The Christian and Mithraic mysteries bear certain parallels:
Parallel 1
Christ wrestles with himself in Gesthemene in order to complete his work
CW5 ¶ 526Mithras has to fight the bull
CW5 ¶ 526Parallel 2
Christ carries the Cross (the “transitus”) and in so doing carries himself to the grave
CW5 ¶ 526Mithras carries the bull (the “transitus”) into the cave (grave) where he kills it
CW5 ¶ 526Parallel 3
From Christ's death comes a divinity who is eaten in the Lord's Supper, i.e., the mystical food
CW5 ¶ 526From the death of Mithras' bull comes fruitfulness, especially things to eat (fig. 010)
CW5 ¶ 52618 CW5 Ser: 16 Par 526 (f) FigNo 010
The Christian images express the same fundamental thought: that Christ is a divinity who is eaten in the Last Supper. His death transforms him into bread and wine, which we relish as mystical food
CW5 ¶ 526The relation of Agni to the soma-drink and of Dionysus to the wine should not pass without mention here
CW5 ¶ 526Another parallel is Samson's strangling of the lion, and the subsequent inhabitation of the dead lion by a swarm of bees, which gave rise to the riddle: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness”
CW5 ¶ 526