Mithraic mysteries

**The Mithraic mysteries**, also known as Mithraism, was a mystery religion centred around the god **Mithras** that was practised in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century AD. The religion was inspired by Zoroastrian worship of the god Mithra, though the Greek *Mithras* was linked to a new and distinctive imagery, and although it claimed continuity with its persian basis, is believed by historians to heavily have been more roman than zoroastrian in character. The mysteries were popular in the Roman military, and some consider them to have been a rival of early christianity.

Although no records of their theology exist, Worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals. Initiates called themselves *syndexioi*, those “united by the handshake”. They met in underground temples, called *mithraea*, which survive in large numbers. The cult appears to have had its centre in Rome. Although the iconography remained the same, many scholars doubt that it even had a single codified doctrine, and may have varied heavily from place to place, like different interpretations of gnosticism.

Mithraism was not considered an alternate religion to the roman religion which ruled out adherence to the roman gods. Rather it was considered in a sense an addition to it. Mithra would often be depicted alongside other gods, although he was considered the main figure in it.

A few figures in megaten appear in ways referencing the mysteries, although since little is known about the beliefs of the mysteries themselves, little about this can be elucidated on. Strangely, megaten has used these depictions misleadingly more than once, once getting the figures wrong, and once deliberately conflating them. In nocturne, the side shijima seems to be based on the mysteries, since the lion headed god design was drawn for nocturne, and it has both mithra and ahriman on the same side, which is a part of the mysteries' pantheon.

## Figures

**Mithras** appears to be the main figure and object of worship in the religion. He is derived from the zoroastrian figure, although it seems like the founders of the mysteries were not overly familiar with said figure, or zoroastrianism, and so the context is uniquely roman. It is not clear whether they considered mithras to be the highest god in their religion, but notably no reference to ahura mazda has been found.

Mithras is depicted as being born from a rock. He is shown as emerging
from a rock, already in his youth, with a dagger in one hand and a torch
 in the other. He is nude, standing with his legs together, and is
wearing a Phrygian cap. Statues of him being shown like this are common within mithraea, and this is the basis for mithras as he is seen in the megaten games. Note that sometimes mithra is conflated with the lion headed figure, which is sometimes called mithra in-game, but that is considered to be a seperate figure.

However, In every Mithraeum the centrepiece was a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull, called the tauroctony. The image may be a relief, or free-standing, and side details may be present or omitted. The centre-piece is Mithras clothed in Anatolian costume and wearing a Phrygian cap; kneesing and driving his sword into the bull, while looking up at sol. The event takes place in a cavern, into which Mithras has carried the
bull, after having hunted it, ridden it and overwhelmed its strength. Sometimes the cavern is surrounded by a circle, on which the twelve signs of the zodiac appear. Note that this circle was merged with the rock he was born from in the above design.

Strangely, in iva, the figure of mithra has the bull mixed into him, and he appears with a bull shaped head. Although this depiction in the artist notes seems to be not just about the mithraic mysteries, but is meant to be a composite of multiple religions, showing how bulls were revered in hinduism, as well as the angelic appearance representing christian salvation. Part of that depiction seeming to represent how mithra became a figure that showed up in many religions, or was part of something many were inspired by.

The second most important scene after the tauroctony in Mithraic art is the banquet scene. The banquet scene features Mithras and the Sol Invictus banqueting on the hide of the slaughtered bull. On the specific banquet scene on the Fiano Romano relief, one of the torchbearers points a caduceus
 towards the base of an altar, where flames appear to spring up.

**Arimanius.** One of the most characteristic and poorly-understood features of the
Mysteries is the naked lion-headed figure often found in Mithraic
temples, who has the name arimanius ascribed to him via inscriptions. His body is a naked man’s, entwined by a serpent (or two serpents, like a caduceus),
 with the snake’s head often resting on the lion’s head. He is usually holding one or two keys, or a scepter. Sometimes he is depicted as standing above the world. Sometimes he is seen standing above a tool box, holding tools like pliers in it.

The lion’s
mouth is often open, giving a horrifying impression. He is usually
represented as having four wings, two keys (sometimes a single key), and
 a scepter in his hand. Sometimes the figure is standing on a globe
inscribed with a diagonal cross. Although megaten uses this design to represent mithra once, it is a separate figure identified as an analogue of the zoroastrian ahriman. Note however that unlike in zoroastrianism, they do not seem to depict ahriman as an evil figure, but as a god alongside mithras.

Despite being identified as ahriman, the syncretic and composite nature of the mysteries has led many scholars to see him as a totally separate figure with an ambiguous identity. Some scholars identify the lion-man as Aion, or Zurvan, or Cronus, or Chronos, or even the gnostic demiurge yaldabaoth. Although the exact identity of the lion-headed figure is debated by
scholars, it is largely agreed that the god is associated with time and
seasonal change. The reason for this amibiguity being the fact that roman figures were often associated with multiple things, and so he may have had an additional identity apart from the name associated with him. Kaneko says that the reason that mithra shows up with this design is that he deliberately mixed him with zurvan when drawing the design for nocturne.

The demon demiurge in-game may also be based on the lion headed deity design, since note that it has a snake curling around it and resting on its head same as the lion design. And some statues with a human rather than a lion head have been found of the figure. As well as being a similar naked figure with multiple wings, like the original figure tends to have. And some scholars consider that the lion figure may be meant to also be or represent the demiurge. Doubly since mithraism and gnosticism were similar obscure hidden religions operating around the same times, they may have conflated them deliberately in the demon design.

Note that mithra and ahriman working together presumably means that the mithraic mysteries is a basis for the assembly of nihilo and shijima in nocturne. Since the design used for mithras comes directly from the mysteries, this overall association may be deliberate as a whole. If shijima is interpreting ahriman as a positive figure (potentially as a demonized indra - king of devas type figure), then this ties to the ambiguous understanding of the figure seen as equivalent to it in the mysteries.