The Mysteries of Mithras: The Pagan Belief That Shaped the Christian World

by Payam Nabarz, Caitlín Matthews

An overview of Mithraism, the ancient Roman mystery religion popular in the Roman Legions

• Provides a comprehensive history of Mithraism, including its influence on Christianity and Islam

• Includes rituals, meditations, and teaching tales for readers who wish to follow the Mithraic path

• Studies the evolution and divergence of the Eastern (Persian) and Western (Roman) forms of Mithraism

The Mysteries of Mithras presents a revival of the magical practices and initiatory system of Mithraism, the ancient Roman mystery religion that was immensely popular in the Roman Legions from the late second century B.C. until A.D. 400 and was taken to every corner of the Roman Empire. As the last pagan state religion in Europe, it was the most important competitor to early Christianity and heavily influenced Christian doctrine and symbolism. The parallels between Christianity and ancient Mithraism are striking--for example, the god Mithra was born of a virgin in a cave on December 25.

Payam Nabarz reveals the history, origins, and spiritual and philosophical tenets of Mithraism and its connections to Christianity, Islam, and Freemasonry. He also describes the modern neo-pagan practice of Mithraism in evidence today and for readers who wish to adopt the Mithraic path, he includes seven of its initiatory rituals and meditations, as well as orations and teaching tales, that open the door to the seven Mithraic grades of passage.

Genres: History, Religion, Mythology, Occult, Nonfiction, Paganism, Gnosticism

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2005

Reviews

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off alright as a treatise on how the pagan belief of Mithraism was incorporated and assimilated into Christianity. The initial four chapters dealt with that aspect, even though they did not get too deep below the surface that new religions assimilate the beliefs of the older religions to aid conversions: Islam follows from Christianity which in turn follows from Judaism to form the three Abrahamic religions ‘of the Book’. Chapter five was an outlining of a Mithraic fairy tale, that I thought was beginning to dig deeper into the history of the Mithras cult; only to be let down by the final chapters and appendices, which demonstrated how to conduct Mithraic rituals. I wanted to find out exactly how these pagan beliefs were assimilated into Christianity, which parts were adopted and why: I had no intention of converting to the faith. If I am honest, the final couple of chapters were only skimmed through as they really failed to hold my attention.

[Pattie · Rating 1 out of 5]

TL;dr If you are interested in ROMAN Mithras, get yourself a copy of Manfred Clauss’, The Roman Cult of Mithras, for a solid foundation on the mysteries to build upon. From there, read everything by Richard Gordon. If Stark’s star chart theory interests you, move to David Ulansey’s, The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries.

I cannot count how many times I have tried to read this book, only to set it aside. The sincerity of the author shines through, but the information he is imparting is utter crap.

Yes, the first four chapters cover the basics of the mysteries, but you have to tease it out of a lot of misinformation. Early on he says that he will refer to Persian Mithra (no S) and Roman Mithras (with the S) to differentiate. Personally, I do this too. He then says on p. 48 that Mithras was born of a virgin, he remained celibate, and that his worshipers were baptized. While these ‘facts’ might be true of Mithra, Mithras was born from a rock. How celibate he was can only be speculation, and while most mithraea DO have local water sources (many within the build itself) there is no indication of what the water was used for.

From here, the author dives off the deep end. Even the former owner of my used copy agrees, as the highlighted passages slow, wither, and have stopped all together by p. 97.

The author lays out the alphabet, in case we were unclear of the usual order, and then begins mapping them to the Major Arcana of the tarot. (Bet you didn’t see that coming.) p. 66. There is an image of a VERY Wiccan looking “modern Mithraic altar”, p. 88, complete with goddess statue. The ensuing ritual leans heavily on the Mithraic Liturgy from the Greek Magical Papyri, and suggests advancing to Mead’s A Mithraic Ritual. These sources are questionable at best.

All this aside, I believe the author did a metric ton of work in gathering information, combing it into a logical progression, and genuinely believes what he’s peddling. Creating from whole cloth a religion that we know so little about is a massive undertaking. But at this point, I would love to ask the author, almost twenty years from publishing date, how much of this he would like to walk back.

[Sean Mccarrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am currently writing on the history of the Roman cult of Mithras for one of my classes so I read this book thinking it may help me uncover some of the social implications of Mithraism. However, I quickly discovered that the author does not think there is a major division between the Roman cult and the Zoroastrian Mithra, nor does he think that it would be good to differentiate between actual historical evidence and stuff he made up. Also he makes some pretty big claims, like the presence of Roman Mithraism in Islam, without backing them up. This book was frustrating and I don't think its well written at all and I'm usually hard pressed to dislike a book.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scholarship is always worth the time reading. Nabarz's conclusion that Christianity plagiarized ancient Iranian theology or ritual is only true in part—the ritual part. I'll give you mitres and staffs and Dec 25 and a few more but I remain absolutely assured that the Christian's faith is still alive and well both theologically and in experience.

[Monastic Wanderer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject of the book is quite intriguing and first few chapters was quite good in explaining the origin and evolution of the mythos of Mithras but felt like the writer went a little bit tangential by focusing more on the rituals and symbolisms accompanying the worship of Mithras in various religions instead of diving deeper into its influence on all past or present major religions like Zoroastrianism, Christianity or Sufi Islam.

This book is recommended to people who are into social anthropology with special interest ancient Roman or Persian cults and religions.

[Michelle Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel that this book’s subtitle actually does it a great disservice. An in-depth historical treatise this is not; instead, it’s written for an audience interested in the revival of Mithraism within Paganism.
Happily, it’s a handy book for its intended audience, though I would have preferred more historical background.
Sadly, I don’t think this book was marketed well, and instead of finding its intended audience, it’s instead being found by those wanting a deeper look at historical Mithraism.

[Karen Wellsbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, but flawed

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book is mostly the author’s own reconstruction of Mithraism for neo paganism, not an authentic retelling or scholarly analysis. The first few chapters contain the useful information for basics but veer into speculation as to how much Mithraism is linked Zoroastrianism and later religions. The appendices at the end from the Avesta do cite Mithras and Anahita as special beings but for specific liturgical purposes.

Roman mithraism was a different beast than what Nabrarz is trying to do here which is relate Mithras into a broader neo pagan pantheon. Roman mirthraism was both a martial initiate cult and an astrological henotheism in line with sol invictus worship, as a refined paganism for the late empire. The seven initiates and taurchtony (bull slaying) make sense as related to astrology and the precession of equinoxes (7 planets, taurus), expressing a cosmic synchronicity. I do appreciate Nabarz incorporating Anahita as a female presence from Persian mythology into the cult for psychological balance and modern sensibilities.

[Rana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked reading this book because I was trying to learn about Mithras. This book provided an introduction to the cult of Mithraism. The only chapter where I felt I am lost was chapter 6 about meditation and initiation. I will look for other books by Payam Nabarz in future. There is almost nothing on the internet about this author except his books.

[Joshua Friesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good solid addition to the large body of work concerning this mystery religion that stretches back far into Persian roots and has influenced the romans and other empires along the way.

[Robin Boyle-Laisure]

helpful nonfiction.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to assess this one - it's a lot of scholarship on the traditional cult of Mithras, but mixed with a lot of New-Agey interpretations and adaptations. So it's not really a scholarly reference on Mithras, but not your average fluffybunny neopagan book of rituals bearing no resemblance to ancient belief or practice. It's not quite either of those. Since I'm not personally interested in reconstructing the cult of Mithras, it's of less value to me than it might be to a Mithraist, but I guess I still hoped to get something out of the book as a Classicist - which I did, but not as much as I had hoped.

[Pa Xing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, first things first. This book has a lot of details and information on the history of the religion but it is also, and perhaps more so, a guide on the cult and for those wanting to restore it and get involved in it. It is basically like a catechism of sorts, a book of manners for the modern Mithraist. It's a good book and I sometimes wondered in amazement at the amazing feats achieved or could be, I didn't for I wasn't attuned I guess, and for all it's worth, it is a good book for anyone interested in classicism and history.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of this book was great. It was about historical Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion with roots in Iran that became very popular with Roman soldiers in the era preceding Christianity. The second half is new paganism babble. As much as you can criticize Christianity or any of the other modern religions, they are all far superior to that dross. Painful, painful to read.

[Dp4s · Rating 4 out of 5]

History
- Roman Catholic predecessor

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was very interesting when given the context that it was an influence on Christianity. I enjoyed the explanation of the religion and its rites and beliefs. Just wish that the author had explored more into other things in Christianity it may have explored. He also seems to have weakened a little on his stance of the Mithraic religion in regards to its relationship to Christianity. In the title he boldly states that this belief shaped Christianity but when talking about things like Ash Wednsday, virgin birth, etc; he backs down a little and says only that its POSSIBLE these things were influenced by Mithras.