Editing Fontus (section)

==Fons Perennis==
Water as a source of regeneration played a role in the [[Mithraic mysteries]], and inscriptions to ''Fons Perennis'' ("Eternal Spring" or "Never-Failing Stream") have been found in [[mithraeum|mithraea]]. In one of the scenes of the Mithraic cycle, the god strikes a rock, which then gushes water. A Mithraic text explains that the stream was a source of life-giving water and immortal refreshment.<ref>Vivienne J. Walters, ''The Cult of Mithras in the Roman Provinces of Gaul'' (Brill, 1974), p. 47.</ref> Dedications to "inanimate entities" from Mithraic narrative ritual, such as ''Fons Perennis'' and ''Petra Genetrix'' ("Generative Rock"), treat them as divine and capable of hearing, like the [[nymph]]s and healing powers to whom these are more often made.<ref>Richard Gordon, "Institutionalized Religious Options: Mithraism," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 398.</ref>