Unveiling the Mythos of Iran 2

Searching for Mehr/Mithra Across the Imaginal Landscape of Iran

May 31, 2025

Philosophical Research Society | 3910 Los Feliz Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027 | 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM

This conference brings together academic and independent scholars, storytellers and artists to illuminate the mythic figure of Mehr—one of the most exalted forces in the Iranian tradition. Known as “Mithra” in Avestan and “Mehr” in Pahlavi and Persian, this ancient divinity was once revered as the god of love and light, guardian of oaths, protector of truth, and champion of the righteous.

To recognize Mehr is to perceive a central unifying thread running through more than three thousand years of Iranian thought.
This gathering proposes a bold hypothesis: that Mehr is Iran’s “superstory”—its most enduring myth and consistent metaphysical current. When we attune ourselves to this current, we begin to recognize Mithraic undertones in the work of Rumi and other Sufis, in the Illuminationist philosophy of Suhrawardi, at the heart of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, and perhaps even beyond Iran in Roman Mithraism.

Join us for a day of discovery, with illuminating talks, powerful performances, thought-provoking conversations, curated nourishment, and intentional self and community care.

Talks will be in English or Persian with English subtitles (provided on the screen).

Sold Out

The Program

Searching for Mehr

MARYAM SAYYAD - Curator and Host of the Conference

This year’s conference turns our attention toward the Iranian Mithraic tradition—to the myth, meaning, and mystery surrounding the figure of Mithra, or Mehr. The question before us is not, “Did Roman Mithraism originate in Iran?” but something more intimate and rooted: Can we perceive the Iranian vision of Mehr through the symbols, stories, and sensibilities native to its own mythic imagination? We gather not just to share research or piece together a fragmented lineage, but to touch a transformative secret perhaps—a wordless knowing threaded through Iran’s mythic past, rising in the charged present, and unfolding into a future yet to be written.

Invocation to Hūrakhsh, Soul of the Sun

SHILA VOSOUGH OMMI

A ritual recitation of a visionary text by Shihâbuddîn Yahyâ Suhrawardî. The "Invocation to Hūrakhsh" describes an initiatory ascent through the multipartite soul of the Sun. Originally composed in Arabic, it was first rendered in Persian by Mullā Sadrā, before being translated into French by Henri Corbin. The English version, translated by Hugo M. Van Woerkom from Corbin's French, is presented with slight revisions for contemporary resonance and cadence (revisions by Maryam Sayyad and Shila Ommi).

Siāvosh in the Shahnameh: The Birth of the Ancient Light

AMIR ARAGHI

In the battle between Iran and Tooran in the Shahnameh, an energy is born that has the power to heal all differences and show the path to a unification of energies that seem to be opposites. His truth, love, spirit and essence bring together these two lands and lead to the birth of a son who is heir to the royal lineage of both lands. The wisdom, purity and energy Siāvosh brings impact everyone around him, causing them to re-spark their love, their light and their mehr.

Traces of Mithra in the Seven Labors of Rostam: The Hero’s Quest and the Divine Oath

PAUL DARA SHAHPARAKI

This talk explores the Seven Labors of Rostam from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh as a symbolic map of the hero’s alignment with universal ideals. Can we find hidden traces of the God Mithra (Mehr), the deity of oaths, truth, and light in Rostam’s initiatory ordeals? Might our own heroic path begin with a vow to an inner ideal? This presentation invites reflection on myth as a guide to soul-making and personal transformation.

Lions and Mithras and Bulls: Tauroctony and Rumi’s Masnavi

OMID ARABIAN

Tauroctony figures prominently in ancient Roman Mithraism - depictions of Mithras slaying a bull were ubiquitous fixtures in Mithraic temples. These iconographic scenes are believed to convey a narrative about a heroic act that initiates a cosmic regeneration. Centuries later, the idea of heroic bull-killing also appears repeatedly in Rumi’s Masnavi. We’ll take a close look at two stories from the Masnavi, juxtapose them with the Roman tauroctonic narrative as well as older Iranian mythoi, and examine how Rumi reshapes this venerable trope and its symbology to express his own ontological views.

Hail to the Primordial Light

BANAFSHEH SAYYAD

FARED SHAFINURY

MOBINA NOURI

A creative response to Suhrawardi's "Invocation to Hūrakhsh" (produced by Maryam Sayyad).

Sama as the Living Embodiment of Mehr

BANAFSHEH SAYYAD

This talk explores the sacred Sufi practice of Sama (whirling) as a living, breathing expression of Mehr—divine love, compassion, and the radiant life-giving force symbolized by the sun in Iranian mysticism. Sama is a sacred technology that unites body, heart, and soul with the pulse of the cosmos. As we whirl, we dissolve our sense of separateness, becoming vessels of remembrance and luminous rays of Mehr. In this state of embodied devotion, we transmit love, harmony, and healing, offering ourselves as channels through which divine light enters and blesses the world.

Persepolis & Mount Mithra

TOURAJ DARYAEE - Keynote Historian

This is a talk about the positioning of Persepolis on a mountain whose name is associated with that of Mithra, the great Yazata of the ancient Indo-Iranian tradition. It is noteworthy that in the Avesta, the home of Mithra is on the mythical mountain of Harabarzaiti and in later Zoroastrian tradition, Persepolis and its mountain in Pahlavi texts become the location for the savior. But why was the mountain by Persepolis later associated with Mithra?

Iranian Shamanism to Monotheism: Insights from Haoma’s Fate for Mithra

SHAUHEEN ETMINAN, PHD

This presentation explores Zarathustra’s reforms that saw the demotion of revered pre-Zoroastrian Iranian deities like Haoma and Mithra. Once central to ancient Iranian shamanic rites and spiritual practices, they appear diminished or even rebuked in the Zarathustra's Gathas. Yet, both deities reemerge prominently later in Avesta (Hom Yasht and Mithra Yasht). By investigating Zarathustra’s reforms on the use of haoma, leading to the rebuke of corrupt priesthoods and their ritual intoxication, this study unpacks the motivations behind relegating all deities, including Mithra, to the supremacy of Ahura Mazda - taken as the advent of one of the earliest monotheistic religious doctrines, Mazdayasna in Iran.

Romantic Love in Mithraic Culture

GORDAFARID

The ancient Mithraic faith placed profound emphasis on the values of love and courageous action. These ideals not only shaped ethical conduct but also echoed through the romantic and cultural narratives of the time. This presentation examines how the theme of love is portrayed in ancient Iranian love stories and explores its deeper resonance within the Mithraic worldview.

Historical Continuity: The Influence of Mithraism on Javānmardī Tradition and Zurkhaneh Rituals

KOUROSH BEIGPOUR

Kourosh Beigpour's talk explores the deep-rooted connections between Mithraism and the enduring Iranian traditions of Javānmardī and Zurkhaneh, and architecture. Beigpour traces the historical foundations of these practices, revealing how Mithraic values of honor, discipline, and community have profoundly shaped their core principles. The talk delves into how the philosophical and spiritual tenets of Mithraism continue to influence—across centuries—the ethics, physicality, and architectural forms integral to the Zurkhaneh and Javānmardī traditions of self-discipline and noble conduct.

The Sound of the Sun: Echoes of Indo-Iranian Sun Worship in Music

FARED SHAFINURY

This presentation offers a unique synthesis of musical demonstration and scholarly insight, exploring the astrological and cosmological principles woven into classical Iranian music theory. Centering on the Radif—an ancient, orally transmitted repertoire—musician and scholar Fared Shafinury illustrates how its modal progressions reflect planetary motion and chart a sonic journey tracing the Sun’s rise, zenith, and descent. Could the cyclical structure, trance-inducing repetition, and solar motifs within the Radif echo rites of passage in the Mithraic tradition? By examining this profound musical system, we uncover enduring links between Iranian sound practices, cosmic order, and reverence for the solar cycle.

Presenters

AMIR ARAGHI

Amir Araghi is a practitioner and teacher of Iranian mystical traditions. He offers private instruction on the Shahnameh as a mystical epic, Rumi’s Masnavi, and the Upanishads, exploring their shared metaphysical insights and inner teachings.

OMID ARABIAN

Omid Arabian is the founder and director of YOUniversal Center (www.YOUniversal.org), where he conducts courses on eastern mysticism and western philosophy. His translations of Rumi have been published in three volumes; he is also the author of three children’s books based on Rumi’s poetry. Omid holds a B.A. in Architecture from Columbia University and an M.A. in Cinema Studies from NYU.

KOUROSH BEIGPOUR

Kourosh Beigpour is an award-winning artist and independent scholar specializing in Iranian identity, art, and mysticism. His work is part of the permanent collection at LACMA. He has presented at Stanford, Typecon, UCLA, and UCI, exploring cultural intersections in design and identity.

TOURAJ DARYAEE

Touraj Daryaee is the Director of the Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Professor of Ancient History at the University of California, Irvine.

SHAUHEEN ETMINAN, PHD

Dr. Shauheen Etminan is a scientist, mystic, and co-founder of VCENNA and Ancestral Magi. His research bridges ancient Iranian spiritual traditions and plant medicines with modern science, focusing on Haoma and altered states of consciousness. He brings an integrative lens to the revival of Iranian ancestral wisdom practices—centered on meditation, dreaming, and imagination—for contemporary applications in self-development, creativity, and psychospiritual growth.

GORDAFARID

The first female Naqqal, or traditional epic storyteller, of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Gordafarid has excelled in performing the traditional narration of Persian epics since 1998. https://gordafarid.net/

MOBINA NOURI

Mobina Nouri is a multidisciplinary artist whose work blends mysticism, storytelling, and personal narrative to explore identity and belonging. Rooted in her journey from Iran to the West, and with a foundation in performing arts, design, and a Ph.D. in Creativity Scienceher practice invites reflection on the hidden forces that shape human experience. www.mobinanouri.com

SHILA VOSOUGH OMMI

Shila Vosough Ommi is an actor, voiceover artist, and director whose impressive credentials in television, film and theatre include portraying Nahid Kamali on Apple TV’s Tehran, Pas Minos in Netflix’s KAOS, Cinder Lumen in Disney & Pixar’s Elemental among others. On stage, she recently appeared as the narrator in Twilight of the Empress at Theatre Del Sol.

PAUL DARA SHAHPARAKI

Born to a British mother and an Iranian father, Paul has always been passionate about bridging the divide between these two rich, beautiful cultures. His father, a poet, and his mother, a professor of English, instilled a love of literature in him at a very young age. For the past 11 years, he has taught literature, mythology, and Iranian history at AIS (Aeen e Iran Society) a Los Angeles academy devoted to Iranian thought, and is currently working on a book of Rumi and Hafez translations which not only provide the literal meaning of the words but also convey the passion and joy elicited by the poetic beauty of the original Persian.

FARED SHAFINURY

Fared Shafinury is a multi-instrumental Iranian-American musician, composer, educator, and cultural activist who blends traditional Iranian melodies with contemporary sounds to create impactful music that resonates with audiences worldwide. He founded the Radif Retreat institute of Classical Persian Music, where he teaches the Radif through setâr and poetry. www.FaredShafinury.com

BANAFSHEH SAYYAD

Iranian sacred dancer, choreographer, teacher, activist, and founder of Dance of Oneness®, Banafsheh Sayyad performs and teaches her award-winning work internationally. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Dance and Choreography from UCLA, and a Masters in Chinese Medicine. http://www.danceofoneness.org

Maryam Sayyad, Ph.D.

Maryam Sayyad, Ph.D. is an independent scholar of mythology and founder/director of The Garden of Noetic Arts. Committed to contextualizing Iranian mythology within the broader landscape of World Mythology, Maryam launched the Mythos of Iran series in 2023 with the conference, Unveiling the Mythos of Iran I, and produced the mythological musical Twilight of the Empress in 2024.

Sold Out

Make a donation here. 

Donate

Donate
No payment items has been selected yet
Primarily Sponsored by Take Action LA