Christianity hardly has a monopoly on the theme of resurrection, particularly around the winter holidays. A couple of thousand years ago, followers of a god named Mithras celebrated rebirth in much the same way as the followers of Jesus do today. Mithras was an early Roman god of the sun, who was born around the time of the winter solstice and then experienced a resurrection around the spring equinox. Sound familiar? The cult of Mithras was a mystery religion, like that of Cybele and many other Roman Pagan beliefs. Author Ceisiwr Serith describes the cult’s temples, or Mithraea, as being relatively small, and typically hidden underground. He also points out that it was only open to men, and very…