SPENTA MAINYU
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: 'Even educated can be ignorant.'
	YOU ARE IN DARKNESS.
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MITHRAISM

One of those belief systems which had a great influence on the 'belief systems of the book' is the Mithraic cult. Basically it is the worship of the Indo-Iranian 'god of light' Mithra. It spread from Persia to Asia Minor (today's Anatolia) and from there to the West. One of the last of the oriental mystery cults to reach the West, Mithraism emerged as the chief rival and opponent of Christianity as Paganism was dying. It came to Egypt two hundred years before Jesus, reached Rome around the turn of the millenium and soon became the Roman Empire's most important religion - the cult of Mithras - a 'superior entity' from the pantheon of the Indians and Persians.

In order to understand what role Asia Minor (Anatolia) played in the progress of Mithraism towards West we should stop for a brief period at the land of 'Khuru' where Hurrian people lived. The Christian Code Book call them the Horites and their land Khuru. The Horites mentioned in the Christian Code Book were not a semitic people. Their home was among the mountains around Lake Van in Eastern Anatolia. They were prominent in northern Mesopotamia, Syria and Eastern Asia Minor about 1500 BC. The names on many Hurrian documents indicate that at least the princely caste must be reckoned as Indo-Aryan. In the north of Mesopotamia they had built up the powerful kingdom of Mitanni between the upper reaches of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Their kings had collected round them an aristocracy of warlike charioteers and they bore Indo-Aryan names. The aristocracy of the country was called Marya (an old Indian word) which is the equivalent of 'young warriors.' Their temples were dedicated to old Indian gods. Magic incantations from Rigveda were intoned in front of the images of Mithras - the victorious champion of Light against Darkness, who ruled the storms, and of Varuna who governed the eternal order of the universe. With the advent of this 'supreme being' the old gods of the Semites crashed from their pedestals. But in reality the Mithra which attracted the West was not this nationalist one, but an amalgam which took its final shape in the Eastern Asia Minor (Anatolia) where the Persian traditions survived the longest.

 MITHRA : THE CHIEF DEITY

Probably subordinate both to the first principle Zurvan Akarana (infinite time) and to Ahura Mazda, Mithra as the creator and as mediator between man and the higher gods was clearly the chief deity of the cult as practised. Ahriman-Angra Mainyu was the power of death and darkness, who was perhaps regarded as the prince of this world. Among the events that appear certain are the birth of Mithra from a rock, his shooting an arrow at a cliff to bring forth water (You remember the similar stories told about Moses and Jesus etc.?), his adventures in pursuit of the sacred bull ending with his reluctant sacrifice of the animal, his alliance with the sun-god, the banquet shared with him (You remember the 'last supper'? This sounds familiar!) and his ascent to the bull, apparently in origin a vegetation spirit, by its death gave birth to all living things; thus Mithra became the creator of life, as by his other exploits he was its protector against evil.

Well, what about the organization of mysteries? It is known that there were seven degrees (Keep this 'seven' in mind it will come up every now and then, and we shall try to find its source) of initiation open to the adept, perhaps corresponding to the seven planetary spheres to be traversed by the soul in upward progress. Those in the lowest ranks were called 'servants', those in the middle and above, the 'participants', perhaps with reference to the sacred meal of bread and water, which Christian writers likened to the eucharist. Initiation was open to males only, women were excluded. Intensive purifications, including perhaps a sort of baptism, were prerequisite to initiation. The initiated person was branded on the forehead, to mark him henceforth as a recruit in the army of Mithra, sworn to combat all evil. At the head of each group was either a pater or priest. There is no hint of the Persian magus or anything resembling a priestly caste. There was no ecumenical organization or hierarchy. At most, at each centre there was a pater patrum (father of fathers), as it were, an overseer or bishop.

 TAKE NOTE : THE FAITHFUL WOULD ENJOY IMMORTALITY

Mithraism professed to explain the origins of the universe and also its end; and Mithra who had created once and was now man's defender and helper, would in those final days inaugurate a new order in which the faithful would enjoy forever a blessed immortality. (Immortality! Mankind's basic wish is addressed again). Mithra like other oriental 'supreme beings' offered man deliverance, but unlike such others as Attis and Osiris he could also serve as an ideal, a heroic leader for man to follow and be more successful in the struggle against evil. Mithra is not mentioned in the Gathas. Which shows that it was deliberately ignored in the monotheistic reforms of Zoroaster-Zarathustra. Later Zoroasrianism found room for him but only as a subordinate to the 'supreme god' Ohrmazd-Ormizd-Ahura Mazda-Hormuz.

* above all, the god of battles.

* a combatant of lies and error.

In Persia where he was the messenger of Ahura Mazda, the god of light, he appeared in the sky at dawn and then crossed the firmament in a chariot drawn by four white horses (Sky has always been considered the right place for the 'supreme beings'). As mediator between the worlds of light and darkness, as humanity's ally in the struggle against evil and as the soul's guide in its ascent to eternal life, Mithras was soon identified as the redeemer prophesied by Zarathustra as the sun god, who would appear as a human being at the end of time. He finally became the supreme godhead and started his triumphal progress across the greco-roman world - at the same time as the Buddhist saviour Maitreya in the East. On the border where Islamic Kashmir meets Buddhist Ladakh there is a village - Mulbek. Near that village there is a bas-relief sculpture of Maitreya, the saviour of the Buddhists whose future coming was promised by Sakyamuni chiselled into the vertical wall of rock. The name Maitreya is related to the Aramaic meshia-the Messiah that the jews continue to hope for as their Saviour. Both Maitreya and meshia/Messiah are expected to come in the future to save the mankind and establish the 'divine' rule. Both words - Maitreya and Mithra - etymologically related, Maitreya means 'friendly, loving' and is derived from maitri the Sanskrit form of Mithras. That's not all! Used as a personal name Maitreya even means 'Son of Mithra.' Like Maitreya, Mithras is said to be waiting in heaven for the end of time, when he will descend to earth. According to legend, the redeemer will be born of a virgin, a goddess, thrusting through animal skin to the light of day. His birth will be watched by shepherds, who will worship the newly born (He will be born of a virgin.. His birth will be watched by the shepherds.. Shepherds will worship him.. Have a guess as to where you could have read a similar story. Have you detected the parallels with the story of Jesus and some others?) His earthly mission culminates in his victory over the bull....From the body of the dying bull grow corn (bread) and grapes (wine) until Mithras finally mounts to heaven in the sun-chariot and is enthroned by the god of light as ruler of the world so as to return to earth, awaken the dead and pass judgement. (Mounts to heaven..Enthroned as god.. He will return to earth to awaken the dead and pass judgement.. Parallels again?) The legend does not specify whether this birth is a past or future event. For those who believed in Mithras, however, he was the 'coming one,' whose arrival was celebrated every year on the night of 24-25 December (This is someone's birthday. Does it ring a bell?), when the community had its important festivity. Another big annual festival was held at the start of spring. The weekly divine service was held on Sunday - the day of the 'supreme being.' The most important cult activity was a meal of wine and bread - offered as consecrated wafers bearing the sign of a cross.

 'SOL INVICTUS MITHRA' (THE UNCONQUERABLE SUN MITHRA)

 MITHRAISM & CHRISTIANITY

 Christianity and Mithraism had much in common:

* A divine lord by whose deeds, performed once, man was assured of salvation

* A sacramental meal

* A ritual of baptism

* Their ideas of heaven and hell and of a Last Judgement were not dissimilar

* The Mithras cult had six other sacraments which correspond completely with those of the Catholic Church - including a slap during confirmation.

 'WE NEED A LITURGY,' AND FAST !

That's not all! When at the beginning of the 4 th cent. Emperor Constantine declared catholic Christianity to be the state religion, he had no alternative but to take over the liturgy of the popular Mithraic Church. Lets remember: For those who believed in Mithras, he was the 'coming one' whose arrival was celebrated every year on the night of 24-25 December when the community had its important festivity (This is the day of the winter solstice; adopted by the early Christians as the birthday of Jesus). Another big annual festival was held at the start of spring. The weekly divine service was held on Sunday - the day of the 'supreme being.' According to C.F. von Volney, 'the mass is nothing other than the celebration of these [Mithraic] mysteries...The Dominus vobiscum is literally the utterance of the acceptance: chron-k-am, p-ak.' The most important cult activity was a meal of wine and bread - offered as consecrated wafers bearing the sign of a cross. We have here more similarities. Let's list them:

* Sunday became the day of the 'supreme being'

* Cult activity of eating bread and drinking wine grafted on to Christianity.

 WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS THIS ?

But do you really remember Jesus' birthday? We shall take up this matter later on in great detail but since we are discussing the influence of Mithras cult on Christianity, sacred (!) sky won't fall down if Spenta Mainyu gave a summary. Well naturally the birth date of Jesus is not known for sure. The organized religion - the Christian Church - established it as December 25 th. (Wasn't it the date for yearly celebration of the arrival of the 'coming one' - Mithras?). Luke and Matthew in relation to the birth of Jesus wrote that shepherds were out in the country keeping watch over their flocks day and night. But it must be brought to your attention that in Palestine in the month of December nights are cold, sheep won't be out in the fields, shepherds keeping watch over their flocks at night couldn't be found, because there would be frost. Flocks are put out to grass between the months of March-November. So there is something amiss. And you know what it is: This birth date is not the real one. It is the birth date of Mithra taken over from the Romans who were celebrating this date as the birthday of Mithras. Romans worshipped Mithras as the saviour of the mankind, and these celebrations were for Dies Natalis Invicti ('Birthdate of the Unconquered'). In short, when the Romans were converted to Christianity they just simply converted the Mithra festival into a Christian festival. This date was arbitrarily fixed by a Scythian monk - Dionysius Exiguus in the year 533. Furthermore he moved 1 BC to 1 AD. Prior to Exignus, Jesus' birthday was fixed as 6 th January, which is still celebrated in the Orthodox church, in the Balkans and Mexico. So where did this birth day come from in the first place? The Christian feast of the epiphany originated in the Eastern Church probably as early as 3 rd century, and came to be celebrated in the West in the 4 th century. The choice of date, January 6, is presumably an adaptation of rival pagan feasts. In Egypt, the waters of the Nile were reputed to acquire special powers during the night of Jaunary 5-6, the festival of the god Aeon, who was born of the virgin Kore (They all seem to be mothered exclusively by virgins. Why? Well! To cut a long story short; creation of the supreme being is 'bad', 'full of sin' etc. at the root of which is the relations between man and woman - between the sexes. These relations are lowly(!), downgrading(!), they take people away from the road to the 'supreme being', sexual relations make mankind indulge in self satisfaction, in pleasures of the flesh, in worldly indulgences, etc. All nonsense. Inventions of the mankind. So 'supreme beings' cannot be begotten by a lowly act can they?) This birthday was used to be celebrated in Egypt and Asia Minor. And Jesus' 'January birthday' may have been taken over from Aeon's birthday. Spenta Mainyu wishes to add a few more lines. Chief among the makers of Christian doctrines was St. Paul who was a former Pharisee. St. Paul was a man of great intellectual vigour and deeply and dispassionately interested in the religious movemenets of the time. He was well-versed in Judaism, and in Mithraism and the Alexandrian faiths of the day. He carried over many of ideas and terms of expression into Christianity. According to the Aquarian Gospel, the Jews of Palestine never believed in human sacrifice, nor in the crucifixion of Messiah for the sins of the world. But the Pagans believed that their gods Adonis, Attis, Osiris and Mithra had died for the sins of mankind. It was Paul who borrowed the idea of a scapegoat and laid stress on the crucified Jesus. The theory of 'original sin' and redemption by the death of the Son of God was an invention by Paul. While the early Christians - under the influence of the Mithraic dogma left over from the Roman Empire days - started believing that Jesus had died on the cross for the atonement of the original sin, believers of the Qoran maintained that as the god's prophet Jesus could not have succumbed to an accursed death like this god had raised him, bodily, to heaven.

Similarities in any case were outweighed by the differences, and in these Christianity had the advantage in a period when popular and philosophic thought was increasingly tending to monotheism. According to some, another reason for the ultimate triumph of Christianity over the more respectable of its rivals was the fact that, being unemcumbered by fantastic myth and ritual of uncivilized origin, it dealt with the eschatological and other spiritual needs (in other words it addressed the basic needs of 'earthlings' like becoming immortal, not worrying about death, a clear promise about the afterlife etc., much better than the others) of the time in a more rational manner than did its rivals. What was left of Greek rationality contributed a logical and coherent theology to the new religion. Mithraism for all its exaltation of Mithra was surely bound to its polytheistic traditions. Mithraism suffered too, in comparison by having as its redeemer a mythical figure whose appeal could never match that of the historical Jesus worshipped by the Christians as god incarnate. Mithraism was fatally weak in its exclusion of women. It failed to use too, the family as a source of religious strength and continuity. This failure may explain why Mithraism collapsed so suddenly and disappeared with such surprising rapidity.