The world-affirming character of Zoroastrianism is one of its most striking features when set beside its neighbours. Material creation is good — made by Ahura Mazda, invaded but not owned by the enemy — so there is no ascetic ideal, no celibate clergy, no monasticism, no fasting from food, and no merit in poverty or self-denial. The Vendidad contains a passage in which the earth is described as most joyful where a righteous man builds a house with fire in it, cattle, a wife and children, and where crops are grown and water is brought to dry ground. Priests marry. Wealth honestly acquired and generously used is a positive good. The tradition treats despondency as literally serving the enemy, since a discouraged or weakened person is one fewer effective combatant. This is why Zoroastrian festivals are obligatory feasts rather than penitential seasons, and why the calendar has no equivalent of Lent or Ramadan.