Sergei Zotov (Frances Yates Fellow): 'Magical Transmutations: Mutual Influences of Alchemical and Grimoire Imagery in Early Modern Manuscripts'

"Could alchemical images permeate magic and occult manuscripts, challenging the common perception of these practices as distinct and unrelated? Evidence suggests that this might indeed be the case. A recently discovered German paper amulet includes a ciphered quotation from the 1616 alchemical work Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, positioned alongside a six-pointed cross from the Spanish city of Caravaca and the well-known magical incantation ‘abracadabra’. This instance is not unique: during the early modern period, alchemical imagery and texts frequently appeared in magic books and grimoires."

19 Mar 2025
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Warburg Institute

ATTENDANCE FREE ONLINE WITH ADVANCE BOOKING

https://www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events...gery-early

"Did Giuseppe Francesco Borri unlock the secrets of alchemy?  Legend claims he left behind cryptic clues to the transmutation process.  This video explores the myths and realities surrounding Borri's alchemical work and the enduring mystery of his lost knowledge."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Pjn64k5r0

"The world of alchemy was rich with discovery and debate. Andreas Libavius was a pivotal figure in this realm, recognized for his alchemical experiments, writings on chrysopoeia, and critiques of Paracelsus. This video explores Libavius's contributions to alchemy, his intricate relationship with Paracelsian thought, and the controversies surrounding his work."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovBqyhtErEc

"Courtier, diplomat, and alchemist. This video delves into the lesser-known alchemical pursuits of this fascinating 17th-century figure. From his collaborations with other alchemists to his reported discovery of the alkahest, we explore Henshaw's role in the world of Renaissance alchemy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWaJCn0yWr8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hen...alchemist)

   

"We turn lead to gold as David Pantano joins the Virtual Alexandria to discuss his new book, Alchemical Hermeticism. He’ll reveal a hidden world of consciousness, initiation, and personal transformation. Journey into the secrets of the inner laboratory, where symbolic science meets esoteric knowledge to reconcile opposing forces within the self. Uncover the power of Gnosis, the tetradic structure of being, and the integration of human and divine through direct experience and practical application. David reveals how to achieve self-sovereignty through the transformative art of Hermetic alchemy."

Get the book: https://amzn.to/41aaG3M

Joel Blackstock.

"Gerhard Dorn (c. 1530-1584) was a prominent figure in the 16th century world of alchemy, philosophy, and medicine. Living during the height of the Renaissance and the dawn of the Scientific Revolution, Dorn made significant contributions to the development of alchemical thought and practice. His ideas influenced many later alchemists and had a lasting impact on Western esoteric traditions."

https://gettherapybirmingham.com/gerhard...visionary/

"'The whole Renaissance is in this library.' This is how Frances A. Yates described John Dee’s library in her Theatre of the World (1969, p. 12). Others similarly claimed that his collection constituted the scientific academy of Renaissance England. With its three to four thousand volumes, Dee’s library in Mortlake was indeed not only the largest library compiled in Elizabethan England but also the most comprehensive, representing virtually every aspect of classical, medieval and Renaissance learning."

https://archaeologyofreading.org/john-de...or-corpus/

"On the 400th anniversary of Paracelsus' death in 1941, the state ordered the production of a major film biography shortly thereafter. This was preceded by numerous festive events and literary publications in honour of the Swiss physician that took place in the same year.

Principal photography of Paracelsus began on 7 July 1942 and ended in early November of the same year. The film was shot at the Barrandov Studios in Prague.

Since Paracelsus died in Salzburg, the film's premiere took place on 12 March 1943 in the hall of the Salzburg Festspielhaus. Only Karl Hartl's Mozart film Wen die Götter lieben had previously premiered there. Bavaria boss Helmut Schreiber gave a short speech. Director Pabst and some of the leading actors were also present.

The Berlin premiere of Paracelsus took place on 6 May 1943.

After the film was approved by the censors, Paracelsus was given the Nazi rating ‘politically and artistically valuable’.

The film is in the tradition of various other large-scale productions of the Third Reich, with which, especially between 1939 and 1943, larger-than-life personalities of Central European history from the fields of politics, art and science were to be honoured. These include Robert Koch, the Fighter Against Death, Friedrich Schiller – The Triumph of a Genius, Bismarck, The Great King, Ohm Krüger, Rembrandt and Andreas Schlüter. The intention behind these usually very expensive and lavishly produced film biographies with high-calibre casts was always a political one: the aim was to create an analogy to Adolf Hitler and the ‘genius’ claimed for him by Nazi propaganda. The title heroes of these films were always larger than life and the visionaries who had to prevail against all competition, especially in the tough fight against the small-minded, grumblers and envious people around them, were always far superior to the mediocrity of their adversaries – in Paracelsus, these were councillors, the Magister and other rival doctors.

The expressionist dancer Harald Kreutzberg appeared in a feature film for the first time here.

The sets were designed by Herbert Hochreiter and Walter Schlick, the costumes were designed by Herbert Ploberger.

The production costs amounted to about 2,709,000 Reichsmarks. With takings of 3.5 million Reichsmarks by January 1945, the film was considered a box-office flop.

For the first post-war screening in 1959, the film was shortened from 106 to 97 minutes. The German-French cultural channel Arte broadcast a 99-minute version on 16 January 2001. The film has the same running time on the DVD, which was released on 11 October 2013. The version released by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in 2021 by ‘WVG Medien’ has a running time of 102 minutes."


(From Wikipedia https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus_(Film) by machine translation).

Complete movie with English and Russian subtitles here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvRlBtvOk0E

My translation for Adam's Magnum Opus series is now available in paperback from Amazon.


The Aurora consurgens is one of the most important of early alchemical manuscripts.

Created around the early 15th century it interwove spiritual, allegorical and material alchemy.

It used a series of 38 coloured emblems to illustrate its ideas, some of which are so striking that they have become well known even outside the realm of alchemical enthusiasts.

The earliest manuscript has become damaged and incomplete and a number of these images are missing. For this edition, the complete text has been newly translated by Paul Ferguson from the printed Latin versions. The edition of the Aurora consurgens by von Franz issued in 1966 left out the whole of Book Two and did not include the illustrations, so this Magnum Opus edition finally allows the work to be viewed as the author intended it.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DTR7CCP2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTR7CCP2

Interesting article from the Madras Courier.


https://madrascourier.com/insight/harley-manuscripts/