Recent studies of the Sufi/ dervish orders as well as the rites of the Zurkhaneh have hinted at possible connections to an ancient Mithraic cult. Yet, as noted by Marcel Simon in regards to Roman Mithraic societies, the latter did not offer a new cult but rather the possibility of adhesion to a brotherhood. The purpose of this paper is to suggest the existence of similar Mithraic societies in pre-Islamic Iran, with a hierarchical structure, a code of conduct, initiation rites and symbols that was subsequently inherited by a vast segment of Iranian society at the sub-elite level, organized as brotherhoods. They of course had to adjust the tenets of their teachings to the prevailing religious atmosphere and underwent several metamorphoses; but because of their hierarchical structure, these brotherhoods had always the potential to grow militant and become a political force. Thus at times, they were feared and persecuted by the elite in power, and at others, they actually took the reins of power.