d idea of _tabu_. Mithraic baptism wiped out moral
faults; the purity aimed at had become spiritual.

This perfect purity distinguishes the mysteries of Mithra from those of all
other Oriental gods. Serapis is the brother and husband of Isis, Attis the
lover of Cybele, every Syrian Baal is coupled with a spouse; but Mithra
lives alone. Mithra is chaste, Mithra is holy (_sanctus_),[51] and for the
worship of fecundity he substitutes a new reverence for continence.

However, although resistance to sensuality is laudable and although the
ideal of perfection of this Mazdean sect inclined towards the asceticism to
which the Manichean conception of virtue led, yet good does not consist
exclusively in abnegation and self-control, but also in action. It is not
sufficient for a religion to classify moral values, but in order to be
effective it must furnish motives for putting them into practice. Dualism
was peculiarly favorable for the development of individual effort and human
energy; here its influence was strongest. It taught that the world is the
scene of a perpetual struggle between two powers that share the mastery;
the goal to be reached is the disappearance of evil and the uncontested
dominion, the exclusive reign, of the good. Animals and plants, as well as
man, are drawn up in two rival camps perpetually hostile, and all nature
participates in the eternal combat of the two opposing principles. The
demons created by the infernal spirit emerge constantly from the abyss and
roam about the earth; they penetrate everywhere carrying corruption,
distress, {158} sickness and death. The celestial spirits and the
supporters of piety are compelled constantly to baffle their ever renewed
enterprises. The strife continues in the heart and conscience of man, the
epitome of the universe, between the divine law of duty and the suggestions
of the evil spirits. Life is a merciless war knowing no truce. The task of
the true Mazdean consisted in constantly fighting the evil in order to
bring about the gradual triumph of Ormuzd in the world. The believer was
the assistant of the gods in their work of purification and improvement.

The worshipers of Mithra did not lose themselves in a contemplative
mysticism like other sects. Their morality particularly encouraged action,
and during a period of laxness, anarchy and confusion, they found
stimulation, comfort and support in its precepts. Resistance to the
promptings of degrading instincts ass