The Temple of Mithras
Mithras Temple
The Three Altars at the Subterranean Temple
 Near Vindolanda lie the remains of an old subterranean temple of Mithras which houses three altars and a decapitated statue. Holger took several pictures. The reader will remember that before the spreading of Christianity most officers in the legions were initiates of Mithras, ‘Sol Invictus’, at whose principal Midwinter feast a bull was sacrificed. Mithraic temples were almost always located in a cave or a crypt and had a frieze depicting the God sacrificing the Bull, as well as pictures of a Scorpion and a Lion.
The Bull, the Lion, the Scorpion, and Mithras Himself (Aquarius), form the four fixed signs of the Zodiac. Christians later acknowledged the importance of these ‘creatures’ when they associated each of them with one of the four gospels. It is worth noting that a Raven and a Dog (Wolf) were also often depicted. Thus, the Bull (Taurus), Raven (Gemini), Wolf (Cancer) and Lion (Leo) formed the first four signs of the Zodiak at the time when the equinoctial Sun rose in Taurus and the Mithras cult originated. We will meet these animals, plus four more, again when we discuss the Pictish Sculptured standing Stones. The religion of Mithras knew seven degrees of initiation: Corax (Raven), Nymphus (Bridegroom), Miles (Soldier), Leo (Lion), Perses (Persian), Heliodromus (Courier-of-the-Sun), and Pater (Father). With a prayer to Sol Invictus we took our leave and continued our voyage. We stopped briefly at a Roman Army Museum, which we didn’t visit - it mainly being a tourist trap - but in front of which stood a magnificent giant Maple.
In bright sunshine, we continued on B6318 until Greenhead where we switched to A69 and after Brampton to A689 turning onto A74 North of Carlisle which brought us to the village of Gretna Green where we crossed the official present day border into Alba. From Gretna we took A75 to Dumfries and then A76 North. After a few km on this road, at Newbridge, we saw a sign to a Stone Circle called “The twelve Apostles”. Unfortunately, as neither of us was much in the mood for apostles, we ignored it and drove on. Shortly above Thornhill is a sign to Drumlanrig castle. Through a beautifully wooded and hilly countryside we drove to the castle, where we were dumbstruck by its incredibly ugly architecture. From then on, we decided to ignore all further castles.
The Maple
The Magnificient Maple
On our way back, however, and still in sight of the monstrosity that is Drumlanrig, we were happy to discover in a meadow to our left a spectacular Oak tree, short but enormously thick, almost like a baobab. And on we drove, taking B741 at New Cumnock to Straiton where we took B7045 to Maybole from where we drove along B7023 and then A719 North to Dunure on the West coast of Alba.