ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE

Mithra surrounded by the 12 signs of the zodiac
c. 150 AD/CE
(Mithraeum, London)
Miracles: Regarding Mithra‘s miracles, Mithraic Studies editor John R. Hinnells states:
...the side panels of many Mithraic reliefs and paintings are interpreted as representations of the
primeval life of the god, in which he performed miracles, experience various adventures, and
celebrated an archetypal communion meal before he ascended to heaven. 188
Death/Three Days/Resurrection: In the Roman Empire, Mithraism became the cult of the undertakers
guild. Hence, there was a focus on death and the afterlife, experienced in myth and ritual. In discussing
the death-oriented Mithraic rituals, professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature at the
University of Chicago Rev. Dr. Harold R. Willoughby cites Church father Tertullian and remarks:
A simulation of death in the Mithraic mysteries…is perfectly intelligible. Death was the logical
preliminary to a renewal of life; hence the pretence of death by the neophyte was a perfectly
natural antecedent to the regenerative experiences of baptism and sacramental communion that
followed in the Mithraic ritual. That this was precisely the interpretation put upon this bit of
liturgical fiction is clearly suggested by a passage in Tertullian. In discussing the Mithraic rites of
baptism and communion, the Christian lawyer affirmed: ―Mithra there brings in the symbol of a
resurrection.‖ This striking use of the phrase imago resurrection is doubly significant. It proves
that a simulation of death was an integral part of Mithraic ritual, and also that it was but
antecedent to an experience of regeneration. 189
These death rituals were part of the Mithraic mysteries, as related by Rev. Dr. J.P. Lundy:
Dupuis tells us that Mithra was put to death by crucifixion, and rose again on the 25 th of March. In
the Persian Mysteries the body of a young man, apparently dead, was exhibited, which was
feigned to be restored to life. By his sufferings he was believed to have worked their salvation,
and on this account he was called their Saviour. His priests watched his tomb to the midnight of
the vigil of the 25 th of March, with loud cries, and in darkness; when all at once the light burst forth
from all parts, the priest cried, Rejoice, O sacred initiated, your God is risen. His death, his pains,
and sufferings have worked your salvation. 190
In Religions of the World, Gerald L. Berry discusses Mithra‘s three-day burial and removal from the tomb:
...On Black Friday (cf. Good Friday) the taurobolium, or bull-slaying, was represented. At this
festival, the sacrament often comprised blood drinking. Mithras, worn out by the battle, was
symbolically represented by a stone image lain on a bier as a corpse. He was mourned for in
188 Hinnells, 291.
189 Willoughby, 110-111.
190 Lundy, 168.