Thank you for this article. It expands the discussion of the origins of the religion. Catholic literature puts the start to the mid first century CE. Here is pushes it back to around 200 to 300 BC. Will be interested to read more research.
Jean Mabire’s exploration of the mythical land of Thule, tracing Hyperborean traditions, solar symbolism and their reinterpretation in modern European paganism.
I’m not sure I fully agree. This appears to be based on an overly literal reading that assumes that if the image isn’t a 1 for 1 image of the Tauroctony as commonly presented with the typical astronomical trappings that therefore it can’t be Mithraic which is an erroneous position in my view.
Furthermore there are images of Mithras himself slaying the bull without the dog, snake, scorpion and Zodiac wheel being present and this image is obviously a depiction of the Mithraic Tauroctony the central culminating event Mithraism and so a Mithraic interpretation can’t be ruled out.
The images depict the figure differently because it is obviously meant to be Attis or Mithras-Attis performing this event and the two were often conflated in ancient times as well which is why we need to be careful when dismissing something as Mithraic.
Initiation across cultures and historical periods provides the wider context for an examination of Masonic initiation, its symbolism, purposes and place in contemporary society.
Leadbeater explores the origins and symbolism of ancient mystery traditions and Freemasonry, drawing connections with the mysteries of Egypt, Greece and Rome, including the cult of Mithras.
From Richard Payne Knight to Magnus Hirschfeld, the authors explore how ancient objects, phallic imagery and antiquarian scholarship helped shape modern ideas about sex and sexuality.
Manfred Clauss's introduction to the Roman Mithras cult has become widely accepted as the most reliable and readable account of this fascinating subject.
A small marble statuette of naked Mercury from the Mithraeum at Walbrook in London, sitting on a rock with the stumps of wings in his hair and a purse in his left hand, with a ram lying at his feet beside which is a tortoise.
A collection of Gerhard Hallstatt’s writings from Aorta and Ahnstern, exploring Mithras, paganism, esotericism, art and the survival of ancient traditions in the modern West.
Alain Daniélou explores phallic symbolism across religious traditions, from prehistory to India, Egypt and the Greco-Roman world, taking the lingam and the cult of Shiva as his main points of reference.
Furthermore there are images of Mithras himself slaying the bull without the dog, snake, scorpion and Zodiac wheel being present and this image is obviously a depiction of the Mithraic Tauroctony the central culminating event Mithraism and so a Mithraic interpretation can’t be ruled out.
The images depict the figure differently because it is obviously meant to be Attis or Mithras-Attis performing this event and the two were often conflated in ancient times as well which is why we need to be careful when dismissing something as Mithraic.