Hi there,

I am a PhD student working in the domains of philosophy and esotericism; I am also a musician-singer, and I have undertaken the endeavor to transform philosophy and esotericism into music. I share with you my musical exposition of the early alchemist, Zosimos of Panopolis.

Zosimos of Panopolis (fl. 300 ce) can be cited as the most significant Greco Egyptian alchemist. In his text “Of Virtue, Lessons 1-3,” Zosimos recounts a series of psychedelic and disturbing dreams that he interprets as alchemical allegories. I have endeavored to present a thorough yet concise musical summary of its contents herein. You will encounter the alchemical lexicon here expressed in raw, primal form. This text is actually mind-blowing, and my exposition endeavors to be both fun and didactic. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTjZ4uVgS94

 Hi there,

I am a folk singer/musician and PhD student (writing my dissertation on philosophy and esotericism) who has taken on the endeavor to transform philosophy into music, aestheticize knowledge. Enclosed is my musical exposition of the mystical aspects of Platonic philosophy, especially the aspects which the Neoplatonists would reinterpret in their understanding of the mystical ascent. The song primarily follows the trajectory of the Phaedrus and the Symposium, but also references the Republic, Meno, Phaedo, Critias, and the Timaeus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1_DeeQ3YLE

I created a lot of hand drawn animations for it, and included a lot of alchemical imagery, as many alchemists did indeed interpret Plato alchemically. I also created a number of animations of the images from the great Neo/Platonist Renaissance magi Robert Fludd, my own artwork, one of Athanasius Kircher’s illustrations, an image from the alchemical treatise the Rosarium Philosophorum, and images from ancient Greek art (the sirens and Eros) that I adapted. Yes, sirens in the ancient Greek context were envisioned as avian rather than aquatic humanoids! The chariot animation was created using the still frames of a film of a horse running (it took awhile to make!).

Some nuances: the line “drinking from the lake of memory” is an allusion to Orphism, as Plato’s theory of anamnesis derives from the Orphic cult. I am also dressed in Egyptian-style attire at one point, a subtle reference to Plato’s debt to the ancient Egyptian religion.

I have been studying and writing about Plato in an academic context for more than 12 years now, I’ve read and written about these texts a lot over the years, and I feel a very deep philosophical affinity with Plato’s philosophy. Though a rationalized mysticism, Plato preserves the knowledge of mythic traditions and mystery cults. In addition to my own knowledge and experience working with this philosophical material, I took inspiration from the books of the late Algis Uzdavinys, one of my favorite scholars, in the construction of the narrative, specifically his texts The Golden Chain and Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism. I also include citations at the end, citing the sources for these lyrics to give it a bit more scholarly weight. I just finished writing about eleven thousand words on Plato for my PhD thesis concomitantly as I constructed this creative artifact, so sharing this feels like a personal culmination. I hope you enjoy this experimental didactic production! As Socrates relates, philosophy is the best music (Phaedo 61a).

I have now created all 514 seals of the Ars Theurgia Goetia, Book 2 of the Lesser Key of Solomon and put them online on Pinterest in 500x500 pixels on a white background including functional tracing boards for each spirit. This fully functional occult ritual symbolism drawn by a Golden Dawn Hermit can be used without restriction for private and personal magical work.

The Compass of Andras by Zévart

I will soon be releasing the Seals of Solomon collection with all 514 seals of the Ars Theurgia Goetia in the Ethereum blockchain as NFT crypto art limited edition in gold and silver.

Hi there,

I am a PhD student, also a folk-singer/musician endeavoring to transform philosophy and esotericism into music. I have for you an alchemical poem by the great German Romantic poet-philosopher-mage Novalis that I have rendered into musical form; I also provide a commentary at the end of the video, illuminating the alchemical and magical references within it.

The effect that Novalis sought to achieve with his poem "Astralis" was nothing less than the completion of the alchemical work, the hieros gamos conjunctio, the unification of the realms of life and death, personal and transcendent, past and future. At the time that Novalis wrote it, he knew he was dying. His true love, Sophie Kuhn, had died a few years previously. While in outward life he had moved on, even becoming engaged to Julie Charpentier, in his inner life, he had not, composing extensive poetry about Sophie. To him, Sophie had been a personal instantiation of Sophia, and had become a mediatrix to the beyond. Privately, he confessed to friends in letters that whilst he felt with Julie more loved than ever before, he would prefer death, in the company of his true beloved. Not much later, his wish would be granted, death ushering him to an early grave.

In the "Astralis" poem, Astralis is the alchemical progeny born from the kiss of the characters of Heinrich and Matilde, who are literary representations of Novalis and Sophie. Like Sophie, in Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Matilde has also met an early death; the unfinished novel has Heinrich undertaking an Orphic and alchemical journey. She is his soul, also the soul of the world. A love that overcomes death, Astralis presents a creation myth of the new world engendered by love.

Featuring images from alchemical manuscripts animated by me and a slew of stop motion sequences created by yours truly, including of a collection of bones that I found in a lake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soaVmA-dh8k

Zine Seeks Writers

Im starting a pdf zine about the Occult, Art, and Weirdness. Im currently seeking 2000 or under articles [please include sources ], stories, and poetry about things that involve one or all of those subjects. Currently can’t pay, but I'll put your contact info below what you write.

If interested contact me at - thanielionlee[at]gmail.com

Hi there,

I present to you my piano sonata and experimental film based on the ideas of alchemist Jakob Boehme. In Jakob Boehme's theosophy, Sophia is the bride of the soul, and the mirror that God imagines in. She is the Mirror of Wisdom, her wisdom a pearl. Redolent of Ezekiel's vision, Boehme describes God as akin to a wheel or eye; Sophia is also an eye, the beautiful divine image and reflection. According to Boehme, she resides within one's fiery soul of the heart, in one’s Gemüt. This Theophany also features imagery of Boehme’s conception of the 7 source-spirits, the burning heart, and countless other alchemical symbols. It’s meant to be a theophanic experience—meaning a presentation of the deity in tangible form. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIOtmWL2iDY