Customer Reviews

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

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Nabarz gives an interesting overview of the ancient historical origins of the early Mithra, and he is well suited to the task, given his background and knowledge of the area.

Then he takes us through history to the various peoples who worshipped Mithra(s), including the Romans. He, like most modern students, discounts earlier scholars like Franz Cumont, who saw a connection between earlier worshippers in Persia and those in Rome. This skepticism is, I believe, mistaken, and comes from a modernist view and perhaps an agenda, which is quickly revealed in later chapters.

That agenda is the "Wiccanizing" of Mithra in a so-called revivalist religion, which he details in the book. Using a dubiously-translated "liturgy" of ooos and ahs (which he tampers with, in the name of his new religion) He then introduces an ancient Female goddess, Anahita, into his non-historical pantheon. It's surprising that he doesn't call Mithras the "horned god" as other Wiccans do. The final blow is a description and photo of an "altar" which mimicks one that might be seen in any Wiccan's home.

In short, the attempt to Wiccanize Mithraism is a dubious, spurious and laughable attempt to cash in on the current Earth-centered witch craze (the book is in the "new age" section of bookstores, not in religion or history.)

A far better overview of Mithras and His origins would be the Mysteries of Mithra, by Franz Cumont, a scholar who spent his entire life studying Mithras, and one which students of the New Age have been trying to "refute" and reinterpret for a generation. However, Cumont remains the towering figure in the field of Mithraic research.

Payam Nabarz, according to the author bio, is a sufi and practicing dervish, a druid, a member of the Golden Dawn, and a revivalist of the temple of Mithras. In other words, his interest in the subject of Mithras comes from the side of mystery religion, ritual, and for lack of a better word an occult approach, versus looking at the subject from the point of view of say a religious archaeologist. There is nothing invalid in his approach; you just need to note it to understand the book and evaluate its value to you as a reader.

The first half of the book is fairly rough going, as the author discusses the origins of first the Persian Mithra religion, according to some antedating Zoroastrianism but later folded into it; then addresses the worship of Mithras in the Roman world (roughly 100 BC to 400 AD). There is some good writing on key Mithraic iconography, with discussion of the tauroctony, the figure of the leontocephaline, the creation myth according to Mithraic tradition, complete with the major characters in that story. This might be the most informative part of the book.

There is then presented the seven initiatory rites and grades of Mithras, with symbols and connections to the creation myth or symbolism made clear. Additional material shows the leaking of Mithraism into Yezidi and Christian tradition. A traditional Persian fairy tale is recounted and analyzed from a Mithraic point of view, its symbolism and story laid bare. That takes us up to page 85 or so.

The second half of the book is somewhat more fanciful. As stated, the author is active in the revival of Mithraism, and he has written meditations and initiation ceremonies for each of the seven grades, for use as solo practitioners or in group practice. This and further suggestions for practical worship take up the second half of the book. He writes that it took him on average a year to write each of the seven. Apparently there is extremely little actually existing historical record of the actual ritual or procedure used in ancient Mithraea, and so this forces the revivalist to come up with his own workings. As I have not attempted to work these rituals I have no idea as to the efficacy thereof; they are heavy on guided visualization, chanting, and to a certain degree autohypnosis and appear totally harmless.

Finally, on a positive note, the author has compiled an excellent bibliography of book written and online work, modern Mithraic groups and internet resources. Although the focus of this book is less on historical inquiry than in a fanciful reconstruction, and thus is very different from the work of serious historians such as Cumont, it is nonetheless a valuable resource for those interested in the subject.

The first section of the book offers a clear overview of many aspects of the Mithraic field of study. An excellent introduction to the subject.

For further reading see the works of Becks, Ulansey and Clauss, do this and you'll have all angles covered as there number of different theories in the field.

The second section of the book covers the practical aspect of this religion in modern times. There are modern rites and photos of recent neo-pagan Mithraic temples, which make it clear that this religion has made a come back.

The section on Christianity is very interesting, especially the comparison of the Mithras Liturgy to the Book of Revelations.

It also contains the Mithras Liturgy and the entire Zoroastrian hymn to Mithra which are very useful resources.

The numerous photos and images make the points much easier to follow.

The Anahita chapter is fascinating as after all one Anahita temple in Iran (circa 200BC) bears the inscription "Anahita, as the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithra" and the two were so closely linked that Herodotus mistook Mithra for the goddess!

Religion is an organic, changing thing. Drawing on what we know of Mithraism, the author presents it in a way that allows neo-pagans to honor this God in the "here and now" with practical, concrete modern adaptations. Religious externals are expressions of inner spiritual experiences and conditions, and even ancient Mithraic rites and beliefs were at one time new, changing, and mutable. Nabarz has never to my knowledge defined himself as a "reconstructionist" and doesn't claim to have resurrected ancient Mithraism. Those who seek a scholarly, "facts only" book on Mithraism may want to look elsewhere. For others, this book presents ways in which Mithraism in one of many possible modern forms can be "lived".

The book describes origins of the ancient Iranian religion Mithraism and its roots in Iranian culture and its association with Zoroastrianism. Mithra was worshiped as god of victory and protector of Arian nations.
Mithraism spread in every corner of Roman Empire from second century B.C until 400 A.C when it was banned and Christianity was imposed as the state religion. Mr Nabarz gives a detailed account of initiatory rites and discusses striking parallels between Mithraism and Christianity.
Chapter 3 is interesting and is about Sufi interpretation of seven rites and relation between Sufism and Mithraism. The book also contains interesting pictures of Mithraic temples in Italy.It is easy to read.

If you want a definative historical book that covers all aspects of mithraic religious beliefs, this book is probably not scholarly enough for you.

For me, this book was a great recaping of mithraic traditions and an overview of what we know.

One MAJOR advantage of this work is the fact that the author himself is Persian. And more importantly knows the "living mithraic traditions" that are still alive today either in full force or in echos. It's like reading a book about New York written by a Scholar from Bombay, India who's never been to the city but has studied every aspect of the city for years. Versus a native New Yorker who'll tell you how New York is, and what's good or bad about it.

Neither account should be dismissed, they offer different perspectives, this book is more like the native describing what the traditions of mithra are/were and how they play into a living people's traditions. From iconography, to prayers and customs.

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Religions, ancient history, and Philosophy.

I especially recommend this to dogmatic Muslims, Jews and Christians, as you may find that a lot about where aspects of your religion came from. Good customs and traditions never die, they simply change name.

The unlikely, connections between Ancient Irish and Iranian folklore is also amazing to read. Who knew that both Iran and Ireland mean the same thing......

This was a very informative book about faith of Mithras. The faith of Mithras is one the religion which may have influence on Zoroastrian faith, and the Zoroastrian doctrines may influenced Judaism, Christianity, as well as, Islam.

This author began to explore and explain the meaning behind ritual of Mithraism, and how those ritual were incorporated in Sufism, and Christianity. The faith of Mithraism also had impact on Iran's ancient calendar.

The author stated one interesting idea that why Iranian women in a Muslim state had a higher position compare to other Muslim nation? It was because Iranian believed in Anahita, saint Fatimeh and there color was green which is in Iran's flag. Iran and Italy shared same color on flag because they share same faith which was Mithra.

Take a moment, read the book from author's window, and enjoy it.

When I read the title of this book, I was expecting that it would focus primarily on the myths or stories that mention the figure Mithras, and then proceed to show how these stories or myths were either adapted into the Bible, or into Christian practices in the successive centuries. The first part of the book does this, but to only a small extent. The book also includes a lot of other text that I found boring or unrelated to the title. For example, several chapters go over the different rituals used in the worship of Mithras, and how the book's author practices these rituals. These chapters do not include much comparison/contrast with Christian religious rituals. Another waste of text was the author's inclusion of his own personal works related to Mithras such as poems. As far as I am concerned, the author is not an influential Christian figure or philosopher, so why include his own works in this book? Probably the most disappointing was the lack of mystery. The title does say "The Mysteris of Mithras..." but there is no mystery in this book. For those who are looking for an analysis of Christianity's roots in pagan beliefs, a more understandable source is the Zietgeist movie online. Overall, not quite the book the title would suggest, and somewhat boring in places.

This book offers an excellent introduction into the modern resurgence of this religion and its practices.
Scholastically however, it is found wanting by not relating the body of work to the title. If one is looking for the relationship between Mithraism and Christianity evidence will not be found here. There is reference to many parallels and similarities but this is not evidence that Mithraism shaped Christianity.

I read this book during my quest for the source of religious beliefs, as in Christianity. There are many traditions in Mithraism that mirror Xianity, if it is not the source of; for example the holidays like December 25 and Easter come from the birthday of Mithra. Mithra was the son of God, born as a human to help us out here. Plus he's a very cool guy. I am not conveying this correctly, you have to read the book. Something very interesting: Mithra comes from the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia, or Iran if you will. Apparently the Jews got many ideas from there when they were in Babylon, as slaves. Think about it.