Nasu- Persian DemonDemon"Corpse Demon"

The Rush of Corruption

Nasu, known more fully as Druj Nasu, "the Lie of Nasu," exploits the moment of death. The Vendidad describes her descending from the north in the form of a fly the instant a person dies. She seizes the corpse and contaminates it from head to toe. Her pollution spreads to anything the body touches and to anyone who handles the dead. The more righteous the person who died, the more eagerly Nasu falls upon the body, for corruption of the good is the deepest work of the Lie.

The Dog's Gaze

To combat Nasu, Zoroastrian practice prescribes the sag-did, "seen by a dog," in which a dog is brought to gaze upon the corpse. Dogs in Zoroastrianism can perceive and repel evil spirits, and the sag-did must be performed multiple times during the funerary process to keep Nasu at bay. Her characteristic fly form, always arriving from the north, must be driven back again and again before the body can be safely handled.

Towers and Purification

Because corpses carry Nasu's pollution, they cannot be buried (that would contaminate the sacred earth of Spenta Armaiti) or cremated (that would pollute the sacred fire of Asha Vahishta). Traditional practice exposes the dead in dakhmas, the Towers of Silence, where vultures consume the flesh without defiling any sacred element.

Those who handle corpses, the nasasalars or corpse-bearers, undergo elaborate purification afterward. The bareshnum, a nine-night ceremony described in the Vendidad, cleanses the most serious contamination through washing with water and gomez (consecrated bull's urine), prayers, and periods of isolation.