But with the Enlightenment and the birth of exact science, the practice moved to places where mystery was still permitted, inspiring literature, art, and psychology, and influenced artists and thinkers such as Goethe, Byron, and Blake.

As author Andrea Richards recounts in Astrology, the second volume in TASCHEN’s Library of Esotericaseries, astronomy and astrology were once sister sciences: the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid at Giza was built to align with constellations, Persian scholars oversaw some of the first observatories, and even Galileo cast horoscopes for the Medicis. While modern-day horoscopes may be the most familiar form of astrological knowledge, their lineage reaches back to ancient Mesopotamia. The practice has both inspired reverence and worship, and deepened our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. The movement of celestial bodies and their relation to our human lives has been the central tenant of astrology for thousands of years. Referring to the Mytho-Hermetic Dictionary repays the effort every time.From the beginning of human history, individuals across cultures and belief systems have looked to the sky for meaning. Whereas Roob's book is more accessible to beginners, the Pernety book allows a deeper dive into the Hermetic Arcana. This English language translation from the original French, executed by Joseph Zabinski, gives great insight into what the exotic and abstract imagery and terms in alchemical texts are meant to convey both in practical and allegorical arenas. Meanwhile Dom Antoin-Josef Pernety's Mytho-Hermetic Dictionary supplies us not only with mythological and symbolic imagery but also with illuminating definitions of the alchemical opus which unlock the mysteries of the allegories of the myths in alchemical texts. This is one of those books that deserves a place in any esoteric library. This full color tribute to alchemical art is packed full of imagery covering the many byways of the magnum opus and gathers many of the images into distinct subjects such as the various stages of the work to anthropomorphic forms common to alchemical themes. Taschen puts out so many of these so-called brick books but Alchemy and Mysticism is certainly one of my favorites.Īlchemy is also known as the Royal Art and this stems from the fact the alchemists work with nature to bring about transmutation of matter into a new state, but also because the books and manuscripts often express the esoteric concepts in artful ways. In preparing for my upcoming class Cosmology in Hermetic Alchemy and I find myself really enjoying the great resource Alexander Roob's book can be.

Taschen alchemy