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By D. Jason Cooper
Often called Mitra to the Indians, Mithra and Zarathustra (Zoroaster in Greek) to the Iranians, and Mithras to the Romans, this is often the oldest of all dwelling deities. Mithras used to be famous because the maximum rival of Christianity, a better hazard even than the faith of Isis. If Rome had now not turn into Christian, it will became Mithrasian. Mithraisians had a sacrament that incorporated wine as a logo of sacrificial blood. Bread in wafers, or small loaves marked with a go, was once used to represent flesh. The priestly symbols have been a employees, a hoop, a hat, and a hooked sword; contributors have been known as brothers, and clergymen have been referred to as "Father." Mithras was once born on December twenty fifth. He provided salvation in keeping with religion, compassion, wisdom, and valor. He appealed to the negative, the slave and the freeman, in addition to to the Roman aristocracy, the military, or even to a couple emperors. The Christians sacked his temples, burned his books, and attacked his fans; they desecrated his temples, and equipped their very own church buildings at the comparable foundations because the outdated Mithraic temples. Cooper examines Mithras and his faith within the so much whole research ever performed. He explores a number of the different types of this god--worshiped from Lisbon to modrn Bangladesh, from the Scottish border to the Russian Steppes--and investigates the worship. this can be an exhilarating trip into residing mythology, the background of a residing god, and may fascinate glossy Western readers who need to know extra concerning the religious path--whether they need to raised comprehend modern Christianity, the foundation of many modern ideaologies, mythology, or the Western secret culture.
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Extra info for Mithras: Mysteries and Inititation Rediscovered
Example text
And even imprisoned in something about the size of a covered bathtub. The Templars were accused by Philip Ie Belle. the King of France. of similar practices and were known to put their members through physical privations such as fasts and meditations. These disciplines were more than other knights were asked to endure. Like the Mithrasians. the Templars made their decisions in see cret conclaves. Not only were outsiders barred. but members of their own order were not allowed to know the deliberations of their Mithras: Mysteries and Initiations Rediscovered - 33 leadership.
Hacked them with axes, dumped corpses from graveyards in the chamber: blocked the entrance way with garbage, and physically attacked and killed members of the group. In such circumstances it may be suggested what has survived has largely been those underground structures. Others, easier targets, were destroyed. Certainly an unknown number of Mithraea consisting of a single room in a large house have been lost. These may have shown greater variation, if only by practical necessity. It is significant, however: that even in those known of exceptions to the characteristic design, very little was changed.
That is, in many ways Mithras was shown similar to the Christ being shown then: Both were portrayed as young and beardless; both were some· times shown in a shepherd's role; both were noted for a sacrificial deed by which we were saved. This theological similarity should not surprise us. E. One of the major cities in Cilicia was Tarsus. Paul of Tarsus came from Tarsus some 180 years after the Cilician pirates had been resettled. He may well have been influenced by the sacerdotal currents of the area.