Mithras and Sol, 210 AD, Yale University |
"Mithras, the god of the sun among the persians became popular in Rome under the name Sol Invictus (Roman Sun God). He is represented in innumerable works of art as a handsome youth wearing the Phrygian attire, and slaying a bull which he has brought to the ground" (Source: New Tales Of Old Rome)
A Mithraeum is a place of worship for the followers of the mystery religion of Mithraism. "The Mithraeum was either an adapted natural cave or cavern or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural cave. When possible, the mithraeum was constructed within or below an existing building" (Wikipedia) These places were secret
Here are the 7 degrees (from the Mithraeum of Felicissimus in Ostia) In order of importance (M.Clauss, The Roman cult of Mithras, p.133-138)
Grade 1: Corax, Corux or Corvex (raven or crow) Symbols: Beaker, Caduceus (Snake on Staff) Associated planet/Protecting deity: Mercury
Grade 2 : Nymphus, Nymphobus (male bride) Symbols: lamp, bell, veil, circlet/crown (diadem) Associated planet/Protecting deity: Venus
Grade 3: Miles (soldier) Symbols: pouch, helmet, lance, drum, belt, breast plate Associated planet/Protecting deity: Mars
Grade 4 : Leo (lion) Symbols: batillum, sistrum, laurel wreath, thunderbolts Associated planet/Protecting deity: Jupiter
Grade 5 : Perses (Persian) Symbols: akinakes Phyrgian cap, sickle, sickle moon and stars, sling pouch Associated planet/Protecting deity: Luna
Grade 6 : Heliodromus (sun-runner) Symbols: torch, images of Helios the Sun, whip, robes Associated planet/Protecting deity: Sol
Grade 7: Pater (father) Symbols: patera Mitre, crozier/shepherd's staff, garnet or ruby ring, chasuble, elaborate robes jewel encrusted with metallic threads Associated planet/Protecting deity: Saturn
The 7th and highest degree of the Mithraic Mysteries was Pater (Father) (Griffith, Alison."Mithraism in the private and public lives of 4th-c. senators in Rome". EJMS.)
On a Sator Square, it is possible to write a horizontal and a vertical 'Pater Noster' (Pater Noster translates as "Our Father", the most important prayer to Catholics) with the letters of the sator square, forming a Greek cross.
"The 7th and final degree of the Mithraic Mysteries was associated with the Planet and the God: Saturn "The Roman god Saturn was the main deity of agriculture (protector of seeds and sowers) and was associated with the Greek god Kronos." Saturn's connection with agriculture suggests the nature of time. Seeds must be sown at their proper times and harvest can only occur when their time of fruition has occurred. Chronos is derived from the Greek word Cronus meaning "time".
"In Greek mythology, Chronos (Ancient Greek: Χρόνος) in pre-Socratic philosophical works is said to be the personification of time. His name in Greek means "time" (and can also mean "year" in Modern Greek) and is alternatively spelled Chronus (Latin spelling) or Khronos." -Wikipedia
Chronos was depicted in Greco-Roman mosaics as a man turning the Zodiac Wheel. Often the figure is named Aeon (Eternal Time), a common alternative name for the god.
"The Titan Cronus had been conflated (Fused) with the name of Chronos, the personification of time in Classical Antiquity" - LSJ Wikipedia entry Κρόνος
Leo (♌) is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Leo. In astrology, Leo is considered to be a "masculine", positive (extrovert) sign. It is also considered a fire sign and is one of four fixed signs ruled by the Sun.
Sol Invictus is the equivalent of the Greek pagan deity: Helios. Helios was at the same time identified with Apollo, as we will see from the article on Wikipedia on Helios:
"The earliest certain reference to Apollo identified with Helios appears in the surviving fragments of Euripides' play Phaethon in a speech near the end (fr 781 N²), Clymene, Phaethon's mother, laments that Helios has destroyed her child, that Helios whom men rightly call Apollo (the name Apollo is here understood to mean Apollon "Destroyer").
By Hellenistic times Apollo had become closely connected with the Sun in cult."
As sun-god and god of light, Apollo was also known by the epithets Aegletes (/əˈɡliːtiːz/ ə-glee-teez; Αἰγλήτης, Aiglētēs, from αἴγλη, "light of the sun"), Helius (/ˈhiːliəs/ hee-lee-əs; Ἥλιος, Helios, literally "sun")
Source: Álvaro, Jr., Santos, Allan. Simbolismo divino. Allan Álvaro, Jr., Santos.
Apollo is Apollyon
"Abaddon (Hebrew: אֲבַדּוֹן, 'Ǎḇaddōn, Greek: Apollyon, Latin: Exterminans, Coptic: Abbaton, meaning "A place of destruction", "The Destroyer", "Depths of Hell") in the Revelation of St. John, is the king of tormenting locusts and the angel of the bottomless pit. The exact nature of Abaddon is debated, but the Hebrew word is related to the triliteral root אבד (ABD), which in verb form means "to perish." Source: Wikipedia
"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."
-Revelation 9 1-2
< This winged, lion-headed deity was central to the Roman sect worship of Mithras. He is called Aeon. In it´s hands are a key as he is "the monarch of the heavens whose portals he opens." according to the Mithraics "He also holds a long scepter, the symbol of authority." Notice that the Mithraic Aeon is winged and has a key, with the head of a Lion that is identified with the Sun/Helios/Sol Invictus.
Saturn is Kronos, Chronos and AEON Meaning of the Sator Square: Individually, sator means "the sower", tenet "holdeth", opera "the works", rotas "the wheels [accusative case]".
Even the Planet Saturn has Rings around it and a Hexagonal shape on it´s north pole |
Sator square with the Maltese cross forming the word AEON.
Mithras born from a Rock in the middle of a Zodiac Wheel |
Zodiac Wheel with the six pointed star of Saturn/Remphan/Moloch/Chiun in the middle |