ZOROASTRIANISM AS A RELIGIOUS SYSTEM (FROM POLYTHEISM TO MONOTHEISM)

Based on the study of the Avesta, the source of the Zoroastrian religious and philosophical teaching, the article analyzes its religious, mythological and philosophical aspects. The results of the study are discussed on the example of Zoroastrianism and the Avesta, which reflect all stages of the process of development of religion, characteristic of all religious ideas. In particular, the author notes that primitive religious cults found their expression in Hoti (Yasna): totemism, animism, fetishism and witchcraft, as well as the beliefs of ancient peoples associated with polytheism, and the doctrine of monotheism discovered by Zoroaster.