Mithraism and Christianity

[Bantu_Kelani]

First appears as an Aryan sun-god in Sanskrit and Persian literature circa 1400 BCE. The cult was introduced into the Roman empire in the 1st century BCE.


Mithra was:

· born of a virgin in a stable on the winter solstice--frequently December 25 in the Julian calendar (the emperor Aurelian declared December 25 to be the official birthday of Mithra, circa 270 CE)--attended by shepherdswho brought gifts;
· worshiped on Sundays;
· shown with a nimbus, or halo, around his head;
· said to take a last supper with his followers when he returned to his father;
· believed not to have died, but to have ascended to heaven,
whence it was believed he would return at the end of time to raise the dead in a physical resurrection for a final judgement, sending the good to heaven and the wicked to hell, after the world had been destroyed by fire;
·to grant his followers immortal life following baptism.


Followers of Mithra:

· followed a leader called a 'papa' (pope), who ruled from the
Vatican hill in Rome;
· celebrated the atoning death of a savior who has resurrected
on a Sunday;
· celebrated sacramenta (a consecrated meal of bread and wine), termed a Myazda (corresponding exactly to the Catholic Missa (mass), using chanting, bells, candles, incense, and holy water, in remembrance of the last supper of Mithra).

The emperor Constantine was a follower of Mithra until he declared December 25 the official birthday of Jesus in 313 CE and adopted the cult of Christianity as the state religion.  


*Basic sources for the study of Mithraism:

Franz Cumont, The Mysteries of Mithra (1903)

M. J. Vermaseren, Mithras, the Secret God (1963)

David Ulansey, The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries (1989)

[Oshun_Auset]

Bantu Kelani...

I've read about some of this before, thank you for posting the details of Mythra(I can use this as good refference when getting into religious debates, it's hard to remember the details of mythraism) With 16 saviors that paralled the"Christ Myth"...Do you think that Yeshua as an individual revolutionary has been completely usurped and overshadowed by the pre-existing "pegan"(for lack of a better term) myths?  I have a friend who doesn't even think Yeshua existed at all. They think his myth was just the latest incarnation of these pre-christiandom "gods"...Do you think this is a case of syncretism of old and new religions or just a boeeowing of an old one with a new "coat of paint"?

All of this historical borrowing in Christianity and Christiandoms forming is part of my motivation in sticking with traditional African Spiritual practices. Why practice follow elses traditions and reject my ancestors? Especially when that "someone else" is my oppressor....Enlightening post.

[Saddhu_Yogi]

OHM.its True,CON-stantine was a follower of Mithraism before turning to christ-INSANE-ity.most of the things attributed to je-sus are from religions before and are Spiritual Truths,not Literal.but i'll tell u,that dont be fooled by that,there WAS a man named Yashua,who was a Prophet and Priest from ceratin schools of thought,Seek for the ones who wrote the Pisces on the wall.........OHMMMMM

[iyah360]

we must remember the bloody rituals involved in mithraism as well. seems that the romans never really gave up blood sacrifice to their gods, they just changed the name and gave the masses a turn the other cheek philosophy to keep them deaf, dumb, and blind.

Yashua/Iesus is obviously the character of a master initiate of a mystery school with his 12 disciple initiates who are given a deeper teaching than the masses who are taught with parables. whether or not he existed is not so important IMHO . ..  what is important is I and I journey to realize the most I within I and I which Yashua/Iesus story exemplified . . .God in man. there are some sick puppies using this philosophy to justify global domination today a.k.a. The Rule of the Wise

"ARISTOCRACY (Gr. &purror, best; Kparia, government), ymologically, the rule of the best, a form of government iriously defined and appreciated at different times and by fferent authorities. En Greek political philosophy, aristocracy the government of those who most nearly attain to the ideal human perfection. Thus Plato in the Republic advocates .e rule of the philosopher-king who, in the social scheme, analogous to Reason in the intellectual, and alone is qualified control the active principles, i.e. the fighting population and .e artisans or workers. Aristocracy is thus the government those who are superior both morally and intellectually, and, ,erefore, govern directly in the interests of the governed, as good doctor works for the good of his patient. Aristotle assified good governments un.der three headsmonarchy, -istocracy and commonwealth (iroXtrsta), to which he opposed Le three perverted formstyranny or absolutism, oligarchy ~d democracy or mob-rule. The distinction between aristocracy id oligarchy, which are both necessarily the rule of the few, that whereas the few apurrot will govern unselfishly, the igarchs, being the few wealthy ( plutocracy in modern rminology), will allow their personal interests to predominate. hile Platos aristocracy might be the rule of the wise and ]nevolent despot, Aristotles is necessarily the rule of the few."

[Oshun_Auset]

Saddhu Yogi,

I like your posting style and I agree with what you said, and I take that stance when conversing about Yeshua with my friend...I think he existed...and was exactly what you and Iyah said...a high level initiate...I also think he was an Essene...

Iyah 360,

Of course you know I always agree with you...I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever disagree?!

[Bantu_Kelani]

Auset_Oshu,

It's well-known that the true story of Christendom has never been told to the mundane person. But to a few a men and women the most enlightened of mankind like you, me, Iyah360 and those running this site the original knowledge of Christianity has no fallecies. Indeed, the similarities between Christianity and Mithraism, which was the most popular and widely spread "'pagan" religion of the times by at least 600 years before the Christian era are many. The authors I cited in my initial post find many similarities between the Persian and Christian savior and writtings that includes the various non-canonical gospels. They list over 300 likenesses.

Here's again a compilation of the list:

* Mithra was born on December 25th.
* He was considered a great traveling teacher and master.
* He had 12 companions or disciples.
* He performed miracles.
* He was buried in a tomb.
* After three days he rose again.  
* His resurrection was celebrated every year.
* Mithra was called "the Good Shepherd."
* He was considered "the Way, the Truth and the Light, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Messiah."
* He was identified with both the Lion and the Lamb.
* His sacred day was Sunday, "the Lord's Day," hundreds of years before the appearance of Christ.
* Mithra had his principal festival on what was later to become Easter, at which time he was resurrected.
* His religion had a Eucharist or "Lord's Supper."52

Before the first Century, before the Council of Nicaea was created truly "Jesus Christ" was known or mentioned by anyone.. The cult of Mithras was the only popular in Rome and based its doctrines of the mysteries school of Khemet so-called Egypt and India. The Egyptians, Hindus, Persians and Greeks priests were masters in astronomy and astrology. It's likely IMO that the chronicles of the life and acts of "Jesus" and "the apostles" were wise metamorphoses of solar deity and constellations. Mithras of the Persians, Brahma of the Hindus, Amon, Ptah and Osirus of the Egyptians, Bel of the Chaldeans, Apollo of the Greeks etc. were all the sun and universal deity.

Moreover, the study of comparative mythologies and legends led me to considerable insight. I found that messiahs or supernatural teachers are found all over the world. Most of these "Divine" human beings were not only immortals but performed great deeds that helped their communities and inspired others to emulate them. They were called God men, the Good Shepherds and the Lambs of God such as Mithras, Horus, Achilles, Odysseus, Gilgamesh, Moses, Sigurd, Sunjata, Krisha, Buddha, Boukman and on and on...

Thus, we see that Christian allegories borrowed much from pagan mysteries of antiquity. Serious biblical scholars regard the Bible as a collective human effort, with conscious political decisions having been made in including and rejecting various ancient customs. The Christian Church blindly follows ancient customs but it gives superficial reasons of its origin, forgetting and ignoring the facts that each religion is based upon the secret doctrines of its predecessor which spiritual traditions have indisputable roots in Mu and Alkebu-lan.


Bantu Kelani.

[Oshun_Auset]

I agree with all you said...So are you leaning towards the idea that Yeshua was an immalgimation of the "God-men" of the  proceeding traditions renamed at the Council of Nicaea...Or do you think he was an individual whos personality was combined with the pre-existing attributes of "pegan" messiahs for validation purposes? (I realize it really doesn't matter in the spiritual sense because we understand the underlying symbolism for spiritual enlightenment/re-birth going on...Plus either way he was somewhat "created" at the Council of Nicaea...just curious about your opinion)

[Saddhu_Yogi]

OHM.first,what ancient country is MU?second,Oshun-Auset spoke of Essenes,where i visit in Arizona is a Sister/Brotherhood of them,and i also have some papers on them.

Yesua (Jesus) was an Essene associated with the Nazarean, or Mount Carmel, branch of this Philosophy. (This means we can learn more concerning the true way to live our lives from researching the surviving records and writings of these ancient peaceful people. This will tell us more about Yesua and more about how He would have us conduct our affairs here of earth.)
Yesua was a vegetarian and considered animal sacrifice a corruption of the original Law of Moses. (When we accept this truth we are obliged to change our diet and redefine our views concerning Paul's writings and their relationship to the Law.)
Yesua studied abroad in India, Tibet and Egypt and was well versed in their teachings. (We learn of this from the rediscovered Tibetan Gospel called the Life of Saint Issa, from the Gospel of the Holy Twelve and in the Cayce readings. This implies the usefulness in studying Buddhism and other spiritual paths which had an ancient link with Christianity's true origins.)
Early followers of Yesua continued to live the Essene, but not Ezra's, version of the Mosaic Law. (First we must understand the nature of the Essene version of the Law, see how it is radically different from the Old Testament and Jewish law, and then apply the same in our lives. This Law is not based on animal sacrifice, but in walking harmoniously with the angels for the Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother.)
The writings attributed to Paul were responsible for creating an alternate version of Christianity different from, and eventually more dominant than, the original. They introduced meat eating, non-equality of women, belief instead of holiness, acceptance of slavery and harmony with Roman law. (Once accepted, this truth allows one to separate the wheat from the tares in Christian tradition and New Testament texts. This opens new doors as to just what following Christ implies.)
Yesua's early followers practiced community of goods and eschewed personal possessions and ownership. (Understanding of the details of this practice can be gleaned from the surviving records of the Qumran branch of Essenism (Damascus Document & Manual of Discipline) and from studying monastic laws which had their origin in the ancient Essene philosophy (Rule Of The Master & The Rule Of Saint Benedict). Once understood, this truth moves us away from consumerism and worldly ambition and toward a life devoted to serving others.)
Yesua taught their early followers to offer sacrifice consisting of incense (frankincense), and the firstfruits of the garden, orchard, grove and vine. (All true Essenes and followers of Yahowshua ha Mashiakhare under the obligation, if possible, to move away from modern urban life and toward relocation to more rural areas where they can properly grow offerings for the Firstfruits altar and pursue a true Essene lifestyle.)

[Oshun_Auset]

This will help you with MU...it is much like Atlantis...hopefully Bantu Kelani can refer you to a more African centered perspective on MU than this one...

http://www.burlingtonnews.net/leumurian2.html

[Bantu_Kelani]

IMO, the story of "Jesus" is a mythology based on the mythologies of other illuminated men "messiahs" or "Anointed Ones" that predate the Christian savior story by thousand of years.

Eventhough, historical evidence form the writings of the early Christian Fathers such as Tertellian of Catharge and Clement of Alexandria about 155 A.D have documented that an historical Yeshua existed of the line of David in Jerusalem. He was raised and educated by the Essenes, a Jewish communities made of very enlightened people who had broken away from the mainstream of Jewish though several hundred years before the time of Yeshua. But Bernard H. Springett, a Masonic author in his "Secret Sects of Syria and the Lebannon" and early Church fathers in "The Essene Gospel of Peace Book I" taken from the original Aramaic third century manuscript discovered in 1927 have suggested that in Syria at the time tow or more religious teachers bearing the name Jesus, Jehoshua or Yeshua and that the lives of these man have been confused in the gospel stories. The multiple "Jesus" spoke in parables to their disciples. They were reportedly endowed with all the magical quality of solar deity. They were the Divine mediators between abstract deity and mortal humankind in all likeliness of illuminated men such as Imhotep Osiris, Mithras, Gilgamesh, Moses, Krisha, Buddha, Bacchus, Orpheus etc..

The Yeshua in Jerusalem however was said to be supported by political zealots who also wished to overthrow the Romans to put a "Son of David" on the throne of Jerusalem (numerous biblical passages also suggest this). If it's historically a fact, it's much more likely that the historical Yeshua was crucified not for blasphemy (which was no offence to Romans) but for sedition. Many scholars have also documented that the Yeshua in Jerusalem wedded Mary Magdalene called "Sacred Prostitute" who was a high temple priestess of the Great Goddess Anat-Ishtar in ancient Babylon and who also was a princess of Bethany. Their sacred Marriage was a common union between a temple priestess and King willing to "die" for his people often called "virgin born" or "divine child". Many of the Gnostics Gospel evidence that Mary Magdalene was a temple priestess of the Earth Mother Goddess and that Yeshua often kissed her on the month and called her "Woman Who knows All" etc.. Many scholars also feel that Yeshua in Jerusalem lived in advanced age in the body and wasn't crucified during the 33 year of his life. About 180 A.D "St Irenaeus" bishop of Lyons one of the most eminent of the ante Niceae theologians, wrote "Agaisnt Heresies". In his work he declared that Yeshua lived to old age. Yeshua or Jesus the teacher, had to disappear to fit the actions of the numerous savior Gods who preceded him.  Because the meaning of the number 33 is "master of healing energies through love". In astrology and numerology 33 is expressive of the mystical, self-sacrificing, healing energy. The number 33 is thought to be an incarnation of divine energy that mediates between people and the Universal Spirit thus the mysterious number 33 has been consciously chosen to symbolize the duration of the life of "Jesus".  

It was the first duty ancient prophets, philosophers and initiates of the Mysteries to liberate or resurrect this Eternal One within themselves. It was said that who attained reunion with his "Horus" which later became "Christos" was consequently termed Son of Gods just like many "messiahs" or "Anointed Ones" did before Yeshua. So, it's not improbable that the historical Yeshua later changed Jesus at the Nicea convention in the year 325 A.D has been confused with the concept of "Horus or Christos" who was the godman imprisoned in each creature. IMO, Jesus, Jehoshua, Yeshua & the Essenes stories underwent so many additions, deletions and translation changes over the century that a real problem arise form the attempt to record accurately the life of "Jesus the Christ".

Furthermore to respond to Saddhu_Yogi question it's said that the land of Mu was initially a large portion of today's ocean Pacific Ocean lapped over into Asia and Africa. Thus, when we read in the bible and the ancient Olmec, Maya, Aztecs, Toltecs, Indian, Taoists, Native American and old Greek writings and inscriptions that the "Garden of Eden" or the paradisiacal land where the human race developed was in Mu which was the East Coast of Africa which extended to the today's pacific Ocean and into Asia in remote antiquity. Relics that can be traced back, as coming directly form the motherland is extremely rare. A great flood destroyed a great landmass of Mu. Mu was submerged 15,000 years ago so we can only judge its civilization and traditions by what we find on ancient tablets and the many world legends that relates the flood. Much evidence can also be derived from surviving Twa, Dogon and other African tribal traditions that the indigenous heritages of our ancestors have their roots in Mu. Unfortunately many people don't know the true history of Mu and erroneously call our Motherland Atlantis.

Auset_Oshun, check your Private Messages. Thanks!


Bantu Kelani.