THE MYSTERIES OF MITHRAS, Volume II
From Mithra to Mithras
– The Birth of a Roman Mystery Cult –
by Peter Mark Adams
From acclaimed esoteric scholar Peter Mark Adams—author of Ritual & Epiphany in the Mysteries of Mithras (The Mysteries of Mithras, Volume I), The Game of Saturn, Mystai, and Hagia Sophia / Sanctum of Kronos—comes a major new study of the origins of one of antiquity’s most enigmatic mystery traditions.
The second and final volume of Adams’ The Mysteries of Mithras, From Mithra to Mithras turns eastward in search of the Roman cult’s ritual ancestry. Tracing its roots through the Persianate kingdoms of Hellenistic Anatolia, Adams explores a world poised between Rome and Parthia, where ancient Persian traditions survived within the ruling elites even as new religious forms emerged to secure legitimacy and loyalty.
At the centre stand the Magi: the hereditary Median priesthood whose esoteric Mazdean praxis united Mithra, sacrifice, sacred fire, the ritual banquet, divine presence and the entheogenic plant spirit haoma. Drawing upon Commagene, Mount Nemrut, the philoi or “friends of the king”, Anatolian cave sanctuaries and ancient testimony, Adams reconstructs a possible pathway by which this ritual complex entered restricted courtly circles before reaching Rome.
There it underwent a decisive transformation, as an older performative core was recast through Orphic myth, astral symbolism, initiatory grades and the brotherhood of the mithraeum. Contemporary accounts from a living Haoma shamanic community further illuminate the experiential and entheogenic dimensions of this archaic ritual world.
Neither a Persian cult transplanted intact to Rome nor a wholly Roman invention clothed in eastern imagery, the Mysteries of Mithras emerge here through a layered process of continuity, transmission and metamorphosis—the long passage through which Mithra became Mithras.
Richly illustrated and interdisciplinary, From Mithra to Mithras: The Birth of a Roman Mystery Cult offers a striking new account of the origins of Rome’s great initiatory tradition.
The Mysteries of Mithras Volume II is published by Theion Publishing in two limited editions.
Bibliographic Details
- 272 pages, measuring 170 x 240 mm.
- Printed on premium 120gsm wood-free paper.
- Features metallic auburn-colored endpapers, gold headbands and a gold ribbon marker.
- Includes numerous greyscale and two full color illustrations.
Fine Hardcover Edition (PRE-ORDER)
- Bound in high quality red fine cloth, manufactured in Germany.
- Features a printed and embossed cover, lettering on rounded spine.
- Limited to 788 copies.
- Price: 78,- EUR + shipping (incl. VAT if applicable).
- Delivery at Theion expected November 25.
Auric Edition (PRE-ORDER)
- Fully hand-bound in fine burgundy leather, crafted in Germany from premium bull hides.
- Features blind and gold embossing on the front, gold lettering and raised bands on rounded spine.
- Presented in a custom slipcase.
- Limited to 48 hand-numbered copies.
- 385,- EUR + shipping (incl. VAT if applicable).
- Expected about a month after the Fine Hardcover Edition.
Disclaimer: Images of the book/Editions are mock-ups. The actual books may slightly differ in small details and color.
