The "Mithras Liturgy" is a text from the Great Magical Papyrus of Paris, part of the Greek Magical Papyri, numbered ''PGM'' IV.475-834. The modern name by which the text is known originated in 1903 with

Albrecht Dieterich Albrecht Dieterich (2 May 1866 – 6 May 1908) was a German classical philologist and scholar of religion born in Hersfeld. Academic background He studied at the Universities of Leipzig and Bonn, where at the latter he was a student of Hermann ...

, its first translator, based on the invocation of Helios Mithras (Ἥλιοϲ Μίθραϲ) as the god who will provide the initiate with a revelation of immortality. The text is generally considered a product of the religious syncretism characteristic of the

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

and Roman Imperial era, as were the

Mithraic mysteries Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is lin ...

themselves. Some scholars have argued that it has no direct connection to particular Mithraic ritual. Others consider it an authentic reflection of Mithraic liturgy, or view it as Mithraic material reworked for the syncretic tradition of magic and esotericism. The

codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

containing the text was acquired by the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

in 1857. It is thought to date to the early 4th century AD, though Dieterich proposed a date of composition as early as 100–150 AD. Its likely provenance in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, where evidence of Mithraic cult is rare, presents a major obstacle to regarding it an authentic liturgy.

Structure

Marvin Meyer Marvin W. Meyer (April 16, 1948 – August 16, 2012) was a scholar of religion and a tenured professor at Chapman University, in Orange, California. He was the Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University and Director of ...

divides the Mithras Liturgy into two sections: Lines 475–750 are a liturgy for the mystic ascent of the soul through seven stages, and 751–834 provide instructions on how to enact the liturgy. The text begins by invoking

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

''(Pronoia)'' and Psyche ("Soul") or in other readings

Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Aphrod ...

. The speaker of the invocation announces that he is writing down the mysteries to offer instruction and not for gain, and that he seeks a revelation of the universe and immortality guided by an ''archangelos'' (ἀρχάγγελος, "high messenger") of Helios Mithras (lines 475–485).

Ascent

The ascent through seven grades is viewed by Meyer as representing Mithraic initiation, but it also bears a more general resemblance to the ascent of the initiate in

theurgy Theurgy (; ) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more deities, especially with the goal of achieving henosis (uniting w ...

, with parallels in fragments from the Chaldaean Oracles.

1. Four Elements

The speaker invokes the four classical primordial elements, punctuated by '' voces magicae'', magical sounds, in the following sequence: * PPP SSS PHR /small>, a popping and hissing sound characteristic of incantations *''

pneuma ''Pneuma'' () is an ancient Greek word for "breath", and in a religious context for " spirit" or "soul". It has various technical meanings for medical writers and philosophers of classical antiquity, particularly in regard to physiology, and is ...

'' (wind, breath, spirit) * MMM *

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...

* ĒY ĒIA EĒ *

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

* ŌŌŌ AAA EEE *

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

* YĒ YŌĒ These elements he refers to as "first origin of my origin" from which his "complete body" is made. He identifies himself by name, and by the name of his mother. The soul's encounter with the four elements is rehearsed as both generation and regeneration (lines 485–537).Alvar, "Mithraism and Magic," p. 525.

2. Lower powers of air

At this level (lines 537–585), the revelation-seeker is supposed to breathe deeply and feel himself lifted up, as if in midair, hearing and seeing nothing of mortal beings on earth. He is promised to see instead the divine order of the "visible gods" rising and setting. Ritual silence is prescribed, followed by another sequence of hissing, popping, and thirteen magic words: "Then you will see the gods looking graciously upon you and no longer rushing at you, but rather going about in their own order of affairs." After a shocking crash of thunder, another admonition of silence, and a magic incantation, the disk of the sun is to open and issue five-pointed stars. The eyes are to be closed for the following prayer.

3. Aion and powers

In this prayer (lines 585–628), the speaker again names himself and his mother, followed by an extensive list of translatable epithets such as "Light-maker" and "Fire-driver" interspersed with magic names. These are "planetary guardians of the gates of heaven". Among the invocations are Aion and Iao. An extensive series of vowels are pronounced "with fire and spirit." After thunder and a feeling of physical agitation, another series of magic words elicits a vision of Helios.

4. Helios

Helios is described as "a youthful god, beautiful in appearance, with fiery hair, and in a white tunic and a scarlet cloak, and wearing a fiery crown." He is to be given the "fire greeting" (lines 628–657), and asked for protection while kissing phylacteries.

5. Seven ''Tychai''

The celestial doors are thrown open to reveal seven virgins dressed in linen and with faces of asps, an element identified as Egyptian. They carry golden wands, and are to be hailed individually (lines 657–672).

6. Seven Pole-Lords

Next to come forth are the seven Pole-Lords, wearing linen loincloths and with faces of bulls. They have seven gold diadems, and are also to be hailed individually by name. These have powers of thunder, lightning, and earthquakes, as well as the capacity to grant physical health, good eyesight and hearing, and calmness (lines 673–692). The two groups of seven, female and male, are both depicted in an Egyptian manner and represent the "region of the fixed stars."

7. Highest god

In the midst of lightning and tremors of the earth, the highest god appears, youthful and bright in appearance, wearing a white tunic, a golden crown, and trousers. He holds the shoulder of a bull in what seems to be an astronomical reference (lines 696–724). His eyes project lightning bolts, and stars issue from his body. The instructions are to "make a long bellowing sound, straining your belly, that you may excite the five senses; bellow long until out of breath, and again kiss the phylacteries." The encounter with the highest god is intended to result in

divine revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

and ''apathanatismos'', a technical term for the temporary achieving of a state of immortality.

Enactment and use

LInes 751–834 are instructions on how to enact the liturgy. The practitioner is warned not to misuse the ''mysterion'' (lines 724–834), and is given instructions on the preparation of magical accoutrements: a sun scarab ointment (751–778), the herb ''kentritis'' (778–792), and the protective phylacteries for the ritual (813–819). The section also offers some additional information and incantations.

Magic context

In Book IV of the Greek Magical Papyri in which the "Mithras Liturgy" occurs, lines 1-25 are a spell calling on Egyptian and Jewish powers in order to obtain information. Lines 1127-64 are a spell for exorcising a demon, using Coptic words of Christian origin, with instructions for preparing an amulet. Lines 1716-1870 are headed "Sword of Dardanos" and is a love spell. The Mithras Liturgy shares several elements found widely in magic as practiced in the

Greco-Roman world The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...

, which drew on or claimed the authority of Egyptian religion and magic. These include the preparation of

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protect ...

s and ointments, the timing of rituals based on astronomical phenomena or

horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an as ...

s, and the manipulation of breath and speech. Vocalizations include popping and hissing sounds for

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

, variations on the sequence of Greek vowels,

glossolalia Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...

, and words that are untranslatable but seem to derive from or are intended to sound like Egyptian,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and other languages. The Mithras Liturgy is the only text in Betz's collection of the ''Greek Magical Papyri'' that involves a request for immortality. It is an example of the difficulties in distinguishing between the categories of "magic" and "religion" in the ancient world.

Questions of Mithraic content

The name "the Mithras liturgy" was given to it by Dieterich, who dedicated the edition to Franz Cumont. But Cumont could not see the text as being Mithraic in origin. Gee believes that its origins should be sought in this context, while Hans Dieter Betz thinks rather of a wandering philosophical origin. Classicist Johan C. Thom notes that opinions regarding the context of the text differ, for example, Mithraism or another mystery cult, ancient magic, the Egyptian cult regarding the dead, or

. Mithraic scholars such as Cumont,

Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (22 December 1848 – 25 September 1931) was a German classical philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literatur ...

Martin P. Nilsson Martin Persson Nilsson ( Stoby, Kristianstad County, 12 July 1874 – Lund, 7 April 1967) was a Swedish philologist, mythographer, and a scholar of the Greek, Hellenistic and Roman religious systems. In his studies he combined literary evidence w ...

, and

Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of studen ...

do not identify the text as a Mithraic liturgy. Cumont argued that the text lacked Mithraic

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...

, the Mithraic doctrine of the passage of the soul through the seven planetary spheres, and Mithras as a guide in the ascension. Betz believes that the Mithras Liturgy is a product at the meeting-point of Greek, Egyptian, and Mithraic traditions, finally identifying the central 'ascent' section as a product of early

Hermeticism Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical system that is primarily based on the purported teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (a legendary Hellenistic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth). These teachings are containe ...

. Richard Gordon, however, doubts that Hermeticism influenced the text.

is certain that the text has connections to

Mithraism Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity ('' yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is li ...

and believes that it "contributes a great deal to the study of magic, miracle, and ritual in religions in antiquity and

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...

, including Christianity, and the stories of miracles attributed to Jesus and others may profitably be studied with texts like the Mithras Liturgy at hand."