Today in 1844, the American poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe criticized the faith of Transcendentalists in human development by arguing that humans are only more active, not happier or wiser, than they were 6000 years ago…

The information on the copyright page of Philip Gura’s (2007) book on Transcendentalism pictured here reads: 

“The figure on the front cover is derived from that on the title page of William B. Greene’s Transcendentalism (1849) and combines symbols from various religious traditions. The central figure depicts the Zoroastrian ‘Farohar,’ its outstretched hand signifying the human soul striving for union with God; the encircling ring symbolizes eternity. The snake represents mankind’s struggle with evil, and the three intersecting circles represent the Christian Trinity.” 

The 19^th c. intellectual movement of Transcendentalism led by notables such as Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American philosophical phenomenon (a quote by Emerson “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”)… as discussed in past postings, Emerson was a fan of the 14^th c. Persian Sufi poet Hafez (a quote by Hafez: “Don't be surprised at Fortune's turns and twists: That wheel has spun a thousand yarns before”) … 

Sufism is an Iranian movement to counter foreign Islamism dating back to 8^th century post Arab Muslim invasion … Sufis were persecuted by Islamic authorities as heretics… 

The Iranian Zoroastrian Farohar or Farr—referred to in the copyright page—is an indigenous Iranian concept… recall that Iranian peoples are Avestan-Aryans of the Indo-Europeans… Farr is the divine glory that is with a person as long as that person follows Truth / Light … if the person chooses evil deeds then he/she risks losing the personal Farr… the same is true with the Iranian nation … when Iran is under attack or weakened by a fallen leader, its national Farr is retrieved and protected by Indo-Iranian sun god Mithra until a virtuous and legitimate leader steps forward to rescue Iran and its people…

[pic cumberlandtownship: for educational purposes]