Zoroastrian Studies Seminar Series: Travellers’ Accounts on the Destiny of the Soul

The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies in collaboration with the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America, the Ontario Zoroastrian Community Foundation, the Zoroastrian Society of Ontario, and the Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation jointly present "Travellers’ Accounts on the Destiny of the Soul" on Friday, May 9, 2025, at 1 pm (Eastern Time: Canada & US).

Abstract:
This lecture explores travellers’ accounts from the 16^th to the 18^th centuries, focusing on what happens to a corpse once it has been disposed on a Tower a Silence—and especially on one aspect, namely which eye has been eaten first by vultures. Where does this superstition come from? Why does the next of kin pay attention to this? Are there other specificities mentioned in travellers’ accounts?

Bio:
Céline Redard obtained her PhD at EPHE (Paris, France) for her doctoral thesis on the Vidēvdād 19. After working as a research assistant at the Collège de France (Paris) from 2008 to 2014, she was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship at the University of Liège in Belgium (2014-2016). Later, from 2017 to 2022, she worked for the Multimedia Yasna project based at SOAS (London). She is now Associate Professor in the History of Religions at the University of Strasbourg (France). Among her publications is a 2021 study co-authored with Dr. Kerman Daruwalla, titled The Gujarati Ritual Directions of the Paragnā, Yasna and Visperad Ceremonies. That year also saw the publication of her critical edition of the Srōš Drōn (Yasna 3 to 8).

Zoom Registration Link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/b204aDoASruz1zgN0nLl6w
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