get rid of the alien Semitic religion imposed on them by force (Islam) and go back to their Native Faith of Zoroastrianism, which has managed to cling on because it qualified as &#8220;heritage.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Incidentally, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=Iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Iran&#8221;<\/a> and &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/Aryan\">Aryan&#8221;<\/a> (in its original sense) are at root the same word. So the Aryans want their old religion back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So the (original) Aryans &#8212; some of them &#8212; want their Native Faith back, only in this case it is more or less monotheistic,<a href=\"https:\/\/spiritualseek.com\/blog\/zoroastrianism-the-transition-from-polytheism-to-monotheism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> but not always.<\/a> If Iran\/Persia is reinvented as a more secular republic, who knows what flowers might bloom?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As I write this, tens of thousands of Iranians (or let&#8217;s call them Persians) are demonstrating against the government of murderous black-turbaned mullahs who let the 1979 revolution and promptly immersed Iran in wars and supporting terrorism. In many cases, this demand for a government is coupled with a desire to return to the Old [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[476,287,399,475],"class_list":["post-14190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aryans","tag-iran","tag-native-faith","tag-zoroastrianism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-3GS","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7817,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7817","url_meta":{"origin":14190,"position":0},"title":"A Top Nazi&#8217;s Library, &#8220;Violent&#8221; Heathens, and a Middle Eastern &#8220;Old Religion&#8221;","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"According to the Daily Mail (dial skepticism appropriately) a collection of occult books((Hans Thomas Hakl probably has more than Himmer did\u2014but no castle.)) owned by Nazi SS chief Heinrich Himmler has been found in the Czech Republic. The bulk of the collection was called the 'Witches Library' and concentrated on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"books\"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=books"},"img":{"alt_text":"himmler and hitler","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/himmer-and-hitler.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/himmer-and-hitler.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/himmer-and-hitler.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":621,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=621","url_meta":{"origin":14190,"position":1},"title":"Followers of the Peacock AngelTraveler\/blogger\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Followers of the Peacock AngelTraveler\/blogger Michael Totten visits the holiest shrine of the Yezidis.Some quotes:Yezidis are ancient fire-worshippers. They heavily influenced Zoroastrianism, and in turn have been heavily influenced by Sufi Islam. The temple at Lalish is their \u201cMecca.\u201d Hundreds of thousands of remaining Yezidis \u2013 those Kurds who refused\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5710,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5710","url_meta":{"origin":14190,"position":2},"title":"Polish Pagans Hold Congress","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Scott Simpson, co-editor of Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe, is quoted in an article on Polish Paganism in a June 18, 2013 article in Rzeczpospolita,\u00a0one of Poland's largest daily newspapers. He offers this translation: Polish Pagans Combine Their Strength At their first congress in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Europe\"","block_context":{"text":"Europe","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=europe"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/grafik.rp.pl\/grafika2\/1020954%2C1091965%2C16.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2264,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2264","url_meta":{"origin":14190,"position":3},"title":"The &#8216;Sickness&#8217; of Monotheism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Prompted to write on \"Muslim-Christian relations\" for the Washington Post's \"On Faith\" section, Jason Pitzl-Waters changed the terms of the usual interfaith conversation and \"spoke truth to power,\" thus: These events are the sad fruits of mixing raw social and political power with religions that operate on a exclusionary, one-true-path,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1551,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1551","url_meta":{"origin":14190,"position":4},"title":"A New Muslim Witchhunt","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Following Saudi Arabia's recent threat to execute Lebanese radio personality Ali Sabat for \"sorcery,\" the progressive government of Bahrain now plans to make sorcery and witchcraft criminal offenses, evidently part of a new Arab Muslim attack on the psychic arts. People found guilty of sorcery and witchcraft would face unspecified\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Islam\"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=islam"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5924,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5924","url_meta":{"origin":14190,"position":5},"title":"New Article on Polish Paganism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Via Scott Simpson, who is quoted in it, \"Pre-Christian Slavic Beliefs are on the Rise in Poland\" (PDF file), from the Krakow Post. \u201cThe native faith movement as a whole is loosely organised and doesn\u2019t have a strong dogmatic component, it is actually less about faith \u2013 as in \u2018correct\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Paganism\"","block_context":{"text":"Paganism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=paganism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14190"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14195,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14190\/revisions\/14195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}