Now about this ancient cult difficult to find any information even in encyclopedias and reference books, although once Mithraism was widespread in the Mediterranean, while in the end of IV century not replaced Christianity. Now from the secret cult were only hundreds of mysterious images, because, probably, historians still failed to understand what was the essence of the teachings.

The image of the young man who kills the bull, the archeologists found hundreds of underground churches scattered throughout the territory of the former Roman Empire. They are the only trail that was left of the Mithraic ancient secret cult that is widespread in the I century BC - IV century A.D. Although the monuments of Mithraism concentrated in the Mediterranean, they are found in France, Germany, even in England.

The majority of images on various acts of the God Mithras, but the basic motive of the figures and reliefs is tauroctony scene of the murder of a bull. It is found in every Church in the most prominent place, so scientists believe that in tauroctony the key to unraveling the mysteries of Mithraism.

Mitra kills sacrificial bull. Roman relief. II century

One of the first mentions about this ancient cult historians discovered in Plutarch. He writes that in 67 BC, Mithraism professed Cilician pirates, who robbed ships and coastal communities across the Mediterranean sea.

To the III century Mithraism reached its heyday. Adherents of this religion were mostly soldiers, merchants and servants, and the woman to her sacraments were not permitted. To confess Mithraism had only one who took the secret rites of initiation, but to tell about the sacraments of the cult was forbidden. They were called the mystery (from the Greek mysterion - the mystery, the mystery). It is a requirement of preserving secrets of the cult and the lack of written sources, which would reveal the essence of the teachings.

What mythical event connected the main symbol of Mithraism? What does the scene of the murder of bull? One of the first to attempt to decrypt tauroctony famous Belgian historian of religion Franz Kumon. In 1899 he published his interpretation of this symbol. Kumon proceeded from the fact that the word "Mithras" is a variation of the name of a more ancient Iranian God Mithra.

Te look of Glance in the journal "In the world of science" (USA) writes: "the Scientist came to the conclusion that Mithraism is descended from the ancient Iranian cult of Mithra, the God of light and truth, which was considered a guardian of the Treaty of people." However, the weakness of the hypothesis of Cumana is the fact that so far none of the scientists are not known Iranian myth, in which Mitra would have some relation to the killing of a bull. However, the authority of the historian was so great that his version of the origin of Mithraism was considered indisputable for over 70 years.

Only in 1971 at the I International Congress on Mithraism at the University of Manchester researchers questioned the interpretation of Cumana. What was guided by scientists?

Mediterranean civilization was an exceptionally favorable environment for the emergence of new religions. The conquest of Alexander the great, strengthened its Greek and Roman followers, led to the rapid development of a common Mediterranean culture, with ancient isolated religious cults inevitably collapsed. They could not remain spiritual support for people in a huge Empire.

One of the new types of religious beliefs was the fatalism that claimed the life of a man completely predetermined by fate. Fatalism, in turn, paved the way for the development of astrology, which with the help of mathematical calculations proved that all events occur solely by the will of the heavenly powers. According to scientists, questioning the findings of Cumana, fatalism and astrology were at the heart of Mithraism.

So, in the early 1970s a number of researchers, including Roger Beck, Stanley Insler, Michael Speidels, David Glance, offered his interpretation tauroctony, based on what it actually is a... kind of a star map.

On tauroctony you can often find the 12 Zodiac signs and symbols of the Sun, moon and planets. For example, on the bas-relief found in Germany, visible characteristic scene of the murder of a bull, and on the arch above the image of the deity, embossed figures corresponding to the constellations and the signs of the Zodiac.

Interestingly, there were figures, corresponding to 7 constellations: Small Dog, Hydras, Crow, Scorpio, Taurus, Leo and Bowls (bull meets the Calf). All these constellations, with the exception of a Lion, were located along the line indicating the position of the celestial equator in that distant time.

Even before the emergence of Mithraism was believed that the axis of the celestial sphere, like the Earth itself, motionless. However, about 125 BC by Greek astronomer Hipparchus found that the celestial equator actually gradually shifted backwards through the zodiac. Hipparchus also has calculated which constellation located along the celestial equator, where the point of the vernal equinox were in the constellation Taurus.

The celestial equator is offset in the result of the precession of the earth axis (slow motion of the axis of rotation of the Earth in a circular cone). Those who believed that the Earth is the center of the Universe, interpret precession as the movement of the celestial sphere and because of the offset of the whole cosmos. The figures represented on tauroctony correspond to constellations, which were located on the celestial equator between 4,200 and 2000 BC, when the point of the vernal equinox was in the constellation of Taurus.

That sustainable sphere of fixed stars is really unstable due to the action of a force, was a real shock for the people of that time. Ancient thinkers, apparently, has interpreted this movement of the celestial sphere as evidence for the existence of a mighty, previously unknown deity.

Doctor of Ulanzi writes: "In this context meaning tauroctony becomes clear: the death of the bull symbolized the end of the reign of the constellation of Taurus as the constellation of the spring equinox and the beginning of a new era. Other figures on tauroctony present constellation, whose position in the sky also changed as a result of the precession.

Killing of a bull (which caused the displacement equinox), Mithras, in fact, shifted the whole Universe. God, capable of such a grandiose gesture, certainly deserved to be worshipped." It is clear that such a powerful deity began to ascribe and the opportunity to influence the fate, which, according to astrology, depended on the location of the stars and planets.

According to Glance and his associates, the Mithras also corresponded to a particular constellation. On all the images it in the form of young men with the sword and the Phrygian cap is always on top of the bull. Over the Calf is the constellation of Perseus, the image of which corresponds to the appearance of Mithras. It is known that Perseus was worshipped just in Cilicia, where, according to Plutarch, and the birth of Mithraism.

But how Perseus was the Mitre? In antiquity Perseus was considered to be the founder of Persia and therefore could be associated with the Iranian mythological God of light and truth - Mitra. In addition, the Cilician pirates were considered allies of the king Mithridates VI of Pontus. This dynasty was called by the name of Mithra, and the king himself believed that comes from Perseus. Perhaps due to these circumstances and there was a link between Perseus and Mitra, which led to the adoption of the divine name of Mithras (the Greek form of the name Mitra).