ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE

partly astronomical and partly vegetational; and the same may be said of the following about
Osiris. 180
Carpenter also notes:
The birth feast of Mithra was held in Rome on the 8 th day before the Kalends of January, being
also the day of the Circassian games, which were sacred to the Sun. (See F. Nork, Der
Mystagog, Leipzig.) 181
Virgin Birth/December 25 th (Winter Solstice): Although the commonly know myth depicts Mithra as
being born from a ―rock‖ 182 —itself a miraculous birth—there is another version of the Mithraic nativity that
portrays the god as being born from the virgin goddess Anahita. Addressing the status of Mithra‘s birth,
Murdock comments:
As concerns the debate regarding the Perso-Roman god Mithra‘s ―virgin birth,‖ not a few scholars
and writers of Persian/Iranian extract have discussed the Persian goddess of love Anahita as
Mithra‘s virgin mother….
In the scholarly digest Mithraic Studies: Proceedings of the First International Congress, Dr.
Martin Schwartz, a professor of Iranian Studies at the University of California, discusses the
―Armenian national epic‖ concerning Mithra, who is called the ―Great Mher.‖ In recounting a myth
regarding the Great Mher (Mithra), Dr. Schwartz relates the story of his father, Sanasar, who
along with his twin brother Baltasar is ―born of a virgin who becomes pregnant from the water of
the ‗Milky Fountain of Immortality‘...‖ He next says:
Combining these data with the tradition found in Elise that Mithra was born of God
through a human mother...one may suggest a transference of the miraculous birth of the
Sosyants to Mithra.
In other words, in certain traditions Mithra was said to have been born of the union of God with a
human mortal, possibly a virgin mother like that of his father. 183
Sassanid king Khosrow flanked by
Anahita and Ahura Mazda
7 th cent. AD/CE
Taq-e Bostan, Iran
(Phillipe Chavin)
180 Carpenter, 21.
181 Carpenter, 21.
182 It should be noted that the ancient Latin word for ―matter‖ is materia, as in ―material,‖ which shares the same root
with mater, meaning ―mother.‖ Indeed, materia may also be rendered ―mother-stuff,‖ while mater is not only ―mother‖
but also ―source.‖ (Smith, W., 669) In this regard, Mithra‘s ―rock‖ birth can likewise be said to be from ―virgin mater.‖
183 Murdock, RZC, 19.