Daeva

Uncommon card · No. 118321

Div or dev (Classical Persian: دیو dēw; Iranian Persian: دیو dīv; with the broader meaning of demons, ogres or fiends), also known as Daeva (Avestan: 𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 daēuua) are monstrous creatures of Iranian folklore and religion and Zoroastrian supernatural entities with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the divs are "gods that are (to be) rejected". This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian "daiva inscription" of the 5th century BC. Div, the Iranian language term, shares the same origin of "Deva" of Hinduism, which is a cognate with Latin deus ("god") and Greek Zeus. While the word for the Vedic spirits and the word for the Zoroastrian entities are etymologically related, their function and thematic development are altogether different. Originally, the term was used to denote beings of cultural folklore which predate use in scripture. Equivalents for Persian dīv/deev in Iranian languages include...

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