Mithraism, a portrait of Mithraism

Mithraism has no manuscript, and everything about Mithraism is inferred from the surviving portraits in the sun cave.

Some descriptions show that Mitra was carrying a stone, just like Atlas, or wearing a starry cloak as the lining. A bronze statue of Mitra and an egg-shaped zodiac ring appeared, along with the Sun Cave on the wall of Harryan (now located at Newcastle University). An inscription in Rome suggests that Mithras can be regarded as the creator of Oedipus, who was the egg-shaped god finis in the early days. This bas-relief was later seen in the Oriental Museum in Medana, Italy, indicating that finis came from an egg and was surrounded by the zodiac. This portrait is very similar to Newcastle's.

He is sometimes depicted as a man born or reborn in a rock, usually surrounded by the poisonous snake Oro poros. It is generally believed that the portrait of Mithraism cave represents the universe, and the rock is the universe seen from the outside; From this, it can be described that this god was resurrected from "death". According to some legends, Mitra died, was buried in a rock grave like a huge cave, and then came back to life.

Another widely accepted explanation is the clue of the author Paperi, who recorded the pictures of caves and identified them as "portraits of the universe". According to this view, the portrait of the cave represents the "big cave" in the sky. This explanation was supported by Stark's research in 1859, and astronomical evidence was obtained by Roger Baker (1984 and 1988), David Wulanxi (1989) and Noel (19/kloc). This interpretation is imposed on the symbols of the zodiac, measuring Mithra portraits depicting objects in the sky, such as the sun, moon and stars.

One of the central themes of Mithraism is Taratoni. The secret of Mithra's sacrifice is a bull created by Ahumazda, the most high god. Mitra was stabbed to death in a cave, and Ujah sent by Ahumazda instructed him to do so. In this myth, plants, animals and all the beneficial things on the earth jump from dead cows. It is said that bulls represent Taurus in the sky. However, in the Mithra period we are considering, the sun has left Taurus for two thousand years at the vernal equinox and is moving from Aries to Pisces.

According to this explanation, it is believed that the Mithraism belief in the recent period is related to the end of the Taurus period and the beginning of the Aries period in astrology, which occurred around 2000 BC. It is even inferred that religion may have originated in that period (although it was not recorded in writing until the second century AD).

The determination of the "period" of the twelve constellations is based on the position of the sun at the vernal equinox. Before 2000 BC, the sun could see Taurus at the vernal equinox. Because of precession, every 2 160 years or so, there will be new constellations in vernal equinox where the sun appears. The current astrological era is Pisces on the vernal equinox of the Sun, which began in about 150 BC, while the "Aquarius period" began in 2600 AD.

In fact, constellations depicting the sky were very common from 4000 BC to 2000 BC. Bulls represent Taurus, dogs represent canines, snakes represent Ophiuchus, crows represent ravens, scorpions represent Scorpio, and everything can be found in some murals, with Greek-style portraits. In order to further prove this theory, a lion and a cup are used to describe the constellations: in fact, Leo (lion) and Aquarius (cup container) are constellations that can be seen at the northernmost (summer solstice) and southernmost (east), and they appear in the sky during the Taurus period.

The precession movement was discovered at least in the second century BC, and was promoted by the Greek astronomer hipparchus. I wonder if Mithraism understands this phenomenon. In any case, Mitra should be very powerful, just as he can spin the sky, thus "killing the bull" or replacing Taurus's dominant position in the sky.

Some commentators speculate that Mithraism worships Mithraism as a mediator or arbiter between human beings and the supreme god between heaven and earth. Other comments, inspired by James' theory, label Mithraism as a mysterious religion, which is the divinity of life-death-rebirth, and can be compared with Isis, the resurrection of Jesus or the mysterious ceremony of Poerxiusi/Demeter in ancient Greece.