THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
and ablutions were therefore frequent. Philosophic speculation was at a minimum, practical effort at a
premium. In this contest Mithra ever 5. Anthro- helps the devout, ever conquers the pology, Es- powers of darkness, and on this acchatology. count he bears the Persian epithet na-
barze, Gk. aniketos, Lat. invictus, " victorious." The psychology of man is as follows: An infinite multitude of souls preexisted in the ethereal heavens, and these descend to inhabit the bodies of men. As they descend, they pass through the realms governed by the planets and receive from them certain qualities, the proportion of which determines the character of the man. Thus from Saturn was received the determining dispositions, from Jupiter ambition, from Venus sensual appetite, from Mercury other desires, from Mars combativeness, from the moon vital energy, and from the sun intellectual powers. At death judgment by Mithra decided the soul's fate. If it was to return to heaven, it was enabled by the savior Mithra to satisfy the guardian of the gate to each sphere, where it gave up the qualities received on its descent, and so passed to the eighth sphere to enjoy life with Mithra. It is almost certain that the dogma of the resurrection of the flesh was a later addition to the eschatology. The final consummation will be the destruction of the world, a wonderful bull like the pristine bull will appear, Mithra will descend, waken all men to life, separate the good and the bad, will sacrifice the bull and give the fat mixed with wine to the good and thus immortalize them, while a fire will consume the wicked, including Ahriman and his demons.
That the doctrine always remained pure is of course unlikely. The syncretism has been sufficiently indicated, and it is not unlikely that each district had its own coloring — in Rome Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva were spoken of in the religion, while in Celtic regions Celtic deities appear in the Mithraic crypts. But while syncretism existed, Persian conceptions were the guiding principles.
The Mithraic liturgy is probably wholly lost, the Mithraic Ritual (London, 1907) issued by G. R. S. Mead being almost certainly Gnostic and not Mithraic. Indications are clear that at least part of the ritual was in Persian. There were seven degrees of
initiation, in which the mystic assumed
6. The the names successively of raven, grif-
Mysteries. fin, soldier, lion, Persian, courier of the
sun, and father; on certain occasions a garb suggesting the name was put on and the actions of the bird or animal were simulated, in this way recalling the mimetic action common in the other mysteries of the period. The original number of degrees was probably only two — raven and lion, the subsequent increase being due to development in doctrine, perhaps to a desire to increase the awe and mystery, and also to the sacredness of the number seven. The first three degrees were preparatory only, and did not admit to the mysteries proper. The real initiation was called sacramerUum, possibly from the oath not to divulge the doctrine and rites of which the initiate gained knowledge. The various steps were accompanied by ablutions and aspersions, signifying the purging away
of sins. It would seem that on attaining the rank of soldier, the candidate was branded with a hot iron. In the grade of lion, typical of fire, water the enemy of fire, was not used, and purification was with honey. Those who had passed the grade of lion were called participants, because to them was administered a sacrament of bread and water or wine commemorative of Mithra's banquet after he had finished his labors. Participation in this was supposed to impart immortality. Before partaking, the initiate underwent severe trials, physical and mental, endured prolonged fasting, and had part in dramatic representations which approached the terrible. Above these seven grades was a priesthood (sacerdos, antistes) which had charge of the ritual, conducted the threefold daily worship at morning, noon, and evening (toward the east, south, and west respectively), also the worship of the planet which governed each day, and replenished the ever-burning sacred fire. The sixteenth day of each month was a Mithraic festival, and Dec. 25 was probably a great feast. Initiations were probably at the vernal equinox. The sodalities were twofold, spiritual brotherhoods and legal associations. In the latter capacity they elected officials not spiritual in function, who conducted the secular and property affairs. The expenses were met by voluntary contributions, and the conduct of modern church life was anticipated in practically every respect in these directions. The progress of a mithraeum and its community from indigence to affluence is sometimes clearly marked in the change from a rude chapel to a costly tem- /ple. The communities of each temple must have , been small, possibly not largely exceeding one hundred. Thus the conception of brotherhood was fostered, as also an intensity of loyalty which well accounts for the tenacity of the cult. Conditions inside, where all met on the ground of equality, furnished a strong contrast with the social conditions in the empire, where extremes so great were furnished between the masses and the classes. Yet women were not admitted; Cumont affirms that not a single inscription occurs out of the hundreds known which implies a female initiate or even one who made a gift. This deficiency may have been supplied by the quasi alliance with the cult of the Mater Magna, who in the West took the place of Anahita in the East; and under still other influences there was introduced the blood bath in which a bull was slain over a lattice and the blood was allowed to flow upon a person beneath. This was connected with the Mazdian belief, and was thought to effect the renewal of life to the soul.
The Mithraism of the barbaric world no doubt celebrated its mysteries in caves, and this memory was preserved in the fact that the mithraeum continued to be an underground structure, in a crypt so fitted up as to be susceptible of an illumination throwing into strong relief the cultic 7. Art and objects. The central representation Architec- was the tauroctonous Mithra. The ture. torch-bearers might guard the approach, the lion of Mithra was there, two altars, the lion-headed Kronos, the zodiacal signs, the symbols of the different grades — all these