Eliseo Ferrer / The Eastern Star and the Holy Mountain of the Persian soterological tradition.
In all the cultures of the time, and particularly in the Iranian tradition, the manifestation of the nativity of the cosmocrator-redeemer appeared dominated by the images of the star, the light and the grotto. According to Persian traditions, the xvarna shining above the sacred mountain was the heralding sign of the coming of Saoshyant, the miraculously born redeemer of the seed of Zaroaster and a virgin. «The Persians considered the epiphanies of light, and, first of all, the appearance of a supernatural star, as the announcing sign par excellence of the birth of the cosmocrator and the savior. And since the birth of the future redeeming king of the world had to take place in a grotto — Eliade declared — , the star or column of light had to shine above the grotto. So it was very likely that Christians took the imagery of the nativity of the cosmocrator-redeemer from the persians and applied it to the birth of Christ.
