Deployment of new methods, such as the anthropology of religion and the cognitive science of religion

A wide range of comparisons, from both ancient and modern cultures

Presents an entirely original semiotic theory for Mithraism`s astral symbolism

Focuses on the initiate as someone actively engaged in the creation of religion by cognition and representation rather than as the passive consumer of a product


A study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the `mystery cults` popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Roger Beck describes Mithraism from the point of view of the initiate engaging with the religion and its rich symbolic system in thought, word, ritual action, and cult life. He employs the methods of anthropology of religion and the new cognitive science of religion to explore in detail the semiotics of the Mysteries` astral symbolism, which has been the principal subject of his many previous publications on the cult.