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Mitrascripta

The Mitrascripta are the Mithraic scriptures. These are the writings that are considered the most important for Mithrites to attend to and which shape the character of Mithraism.

There is currently no settled scheme for the Mithraic Scriptures. We detail two possible schemes.
In the first scheme we recognise just one text the Zartogathas (or Songs of Zarathustra) as sacred scripture.

In the second scheme we initially divide our scriptures into the Paleoscripta and the Neoscripta.

Paleoscripta

The Paleoscripta are the old writings. These are all the surviving traditional scriptures of the Parsomazdeans or traditional Zoroastrians. The Paleoscripta consist of the Zartogathas (the Songs of Zarathustra) , the rest of the Avesta, the Bundahishn, the Denkard and other texts.

The earliest writings of the Paleoscripta were probably composed from 1000ME (1000BC) onwards, but retain the influence of older material. The latest writings were produced in the centuries leading up to about 3000ME (1000CE) when Zoroastrianism disappeared as a major religion in Iran.

Neoscripta

The Neoscripta are the new writings. These are writings by Mithrites in our own time and cater most directly to the needs of the day.

There is no fixed canon of writings for the Neoscripta and indeed most of it is yet to be written.

Juvascripta

In addition to the Mitrascripta proper, which are texts written by Zoroastrians and Mithrites, we also recognise the Juvascripta (or helpful writings).

Contents of the Juvascripta is not exactly defined, but the following are usually included:
  • The writings of the great philosophers Aristotle and Plato.

  • Certain other Greek and Roman works such as Xenophon's Cyropaedia, also pre-Socratics such as Heraclitus.

  • The writings of Marcus Aurelius and other Stoics.

  • Certain Gnostic and Jesuchristian writings including the Christian New Testament and possibly the Wisdom books of the Old Testament.

  • Certain works of Neoplatonists such as Plotinus.

  • The works of the modern sufi Inayat Khan.

Some people may also include a part or the whole of the Theravada Buddhist Canon.

In addition there are many other medieval and modern works that could merit addition to the Juvascripta.


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