Most of the following link copies the previous story, but the big bonus of this version is that it comes with nice pictures (and some recent updates).
Ulansey believes the images of Mithras slaying the bull (Taurus) are astronomical star maps. He claims that just about all the iconography and even initiation ceremonies are consistently astronomical. Mithras’ killing of the bull symbolizes his power to move the entire universe.
Depiction of Mithras with Persian dress slaying the sacred bull at the Santa Maria Capua Vetere.
Besides Christ and Mithras, there are many other deities - like Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, Balder, Attis, and Dionysus – that died and were resurrected.
Many classical heroes – like Hercules, Perseus, and Theseus – were born through the a virgin mother and divine father.
The veneration of Mithra began around 3000 BCE in Persia but only in about 2800 BC, Mithra was transformed to a major gods.
Mithraism spread east through India to China, and west throughout the entire length of the Roman frontier. Sites of Mithraic worship have been found in Britain, Italy, Romania, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Persia, Armenia, Syria, Israel, and North Africa.
Mithraism was especially strong in Armenia, where the Parthian princes were priests of Mithras, and an entire district of this land was dedicated to the Virgin Mother Anahita. Many Mithraeums were built in Armenia, which remained one of the laststrongholds of Mithraism.
Mithras represented a system of ethics in which the brotherhood should unify against evil. Mithras worshippers believed in a celestial heaven and an infernal hell.
Purification through a ritualistic baptism was required of the faithful, who also took part in a ceremony in which they drank wine and ate bread to symbolize the body and blood of the god.
In the seventeen or eighteen century B.C., the Persian pantheon was drastically reformed by Zarathustra (known in Greek as Zoroaster). Ahura-Mazda became supreme god of goodness, whereas Ahriman became the ultimate embodiment of evil. The reformation of Zarathustra retained the hundreds of Persian deities, ordered into a hierarchical system of “Immortals” and “Adored Ones” under the rule of either Ahura-Mazda or Ahriman.
Within this pantheon of gods, Mithras became the “Judger of Souls’, the divine representative of Ahura-Mazda on earth, and protected the righteous from the demonic forces of Ahriman. Mithras was omniscient, undeceivable, infallible, eternally watchful, and never-resting. Mithras had 1000 eyes (so he could see everything), was the God of Truth, Lord of Heavenly Light and The Lord of the Wide Pastures (who caused the plants to spring forth from the ground).
Mithras was the guardian of arms, and patron of soldiers and armies.
According to the Avesta, the holy book of the religion of Zarathustra, Ahura-Mazda created Mithras in order to guarantee contracts and of promises. The name Mithras, in fact, became the Persian word for “contract”.
The handshake was developed by those who worshipped him as a token of friendship and as a gesture to show that you were unarmed. When Mithras later became the Roman god of contracts, the handshake gesture was imported throughout the Mediterranean and Europe by Roman soldiers.
Mithras at the left in Iranian attire shaking hands with the Hellenic God Zeus. This may be one of the first depictions of the handshake symbolizing the “Payman” (pact), Eski Kale (Turkey), circa 300 BC.
The Babylonians also incorporated their belief in destiny into the Mithraic worship of Zurvan, the Persian god of infinite time and father of the gods Ahura-Mazda and Ahriman.
Mithras worshippers prayed: “Abide with me in my soul. Leave me not [so] that I may be initiated and that the Holy Spirit may breathe within me.”
Sacrificial offerings of cattle and birds were made to Mithras, along with the hallucinogenic drink Haoma (similar to “Soma” from Vedic scriptures).
See from left to right: Mithra, Ardashir II and the supreme God Ahuramazda; standing on a lotus. See the “Sun Rays” coming from the head of Mithras and the object held by Mithras, which could be a ceremonial broadsword.
The great festival of the Mithraic calendar on December the 25th, and the 16th of every month was kept holy to Mithras.
The Mithraic priests were called Patres Sacrorum (Fathers of the Sacred Mysteries). They had the titles Leo and Hierocorax, and presided over the priestly festivals of Leontica (for lions), Coracica (for ravens), and Hierocoracica (sacred ravens).
Mithras was worshipped almost exclusively by men, most of the wives and daughters of the Mithraists worshipped Magna Mater, Ma-Bellona, Anahita, Cybele, and Artemis. These goddess religions practiced the ritual known of the Taurobolium (bull sacrifice), in which the blood of the slaughtered animal drenched the initiate. Mithraists soon adopted the Taurobolium ritual as their own. This blood baptism symbolised renewal of the human soul.
See the stages of Roman Mithraism: 1-Cerax (Raven); 2-Nymphos (Bride); 3-Miles (Soldier); 4-Leo (Lion); 5-Perses (Persian); 6- Heliodrommus (Sun-Runner); 7-Pater (Father).
In the final grade is a distinct Persian cap symbolizing the cap of Mithras.
Compare this to the ceremonial Baphomet hat, with sun rays, 77, George H.W. Bush is wearing.
Mani and many of his followers were persecuted and (Many died in 276 AD). Manichaeism was a major religion in the East until the 14th century. It later led to the creation of several early Christian “heresies”, like the Cathars (a.k.a. Albigenses).
The Knights Templar, founded by Crusaders in Jerusalem in 1118, came into contact with Manichean heretics who despised the Cross, regarding it as the instrument of Christ’s torture. This was followed by the Templars, who were charged with blasphemy in 1312 for committing homosexual acts, worshipping Baphomet, and spitting upon crucifixes in their rituas.
The Knights Templar have been imitated by dozens of mystical sects and secret societies, including the Freemasons, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Templi Orientallis of Alistair Crowley.
Worshippers of Mithras were the first in the western world to preach the doctrine of divine right of kings. It was the worship of the sun, on which the Sun-King Louis XIV (1638-1715) and other deified sovereigns of the West founded their monarchial absolute dictatorship.
In Iran, up until at least 1979, traditional Mithraic holidays and customs still continued to be officially practiced. The celebrations have continued with the support of the supposed Iranian Islamic extremism. The Iranian New Year celebration of “Now-Ruz” takes place in the spring for 13 days. The “Mihragan” festival in honor of Mithras, Judge of Iran, runs for a period of 5 days.
Mithras is also still venerated today by the Parsis, the descendants of the Persian Zoroastrians now living mainly in India. Their temples to Mithras are called “dar-i Mihr” (The Court of Mithras):
https://kavehfarrokh.com/arthurian-lege ... mysteries/
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