Mythoblogia

Yeah, OK, Mazda is a car company. But before the name was linked to a car company, or a light bulb manufacturer for that matter - in fact long before - Ahura Mazda was (and is) the most powerful god of the Zoroastrians. Chief prophet of the Zoroastrians was Zoroaster, aka Zarathustra. With its almost-but-not-quite monotheistic concept of god, handy location in Iran and later India, and powerfully dualistic ideas of good vs evil, Zoroastrianism can be claimed to have had a likely large influence on later religions such as Islamism, Judaism and Christianity. Of course it didn't start out nearly so monotheistic, if that's what it is; and we just don't have enough evidence to be really sure about the whys and wherefores of that evolution - but we do know that Ahura Mazda was powerful beyond all other spirtual beings and dominated the scene. We also know that Zoroaster was urged by his god to do good and spread the word against earlier, bloodthirsty 'sacrificial' religions; that Ahura Mazda created the earth; there would be a last judgement; and that the good went to paradise and those who sided elsewhere died and went to a fiery place. Now we don't know when these ideas sprang into being - or even if there were precursors. But it all sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it? Indeed there are strong parallels with both Christian and Hindu beliefs.

One of the lesser beings that floated around in the Zoroastrian mindspace was the widely-believed Mithra, god of the Mitanni and yet another god of light and wisdom, again from the same region. Mithra spread from Iran to India, then Greece, Rome (as Mithras) and even to Britain. Whilst the light and wisdom was co-opted into Sun-worship as well, many people see Mithra as a model for the Christian Jesus. In various versions Mithra(s) has a (possibly) virgin birth (from solid rock) and is (possibly) resurrected from a cave. Indeed the cave as temple is a prominent idea in later Mithrasism (hmmm, did I just make that up?), as is (possibly) 'baptism' by the blood of a slain bull. Bulls have had a lot to do with religion and mythology over the years... here's more on that tale.

And a lot of the "parallels" between Mithra(s) and Jesus can be refuted if you try hard enough. At its core, however, it's my feeling that there's plenty of evidence that many ideas were circulating and shared between religions prior to the birth of Christ the prophet.

Labels: Ahura Mazda, Jesus, Mithra, Mithras, Zarathustra, Zoroaster