"Studies in Mithraism" > Page 1, 2, 3

The Dawning of the Age of Aries

David Ulansey The Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras

Ulansey says the main problem with basing Mithraism on a Zoroastrian cult is that there is no evidence that the Zoroastrians' Mithra practiced bull killing, the central aspect of Roman Mithraic iconography. An image of Mithras killing the bull holds pride of place in each mithraeum (cave-like temple for the worship of Mithras). Ulansey believes the images of Mithras slaying the bull are actually astronomical star maps. In support of this he points out that all the figures represented in the iconography have a place in the constellations (Taurus, Canis Minor, Hydra, Corvus, and Scorpio). He says that the other iconography and even the initation cermeonies are consistently astronomical.

Mithras' place as bull-slayer has cosmological significance because, if Ulansey is right, Mithraists attribute to their god the ability to shift the equinox from the constellation of Taurus to Aries:

"His killing of the bull symbolizes his supreme power: namely, the power to move the entire universe, which he had demonstrated by shifting the cosmic sphere in such a way that the spring equinox had moved out of Taurus the Bull."

Taurobolium Glossary Entry

For more recent research see:

Hinnells, John R., Studies in Mithraism: Papers associated with the Mithraic Panel organized on the occasion of the XVIth Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions. Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider
Reviewed by Helen F. North. Twenty papers from the fourth international Mithraic congress held in Rome in 1990 show the directions of recent post Ulansey scholarship.

and join the Mithras Internet Mailing List.

Next page > Mithraism Resources >Page 1, 2, 3