Dominique PERSOONS

Souls enter Cancer and follow the cycle of the moon passing in front of the altar. They continue to the right and exit in Sagittarius where they are greeted by a piper. In the South-East, pure souls enter Capricorn and follow the cycle of the sun to exit into Gemini and migrate towards the gods. the mithraeum is oriented upside down, west-east. But with Taurus in the North and Scorpio in the South, the Zodiac is almost in normal position, only shifted by two signs.The figure on the left runs with arms raised towards Gemini. It is a soul in the cycle of resurrection which will ascend to Heaven.

Summary of Mithraic philosophy on a drawing of an ornate temple.

It is possible to draw the organisation of a Mithraeum, and also his philosophical consequences. For example, the two columns were probably very different: the south column was 'human'. the winter column. Reincarnated souls appeared there, And further, pure and philosophical souls left through the gate of Capricorn. The northern column was summer time. Pure souls entered the world of the gods, and imperfect souls were rejected by the Moon and passed through the door of Cancer to be reincarnated (metempsychosis), after a six-month journey that became darker and darker.

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...

 

Dominique PERSOONS

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.

 

Dominique PERSOONS

Monreal 12th centyry AD. 1,000 years after mithraism...

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...

some pictures from 1895:

hello friends , i am a Leo into my mitraeum of Pons Saravis ( Sarrebourg). I saw the fresco of Barberini mithreaum in Roma. I found it very Platonic

sacred geometry of barberini mithraeum. The Platonic Chiasma fits 100% with luna, Sol, Cancer and capricorn...

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

old and unique picture of Sarrebourg altar destroyed by Christian...

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

Dominicus ( small Dominus = house chief)

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.

here is the altar of Sarrebourg , picture tooken in 1890.

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.

 

Dominique PERSOONS

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 ?

 

Dominique PERSOONS

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). ??

that's where I live.... Sarrebourg

 

Dominique PERSOONS

here is the altar of Sarrebourg , picture tooken in 1890.

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

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 .