Daena

She is the pre-terrestrial vision of the celestial world and is thus religion and faith avowed, the very faith which was 'chosen' by the Fravarti; she is also the essential individuality, the 'celestial' transcendent 'I,' the Figure which, at the dawn of its eternity, sets the believer face to face with the soul of his soul

Corbin's foundational definition establishes Daena as at once visionary organ, ontological light, pre-terrestrial faith, and transcendent celestial individuality confronting the soul eschatologically at the Chinvat Bridge.

Corbin, Henry, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971thesis

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from the Zoroastrian vision of Daena to the contemplation of the shahid in Sufism... the function its name implies is made even clearer: according to whether the soul in vision sees it as light, or on the contrary 'sees' only darkness, the soul itself testifies, by its vision, for or against its own spiritual realization

Corbin traces Daena as the foundational instance of a cross-traditional 'witness' figure whose luminous or dark appearance serves as an index of the soul's spiritual state and realization.

Corbin, Henry, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971thesis

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Daena, 97; in Manicheism, 35; in Mazdeism, 30 ff.; The Soul on the Way, 30-31; eschatological vision of, 30 ff., 33, 41; and Fravarti, 30, 31, 89, 92

Corbin's index entry maps Daena's full conceptual range across Mazdeism and Manicheism, confirming her structural relationship to Fravarti and her centrality to eschatological vision throughout the work.

Corbin, Henry, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971thesis

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the Manichaean texts speak of a post-mortal union of body and soul; the heavenly half of the dead man rising to heaven comes down to him in the form of a wise old man or a shining female figure (Daena), and calls him the 'body.'

Von Franz cites Daena within the Manichean tradition as the luminous post-mortem feminine figure who descends to reunite with the soul-body, drawing a direct parallel to alchemical coniunctio symbolism.

von Franz, Marie-Louise, Aurora Consurgens: A Document Attributed to Thomas Aquinas on the Problem of Opposites in Alchemy, 1966thesis

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All these texts converge toward the epiphany of the same Figure whose very diverse names reveal rather than conceal its identity: the philosopher's Angel or Sun, Daena, Perfect Nature

Corbin explicitly unifies Daena with the philosopher's Angel, Perfect Nature, and the shahid as manifestations of a single archetypal luminous guide across traditions.

Corbin, Henry, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971supporting

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what these answers show is that the act... finds an answer first in the sequence of events in Zoroastrian individual eschatology and again in the interpretation of the colored photisms by Najm Kobra and his school, according to whether the colors unveil or on the contrary conceal the suprasensory personal Guide

Corbin contextualizes Daena within Zoroastrian individual eschatology and links her function as personal guide to the chromatic visions interpreted by Najm Kobra, grounding the figure in both Iranian and Sufi frameworks.

Corbin, Henry, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971supporting

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the theme of comparative research consociating Fravartis and Walkyries, would reveal all its potentialities only on condition of searching, even of calling, for its reflowering in the course of time

Corbin extends the comparative phenomenology of the Fravarti — the celestial counterpart intimately related to Daena — to Nordic Valkyries, opening a cross-cultural inquiry into feminine luminous guardian figures.

Corbin, Henry, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971supporting

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there is a subconsciousness or infraconsciousness, corresponding to the level of the nafs ammara; and there is a superconsciousness or supraconsciousness, corresponding to the level of the nafs motma'yanna

Corbin's stratification of consciousness in Sufi psychology provides the psychic architecture within which the encounter with luminous guide figures such as Daena is mapped onto vertical spiritual levels.

Corbin, Henry, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971aside

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