The Roman mystery cult of Mithra and the Bull in the 4th century before the present directly descended from the Persian Zoroastrian religion dating around 1500 BC. Mithraism coexisted with Christianity and could have become the West's premier belief system had the Christian Council of Nicea not made certain elective choices. Being a male-centered military cult, Mithraism excluded women, the poor, and other social classes while Christianity accepted everyone and tended to mesh with the needs of would-be converts.
The foundation upon which Mithraism was built rests in the still living system of Zoroastrian belief that "God is wholly good and that all evil, suffering, misery, and death come from the devil". This dualistic belief system became personified as Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord of light and Anhirman, the Destructive Spirit of Darkness. Zoroastrians feel that Ahura Mazda created all of the positive things on the planet including the archetypal man from plant, Gayomard, and the primeval bull, the source of all beneficial animal and plant life. It is interesting to note that because of this creation system man and animal are considered equal and a general appreciation of nature and all living things is present. However, in Christianity, man has dominion over the animal and plant world which allows for the possibility of willful misinterpretation in that man also has the right to be wantonly destructive. Anhirman, in opposition to Ahura Mazda, was responsible for all the despicable and "noxious" creatures of the world including disease, pestilence, etc. Unlike the Christian devil, Ahirman stood in direct opposition to Ahura Mazda and was not a fallen descendent. In fact, Zoroastrians believed that the Christian system of belief would make God ultimately responsible for evil which they vehemently opposed.
The dualism in Zoroastrianism did not carry over into their feeling about the roles of the body and spirit within humankind. For Zoroastrianists, humans have a material (getig) form and a spiritual (menog) which exists in harmony with neither being able to exist without the other. They consider man to have been "created better than the stars and moon, better even than the sacred fire, and he is called in revelation greater and better than the spiritual creation". Furthermore, humankind was instilled with complete free will; therefore, we are not inherently evil nor do we suffer Christianity's "fall of man". Throughout life, it is seen as man's choice to accept or avoid the dark forces of Ahriman and a person's choices determin his/her descent into hell or ascent into heaven.
The Zoroastrian concept of an afterlife is also in conflict with Christianity. Although both belief systems recognize a "heaven" and "hell", only Christianity purposts that hell is an eternal state suffered in flames. Zoroastrians believe that upon death, the spirit will cross the bridge of judgement where actions on earth will be weighed. If a person make more choices based upon wickedness than good, he will be sent to hell only for the period of time necessary to reform his soul. Zoroastrians consider hell to be corrective and feel the Christian belief in eternal suffering is immoral. Zoroastrians also believed that man requires two judgements, one for the body and one for the soul, so that the material self can be corrected and Ahriman will not ultimately defeat Ahura Mazda's good creation.
The Zoroastrian two-judgement system exists for the purpose of man's being ready for the prophet, Zoroaster, bringing the "Good Religion" to the entire world which will herald the final battle between good and evil. Somewhat like Christianity, Zoroastrians believe there will be global-wide changes on the planet when the "natural, God-given order will be overthrown. The sun and moon will not give their light. Religious devotion will wane and respect for elders and family ties will disappear. The world will endure a great and terrible winter and the monster Dahak (Azi Dahaka), the greatest of noxious miscreants, will break free from his mountain prison and terrorize the earth". Furthermore, a savior, Saoshayans, will be born from a virgin who raises the dead and assembles them against the wicked. Zoroastrians, unlike Christians, believe that this era will be the renovation of the earth rather than the revelation of mankind. This renovation will bring everything back to its original, ideal form; heaven and earth will meet; and evil will finally be eradicated. For Zorastrians the Christian concept of the end of the world would allow for the ultimate victory of evil which they wholly refuse.
Perhaps it is in this ultimate battle that Mithraism found its niche as the mystery cult existed primarily of Roman soldiers who considered it their mission to fight the spiritual forces of evil. Mithraism is still somewhat of a mystery because its practices were kept secret with the promise of death to those who felt compelled to share their beliefs. However, one archeologist in this century, David Ulansey, appears to have unravelled some of the mystery and his incredible findings shed profound light on Mithraic beliefs which seem to cement their Zoroastrian origin. In brief, the ancient world had a different concept of the earth's position in the universe. They felt that the earth, moon, sun, and stars existed within a celestial sphere whose own equator "was responsible for defining the seasons, and hence had a concrete significance in addition to its abstract astronomical meaning." For them, this celestial equator was not fixed and moved over time known as the "precession of the equinoxes" which we know today to be the result of the earth wobbling on its axis during rotation. According to Ulansey, "the precession causes the equinoxes to move slowly backward along the zodiac, passing through one zodiacal constellation every 2,160 years" and the ancients personified the constellations with animals and human figures. Mythologically speaking, the earth symbolizes man who psychologically moves through the zodiacal houses. Being that the symbol of Mithraism is Mithra slaying a bull, here, for Ulansey is where the mystery of Mithra is uncovered.
Because all that mythologists and archaeologists have to go on are Mithraic statues and ceremonial sub-dwellings, these artifacts have been carefully studied. Upon and within Mithraic artifacts are found the signs of the zodiac above, Mithra slaying a bull in the middle, and a scorpion, hydra, and sometimes cup and lion below. Mithra and the bull, according to Ulansey, represent the savior killing the age of Taurus to welcome the age of Ares or war, and being that Mithraians were Roman soldiers this new age would be quite attractive and thereby further proves Ulansey's theory. Furthermore, the symbols below Mithra represent the zodiacal houses the precession of the equinox had already passed through. These mythic images perceived today, demonstrate the Mithraic belief that some force was responsible for moving the celestial sphere of the heavens and had to exist outside the realm as well as within it. Hence, the God Mithra whose power equalled Christ's in his ability to manipulate the heavens! Ulansey proposes that "his killing of the bull symbolizes his supreme power, the power to move the entire universe, which he demonstrated by shifting the cosmic sphere in such a way that the spring equinox had moved out of Taurus the Bull." Furthermore, "he would automatically have power over the astrological forces determining life on earth and would also possess the ability to guarantee the soul a safe journey through the celestial spheres after death".
The name Mithra means keeper of the contract or mediator which seems to coincide with his protection of good from evil. As a savior figure similar to Christ, Mithra was associated with the rising and setting of the sun born on December 24th from rock when the death of the old sun brought forth new life. Ulansey explains that "the rock from which Mithra is born does indeed represent the cosmos is proven by the snake that entwines it. This image unmistakably evokes the famous Orphic myth of the snake-entwined 'cosmic egg' out of which the universe was formed when the creator-God Phanes emerged from it at the beginning of time...the birth of Mithras from rock, therefore, would appear to represent the idea that he is in some sense greater than the cosmos...He is therefore depicted in the rock-birth as bursting out of the enclosing cave of the universe and establishing his presence in the transcendent space beyond the cosmos."
Once again, the above Mithraic theme is similar to Christ's mythology in that the death of the old sun causes the new to resurrect. Mithraic followers were called Sons of the Rock as Jesus' Peter, derived from the word petras or rock. Mithraians bathed in the taurbolium or blood of the bull, like Christians bathing in the blood of the lamb, because out of the blood came the new age. These "eternal" sacrifices were necessary because they allowed the new stage of life to come into being. One can see that in these beliefs Christianity and Mithraism co-existed as great rivals; however, some chose to worship both as complementary religions to form a composite whole. As Ulansey points out, "at the beginning of the foundation story of Christianity, we find Jesus, at the moment of his baptism, having a vision of 'the heavens torn open'...Perhaps, then, the figures of Jesus and Mithras are to some extent both manifestations of a single deep longing in the human spirit for a sense of contact with the ultimate mystery."
© Copyright Paula Vaughan
Not to be reprinted without permission.
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