ZURVAN: Why Roman Soldiers Built Temples to This Lion-Headed, Snake-Wrapped Demon
Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories
Darren Marlar
4.6 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 December 2025
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Persian Mithraism, there was a deity associated with time and fate. His followers celebrated him during mid-winter festivals — festivals that reached their peak on December 24th. In the novel Advent of Evil, that deity appears as a demon who operates through a cursed advent calendar, enforcing strict rules: one door opened every day, no skipping, no ignoring. Break the rules, and there are consequences. Researchers tracing the object's history in the novel found it connected to a spirit board, a serial killer, a Christmas Eve fire, and thirty years of patient waiting. How much of the demon Zurvan has any basis in actual ancient mythology — and was there ever a real entity behind the fiction? We'll examine what archaeologists found on clay tablets dating back over three thousand years.
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Demon In The Advent Calendar
00:05:13.171 = Show Open
00:06:33.462 = A Thousand Years of Sacrifice
00:18:20.446 = *** The Lion-Headed God In The Vatican
00:41:40.408 = *** Kill Them All
01:05:08.640 = *** The God Who Doesn’t Care
01:12:21.326 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
PRINT VERSION to READ or SHARE (Includes Sources):
https://weirddarkness.com/zurvan
=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: December 27, 2025
EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/zurvan
ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
#WeirdDarkness #AncientMythology #PersianMythology #Zoroastrianism #ChristmasOrigins #OccultHistory #AncientDemons #DarkHistory #MysteryReligions #WinterSolstice #Zurvan #AdventOfEvil
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ramadan is a time to reflect, connect and experience the world more meaningfully. |
| 0:07.0 | In Abu Dhabi, Curiosity leads the way through adventure, wildlife and moments of wonder, |
| 0:14.0 | culture, movement and well-being create lasting connections, while shared tables and rich flavors turn every meal into a story. |
| 0:24.3 | Travel deeper, travel richer. Experience Abu Dhabi. Before listening to this episode, I need to let you |
| 0:32.5 | know that I'll be discussing a key player in the novel Advent of Evil, a novel written by Scott Donnelly, |
| 0:38.9 | based on a concept I had shared with him. |
| 0:41.4 | While this episode is not about the novel itself, it will refer to it often for comparisons |
| 0:46.8 | with real figures from ancient mythology, and will undoubtedly touch on what would be considered |
| 0:51.9 | spoilers from the novel. |
| 0:53.8 | If you care about this type of thing, you might want to read considered spoilers from the novel. If you care about |
| 0:54.5 | this type of thing, you might want to read or listen to the novel first before diving into |
| 0:59.3 | this episode. You can find it by doing a search for Advent of Evil at weirddarkness.com. |
| 1:09.2 | In Persian mythraism, there was a deity associated with time and fate. His name was Zurban, |
| 1:15.5 | and his followers celebrated him during midwinter festivals, festivals that reached their peak |
| 1:21.1 | on December 24th. In the novel Advent of Evil, Zervon is no God. He's a demon, and he's been waiting a very |
| 1:29.3 | long time. The thing about Zirvon is that time doesn't matter to him. Not really. He's patient |
| 1:36.7 | in a way that humans can't comprehend. He doesn't grow anxious, he doesn't get restless, |
| 1:42.6 | he simply waits, for years, for decades, if necessary, |
| 1:47.7 | until the moment is right to reveal himself. When he does appear, he takes two forms. The first |
| 1:55.0 | is human, an older man with a beard. His face is carved into the center of a wooden Advent |
| 2:00.3 | calendar, the cursed object |
| 2:02.1 | at the heart of the novel. But there's something wrong with the carving. The eyes are featureless, |
... |
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