Mithra
Mithra is the Iranian yazata of the covenant (Avestan mithra, 'contract'), whose great hymn is Yasht 10 of the Avesta: he stands between the parties to an agreement, sees every breach with his thousand ears and ten thousand eyes, and rides ahead of the sun in a chariot of gold.
Living tradition: Mithra is a yazata of the Avesta, worshipped in Zoroastrianism today, and his own account in Yasht 10 with the Mehrgan festival and the covenant is primary; he is not the Roman Mithras and the two entries must not be merged. The planetary (Sun/Mercury), zodiacal (Libra/Leo), tarot and the mabon sabbat values are modern Western and Hermetic overlays - the solar assimilation is already ancient, but it is not his Avestan identity. The bull-slaying and the seven grades belong to the Roman mysteries, not to the Iranian yazata.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Sun
Offerings
- Offerings
- HaomaMilkBreadIncenseFire wood
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- MehrMihrMithra of the Wide Pastures
- Gender Expression
- Masculine
- Titles
- Lord of the CovenantMithra of the Wide PasturesThe Untiring OneKeeper of the OathHe of the Thousand Ears
- Symbols
- SunCovenantChariotClubThousand ears
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneOath bound and plainAddressMithraLord of the CovenantMehrRelationshipWitness to the contractWarningThe broken word is the only real offenceResonanceThose bound by a promise
- Modern Practice
In Zoroastrian practice he is honoured at Mehrgan, the feast of Mithra at the autumn equinox, and invoked as the witness of contracts, oaths and treaties; modern correspondence work also uses him for honest dealing and the protection of the sworn word.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- CovenantOathsJusticeLightTruthVictoryProtection of the righteousSocial order
- Mythology Summary
Mithra is the Iranian yazata of the covenant (Avestan mithra, 'contract'), whose great hymn is Yasht 10 of the Avesta: he stands between the parties to an agreement, sees every breach with his thousand ears and ten thousand eyes, and rides ahead of the sun in a chariot of gold. He is named with Ahura Mazda and Anahita in the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II, and his cult spread through Anatolia and Commagene - where his name is fused with Apollo-Helios - into the Roman world, where he became the Mithras of the mysteries. The Roman Mithras is a separate development with its own entry.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsGoldRedWhiteScentsFrankincenseSandalwood whiteMyrrhMetalsGoldIronAnimalsHorseEagle
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