MITHRAISM:
An Early Form Of Masonry?
by Rabbi Barry Albin, MPS

In the rites of one major branch of 
Masonry repeated mention is made to 
Mithra, the active God of pure 
Mithraism, an alleged sect of Zoroastri-
anism. Zoroastrianism was the first 
Western world religion; it was taught by 
the inspired prophet Zoroaster and 
centered upon the dualistic doctrine of a 
good God, Ahura Mazda, and the bad 
God, Ahriman, who under Jewish in-
fluence became Satan. The supporters 
of Ahura sought to purify their lives and 
live them in strict morality so that they 
would inherit a life of purity and logic 
later. The Zoroastrians studied the 
movement of stars and believed that 
they influenced all of life, but their view 
was deterministic in that they did not 
believe that they could change the fate 
dictated by the stars.
 
Up until this point in the study of 
Mithraism, it has been presumed that 
Mithra was a savior god like Jesus, 
Osiris or Prometheus. However, I do 
not believe that characterization is cor-
rect. I think that when we have finished 
looking at the evidence, you may con-
clude, as I have, that Mithra was a my-
thical figure like Hiram Abiff that pre-
sented the believer with a legendary fig-
ure worshipers could relate to.
 
Mithraism has many elements which 
are proto-Masonic in their character 
and which had the same archetypical 
purpose as they do in Masonry. This so 
called religion was limited to the upper 
class males, of lawful age, and well rec-
ommended. The Mithran lodge was 
called a Mithraeum, was built under-
ground with a vaulted roof in which to 
display a scene of the cosmos, and was 
provided with an " East " from which 
the Light of Knowledge was received 
and benches on the sides in which the 
brethren could sit. The Mithraea were 
located throughout the Western world 
from Scotland to Armenia. Although 
membership was generally limited to 
military persons, others of the commer-
cial class and the civil government were 
invited to join and membership was 
sought after by the upper class.
 
Little is known about the teachings of 
the Mithraeum and what we know 
comes from the rich religious art or 
iconography found in their meeting 
places. The key iconography consists of 
a certain scene which is present re-
peatedly in all the Mithraea throughout 
the world. Like the Square and Com-
passes this scene is the symbol by whick 
Mithraism is known. Until recently it 
was supposed that this scene should be 
seen as an act of confiict like the war 
between good and evil. Professor David 
Ulansey of Boston University and cur-
rently Visiting Professor at the Univer-
sity of California at Berkeley has pre-
sented a completely different view of the 
scene which I believe should radically 
change our view of Mithraism and en-
hance our view of it as a proto-Masonic 
lodge.
 
In order to understand Professor 
Ulansey's theory, it is necessary to ex-
plain the cosmology or world view held 
by the ancients. For the first 5000 years 
of human recorded history, it was sup-
posed that the Earth was flat and that 
there was a vault over the earth called 
the heavens. The stars and constella-
tions of stars were fixed elements in the 
vault of the heavens. The planets, Sun, 
and Moon moved inside the vault and 
were generally presumed to be Gods 
and Goddesses that controlled our lives 
through the influence of these heavenly 
bodies. The ancients presumed that the 
heavenly bodies moved through the sky 
each day around the earth. They pre-
sumed that the vault of heaven likewise 
rotated around the earth daily. The 
heavenly bodies moved through the 
vault at a different, but predictable rate 
than the vault of heaven. As a result, 
the seasons could be predicted with 
relative certainty and the ancients could 
understand the cycle of the year. They 
likewise saw a cycle in their lives and 
the movement of the stars predicted 
how fate would effect them. There was 
nothing that they could do about these 
movements. They were simply accepted 
and in harmonizing with these move-
ments, one harmonized with the will of 
the Gods. The key astronomical events 
of the year around which all persons 
centered their lives were the equinoxes 
of spring and fall and the solstices of 
summer and winter. The ancients knew 
that there was a celestial equator. They 
knew that when the Sun crossed the 
celestial equator in the early part of the 
year, the day it crossed the equator was 
the first day of spring and the time of 
light and time of darkness were equal. 
Likewise when the Sun again crossed 
the equator, it was the first day of fall. 
When the sun reached its highest point 
away from this equator was the first day 
of summer and the lowest point below 
the equator was the first day of winter. 
From about 4200 B.C.E. until 2100 
B.C.E., the sun entered the Zodiacal 
sign of Taurus, the bull, during the 
spring equinox. Everyone understood 
that. In about 2100 B.C.E. the situation 
changed and the spring equinox was in 
the sign of Aries, the ram. Hipparchus 
discovered in 128 B.C.E. that the spring 
equinox would soon begin in the Zodia-
cal sign of Pisces, the fish. From this 
fact, he developed the theory of the pre-
cession of the equinoxes. We are again 
about to witness such a change. In the 
near future, spring will occur in the sign 
of Aquarius, the Cup bearer.
 
It is this amazing fact, this theory of 
Hipparchus, which provided a religious 
revolution forever changing the 
Zoroastrian view of the cosmology. It 
appeared to the Zoroastrians that some 
being outside of the cosmos had picked 
up the vault and moved it one full sign 
backwards changing forever the time of 
spring. Such a being would be the Lord 
of Ages, supreme over all Gods, and 
therefore supreme over our lives. He 
could change fate. He could make it 
possible for us to have peace and 
enlightenment even if the stars decreed 
to the contrary. The Zoroastrians as-
signed this great authority to the God, 
Mithra, who they believed was re-
sponsible for controlling the various pe-
riods of man's life, i.e. birth, death, and 
afterlife. In the first century C.E., the 
Mithran movement became centered 
upon this important understanding of 
the power of Mithra to control all things 
including fate.
 
At the time of Hipparchus, the an-
cients believed strongly in astrology. 
Most people believed that after one died
their soul ascended through the heavens 
to an afterlife in the pure and eternal 
world of the stars. In time, the celestial 
ascent of the soul came to be seen as a 
difficult voyage, requiring secret pass-
words to be recited at each level of the 
journey. This movement offered a solu-
tion to this difficult journey allowing 
one to be prepared before death for the 
event and making it quite easy to 
achieve the world of Mithra, by follow-
ing his way.
 
It is at this point that we rejoin the 
scene spoken of before. In the scene, 
Mithra is pictured as slaying a bull with 
a knife. Standing on either side of him 
are two men, one named Cautes and 
the other named Cautopates. A dog is 
attacking the bull. A snake is crawling 
by and stops to watch the event. A scor-
pion snaps at the bull's leg. A raven 
stands over the head of the bull. Above 
the scene, a vault holds the Zodiac 
topped by the sun and moon. Often a
lion and a cup appear. Sometimes, 
Mithra's flowing cape holds the constel-
lations and often seven stars are seen 
over his head. Such a scene appears in 
every Mithraeum. As stated previously, 
it was previously supposed that the 
scene dealt with a mythical conflict be-
tween good and evil. However, Profes-
sor Ulansey proposes a new solution. If 
the bull represents Taurus, the bull, and 
Mithra represents the Lord of the Ages 
capable of changing the times and sea-
sons, the killing of the bull represents 
the freedom from fate the worshiper will 
achieve by following the way of Mithra. 
In the Age of Taurus, the constellations 
that were on the celestial equator on the 
first day of spring were Taurus; Corvus 
the Raven; Hydra the Snake; Scorpio 
the Scorpion; and Canis Minor, the 
dog. During the Age of Taurus, sum-
mer began during the sign of Leo the 
Lion and winter began during Aquarius 
the Cup bearer. The scene then means 
that Cautes representing Good and 
Cautopates representing Evil are sub-
ject to the blood of the Bull obtained by 
Mithra when he overthrew the tyranny 
of fate. All the Zodiac looks on as do the 
Sun, Moon and Seven Planets.
 
We now continue the comparison of 
the practices of Mithraism and those of 
Freemasonry. Mithraism was tolerant 
of other religions and allowed its mem-
bers to follow other gods. It had seven 
degrees which sought to teach the mem-
bership knowledge to allow them to 
purify and perfect their lives so that 
they would be better in this life and in 
the next. The degrees were allegorical 
with actors dressed in costumes repre-
senting the various Zodiacal characters. 
The rites of baptism, communion, 
ritual burial and subsequent resurrec-
tion, and initiation were practiced.

The seven degrees correspond more or 
less to the same purposes as York Rite 
Masonry. (There was a Mithraeum in 
York, England.) The first of the degrees 
was the Raven Degree which corre-
sponds to the Entered Apprentice De-
gree. There the member was taught to 
serve others. Next was the Bride Degree 
corresponding to the Snake. Its purpose 
was to teach the member about the 
Light and how to receive the new life in 
the Light. It corresponds to the Fel-
lowcraft Degree. Then, the member re-
ceived the Soldier Degree corresponding
to Scorpio and the Master Mason De-
gree; Scorpio is the soldier of the 
Zodiac. The member understood fully 
the nature of Light and was presumed 
to have made considerable progress in 
purifying themselves on their journey. 
Next, the member received the Lion 
Degree corresponding to Leo and to the 
Mark Master Degree. The member was
ready to teach others. Next, the mem-
ber received the Persian Degree in 
which he became fully conversant in the 
Persian world view. It corresponds to 
the Past Master Degree and is repre-
sented by Canis Minor the Dog, the 
loyal follower. There follows the Cour-
ier of the Sun Degree corresponding to 
Aquarius the Cup Bearer and the Most 
Excellent Master Degree. The brother 
has now learned how to communicate 
light to others and is almost ready for 
the final mysteries. Lastly, the Father 
Degree corresponds to Teacher and is 
the equivalent to the Royal Arch De-
gree. Each degree had purification cere-
mony. The reception of the wine during 
communion taught that fate was 
defeated for those who shared in the 
victory over the Bull.
 
The Mithran moral principles have 
been partially deduced from the non-
members who wrote about them 
(sounds like our modern day Freema-
sonry.) The moral principles were pre-
sented in the allegorical form and in-
cluded a re-enactment of the death of 
the bull, and a symbolical burial (the 
candidate was actually covered with 
earth for about a minute). Obviously, 
the resurrection was even more dra-
matic than our raisings. Mithraism pro-
vided a sense of brotherhood for its 
members, who were often far from 
home. The lodges in every major mili-
tary establishment provided much 
needed friendship wherever a brother 
was stationed. Mithraism laid great 
stress on honesty in financial dealings 
and on brotherly love between mem-
bers. No women were admitted to the 
Mithraeum. Lastly, strict secrecy was 
maintained and no written records re-
main of Mithran rituals.
 
With this discussion of Mithraism, its 
many common forms with Freema-
sonry clearly delineate it as a proto-Ma-
sonic movement. In it can be seen the 
early representations of the two pillars 
representing good and evil and the rea-
son for the celestial and terrestrial 
spheres in the Lodge. We can see an 
early form of the seven York degrees. 
With all this information, we can echo
with Albert Pike the words: "Witness 
the vows of this Aspirant, who seeks to 
become a soldier of Mithra and 
Ahura". Freemasonry clearly has the 
same goal as did Mithraism: to help us 
to join the ranks of the seeker for the 
Light on the Path to full enlightenment 
and perfection. Although not our form 
of Freemasonry, it is Masonry in its 
purest and finest form.

Bibliography
 
I . Cumont, Franz, Les Mysteries de Mithra, Brus-
sels, 1913, Translated as the Mysteries of 
Mithra, 2d. rev. ed., N.Y.
 
2. "Mithraism," Encyclopedia Britannica, 1768 
Vol. 8:197-198:la
 
3. "Mithraism," Gherardo Gnoi, The Encyclope-
dia of Religion, Macmillan Publ. Co., N.Y.
1987, Vol. 9, p. 580-582
 
4. Mithras, the Secret God, M. J. Vermaseren 
London, 1963
 
5. The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: 
Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World, 
David Ulansey, Oxford University Press, N.Y. 
and Oxford, 1989
 
6. Religion in Roman Britain, Martin Henig, St. 
Martin's Press, pp. 95-109
 
7 . " Solving the Mithraic Mysteries, " David Ulan-
sey, Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. 20, No. 
5, Sept/Oct 1994, pp.41-53.

NOTES
 
I . ReliRion in Roman Britain, Martin Henig, St.Mar-
tins Press, p, 101
 
2. "Mithraism, " Gherado Gnoi, Thc Encyclopcdia 
of Rcligwn, Macmillan Pub. Co., NY, Vol. 9, p. 
580
3. Supra, Henig, p. 109; Supra, Gnoi, p. 580
 
4 . " Solving the Mithraic Mysteries, " David Ulan-
sey, Biblical Archawlogy Rcuicw, Vol. 20, No. 5, 
Sept/Oct. 1994, p. 41.
 
5. Supra, Ulansey, p. 41.
 
6. Supra, p. 41.
 
7. Supra, p. 41.
 
8. Supra, p. 42.
 
9. Supra, p. 42-50.
 
10. Supra, p. 42-50.
 
11. Supra, Henig, p. 107.
 
12. Supra, Ulansey, p. 42; Henig, p. 101-102.

 
13. Supra, Hemg, p. 102.
 
14. Supra, Ulansey, p. 43.
 
15. Supra, p. 42.
 
16. Supra, Henig, p. 47.
 
17. "Mithraism, " Encyclopc&a Britannica, 196 
Vol. 8:198:la.
 
18. Supra, Britannica, p. 198:1a.
 
19. Supra, Henig, p. 103.
20. Supra, p. 98
 
21. Supra, Gnoi, p. 581.
 
22. Supra, Ulansey, p. 41; Henig, p. 103.
 
23. Supra, Henig, p. 98.


The Philalethes, August 1995
