Why Ishtar's Punches and Headbutts Have Funny Names Pt. 1 (AKA Zurvan is an Ass)
[b]Overview[/b]
The path that Ishtar embarked upon after accepting Zurvan's offer was a strange one. Outside of the initial trappings, there is little resembling the traditional style of martial training- teacher/student- and was largely dependent on Ishtar's ability to glean understanding from the world(s) around her. Of course, in the beginning Zurvan stood as a guiding influence. Luring her to a designated area with the intention of teaching her about his 'sons', with the promised answers at which point he would teach her. These sons, of course represented the archetypal ideas of creation (and all of the good associated with such), and destruction (and all of the bad associated with such).
After such lessons were taught however, Zurvan's influence was minimal. Only serving the function of selecting worlds and at times civilizations, for her to 'study' as he watched and waited. These 'lessons', varied in their length, some taking comparatively little time for Ishtar to pick up; with others lasting several hundred, to several thousand years. Upon attaining the understanding of a given lesson, however, Zurvan would usually appear (in the guise of someone/thing else) and test what she had learned. Should her insight prove acceptable, Zurvan would then reveal himself and there would be a recovery period where the Oni could meditate, ask questions, and enjoy the company of Zurvan- whom she came to view as a father figure- before being sent away again; in a repetition of the process. Of note, there are only two instances in which this function was [b]not[/b] performed as intended; and the final instance served to sever the connection between Zurvan and what was ultimately his first, and last, disciple.
[b]Of the Twins[/b]
The lessons instilled in Ishtar in the above mentioned method, are all [b]very loosely[/b] based on the six 'Bounteous Spirits' (Amesha Spenta), and the six 'Wrong Gods/False God's [to be rejected]' (Daeva) of the Zoroastrian Faith, and specifically the heretical 'Zurvanite Zoroastrianism'. Each set of six, is considered to be the cardinal attributes of the two 'Sons', Ahura Mazda (the Mighty/Lord of Wisdom), and Angra Mainyu (the Destructive Spirit). As is understood in Zurvanite Zoroastrianism, these two are twin brothers and the sons of Zurvan, the First Principle (or primordial creator deity) and while both sons are equal they are opposites, one the embodiment of good, the other of evil ... and this decision to be the respective champions of creation, and destruction is [i]by choice[/i], with Angra Mainyu choosing to be evil. Something that is noted on by the 5th Century Christian Armenian writer, Enzik of Kolb:
[center]"He is evil through his own wish, not from the fact of his birth." - Eznik, [I]De Deo[/I] 2.8 (ed. Paris, 1924).[/center]
And as an aside, to prove this point Angra Mainyu is said to have been responsible for the creation of the Peacock. A bird that while beautiful, has been noted as 'obsessive over food, and aggressively so' ... to the point where they were removed from Zoos. So basically they're little assholes (also startlingly similar to a tail sporting race of aggressive monkey people minus the Zoo). In any case ... the role of these two figures is rather minimal in comparison to their cardinal attributes, because, in learning about the 'bounteous spirits', and 'false gods' you come to understand the sons themselves.