Mihr
Son of Aramazd, god of the sun, covenant and the fire that never goes out; kin to Iranian Mithra.
Lord of Heavenly Light and Sacred Fire
Mihr is the light by which oaths are seen. Like Mithra before him he watches the contract between people and burns the perjurer; the sun's daily circuit is his patrol of the world.
The temple at Garni — the one Hellenistic peripteral temple left standing in the highlands, raised in the first century over a gorge of basalt — is by long tradition his sanctuary, sited so that the sun strikes the cella at the solstice.
In Armenian legend Mher, his medieval descendant in the epic of Sasun, is shut inside the Raven's Rock and will come out only when the world is made just. The god of light waits inside the mountain.
Mehekan, the seventh month, and the fire-festival of Trndez both carry his name and his flame.
Sacred Associations
Associations
Կապեր- The sun, daylight, clear seeing
- Oaths, contracts and kept promises
- The perpetual sacred fire
- Justice that cannot be bribed
Realms
Տիրոյթներ- The temple of Garni and stone terraces facing east
- The solstice sun
- Caves and rock-doors where light waits
- The hearth
Sacred Offerings
Ընծաներ- A lamp kept alight through a full day and night
- Cedar, juniper or sandalwood on coals
- Bread baked on an open flame
- A written promise, read out and kept
Taboos
Արգելքներ- Never break a promise made before his flame; this is the one unforgivable act.
- Do not extinguish his lamp with water or breath — let it burn down or cap it.
- Do not deal falsely in trade on a day you have lit his fire.
Sacred Colours
Գոյներ- Solar gold
- White fire
- Deep orange
Sacred Numbers
Թիւեր- Seven — the month Mehekan and the seven days of the kept vow
- Four — the solstices and equinoxes
Establishing a Relationship
- 1
Make small promises and keep them exactly. Mihr's relationship is built entirely on your reliability; nothing else counts with him.
- 2
Greet the sun. A minute at the window at first light, every day, is the whole practice.
- 3
Mark the solstices and Trndez (13–14 February) with fire.
The Kept Vow
Sunrise; solstice, Trndez, or the day you undertake something binding
- 1Face east before the sun has cleared the horizon. Have a lamp or candle ready, unlit.
- 2As the first light touches you, light the flame from a match struck in one motion.
- 3Say: 'Mihr, son of Aramazd, lord of light — you see what is said and what is done. Witness me.'
- 4Speak one vow, small enough that you are certain you can keep it, and set a date by which it is done.
- 5Write it on paper and place it under the lamp.
- 6Let the lamp burn all day. Do not leave the house without checking it once.
- 7When the vow is fulfilled, burn the paper in his flame and say: 'Kept.' If you fail, say so aloud at the same flame and make it good before you ask anything else of him.