the mithraeum primarily functioned as an area for initiation, in which the soul descends and exits. the mithraeum itself was arranged as an "image of the universe". it is noticed by some researchers that this movement, especially in the context of mithraic iconography (see below), seems to stem from the neoplatonic concept that the "running" of the sun from solstice to solstice is a parallel for the movement of the soul through the universe, from pre-existence, into the body, and then beyond the physical body into an afterlife.