The Mysteries of Mithras
(Simon and Schuster)
Payam Nabarz
This book is an overview of Mithraism, the ancient Iranian mystery religion popular in the Roman Legions.
It provides a comprehensive history of Mithraism, including its influence on Christianity and Islam that includes rituals, meditations, and teaching tales for readers who wish to follow the Mithraic path.
“The Mysteries of Mithras presents a revival of the magical practices and initiatory system of Mithraism, the ancient Roman mystery religion that was immensely popular in the Roman Legions from the late second century B.C. until A.D. 400 and was taken to every corner of the Roman Empire.
As the last pagan state religion in Europe, it was the most important competitor to early Christianity and heavily influenced Christian doctrine and symbolism. The parallels between Christianity and ancient Mithraism are striking–for example, the god Mithra was born of a virgin in a cave on December 25.
Payam Nabarz reveals the history, origins, and spiritual and philosophical tenets of Mithraism and its connections to Christianity, Islam, and Freemasonry.
He also describes the modern neo-pagan practice of Mithraism in evidence today and for readers who wish to adopt the Mithraic path, he includes seven of its initiatory rituals and meditations, as well as orations and teaching tales, that open the door to the seven Mithraic grades of passage.”
Necessary Illusions
Paperback – September 29, 2021
Kambiz Zarrabi
We use the toolbox of the mind to uncover the secrets of existence, the meaning of life, and our purpose and place in the universe. What tool do we have to investigate the nature of the mind; surely not the mind itself. Can the mind be its own witness to testify for its legitimacy? What judge would consider such testimony convincing enough to vindicate the claimant? The dilemma is resolved when the judge who presides at this trial is the mind’s own reflection, projected to create NECESSARY ILLUSIONS, its deliverance from chaos and confusion. But such illusions work only if they are perceived as real, even beyond real; SACRED!
The Heartbeat of Iran:
Real Voices of A Country and Its People
Paperback
Tara Kangarlou
“Here are tender, lyrical, colorful stories of an Iran that Americans do not know and have no way of discovering directly. Tara Kangarou has created a work of people-to-people diplomacy, using her words to paint pictures of a very different country than the harsh, angry land depicted in the news. If only Iranians could read a similar account of the Heartbeat of the United States!” ―Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America
“With all of the talk about Iran, we hear far too little about the stories of the Iranian people themselves. The Heartbeat of Iran gives us the individual stories of Iranians – an illuminating and powerful portrait of a people who have been so often mischaracterized, and whose voices deserve to be heard.” ―Ben Rhodes, author of The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House
“In no other time in history has there been such need for building bridges and closing the divides. Tara Kangarlou’s Heartbeat Of Iran takes us to a country that has long been isolated and enables us to see Iran through its heart and soul ― its people.”―Margot Wallström, former Foreign Minister Of Sweden
“Tara Kangarlou’s The Heartbeat Of Iran is an impressive, unique, and much needed addition to the compendium of literature on Iran. Using the personal stories of ordinary individuals, she brings to life the Iranian people―a people much misunderstood (and even maligned) in the west―and allows them their own voice in showing us what makes them who they are.” ―Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
In today’s interconnected global village, Iran remains a mystery to much of the rest of the world―especially to those living in the United States and the west. While the country is often synonymous with rogue behavior on the world stage, there is also another, rarely seen side to this nation of 80 million, including being home to the greatest number of Jews in the Middle East outside of Israel, and having the largest transsexual population in the region, among other unexpected surprises.
The Heartbeat of Iran takes us on a journey into everyday life in Iran, where we meet the diverse people who make up the country’s delicate socio-cultural, political, and religious mosaic. Through textured portraits of regular Iranians―from a blind Sunni environmental activist to the gay son of a general, from Iran’s first female race car driver to a young rabbi who is training the future generation of Jewish rabbis in Israel’s enemy state―The Heartbeat of Iran reveals a people whose dreams and fears mirror that of millions of others worldwide, and who yearn to join an international community that often views them through the blur of a hostile political fog.