coming soon

A History of Alchemy and its Influence in Art

with Robert M. Place

A Zoom class on two Saturdays

July 20 and 27, from 11:00am to 1:00pm

$120 per student

Follow this link to sign up:

https://www.laetitiacartomancy.com/classes-1/p/alchemy-becomes-art-from-hermetic-philosophy-to-art-history

Alchemy is the ancient mystical discipline that predates modern science, chemistry, medicine, and depth psychology. But it is also the source of modern Western mystical philosophy and a major influence on the arts. Beside the many creative activities that alchemists explored, all alchemists dreamed of completing the one Great Work or Magnum Opus of alchemy and creating the Philosopher’s Stone. The Stone is not actually a physical substance, it is a mystical catalyst that transforms what it touches to its highest form. Composed of the mysterious fifth element, it can cure any illness, turn lead into gold, and turn an ordinary person into an enlightened sage.

In this series of two classes, we will discuss the history and symbolism of alchemy and learn that alchemy is a golden thread of mystical truth that runs through Western culture, from its origins in Egyptian religion to modern art movements.

Part One – A discussion of the History, Philosophy, and Practice of Western Alchemy: stressing the role of transmutation and the mystical quest for enlightenment. Starting with the ancient Egyptians, we will demonstrate that the alchemical Magnum Opus, the quest for the mystical Philosopher’s Stone, is actually based on the myth of the death and resurrection of the god Osiris. Alchemy married laboratory experimentation with this mysticism. But in the 16^th century, laboratory alchemy and philosophical alchemy split, and the philosophical branch led to the development of mystical societies, like the Rosicrucians and Masons.

Part Two- Alchemy Becomes Art: after the split between Laboratory Alchemy and philosophical alchemy, alchemists in Germany, such as Jacob Bohme and Michael Maier, created alchemical texts that were actually multimedia works of art. These mystics had a strong influence on German Romantics, and helped to create this movement in art, music, and literature. We will demonstrate that Romantic art incorporated all seven Hermetic principles, which were the bases of alchemical philosophy. We will follow the influence of Romanticism on the Pre-Raphaelites, the Hudson River School, and the Symbolists, who in turn influenced 20^th century Modern Art.  And, demonstrate its influence on the fascination with Egyptian art and mysticism that gave birth to the occult Tarot.    

Symbolism of the Tarot Trumps: Through the Eyes of the Artists

With Robert Place

the details will be coming soon.

Beside creating spurious histories for the Tarot, many occultists created systems of association for the cards, relating them to Hebrew letters, planets, astrological signs, and obscure sets of esoteric meanings. At their worst these associations became a complex set of secret symbols, or a secret code, that has nothing to do with the artwork that is depicted on the cards. All known facts tell us that the Tarot was created by Renaissance artists in the 1400s, and we easily see that their illustrations relate to other works of art from this period. By examining this history, we can see the Tarot trumps as the artists who created them would have.   

In this two-hour class, we will do just that. We look at historic examples of cards and related Renaissance art. We will also examine the earliest written discussions of the symbolism. And we will learn to interpret the Tarot’s imagery as meaningful works of art, with a history and a relation to mystical philosophy.

The Origin and Evolution of the Tarot

A Zoom class with Robert M. Place

Saturdays, June 1, and 8

from 11am to 1pm EST

$100.00. per student

https://crafty-painter-7397.ck.page/94dd0b7638

19th century occultists, such as Eliphas Levi, Paul Christian, and Papus, considered the Tarot an indispensable component of their magical tradition, and to give the deck an appropriately impressive pedigree, invented several imaginative versions of the history of the cards. Most often asserting that it originated in ancient Egypt or other ancient cultures. These spurious origins of the Tarot became such an accepted part of Tarot literature that they were often reported as fact.  However, the Tarot was a creation of Renaissance artists in northern Italy and these occult fantasies can block us from a true appreciation of the mystical heritage illustrated in the cards. 

In this lecture we will examine the known facts and existing examples of cards. We will follow playing cards from their creation in 10^th century China to their introduction in western Europe in the 14^th century. We will learn how, in 15^th century Italy, the addition of a trump suit to the existing deck gave birth to the Tarot, and how the Italians passed the Tarot onto France.  We will discuss the symbolism of early decks and how the cards expressed Hermetic philosophy. We will look at the earliest evidence of the Tarot’s use in divination. And we will end with a discussion of the occult theories that led to the creation of the Waite Smith Tarot and the modern fascination with the deck.

The class will consist of two two-hour sessions:

The Creation of the Tarot in Italy

From France to the Rest of the World

The class will be held on Saturday mornings: June 1 and 9 from 11am to 1pm Eastern Standard Time,

and therefore an hour earlier for each time zone as we travel west to the west coast where it will be 8am to 10am. 

The fee is $100.00 per student.

The classes will be recorded

and available to each student indefinitely.

To sign up for the class, follow this link:

https://crafty-painter-7397.ck.page/94dd0b7638

Tarot at the Met is Back

I will be bringing 10 people to the print room

at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

on Thursday May 16, 2024

from 2PM to 4PM

This class is filled,

but I will schedule more classes.

Email me if you are interested in being on the mailing list.

I will once again take a small group of people into the back rooms of the Metropolitan Museum to look at the museum’s collection of historic Tarot and divination cards, ranging from the earliest woodcut Tarocchi, printed in 15^th century Italy, to rare 19^th century Le Normand divination decks. All accompanied by my talk on the history and symbolism of the cards.  This year we will also see one of the oldest and richly illustrated books on divination with cards, Le Sorti, published in Venice in 1540.

The afternoon at the Met is $100 per person, prepaid. Each participant is also responsible for obtaining a ticket for entrance into the museum for the day. There is only room for 10 people at this event so don’t delay; it will fill up quickly. I will be handling this event  myself; so all arrangement must be made through me.

To register contact me at:

alchemicaltarot@aol.com

Payments can be made by PayPal, check, Visa, or Master Card,

or by requesting a PayPal invoice.

The Tarot: An Alchemical Trip

a workshop

conducted last year

at

the International Deck and Tarot Congress

in Toledo, Spain

on October 20 and 21, 2023

From the Tarot Conference:

Practically in less than a month we will have the pleasure of knowing and enjoying the internationally recognized teacher and special guest Robert Place. Who will e travel from New York to give a conference and workshop in Toledo on October 21. It will be translated by our dear Ana Prescott.

Robert M. Place is an international visionary artist, whose works have been exhibited in galleries and museums and on the covers and pages of numerous books and magazines. He is known as the designer and author of more than twenty tarot and oracles decks, including the internationally acclaimed Alchemical Tarot, and two decks and books in which he collaborated with Rachel Pollack. His facsimile of a historic Italian tarot is included in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he regularly lectures on their collection of cards. He was the guest of honor at the inauguration in 2007 of the Tarot Museum in Riola, Italy. He healed the Tarot exhibition in 2010 at the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum, and Booklist has said that his book, the Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination, may be the best book ever written on the subject.

Workshop title: “The Tarot: an alchemical trip”

This year the Congress has an Olympic Medal 🥇 Do not tell you, vault it! All together, united by the Tarot! You can register at Congress ♥ ️ ♣ ️ ♠ ️ ♦ ️

Through: ☎️ Telephone (0034) 600796447 📮

Electronic Correo: laordendeayala@hotmail.com

💻web:

https://tienda.laordendeayala.com/v-congreso-internacional-de-baraja-y-tarot?fbclid=IwAR284PzgWbEghi-IT5e7J9pjLJyi-wlqRDmGyBv3D-_zKcKoyVrzf9k4p3M

Price:

face -to -face and online will be 149 Eur. Online more face -to -face recorded to be able to see them in deferred, 45 euros. In all versions of Congress, the 2023 Tarology Diploma will be granted. We wait for you!

Beijing, China

My Chinese workshops are now being conducted through Zoom.

You can contact Giselle Gao for details: 

giselleg@foxmail.com

 These photos are from my 2021 class in Hangzhou, China

 

To receive The Restored Temple of Hermes, my free newsletter e-mailed every three months or so, with links to my latest articles and news about up-coming lectures, workshops, and publications, send an e-mail to me with The Restored Temple of Hermes in the subject line. Also, please let me know what state or country you live in.

alchemicaltarot@aol.com

The 66th Restored Temple of Hermes newsletter was sent on February 7, 2024. If you did not receive yours, you may need to update your email address.