Ernest Renan suggested that without the rise of Christianity, we might all have embraced the cult of Mithras. Nevertheless, it has had a lasting influence on secret societies, religious movements and popular culture.
Salve Ennio,
The CIMRM is 1283. Unfortunately, I don’t know the inventory number wherever it is exposed. Please, let me know if you find out.
Vale,
TNM
Hello
I am currenty conducting a research about the widespread of Mithraism in Asia Minor and its possible influence on the society.
Do you know if there are other evidence on Callimorphus or Chresimus? Maybe other inscriptions?
Thank you very much for the help
Sincerely
Lorenzo
I am researching the Latin inscription dedicated by Callimorphus to Mithras (EDCS-27800570 / CIL III 12135). Could you please let me know if you have any information about the current location or custody of this inscription?
Thank you very much for your help.
Best regards,
Dilara.
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
Wasson has aroused considerable attention by advancing and documenting the thesis that Soma was a hallucinogenic mushroom – none other than the Amanita muscaria, the fly-agaric that until recent times was the center of shamanic rites among the Siberian and Uralic tribesmen.
This altar found in Lambèse, now Tazoult, Algeria, bears the inscription of a certain Celsianus for the health of two men to the god Sol Unconquered Mithras.
Actuarius and notarius, Celsianus dedicated an altar to Sol Mithras for the health of two illustrious men.
khaldi
Fabius Fabianus Vetilius Lucilianus. This character is known to be one person not two persons separated as you stated in your translation.
My translation :
To God alone / Invincible / Mithrae / for the health and / safety / of Caius Fabius Fabianus / Vetilius Lucilianus / legate of Augustus for the most p(aetore) c(larissimi) v(iri / Celsianus, attorney and notary, I make a vow with great love.
Hi Levin: It’s quite a common point of view in religious contexts to worrying about to what extent can libido distract some men and women from a supposed true purpose. It’s also probable that social factors played a part. In ancient societies (and not so ancient), sexual and gender roles were clearly defined. Just as there were no female soldiers or women had no political rights, to vote or to run for office, in ancient Rome, they also didn’t take part in many other areas of life. Roles were clearly marked and as you mention, women had some private cults where men weren’t allowed either. The cult of Mithras, in that regard, was simply a male one. I remember that not so long ago, and probably still today, there were lots of institutions and conferrees in Europe that were exclusively male, and until quite recently nobody really thought of that as discriminatory, but of course, times have changed (maybe not in essence but definitely in form!)
Douze siècles séparent le déclin du Mithraïsme romain de l’aube de la Franc-maçonnerie. Douze siècles pendant lesquels les mystères de Mithra sont restés plus secrets que jamais.
Doce siglos separan el ocaso del mitraísmo romano del alba de la masonería. Doce siglos durante los cuales, los misterios de Mitra han permanecido más secretos que nunca.
Braulio
Gracias por compartir luz con tu trazado.
Alex Cruz
Excelente trazado de arquitectura, agradezco que la hayan compartido.
Twelve centuries separate the decline of Roman Mithraism from the dawn of Freemasonry. Twelve centuries during which the mysteries of Mithras have remained more secret than ever.
One hypothesis is that the mythology of the Roman secret society of Mithras was transformed into an esoteric society, still secret, using the Bible as a screen. Let's take an example: a secret password for today's Masonic lodges is 'Shiboleth'. Shiboleth' means 'ears of wheat', i.e. abundance. Is not the tail of the bull of Mithras an ear of wheat? There are probably dozens of passwords like that. So Hebrew became a secret language for the followers of Mithras, who continued the cult after the fall of Rome, in sanctuaries located near springs or spas, at the same time as the cult of Hercules. Many of these places can be found in France, dating from the 7th to the 10th century. Crypts dating from the 8th and 9th centuries can also be found under Romanesque churches (the church at 'Saint Savin sur Gartempe' has a crypt dating from 800 AD, and a church built above it in 1030 AD). This crypt has a clear mithraeum shape. The modern Masonic rites were probably written in the 15th or 16th century in certain monks' chapters in France or Germany. This would explain why in the 17th century 'pro-Masonic' lodges sprang up in several different parts of Europe: Germany, Ireland, Scotland etc.... the French lodges or guilds were destroyed by Louis XV.
The modern Masonic lodge is organised around the starry vault, but the officers are still arranged in a very similar way to the Mithraeum, respecting the two solstices and the two equinoxes. The Venerable Master in the East is at the spring equinox, the first sign of the ancient Zodiac, and the seat of Mithras, from where he intervenes in the journey of souls.
Hello Gabriel,
the article you present on the relationship between the religion of the unconquered sun and 18th-century English Masonry notes the similarity of the (supposed) rituals. It is possible to draw attention to a few visual aspects:
- the followers face each other
- initiation was secret
- there are several levels of progression in the ritual
- temples are small and often private
- the temples are oriented according to the sun, and the place of the Pater (with his solar crown) is theoretically in the east (rising sun).
- In 1976, Richard Gordon showed that each Mithraic grade corresponded to a star, in particular the sun and the moon, and had a specific place in the lodge. Similarly, Masonry has retained references to the moon and the sun, and a specific place for each officer.
- Mithraism works according to the path of the souls in the rotating wheel of the Zodiac. Particularly the cycle of resurrection, Masons also venerate the 'Eternal East'. The Orthodox make the Pilgrimage of the 12 Prayers, which recalls the 12 signs of the Zodiac.
- Finally, the Masonic ritual uses a biblical esotericism with the use of many Hebrew words that have nothing to do with Judaism. The link between these two secret societies is missing. It is probably to be found in the organisation of Chapters within Catholic monasteries, reserved for monks, and secrets, whose rituals and organisation are also close to Mithraism. Mithraic symbols can also be found in medieval sculpture.
All this points to the survival of Mithraism after the 6th century in a pseudo-biblical form that had nothing to do with the religion of Moses. It would have constituted the esoteric side of Catholicism, hidden in the form of 'crypts', which, as the name suggests, were secret.
Ricardo Restaldi
Excelente artículo Hermano. La Masonería sigue siendo la gran heredera de los antiguos misterios. Mitraístas y masones son hermanos a través del tiempo. Pensar que nuestros antepasados fueron muchos de ellos adoradores de Mitra. Saludo fraternal a todos!
Gracias por compartir tu artículo, Roberto. Es difícil determinar en qué momento la masonería especulativa incluyó tantos aspectos de los misterios de Mitra, si fue desde el origen a través —como mencionas en tu escrito— de otras corrientes medievales que conservaron un saber más antiguo o durante su evolución en siglos posteriores, pero lo cierto es que cuesta creer que tantos paralelismos se deban al azar.
I appreciate this article as it spawned and actual (gasp!) conversation on the facebook group. Mithraists are such a secretive bunch. ;-) There were a few bits I didn't agree with, but in the main, I too feel that when Mithras could no longer command the members it once had, it simply changed its outward appearance and kept going as the Masons. A fresh coat of paint, a change of clothes, and TA DA! Easy peasy.