The Path of Enlightenment in the Mithraic Mysteries

The first and the third of the following essays written by Julius Evola are dedicated to the mysteries of Mithras, while the second essay concerns itself with the Roman Emperor, Julian. The first essay, published in the periodical Ultra (1926), describes some details of the initiation practiced in Mithraic mysteries. Mithras was the god of the heavenly light, warrantor of oaths, and the sworn enemy of all lies; his cult competed with Christinity for the spiritual primacy in the West, at a time when the Roman Empire had begun to decline.

The second essay by Evola was occasioned by the publication in 1932 of an Italian translation of some writings of Julian, and it was published again on March 17, 1972, with slight modifications, in the Italian daily newspaper Roma. Evola's work dealt with the noble figure of the Emperor, who was initiated in the cult of Mithras, as he attempted to revive the ancient sacred traditions.

In the third selection, which was first published during the 1950's and again in 1971 in the periodical Vie della Tradizione, Evola interpreted in great depth the various symbols which a nimated the myth of Mithras and which were present in the initiation ceremony.

The religious events of the Roman Empire still evoke the interest and the fascination of those who st udy the spiritual doctrines of the Ancients. The image of Mithras in the act of slaying the bull has been adopted by the Julius Evola Foundation as its emblem.