"Someday the secrets of Nature shall be disclosed to you, the haze will be lifted from your eyes, and the bright light will stream in upon you from all sides. Picture to yourself how great is the glow when all the stars mingle their fires; no shadow will disturb the clear sky... Then you will say that you have lived in darkness after you have seen, in your perfect state, the perfect light - that light which you now behold darkly with vision that is cramped to the last degree. And yet, far off as it is, you already look upon it in wonder; what do you think the heavenly light will be when you see it in its proper sphere?" These words, written by the Roman philosopher Seneca, are an insight into the ancient spiritual ideals which helped give birth to the Mystery Religion known as Mithraism. Mithras is the Savior God of the Light, a Solar Deity who presides over a path for the perfection of the Soul. The Mithraic Mysteries were practiced throughout the ancient world for centuries. It has been said that if Christianity had for some reason died in its infancy, the western world would have become Mithraic. The ancient temples to Mithras were known as Mithraeums. These were usually underground structures that were created to be a model of the Sacred Cosmos. Over 500 Mithraeums have been found throughout the Roman world, from Britain to Africa. The worship of Mithras began in the 1st Century CE. The last proven Mithraic archaeological dating is from 408 CE. In the late 300's Mithraism began to come under attack by the newly organized Christian church, who felt that the noble rites of Mithras were too similar to the forms of their own worship. Mithraeums began to be systematically attacked and destroyed by Christian mobs, who smashed their contents and defaced the temple iconography before burying the temples themselves. Mithraeum temples began to be rediscovered in the early 20th century. A fascinating picture of the ancient worship of Mithras as a Savior Deity began to slowly emerge. For over a hundred years people have sought to understand the meaning behind the ancient icons and other evidence which has remained both tantalizingly familiar and also, to many, spiritually compelling. There are many theories that Mithraism survived in various forms, including a conjecture that it is a basic foundation of modern Freemasonry. While such such thoughts are probably wishful thinking, they do help illustrate the attraction that the ancient worship of Mithras has continued to have, even a millennium after its official passing. THE MODERN WORSHIP OF MITHRAS More is discovered about ancient Mithraism with each passing year. It also seems that each year there are more people who have found themselves drawn to Mithras as a deity. Mithras is a Savior god of both Light and Strength, who is bold and active rather than passive. He is a Soldier rather than a shepherd, who offers a way of spiritual perfection that challenges us to be responsible and to learn, rather to simply believe and be led like sheep. There is much to recommend Mithraism as religion that can be valuable for today. It is a structured, moral religion that is also tolerant of other deities and faiths. It is a path that rewards personal responsibility rather than personal surrender, and it is an ancient path of knowledge through which a person may actively work toward spiritual perfection. It is little wonder that Mithraism is being explored again as a valid religious alternative. MITHRAEUM Mithraeum is a religious organization dedicated to the modern worship of Mithras, and a revival of Mithraism and the Mithraic Mysteries. Mithraeum has been created for the hundreds of people who have been searching for living vestiges of the ancient Mysteries, seeking practicing groups, and worshipping on their own while longing for a community with which shares their religious focus. Our goals are simple: to revive both the ancient Mysteries in the most accurate form possible, and also to encourage a new Renaissance through new forms of modern Mithraic worship. We believe that both old and new forms of Mithraism can live side by side, so long as one form of Mithraic worship is not mistaken for the other, and so long as both aspire to the known Mithraic forms of organization, structure, honorable virtue, and the quest for the perfection of the human spirit. Here at the Mithraeum website you will find information on the Ancient Mithraic Mysteries, and also on Modern Mithraic Worship. You will find discussion forums, and contact information for groups and other interested Mithraists. Here there will be resources and discussion forums available, so that Mithraic knowledge may continue to progress. Together we can rebuild the ancient worship of Mithras, and ensure that Mithraism continues to be a valid path for many centuries to come. TOP