Neo Pagan Mithraism

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IN CELEBRATION OF MITHRAS GOD OF THE LIGHT ALSO KNOWN AS "THE SOL INVICTUS - THE INVINCIBLE SUN"



INTRODUCTION TO MITHRAISM



"I would be lying if I affirmed that the strong affinity for my personal philosophical creed with Neo-Platonism was due to the study of the doctrine itself, I can say that I was “born” with a similar vision. Next to my philosophical-metaphysical creed, I believe, there was missing a fundamental pillar. It is safe to say that what was lacking was an official ancient religion that would represent the philosophical-cosmic aspects of Neo-Platonism and in general ancient Pagan culture. Having been born in Rome, I was greatly perplexed about the lack of a unique religion in Roman paganism. It was frustrating to think that an Empire so large, potent and revolutionary, like the Roman Empire, was composed of various sparse and diverse cults in such vast territory, without a peculiar belief. To me this was nonsense, something else more needed to be.

Therefore my spiritual search continued incessantly during my adolescent years. This search led me to India where I spent various years of my youth, although I had undeniable and deep mystic inner experiences, I still had to find an adequate place for my spiritual creed and a satisfactory answer to my question on the metaphysical nature of things and God. Among the discovery of the Indu Gods pantheon and multiple philosophies, my thoughts, as in an obstinate loop, continued to show me the vague nature of this universe and God. In India I arrived at the top of my spiritual search, landing at the harsh shore of "Advaita Vedanta", the pure metaphysical doctrine of Shankara.
Like Shankara, I was fully convinced that mayan reality was surely a real-surreal manifestation, however experienced as real through the senses but also illusory given its relative and temporary nature.
Still, something continued to pull me towards a different goal. I would return to Italy without certainty and involved in a metaphysical doubt : Is matter and its realm of existence an illusory kingdom and deceptive, that should be transcended and avoided carefully ?

The revolutionary answer, above all, was very close to me, it was located exactly under my feet, in my native city, buried in the underground of Rome and hidden in the penumbra-shadow of the secular and compliant silence of the Roman Catholicism. Mithraism was brutally covered up by the Christian repression and cancelled from history, when the early Christian Emperors of the Roman Empire built the Christian Churches over the Mitraic Temples with stolen pagan marble. It was there that “Solar Logos” under the identity of the “Sol Invictus” continuously celebrated his eternal ritual surrounded by the underground silence and forgotten by the masses.
I will never forget my surprise when exploring the underground-subterranean in Ostia Antica, the ancient Roman port of Rome, I found myself in a small underground temple, in front of the statue of a young triumphant God in the act of symbolically sacrificing a bull that lay as if hypnotized at the God’s feet ; It was my first encounter with Mithras the official God of the Roman Empire religion : Mithraism.
And with it, the reply to the question-dilemma arrived magically : matter and spirit are united indissolubly in an alchemical and eternal cosmic merger !
A pagan Mithraic message : One should celebrate his incarnation in this life, while looking at the spiritual attainments that are expected in the afterlife …
That is, in my opinion, the essence of Roman Mithraism, harmonizing the "vertical" ascension of the anima-soul to the One-God with the celebration of the "horizontal" material plane, that still a manifestation-emanation of the One-God, now incarnated and differentiated in the matter.

Therefore Mithraism was the great official religion of the Roman Empire, its propagation in every part of the empire is proven by the many underground Mithraic temples, called Mithraeum that can be found abundantly in Europe, Africa and Asia minor. Little do we know of this religion, we know that it was a Solar cult prevalently mysterious possessing strong symbolic cosmic content. In its secret initiations it would stress discipline, courage, and no material attachment to its affiliates, that were of any social class: slaves, soldiers, merchants, emperors, they were all equal in front of Mithras.
Nevertheless because of the ruthless and widespread repressions caused by the first Christian emperors of the falling Roman Empire, Mithraism found itself practically robbed of it’s documents and church-temples. So much so that our perception and vision of Mithraism is surely limited, incomplete and blurry. It is almost as if Christianity would suddenly disappear with all of its documents, doctrines and we would find ourselves in a remote future seeing Christian churches and cathedrals without knowing exactly what they really represented.
Although absurd, this is what really happened to Mithraism, that was the Christianism of that time !

We were deprived of the religion of our fathers, if we consider the Roman Empire in its vastness comprised a great part of the world of that time.
It would be interesting then to reconstruct on the basis of what we know, what was the great religion that preceded and shaped Christianity.
Recognize that using the symbols and rituals of Mithraism Jesus Christ, and then the apostle San Paolo of Tarso ( port of Asia Minor, center of excellence of the Roman Mithraism at the time ) shaped and built the new emerging Christian religion.
The parallels are so impressive and evident that I believe that Christianity is not only built on Mithraism, but actually it's mainly Mithraism added with a revolutionary emphasis on love among beings.
Therefore it seems to rebirth in Christ the Mithraic hero in which not only shines the light of “Sol Invictus” as pure cosmic energy, but also the new revolutionary power of Christ's love.
Unfortunately we do not know what elements were cancelled from Mithraism, and for love of the truth in order to render justice to this veil of silence over Mithraism I wish to attempt to revive this ancient religion, to penetrate in its mysteries ....
It is time to return to the first Mithraic “churches”, the cosmic temples of our ancestors, to re-illuminate the Pagan torch of the divine Mithraism."

– PR Los Angeles / Oct / 2007



neopagan.com © All rights reserved - 2007





















IN CELEBRATION OF MITHRAS GOD OF THE LIGHT ALSO KNOWN AS "THE SOL INVICTUS - THE INVINCIBLE SUN"



INTRODUCTION TO MITHRAISM



"I would be lying if I affirmed that the strong affinity for my personal philosophical creed with Neo-Platonism was due to the study of the doctrine itself, I can say that I was “born” with a similar vision. Next to my philosophical-metaphysical creed, I believe, there was missing a fundamental pillar. It is safe to say that what was lacking was an official ancient religion that would represent the philosophical-cosmic aspects of Neo-Platonism and in general ancient Pagan culture. Having been born in Rome, I was greatly perplexed about the lack of a unique religion in Roman paganism. It was frustrating to think that an Empire so large, potent and revolutionary, like the Roman Empire, was composed of various sparse and diverse cults in such vast territory, without a peculiar belief. To me this was nonsense, something else more needed to be.

Therefore my spiritual search continued incessantly during my adolescent years. This search led me to India where I spent various years of my youth, although I had undeniable and deep mystic inner experiences, I still had to find an adequate place for my spiritual creed and a satisfactory answer to my question on the metaphysical nature of things and God. Among the discovery of the Indu Gods pantheon and multiple philosophies, my thoughts, as in an obstinate loop, continued to show me the vague nature of this universe and God. In India I arrived at the top of my spiritual search, landing at the harsh shore of "Advaita Vedanta", the pure metaphysical doctrine of Shankara.
Like Shankara, I was fully convinced that mayan reality was surely a real-surreal manifestation, however experienced as real through the senses but also illusory given its relative and temporary nature.
Still, something continued to pull me towards a different goal. I would return to Italy without certainty and involved in a metaphysical doubt : Is matter and its realm of existence an illusory kingdom and deceptive, that should be transcended and avoided carefully ?

The revolutionary answer, above all, was very close to me, it was located exactly under my feet, in my native city, buried in the underground of Rome and hidden in the penumbra-shadow of the secular and compliant silence of the Roman Catholicism. Mithraism was brutally covered up by the Christian repression and cancelled from history, when the early Christian Emperors of the Roman Empire built the Christian Churches over the Mitraic Temples with stolen pagan marble. It was there that “Solar Logos” under the identity of the “Sol Invictus” continuously celebrated his eternal ritual surrounded by the underground silence and forgotten by the masses.
I will never forget my surprise when exploring the underground-subterranean in Ostia Antica, the ancient Roman port of Rome, I found myself in a small underground temple, in front of the statue of a young triumphant God in the act of symbolically sacrificing a bull that lay as if hypnotized at the God’s feet ; It was my first encounter with Mithras the official God of the Roman Empire religion : Mithraism.
And with it, the reply to the question-dilemma arrived magically : matter and spirit are united indissolubly in an alchemical and eternal cosmic merger !
A pagan Mithraic message : One should celebrate his incarnation in this life, while looking at the spiritual attainments that are expected in the afterlife …
That is, in my opinion, the essence of Roman Mithraism, harmonizing the "vertical" ascension of the anima-soul to the One-God with the celebration of the "horizontal" material plane, that still a manifestation-emanation of the One-God, now incarnated and differentiated in the matter.

Therefore Mithraism was the great official religion of the Roman Empire, its propagation in every part of the empire is proven by the many underground Mithraic temples, called Mithraeum that can be found abundantly in Europe, Africa and Asia minor. Little do we know of this religion, we know that it was a Solar cult prevalently mysterious possessing strong symbolic cosmic content. In its secret initiations it would stress discipline, courage, and no material attachment to its affiliates, that were of any social class: slaves, soldiers, merchants, emperors, they were all equal in front of Mithras.
Nevertheless because of the ruthless and widespread repressions caused by the first Christian emperors of the falling Roman Empire, Mithraism found itself practically robbed of it’s documents and church-temples. So much so that our perception and vision of Mithraism is surely limited, incomplete and blurry. It is almost as if Christianity would suddenly disappear with all of its documents, doctrines and we would find ourselves in a remote future seeing Christian churches and cathedrals without knowing exactly what they really represented.
Although absurd, this is what really happened to Mithraism, that was the Christianism of that time !

We were deprived of the religion of our fathers, if we consider the Roman Empire in its vastness comprised a great part of the world of that time.
It would be interesting then to reconstruct on the basis of what we know, what was the great religion that preceded and shaped Christianity.
Recognize that using the symbols and rituals of Mithraism Jesus Christ, and then the apostle San Paolo of Tarso ( port of Asia Minor, center of excellence of the Roman Mithraism at the time ) shaped and built the new emerging Christian religion.
The parallels are so impressive and evident that I believe that Christianity is not only built on Mithraism, but actually it's mainly Mithraism added with a revolutionary emphasis on love among beings.
Therefore it seems to rebirth in Christ the Mithraic hero in which not only shines the light of “Sol Invictus” as pure cosmic energy, but also the new revolutionary power of Christ's love.
Unfortunately we do not know what elements were cancelled from Mithraism, and for love of the truth in order to render justice to this veil of silence over Mithraism I wish to attempt to revive this ancient religion, to penetrate in its mysteries ....
It is time to return to the first Mithraic “churches”, the cosmic temples of our ancestors, to re-illuminate the Pagan torch of the divine Mithraism."

– PR Los Angeles / Oct / 2007



neopagan.com © All rights reserved - 2007