Achaemenid Empire (550 BCE - 330 BCE) 

The Achaemenid Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great. It was located in Persia, with its main capital being Babylon (baba-lon). During its run, Achaemenid captured many places, Including Ancient Greece. 

Cyrus the Great

To best understand the magic of Achaemenid, we must first understand the magic in which their founder held. Cyrus the Great was a boy who was never supposed to live. He had been sentenced to death multiple times but survived them all. Asyages (ah-sea-ay-gus), Cyrus’ grandfather and the last king of the Median empire, had started to receive prophetic dreams during his daughters’ pregnancy with Cyrus. 

These dreams were said to be prophecies sent to Asyages by the gods of his time. Although prophecies weren’t uncommon in ancient times, they still were a form of magic, using the Dark Arts to talk to deceased or higher people. Asyages’ prophecies consisted of, first, his empire flooding. The next was a stream of fruit vines (hence the term “fruit of the womb”) that grew from his daughter and surrounded his empire. 

His magical interpreters took this as a sign of power. Because of the Dark Art’s used, the prophecy told that his grandson would one day take the power of his kingdom from him. He sent his daughter, Mandane, to have Cyrus killed before he was born. Cyrus ended up living in secret, despite his grandfather’s wishings. Some believe Cyrus was cursed with undying when he was stolen from his mother. 

Sacrifice

The Persians that lived in Achaemenid often worshiped and sacrificed to elements, instead of gods. They thanked the elements for the power in which the ruler had received and to avoid cursings.

"The sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water, and to the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has come down to them from ancient times.” Herodotus, a Greek author that lived during these times, wrote. They believed that to fend off the cursing of the Dark Arts from these gods, they had to build altars, offer supplies, and bow to them. 

After this, they soon started worshiping some adopted gods. Urania being the first. She is the goddess of undying love and Astrology. Her name fit into the naming of the planet Uranus along with the god, Uranus. Uranus (the planet) rules over love in astrology. Her power was said to create the first love charm, potion, and curse. 

In this time, no offering or sacrifice was to be made without a “magus”, or a priest (witch or wizard closely connected to the dark arts and could easily speak to the deceased or gods). These Witches wor wizards would announce whether the god was pleased or not, using the arts to send messages back and forth.