We propose to revisit a passage by the prolific author Marteen Vermaseren that highlights correspondences today forgotten between the Roman Mithras and its Eastern counterparts.
B R
We enjoyed this article. Unfortunately, ALL RELIGIONS today share cultish behaviors and attitudes. People are quick to use the term "cult." Without regarding that all religions act the same hostile prejudiced way toward those that don’t follow them.
We respect religions and those that make their religious choices. We briefly share what we have concluded so far regarding Mitra|Mithra. The research continues.
We, too, would like to find more concrete foundational evidence on Mitra|Mithra, the phantom deity.
Wikipedia is a very flawed, third party information website. Freshman year in college, we were discouraged to cite any sources from it. Wikipedia is at the top of the search page because it’s for lazy people needing a quick answer. Google owns it. That’s also why it’s at the top of the page and the most clicked. We don’t use it. We’d rather scroll down AND search for ORIGINAL content, from the original source. We also ask human search engines for assistance when necessary. They are, Human Researchers with the ability to find what lies vastly beyond the Internet. With AI, original meanings and definitions are edited, destroyed and inaccurately revised.
This article sums it up beautifully in paragraph 5 above. "Because of this great gap, the story of Mithras is bound to be incomplete and distorted, and those who wish to read it must wait for and assimilate the fresh discoveries which are made year by year."
Aspects of Indian/Hindu Guru-student teachings involved the guru whispering mantras into the ear of the student and giving the student specific sadhanas. Nothing was written. That was between the guru and pupil. It took centuries to pen the Vedas. It’s also difficult to capture Vedic / Ancient Sanskrit utterances, words, phrases and songs into understood concepts.
Mitra|Mithra shares that beauty, also. There may not a lot of written documents. Because of that, the foundational truths that support this deity’s existence are few. What remained should have been left alone and not destroyed.
Mitra|Mithra’s complete existence has been discarded. Dieties don’t stop existing because we can’t find/figure out the pieces of the puzzle.
Where we are, at this moment in time, is uncovering an erased truth. It is said that in the Torah/christian bible/old testament book titled, "Esther," there is no mention of the name God. We have researched this as well. The carefully detailed documented text depicts a Jewish girl abducted to later become the Queen of Persia. Her life before she became queen. She married a Persian king. As a result she saved her race from annihilation. A great story!
What’s missing? A lot. The Persian King she married. His practices of worship. The deity /dieties he served. Did he worship Mitra|Mithra? The king married a Jewish girl and there’s NO mention of God. Kings are renowned for worshipping dieties on behalf of their dynasty, before they go to war, the threat of war and on behalf of their people. Esther gave birth to a son with a Persian-Greek name. To completely leave out the Persian deity worshipped during the time of Esther was definitely another way to erase Mitra|Mithra’s existence. Did Esther adopt the practices of her land, Persia? (Someone will read this, write an article to refute Mitra was not worshipped by Esther’s husband, a Persian King. Please don’t waste your time.)
Finally, one of Shiva’s avatars is destruction. The destroyer to make room for rebirth. Shiva has a massive following of Hindu and global devotees, and yet sits in Samadhi for centuries. By collective agreement, we believe, the beauty of Shiva like Mitra is that they don’t seek or need worship. Shiva wants us to fulfill our duty as it relates to Dharma while we avoid falling into karmic traps like regret and attachments. More than likely, Mitra is working behind the scenes making sure we uphold our Dharmic contracts. Mitra remains, the guardian of contracts.
As you can see, our research continues. It seems to us that Mitra|Mithra was a MAJOR threat to christianity. Early church fathers/christians demonized Hinduism and Buddhism, the world’s oldest religions. Thanks to Max Mueller who coined the term, Hindu Mythology. Somehow, it was determined Mitra|Mithra and the worship had to be destroyed. First, by christians infiltrating their meetings. According to documents, christianity was established in 325AD. Hundreds of years after the crucifixion. That was enough time to scour the earth and completely erase the existence of Mitra|Mithra.
Choosing to leave the image of the bull blood is supposed to convey why Mitra|Mithra was erased.
They didn’t cover their tracks well.
We know many christians. To date, they say things like, "I’m saved because of the BLOOD of Christ." "I plead the BLOOD of Christ against my enemies." They participate in the symbolic blood drinking ritual known as communion and eat crackers to symbolize eating the body of Christ.
The Mithra slaying the bull image was a reason to erase him and leave ONLY that piece of artwork. Yet, to date, christians participate in:
(A) part human-part god blood worship,
(B) part human-part god cannibalism in the form of eating the body AND drinking the blood.
(C) Mithra’s date of birth was also December 25th.
In other words, they stole the Mitra|Mithra concept of the bull sacrifice. Destroyed the origin this originated from. Destroyed the followers. Then, labeled their PRIVATE practices as cult worship. They plagiarized the concept of sacrificing the bull, repackaged it (with a bow) as truth and that same concept became the core tenet of christianity. Christians are taught that their belief in a part-god, part-human’s blood and body, Saves them.
Mitra|Mithra was destroyed to prevent Christians from discovering the truth.
Was co-existing with Mitra|Mithra an option? Anything other than annihilation, would serve as a reminder of the identity theft, and origin of the blood worship and murders. Generations later, all is forgotten.
Today, what was done back then would be considered a crime. By today’s standards, Mitra|Mithra, and the followers were victims of identity theft and religious hatred.
We stand on this truth:
Dieties don’t disappear because:
1) Their identity was stolen,
2) Their existence was erased and
3) Their followers were killed.
Thank you for leaving this article online. We request that you email this article with the comments. Often times, truth is removed from the Internet by blocking future access to the site.
History’s truth will always stand.
Namaste.
10/18/25
ANIL M SINGH
A FINE NOTE AND WILL LIKE TO KNOW MORE IN INDIAN CONTEXT ALSO TO SEND MY INDIAN INPUTS
Acclaimed esoteric scholar Peter Mark Adams talks about his latest book, ‘Ritual and Epiphany in the Mysteries of Mithras’, interviewed by professor, writer and host of The New Mithraeum podcast Andreu Abuín.
Laurent Bricault has revolutionised Mithraic studies with the exhibition The Mystery of Mithras. Meet this professor in Toulouse for a fascinating look at the latest discoveries and what lies ahead.
Interessante e gostei muito deste artigo.
Penso que o culto de Mitra carece de mais documentação arqueológica escrita, que não existe.
Há um ponto de vista que não de trata de religião ou objetivos religiosos e sim sociais, quais a Maçonaria nos tempos contemporâneos. Creio que o objetivo era o homem dentro da comunidade a que estava inserido.
Dr. Vicky Jo
Having just visited Frankfurt, and feeling like I missed the exhibition "by this much," I was quite frustrated that I was unable to purchase an exhibition catalogue in English. Let me gently encourage you to make that available. My PhD is in Jungian Studies, and I think a few academic Jungian sorts would likewise be interested.
PS: I worked with Thomas Gaehtgens in the Visiting Scholars program at the Getty Research Institute.
Marcus
I am a devotee of Mithras Thank you for this interview. I think the author is right when he highlights that Roman Mithras is very different to Persian Mitra. Mithras is born mighty from birth and with a connection to His Father. The rock is a symbol of prowess and His Father is Sol. The main rite was centered on celebration of Mithras,’ victory over the bull, the bull which in Rome was similar to a dragon or an animal which normal people cant slay.
The concluding book of Apuleius’ Golden Ass (or Metamorphoses), where Lucius, the story’s protagonist, undergoes initiation into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris.
Un estudio de David Gustavo López, investigador de las tradiciones y del patrimonio cultural, propone una lectura en clave mitraica de varios relieves de la Catedral de León.
Over the last century or so, a great deal has been said about the god Mithras and his mysteries, which became known to the European world mainly through his Roman cultus during the Imperial Period.
Dedication from Simitthus mentioning the restoration of a monument and a vow fulfilled to Cautes and Cautopates during the reign of Caracalla and Julia Maesa.
Glad to be helpful. I can share two additional photographs of the site, showing the overall layout and its unusual position along the modern road. They don’t add archaeological detail, but they may help convey the atmosphere and the spatial context of the sanctuary as it appears today.
Near the village of Septeuil, in the Yvelines department (Île-de-France), lie the very faint remains of a Mithraic sanctuary discovered in the 19th century. The site sits directly along the modern national road linking Mantes-la-Jolie to Houdan — an unexpected location for a mithraeum, usually associated with caves, secluded areas or buildings set apart from traffic.
Today almost nothing is preserved: a slight depression in the ground, a few displaced stones, and a modern marker indicating the approximate position of the shrine. This near-complete disappearance gives the place a strangely elusive character, as if the sanctuary had slowly been absorbed by the contemporary landscape.
The photographs show what can still be seen on site. Despite the minimal remains, the location retains a quiet atmosphere, suspended between the flow of present-day traffic and the memory of a mystery cult once practiced here.
Saul cutting the oxen to pieces poses as Mithras Tauroctonos in this painting, which adorns the mantelpiece of Henry II’s bedroom at the Château d’Écouen near Paris.
Cet ouvrage propose une étude d’ensemble du culte de Mithra en Afrique romaine. S’appuyant sur un rigoureux examen croisé des sources épigraphiques, archéologiques et littéraires, il restitue l’histoire et les spécificités de ce culte à mystères sur le sol africain.