Mythos of Iran 2: Searching for Mehr/Mithra in the Imaginal Landscape of Iran

MAY 31, 2025 | PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY | 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM | CURATOR, PRODUCER, HOST, PRESENTER

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).

Learn more at https://gardenofnoeticarts.org/unveiling-the-mythos-of-iran/