Today marks the ancient Zoroastrian holiday of Khordadgan, a sacred day set aside to honor Khordad, one of the Amesha Spentas—divine beings in Zoroastrian cosmology who each embody a particular aspect of creation and divine order.
Khordad (known in Avestan as Haurvatat) is the Amesha Spenta of wholeness, health, purity, and water. She is closely connected to physical and spiritual well-being, and to the sustaining, purifying force of flowing water. Khordad governs the nourishing elements that make life on Earth possible. In Zoroastrian belief, to live in alignment with Khordad is to care for both the inner and outer waters—to uphold clarity, movement, and integrity in one’s body, spirit, and environment.
Khordadgan is celebrated on the sixth day of the Zoroastrian month of Khordad, when the day and the month both share her name. Traditionally, it is a time for honoring rivers, springs, and oceans, and for rituals of cleansing, renewal, and thanksgiving. Families gather near natural bodies of water, offer prayers, or reflect on how they’re nurturing health and harmony in their lives.
Wisdom of Khordad
Khordad teaches us that movement is purifying.
As the saying goes, “flowing water is safe to drink.” In other words, water that moves is pure, while stagnant water becomes a site of illness and decay. This truth echoes far beyond the physical: in our emotional and spiritual lives, too, movement is medicine. When we allow our feelings—especially our grief—to move through us, we open ourselves to healing. When we stay stuck or resist the currents of change, we suffer.
Water is a patient, persistent teacher. It reminds us that nothing stays the same—that change is a natural part of life. Grief teaches us this too: while our losses may never disappear, the pain reshapes itself over time. With each tide, it becomes a little more bearable. A little more integrated. A little easier to carry.
This Khordadgan, I’m bowing to the waters that carry us.
To the grief that moves through us like a current.
To the ancient wisdom that reminds us: you do not have to stay still in your sorrow.
Let the waters teach you how to flow.
Let them teach you how to heal.
Thank you, Khordad, for your sacred reminder. 💧
