The Game of Saturn
Decoding the Sola-Busca tarrochi
by Peter Mark Adams
The Game of Saturn is the first full length, scholarly study of the enigmatic Renaissance masterwork known as the Sola-Busca tarot. It reveals the existence of a pagan liturgical and ritual tradition active amongst members of the Renaissance elite and encoded within the deck. Beneath its beautifully decorated surface, its imagery ranges from the obscure to the grotesque; we encounter scenes of homoeroticism, wounding, immolation and decapitation redolent of hidden meanings, violent transformations and obscure rites.
For the first time in over five hundred years, the clues embedded within the cards reveal a dark gnostic grimoire replete with pagan theurgical and astral magical rites. Careful analysis demonstrates that the presiding deity of this ‘cult object’ is none other than the Gnostic demiurge in its most archaic and violent form: the Afro-Levantine serpent-dragon, Ba’al Hammon, also known as Kronos and Saturn, though more notoriously as the biblical Moloch, the devourer of children.
Conveyed from Constantinople to Italy in the dying years of the Byzantine Empire, the pagan Platonist George Gemistos Plethon sought to ensure the survival of the living essence of Neoplatonic theurgy by transplanting it to the elite families of the Italian Renaissance. Within that violent and sorcerous milieu, Plethon’s vision of a theurgically enlightened elite mutated into its dark shadow – a Saturnian brotherhood, operating within a cosmology of predation, which sought to channel the draconian current to preserve elite wealth, power and control. This development marks the birth of an ‘illumined elite’ over three centuries before Adam Weishaupt’s ‘Illuminati.’ The deck captures the essence of this magical tradition and constitutes a Western terma whose talismanic properties may serve to establish an initiatory link with the current.
This work fully explores the historical context for the deck’s creation against the background of tense Ferrarese-Venetian diplomatic intrigue and espionage. The recovery of the deck’s encoded narratives constitutes a significant contribution to Renaissance scholarship, art history, tarot studies and the history of Western esotericism.
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Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
I Decoding the Deck’s Hidden Symbolism
The Deck’s Structure and Major Themes
Hidden Meanings and Ancient Lore
The Esoteric Worldview of the Renaissance Elite
Planetary Powers
The Alexandrian Theme
The Babylonian Theme
The Carthaginian Thesis
II The Rites of Ammon & the Cult of Saturn
The Rites of Ammon
The Return of the Cult of Saturn
III Theurgical Rites & Magical Rituals
Man as Magus
Sexual Magic and Alchemy
IV Art, Diplomacy & Espionage
The Deck’s Origins
Diplomacy and Espionage
V Conclusions
Appendices
i Evidence that the Sola-Busca’s design was derived from a literary, rather than an artistic, blueprint
ii Hidden codes and secret ciphers
iii Summary of the Doctrines of Zoroaster and Plato
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index
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Extensively illustrated in full colour
Paperback Edition
320 pages. Sewn paperback. Full colour card cover with French flaps on front and rear. Printed in full colour on 150 gsm paper.
ISBN: 978-1-912316-04-5
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Press, reviews, endorsements
“The Game Of Saturn, Peter Mark Adams’ magnum opus of the Sola-Busca tarocchi deck is an incredibly well researched, highly provocative work that delves into the symbols as well as the cultural context of the deck’s creation. It creates a framework for viewing the references hidden in the layers of visual meaning in this masterpiece of cartomantic art.
As a work of scholarly discipline The Game of Saturn will sit in history on the bookshelf next to Crowley’s Book of Thoth, Waite’s The Pictoral Key to the Tarot, and Jodorowsky’s The Way of Tarot. It is a profound work that looks at various angles and considers possibilities and narratives outside of the rote academic plot. Without being dogmatic in its interpretation Adams presents various insights into the reflective nature of the content in the context of war torn Venice and Ferarra in the 15th century noble houses…
…Any student of the tarot, cartomancy, or divination in general would do well to have this volume in their library. It is a foundational text, bringing illumination to a corner of occult history that is long overdue.”
The Skeptical Occultist - read the full review here
“Alban Berg, a Viennese composer and master of the 12-tone technique said the following: ‘The best magic always results from ecstasies of logic.’
While reading this book, I kept hearing this line at the back of my head. The more I heard this line, the more I appreciated the book.
I can say that there are two kinds of appreciation that go into my experience of reading it: One pragmatic and one aesthetic. The pragmatic relates to the author’s dedication to his idea: ‘This tarot, or tarocchi, is a dark grimoir used for conjurations of dark forces.’
The aesthetic relates to seeing how images can be used to tell a wild story: historical events and characters, malefic fixed stars, and romance literature all come together in Peter Mark Adams’s book in order to tell a story of what is plausible and what is possible. The basic question is: how does the elite maintain its power, wealth, and privilege?”
Taroflexions - read the full review here
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About the Author
Peter Mark Adams is an author, poet, esotericist and professional energy worker specialising in the ethnography and visuality of ritual, sacred landscape, esotericism, consciousness and healing.
Peter’s esoteric non-fiction is published by Scarlet Imprint; non-fiction concerning energy healing and consciousness by Inner Traditions. Peter’s literary prose and poetry has appeared in Corbel Stone Press’ literary journal Reliquiae: Journal of Nature, Landscape & Mythology and the Bosphorus Review of Books. Reviews of esoterically related works have appeared on the dedicated esoteric book review site, Paralibrum.
A range of essays examining other than human encounters have appeared in the peer reviewed journals Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal and The Journal of Exceptional Experiences and Psychology, and are available on Peter’s academia.edu page. With a background in Philosophy from the University of Liverpool, Peter pursues advanced studies on iconology and iconographic; Renaissance art and material culture with the Warburg Institute’s School of Advanced Studies in London.
