Fire
The fire is burning for 1542 years continuously. There is a misunderstanding about Zoroastrian religion. Some people believe that they worship fire. But, they have been worshiping the only God. The fire is not burning by itself. There is a guard with the fire who is called Hirbod. Hirbod is the lowest level of Zoroastrian priest. Wood is the only allowed fuel for the fire. Every kind of wood is acceptable. But, the walnut tree wood or the apricot is preferred because they are more compressed and they resist burning and becomes ash later. They don't cut green trees. They use dry tree (a dead tree) in order to respect nature. The guard put the ash over the fire every day during sunset and fire will stay alive under the ash. Next morning he adds wood to the fire and the flame will come back. The first time it started burning by a sparkle from a stone and from then it’s burning by its own heat.

The importance of fire
Why is fire important? Why did Arab people make mistake that Zoroastrian worship fire? Because in every religion a direction is considered for worshiping God. For example, the direction in Islam is Qibla. We stand in the direction of Mecca. Orthodox people pray in the direction of Bizans in the present Turkey. Zoroastrian people don't care about any special direction. They just care about the fire (light). In old time the only way to produce light was fire. Fire is considered as the source of light. So, light has been very important in every religion and in every culture, even in Islam.

Ahura Mazda
If they don't worship fire, who do they worship? Before Zarathustra comes, Iranian people were believing in different Gods. Anahita was the God of water. Mithraism was another religion. Azar was the God of fire. We are proud of the fact that we have never been worshiping idols and statutes. When Zarathustra came, he said all the gods you have been worshiping so far have been created by the only God who is called Ahura Mazda (maz=great, da=wise, ahura=creator) which means great wise creator. The characteristics of Ahura Mazda defined by Zarathustra is exactly the same as those Gods in other religions. The God has no shape. It is so mighty eternal and the God is alone. So, Zoroastrian people are worshiping Ahura Mazda standing in front of fire. Natural light like sun and moon is preferred. Artificial light like lamp is also acceptable.

Zarathustra
Zoroaster , also known as Zarathustra, Zarathushtra Spitama or Ashu Zarathushtra, was an ancient Iranian spiritual leader who founded what is now known as Zoroastrianism. His teachings challenged the existing traditions of the Indo-Iranian religion and inaugurated a movement that eventually became the dominant religion in Ancient Persia. He was a native speaker of Old Avestan and lived in the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau.

Faravahar
The symbol is Faravahar. Muslims believes in two parts in the body (body and ghost), but Zoroastrian people believe in 5 parts: body, soul, ghost, understanding and Faravahar.