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Subject: Christianity/mithras.egg
To: tyagi@hollyfeld.org
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997 13:34:49 -0800 (PST)
From: nagasiva@yronwode.com (nagasiva)
Orientation: House of Kaos, St. Joseph, Kali Fornika, US -- Kali Yuga
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#The idea of Chrismas celebrated near the winter solstice is indeed of fairly 
#late provenance. Originally Christians celebrated the BAPTISM of Jesus on 6th 
#January. Later, for political/religious reasons this was changed to his birth, 
#it being deemed that his Baptism being symbolic of his rebirth it was one and 
#the same. In the Fourth century it was shifted back to 25th December, the 
#feast of the Birth of Mithras. This Persian and Anatolian "god" was really 
#more like an archangel in their religious tradition. Zoroaster (or 
#Zarathustra) was a great Persian prophet who probably lived in the 6th century 
#BC, around the time of Buddha and Pythagoras.(There are indeed traditions that 
#Pythagoras met Zoroaster after the former was taken captive to Babylon by 
#Cambyses the Persian king.Mithraism as such probably predates Zoroastrianism 
#by many centuries. The god Mithras was summoned as a witness to trial by fire 
#and was therefore, like ST, Michael, associated with justice.
#  Astrologically Mithras represents on the one hand the reborn sun at the 
#winter solstice and on the other the constellation of Orion. This can be most 
#clearly seen in the famous bull-slaying sculptures where Mithras (Orion) is 
#seen seizing Taurus. Attending are a dog (Canis Major) and two acolytes (the 
#Gemini). Thjere is very very much to this symbolism and some of its meaning 
#has indeed passed into Christianity.
#  The real birthdate of Jesus, I am convinced, is 29th July 7 BC. On this date 
#there was a very special arrangement of the stars and planets portending to 
#the birth of a king in both the Egyptian and Persian traditions. The star of 
#the Magi was a very close conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn.
#  If you would like to see more on this, then please visit my website at:
#http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/solos
#It shows the layout of the stars and how these have been for centuries 
#represented in Christian iconography.
#Adrian G. Gilbert.