Ritual & Epiphany in the Mysteries of Mithras – The Secret Cult of Saturn in Imperial Rome
Peter Mark Adams
Published in Europe from Theionpublishing.com. In the UK available from: Watkins Bookshop, London, or Courtyard Books, Glastonbury. In the USA from: Miskatonic Books, Edge of the Circle Books
Peter Mark Adams challenges current academic conventions by restoring the term ‘mysteries’ to the cult of Mithras, placing it firmly within the esoteric traditions of the ancient world. A thought-provoking and invaluable contribution to Mithraic studies.
Peter Mark Adams ’Ritual & Epiphany in the Mysteries of Mithras’ is a bold and compelling reassessment of Mithraic initiation and cosmology. His work stands out for its profound exploration of Orphic influences and theurgy, breathing new life into long-overlooked aspects of the cult.
(A. A., The New Mithraeum | mithraeum.eu)
It is a fantastic book. Such a great resource to truly grasp the role of Mithraism in the evolution of Western esotericism. Adams manages to pack so much information into his writing and yet retains a certain levity and readability despite the staggering amount of research and thinking that it is based upon.
(H. L., Mithraic Researcher)
From acclaimed esoteric scholar Peter Mark Adams — author of The Game of Saturn, Mystai, Hagia Sophia / Sanctum of Kronos, Two Esoteric Tarots (with Christophe Poncet), and The Power of the Healing Field — comes a landmark study that redefines our understanding of Western Europe’s most enigmatic mystery cult.
Ritual & Epiphany in the Mysteries of Mithras – The Secret Cult of Saturn in Imperial Rome takes readers deep into the heart of the Mithraic mysteries, offering a profound exploration of the cult’s ritual practices and transformative visionary experiences. Blending cutting-edge scholarship with first-hand accounts of initiation and contemporary ethnographies of ritual performance, Adams provides an unparalleled glimpse into this ancient esoteric tradition.
Approaching the material from an emic (insider’s) perspective, the author examines the cult’s hierarchical grade structure, ceremonial roles, and ritual mechanics — revealing how initiates invoked the serpent power and encountered the awe-inspiring epiphany of Saturn-Kronos, the sovereign time-deity.
Through a richly interdisciplinary lens — drawing on Orphic metaphysics, Greco-Roman ritual theory, art history, and comparative ethnographies of initiation — Adams vividly animates Mithraic iconography, frescoes, and reliefs as ritual grammar encoding the lived phenomenology of participation.
Richly illustrated and deeply insightful, this volume revives the Cult of Mithras as Western Europe’s preeminent mystery tradition, offering readers both scholarly rigor and spiritual resonance.
References/ earlier reviews:
Review: Mystai – dancing out the mysteries of Dionysos
Review: Two Esoteric Tarots:
Review: The Power of the Healing Field:
