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🪄💎 Eliza Swann 💎🪄

@thecircularserpent

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🕳️🪞Art & Mystery 🪞🕳️
🪲 Professor of Alchemy 🪲
Founder of @goldendomeschool
🫧Currently Hudson Valley🫧

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What is the Philosopher's Stone, and why has its pursuit endured for millennia? Alchemy is a hybrid field where experimentation, imagination and devotion converge – its central quest, the Philosopher's Stone, has taken many forms across history: a substance, a process, a state of consciousness, an artistic or spiritual achievement.⁠
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In this talk with interdisciplinary artist, writer, and alchemist Eliza Swann, you'll uncover the architecture of alchemy – its symbolic systems, material experiments and metaphysical ambitions – tracing a lineage from the Hellenistic world to contemporary practice. ⁠
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You'll explore the many forms the Philosopher's Stone has taken, and look closely at the strange methods alchemists devised in their attempts to realise it, from body modification to the drawing of sigils and encoded diagrams, and the use of fermented substances believed to harbour latent vital forces.⁠
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📅 Thursday 1st October 2026 | 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm⁠
📍 Live online with replay⁠
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Link in bio to book 🔗 taken in The College of Psychic Studies by @thecircularserpent

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Zosimos of Panopolis made statues of gods for Egyptian temples, and when one was finished, he apologised to it.

He was a temple priest, an alchemist and a metallurgist, and he left an account of how the work was done: you meet the metal mind to mind, you pray while you shape it, and at the end you say sorry for what it underwent.

Eliza Swann on what that asks of anyone who makes things, and on his claim that without it your art doesn’t know itself and can’t be known.

From our conversation this week. The full hour replay is in our community, link in bio- on YouTube October 8th.#

Their book, The Alchemical Imagination, is out now from Weiser.
@thecircularserpent

#alchemy #alchemicalart #hermeticism #occulture taken in Hudson Valley, NY by @thecircularserpent

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Episode 354: Eliza Swann: “The Alchemical Imagination”. Eliza Swann, also known as Emerald, is an interdiscipinary artist, writer, and educator whose work explores mysticism and its relationship to contemporary arts practice. In 2014, they founded Golden Dome, a nonprofit art school for mystics dedicated to creative education. Swann is the author of The Anatomy of the Aura (St. Martin’s 2020), Green Mary (Cosmic Dog House Press, 2024), and The Alchemical Imagination (Weiser/Red Wheel—which is the focus of this podcast). They have published essays in BOMB, Momus, Contemporary Art Review LA, and many anthologies. Their work has been supported by Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts, the LA Department of Cultural Affairs, the Foundation for Contemporary Art, and others. They currently serve on the faculty of Pratt Institute, where they teach alchemy.

Golden Dome: https://www.golden-dome.org/

Eliza Swann: https://www.elizaswann.com/ @thecircularserpent @goldendomeschool

Upcoming Programs: 10/1: Finding the Philosopher’s Stone, London College of Psychic Studies, 10/18-10/22 Alchemy and the Power of Plants, Omega Institute (links in website).

This podcast is available on your favorite platform, or here: https://endoftheroad.libsyn.com/episode-354-eliza-swann-the-alchemical-imagination

Cover Art: Ripley Scroll, Getty.

Have a blessed week! taken in Hyde Park, New York by @thecircularserpent

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My dear wizards! This Thursday 9/17 I'll be giving a free live talk about the Philosopher's Stone at @cgjunglibrary in Manhattan - all welcome! Are you in a different part of the world? Join me 10/1 online with the great @thecollegeofpsychicstudies to talk about the methods alchemists devised in their attempts to realize the Stone: from body modification, to the drawing of sigils and encoded diagrams, to the use of fermented substances believed to harbour latent vital forces. Seen together, these practices reveal alchemy as a hybrid field where experimentation, imagination and devotion converge. All things in 👋-oh!

📸: 1) Henry Miller Library 2) Join me at Kristine Mann Library 3) Snoopin 4) Ripley Scroll at the Getty 5) Splendor Solis at the Royal College of Physicians 6) incredible Ed Sanders show at the Mothership 7) the Library at London College of Psychic Studies by @thecircularserpent

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Hello dear ones! I'm overjoyed to invite you to "ALCHEMY AND THE POWER OF PLANTS: THE STAR INSIDE" at the great @omegainstitute! This is five days of drinking deeply of the green world and looking at it through the lens of alchemical art, philosophy, and practice. This is a deeply heart centered earth-loving enlivening way to work with the Great Art. All information is in the bio!

More about my work: Eliza Swann, also known as Emerald, is a writer, artist, alchemist and scholar. Swann's formative years cultivated a deep interest in the intertwined studies of mysticism and the arts, which remain central to their work as both artist and educator. In 2014, they founded Golden Dome, a nonprofit art school for mystics dedicated to experimental creative education. Swann is the author of The Anatomy of the Aura (St. Martin's, 2020) Green Mary (Cosmic Dog House Press, 2024), and The Alchemical Imagination (Weiser/Red Wheel). They have published essays in BOMB, Momus, Contemporary Art Review LA, and many anthologies. Their work has been supported by the Warhol Foundation, the LA Department of Cultural Affairs, the Foundation for Contemporary Art, and others. They currently serve on the faculty of Pratt Institute, where they teach alchemy. by @thecircularserpent

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Summer of love 💛 love Linda 💛 love Susan 💛 love Kwonyin 💛 love Angel 💛 love cloaking myself so I can go out during an eclipse and celebrate Laurel 💛 love The Philosophical Research Society 💛 love Matty 💛 love the Rosslyn chapel 💛 love Aphrodite scratching her foot in Naples 💛 love HausWitch 💛 love making an angel cake for Jen 💛 love this archangel poem by Jean Valentine 💛 love Treadwell's 💛 love this Derek Jarman zine by @thecircularserpent

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2 months ago

I’m over the moon to announce that we've received an @warholfoundation grant to build The Alchemist’s Garden at @philosophical_research_society in 2027.

Guided by the seven classical planets, the garden will take shape as a landscape of medicinal plants and celestial sculptures. Throughout the project, we’ll host workshops, rituals, lectures, and celebrations exploring alchemy, the intelligence of plants, and the mysteries of creation—stay tuned for a full schedule.

My deepest gratitude to the Andy Warhol Foundation for seeing the wisdom in our weirdness, and to the Philosophical Research Society for supporting us in so many ways over the years. by @thecircularserpent

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3 months ago

SIMHA (the San Francisco Institute of Magical and Healing Arts) was founded in San Francisco in 1983 by poet Diane di Prima and fellow poet and Buddhist practitioner Robert Rice. At SIMHA, di Prima taught Western spiritual traditions, drawing on her longstanding interests in Hermetic philosophy, alchemy, Gnosticism, and the relationship between poetry and magical practice.

This Thursday at @etalgallerysf, I'll be talking about di Prima's Philosopher's Stone, many ways artists and alchemists throughout history have created their own Philosopher's Stones, and why you might want to make one yourself.

🧪Thursday, July 9, 7:00 PM. Free and all are welcome! taken in Et Al by @thecircularserpent

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When I was 20, I went to the San Francisco Art Institute to study painting. During my first week our drawing teacher, whose Birkenstocks had been bronzed and enshrined in the school library, asked us to make a life-sized self-portrait as a Tarot card. I drew myself as a see-through Fool whose heart could be seen thudding in her chest. Another teacher at SFAI told me that if no galleries were interested in showing my paintings, I should hang them in an empty lot and invite my friends, telling me that would be more interesting anyway. It was things like this that gave me the audacity to found the @goldendomeschool.

It feels deeply joyous to be wrapping up my book tour here on the Central Coast, where I first learned that art could be a way of making community happen. Please join me at 418 Projects, Et al Gallery, and the Henry Miller Library.

I'm sorry my Instagram has become a parade of ads for Philosopher's Stone lectures. Instagram itself has become a parade of ads. The tech world has pushed artists out of San Francisco and SFAI has been closed for a few years. I am grateful for all who can attend these talks so I can hug you and hear from you and tell you things, so that the seeds of new happenings can be planted, and new schools can rise up out of the old.

1) portrait of the artist peeing in a wildflower meadow taken by @d__lawrence my genius friend from SFAI

2) I'll be lecturing in Santa Cruz at the great @the418project

3) I'll be lecturing in San Francisco at the great @etalgallerysf

4) I'll be reading to you from my book at the great @henrymillerlib

5) Diane di Prima and her Philosophers Stone. by @thecircularserpent

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Twentynine Palms! I'll be celebrating the release of my book "THE ALCHEMICAL IMAGINATION" at the great @desertrade29 THIS SATURDAY at 5pm! Free in a ❄️cool space ❄️ and all welcome! 🌴 RSVP in bye-oh for address 🌴I'll be celebrating the book with the amazing @anniecn hosted by @desertgeneralstore !

Here I am deep in mirth with my dear friends @anniecn and @edgarfabianfrias at the @goldendomeschool CHARIOT residency in 2017 in 29 Palms. I love this place and what it has nourished and made real. Thank you to all my wonderful friends there - I am excited to see you! Thanks to @z1077fm.joshuatree and @gabrielhart77 for talking to me about the event and to @bethpickensconsulting who makes SO MANY dreams come true! by @thecircularserpent

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Ep 300!!!! 21st Century Alchemy: LITHA 2026 with Tree Carr @tree_carr and Eliza Swann @thecircularserpent

☀️ Happy Litha! Happy Summer Solstice! Happy longest day of the year!! ☀️

Today we gather with Eliza Swann and Tree Carr to explore a galaxy of 21st Century Alchemy, shining light on a technology of magic, a science of craft.

Together we discuss the Witchcraft/Quantum Physics pipeline, telephone magic, consciousness, the creative process, dreams as source, art as prayer, the power of collective belief, imagination, and ideas about god(s).

21st Century ALCHEMY

1. DREAMS ARE SOURCE.
2. ART IS PRAYER.
3. BEING ALIVE IS A MAGICAL
PRACTICE.
4. LANGUAGE FALLS APART IN
THE FACE OF THE DIVINE.

Tree wrote, “The more I explored, the clearer it became: ancient magic and modern tech weren’t so different [...] Magic is all about energy, and I realized tech could amplify it, aligning perfectly with intention.”

Eliza wrote, “The violence that capitalism enacts on time, nature, and our sense of connection is completely incompatible with alchemy and magic, which ask us to slow down, listen, and actually feel the soul of things.”

So let’s take some time this Litha to slow down, listen to these Witches, and try to actually feel the soul of everything.

📖 Eliza’s new book is The Alchemical Imagination
📖 Tree’s new book is Technomancy

#MissingWitches #podcast #Litha by @thecircularserpent

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California, I'm on my way to celebrate the release of "The Alchemical Imagination!" Let's forge a Philosopher's Stone together! Links for all the things in bio:

Los Angeles! June 21st, PRS, Lecture

29 Palms! June 27th, Desert General, Book Reading and Conversation with @anniecn

Santa Cruz! July 8th, 418 Projects, Lecture

San Francisco! July 9th, Et al. Gallery, Lecture

Big Sur! July 10th, The Henry Miller Library, Book Reading

*Apologies to my Portland friends, I had to postpone the PNW tour. by @thecircularserpent

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