medical doctor. Hypnotherapist. medieval art interpretation. Mithras mystery
I live in Sarrebourg (France) where a marvelous mithraeum was discovered in 1890.
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.
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.
AVE , Hello, I'd like to offer you a Platonic interpretation of the Trier Relief. The Sun and Moon show a Platonic dualism, which is added to the zodiac.
The axis of the sun is in line with the axis of Mithras' arm and gaze, and also with the dog below. The axis of the Moon passes through the middle of Mithras' head. This axis passes slightly outside the gate of Cancer, the gate of descent catabasis (the gate of generation). This blue line is that of earthly reincarnation. The axis of the sun crosses the lunar axis on the torso of Mithras. He can therefore distribute souls either along the line of the moon, towards a return to the earth, or upwards, towards solar resurrection.
greetings
Dear Csaba , I am fascinated by your slab of Mithras with Cautes wearing a child in front of the bull. I would like to have a higher definition picture because this picture opens many questions !! Could you send me one ?
Regards pers00ns@aol.com
Danuvius stele a C. Szabo mihi extraordinarius videtur. Accurate pictum videre vellem. Ubi est Sol, numquid puer ex ore tauri egreditur? Videmusne religionem inter Mithrae et Christianitatem? Multae post scriptum quaestiones : nomen meum est dominicus, princeps minimus, hoc est caput familiae.
I see the Platonic Chiasmus on this fresco from Pompei. I think Mithras and Sol Apollo have nothing to see with earth, which is the work of Atlas. They carry the Platonic Universe. The Soul of the World (big) or the individual soul (small). ??
What fascinates me is the bull's mouth next to the flame of Cautes. Many bulls with their heads raised are in front of Cautès, just with the flame in front of their mouth. It is the soul that comes out and goes up to heaven with Cautès.
I did not express myself well. I think that this golbe or ball is the soul but also of Plato's Anima Mundi. It is not the horoscope but the universal soul, which is also found in every follower of Mithras
Dear Jorge, on two slabs from the Baths of Diocletian, the one from Santo Stefano Rotondo and the one from Tor Cervara , I fond the sun carried a spherical thing in his left hand, like a ball. Those two were exactly in the axis of the sun. it is possible that Cautes and Cautopates were soul carriers, so the soul could either ascend or descend. So the ascended soul joined the sun. It is no coincidence that the sphere is here near Cautes with sun (or Pater) crown: a crowned soul ?
hello, what does symbolize this huge spher with a crown over? I believe resurrection of the soul . In the relief dated around 250 AD from the Tor Cervara in Rome, (bomb site excavated in 1964) Sun god carries a globe or ball in his left hand. Idem Santo Stefano Rotondo slab. A sacred ball or spher. ?? D.P.
Hello, I love this slab. Here, Cautes is carrying a torch with a figure on it, climbing towards the sky. This is extraordinary. The bas-relief found in the Basilica of Santo Rotondo on the Caelian Hill in Rome shows the Sun holding a small ball or round stone in his left hand which evokes a soul. This would be the image of the resurrection, the path of the soul that ascends to the Sun (Cautès). This image is found on the bas-relief of Tor Cervara in Rome, also kept in the Museum of the Baths of Diocletian. Here too, the Sun carries a round ball in his left hand. Here on your relief, it is a child. This resembles the iconography of the Middle Ages where the soul was represented as a child coming out of the mouth. In the background, the Berlin bull (Neues Museum in Berlin, 2nd century AD.) has its mouth open and is letting out a tongue which could be a soul, as mythology suggests (Gasquet, 1899). So, can we consider this child as the soul carried by Cautès, and coming out of the bull's mouth ? It shoud be revolutionnary !
I live in Sarrebourg, where the famous mithraeum was found by the Germans in 1890. In the 3d century, the city was bigger than... today, with 5 massive towers .
No, I think it's not fun, but really superstition. The Romans all wore amulets, often with a phallus and a hand, even children wore them.
In the mithraeum there could be talismans
