HOME | DD

Description
Starting the new year in a radiant way.

--Mithras, Heroic god of light-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The god worshiped by the Roman cult of the Mithraic mysteries, a mystery religion that was practiced
in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century CE. To the Romans, the mysteries were
regarded as having originated from Persian or Zoroastrian sources and then brought to Rome as some
sort of exotic religion, and in fact, a god/being named Mithras does exist in both Zoroastrian and Vedic
mythologies as bringers of light and order, but they bear little resemblance to the Roman god in many
aspects including depictions, stories, rituals and so on. Mithras is characterized mainly by sculptures
and structures dedicated to the god found by archeologists, but without any written record detailing
the mysteries having been found to this day, almost nothing is known for sure about any of it, and lots
of speculation, educated guesses and misinformation runs rampant about the god even among
scholars. Among the sculptures found, three of them are pretty well known, the first one, depicting
the god slaying a bull as a sacrifice under the watch of the gods Sol and Luna, the second one
depicting him having a celebratory banquet with Sol over the bull's hide, and the last one depicting his
birth, emerging as a fully grown adult completely naked from a chunk of rock. His temples, little private
underground chambers called "Mithraeum" were rich with symbols of the sun, moon, star and zodiacal
signs, leading many to believe that the religion had strong astrological connotations. Mithra himself was
portrayed as a young man dressed in typical Anatolian clothing, with a Phrygian cap, usually holding a
knife or a torch, and with a cape emblazoned with the stars on the inside. To join the cult
you had to be initiated in it through some connections and by passing some tests. Only men were
allowed to join, with the cult being especially popular among the Roman military. It's early secretive
origins were also very similar to the early days of Christianity in the Roman Empire at the same time,
with both religions, along with many others, competing to claim December 25th as a day of celebration
to their own gods. This and some other facts has lead some scholars to claim the two religions were
actually early rivals, although many dismiss this as too big of a stretch to make.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was actually supposed to be a Christmas post following Jollybird, but well, you all know how awful I am
at managing my time by now, so this is the norm now. Happy...Christmas everyone? That's not right, is it?

Mithras is actually one god I had hoped to tackle for a long time, as reading about the mythraic mysteries brings
to mind a lot of memories from the days I first started to have a real interest in mythology. Unfortunately, I'm
pretty sure he's not a very interesting figure to many of you guys, even to the ones who actually have some
interest in mythology... And even to those who know about him... There's A LOT of misinformation about him
on the net, so it's hard to talk to anyone about it without having to explain a lot and try to correct some
mistakes first, so yeah. Even so, with December 25th being associated with him (even though I'm only finishing
it now), I thought this was a good time as any to draw him!... Well, it was either him or Odin, which I know many
of you would've preferred, buuuuut... I wasn't in a very "Norse-y" mood, I guess.

There's not much to say about the design itself though... It's based on his typical appearance on the famous
bull-slaying scene , but now the bull has already been sacrificed and he's lifting its head up in triumph.
I've added a zodiac wheel on his back based on some of his portrayals (also inspired by the greek god of
the passing time and zodiac, Aion ), but resembling a giant cog this time, to drive home the cyclical nature of the
forces he's associated with. Also, star capes are back ! Finally a reason for me to paint outer space again, I've
really missed doing this ever since Omniel and Stolas way back then.

Well, that's it from me, hope you all liked it!
See you all next time!

Description
Starting the new year in a radiant way.

--Mithras, Heroic god of light-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The god worshiped by the Roman cult of the Mithraic mysteries, a mystery religion that was practiced
in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century CE. To the Romans, the mysteries were
regarded as having originated from Persian or Zoroastrian sources and then brought to Rome as some
sort of exotic religion, and in fact, a god/being named Mithras does exist in both Zoroastrian and Vedic
mythologies as bringers of light and order, but they bear little resemblance to the Roman god in many
aspects including depictions, stories, rituals and so on. Mithras is characterized mainly by sculptures
and structures dedicated to the god found by archeologists, but without any written record detailing
the mysteries having been found to this day, almost nothing is known for sure about any of it, and lots
of speculation, educated guesses and misinformation runs rampant about the god even among
scholars. Among the sculptures found, three of them are pretty well known, the first one, depicting
the god slaying a bull as a sacrifice under the watch of the gods Sol and Luna, the second one
depicting him having a celebratory banquet with Sol over the bull's hide, and the last one depicting his
birth, emerging as a fully grown adult completely naked from a chunk of rock. His temples, little private
underground chambers called "Mithraeum" were rich with symbols of the sun, moon, star and zodiacal
signs, leading many to believe that the religion had strong astrological connotations. Mithra himself was
portrayed as a young man dressed in typical Anatolian clothing, with a Phrygian cap, usually holding a
knife or a torch, and with a cape emblazoned with the stars on the inside. To join the cult
you had to be initiated in it through some connections and by passing some tests. Only men were
allowed to join, with the cult being especially popular among the Roman military. It's early secretive
origins were also very similar to the early days of Christianity in the Roman Empire at the same time,
with both religions, along with many others, competing to claim December 25th as a day of celebration
to their own gods. This and some other facts has lead some scholars to claim the two religions were
actually early rivals, although many dismiss this as too big of a stretch to make.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was actually supposed to be a Christmas post following Jollybird, but well, you all know how awful I am
at managing my time by now, so this is the norm now. Happy...Christmas everyone? That's not right, is it?

Mithras is actually one god I had hoped to tackle for a long time, as reading about the mythraic mysteries brings
to mind a lot of memories from the days I first started to have a real interest in mythology. Unfortunately, I'm
pretty sure he's not a very interesting figure to many of you guys, even to the ones who actually have some
interest in mythology... And even to those who know about him... There's A LOT of misinformation about him
on the net, so it's hard to talk to anyone about it without having to explain a lot and try to correct some
mistakes first, so yeah. Even so, with December 25th being associated with him (even though I'm only finishing
it now), I thought this was a good time as any to draw him!... Well, it was either him or Odin, which I know many
of you would've preferred, buuuuut... I wasn't in a very "Norse-y" mood, I guess.

There's not much to say about the design itself though... It's based on his typical appearance on the famous
bull-slaying scene , but now the bull has already been sacrificed and he's lifting its head up in triumph.
I've added a zodiac wheel on his back based on some of his portrayals (also inspired by the greek god of
the passing time and zodiac, Aion ), but resembling a giant cog this time, to drive home the cyclical nature of the
forces he's associated with. Also, star capes are back ! Finally a reason for me to paint outer space again, I've
really missed doing this ever since Omniel and Stolas way back then.

Well, that's it from me, hope you all liked it!
See you all next time!