I saw one sitting like unto the son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle."48—Rev. xiv: 14.
"And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and upon his head were many diadems. And he was arrayed in a garment49 sprinkled with blood.... And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,50 white and pure. And out of his mouth proceeded a sharp sword."—Rev. xix: 12-15.
One need not assume that there is a direct dependency between the Apocalypse and the Mithraic liturgy. The visionary images of both texts are developed from a source, not limited to one place, but found in the soul of many divers people, because the symbols which arise from it are too typical for it to belong to one individual only. I put these images here to show how the primitive symbolism of light gradually developed, with the increasing depth of the vision, into the idea of the sun-hero, the "well-beloved."51 The development of the symbol of light is thoroughly typical. In addition to this, perhaps I might call to mind the fact that I have previously pointed out this course with numerous examples,52 and, therefore, I can spare myself the trouble of returning to this subject.53 These visionary occurrences are the psychological roots of the sun-coronations in the mysteries. Its rite is religious hallucination congealed into liturgical form, which, on account of its great regularity, could become a generally accepted outer form. After all this, it is easily understood how the ancient Christian Church, on one side, stood in an especial bond to Christ as "sol novus," and, on the other side, had a certain difficulty in freeing itself from the earthly symbols of Christ. Indeed
