Date: July 18
Time: 2pm–3pm Eastern
Admission: FREE - Participants must RSVP through this page.
This event is scheduled to be hosted on Zoom. Participants will receive the event link via email on the morning of the event day. Should you encounter any issues accessing the link, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at info@arcane17.co for assistance. Additionally, we are pleased to inform our Members that a recording of this event will be available on our Patreon page.
Join artist, writer, and educator Eliza Swann for a thirty-minute talk and audience Q&A celebrating the publication of The Alchemical Imagination: Creativity as Catalyst for Radical Transformation (Weiser/Red Wheel, 2026). Drawing from the book’s exploration of alchemy as a creative, philosophical, and spiritual practice, the presentation centers on one of history’s most enduring mysteries: the Philosopher’s Stone.
Structured around the twelve stages of the Great Work described by the fifteenth-century alchemist George Ripley, The Alchemical Imagination reinterprets alchemical traditions through the lens of contemporary art and culture. This talk examines how the search for the Stone has continually reinvented itself across time. Along the way, we will encounter the strange and imaginative methods alchemists devised in pursuit of transformation: encoded diagrams, laboratory experiments, visionary practices, and theories of hidden vital forces. Together, these stories reveal alchemy as a hybrid field where experimentation, imagination, and devotion converge.
Part historical introduction and part reflection on creativity, this presentation considers why the Philosopher’s Stone continues to captivate artists, mystics, and dreamers today. Hovering between material reality and metaphor, the Stone remains an emblem of humanity’s desire to engage the impossible—and to be transformed by the search itself.
The talk will be followed by a Q&A. Open to all levels of experience and interest.
Eliza Swann, also known as Emerald, is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and alchemist whose work explores mysticism and its relationship to contemporary art practice. In 2014, they founded Golden Dome, a nonprofit art school for mystics dedicated to experimental creative education. Eliza received a BA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Central Saint Martins in London. 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). Their writing has appeared in BOMB, Momus, Contemporary Art Review LA, Perfect Wave, and numerous anthologies. Their work has been supported by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The Foundation for Contemporary Art, PEN America, and many others. They currently serve on the faculty of Pratt Institute, where they teach alchemy.
Images:
The Peacock Stage (detail from Splendor solis oder Sonnenglanz), attributed to Jörg Breu the Elder, 1531-1532.
Detail from copy of Rotulum hierolgyphicum G. Ripplaei Equitis Aurati, c. 1588.
Date: July 18
Time: 2pm–3pm Eastern
Admission: FREE - Participants must RSVP through this page.
This event is scheduled to be hosted on Zoom. Participants will receive the event link via email on the morning of the event day. Should you encounter any issues accessing the link, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at info@arcane17.co for assistance. Additionally, we are pleased to inform our Members that a recording of this event will be available on our Patreon page.
Join artist, writer, and educator Eliza Swann for a thirty-minute talk and audience Q&A celebrating the publication of The Alchemical Imagination: Creativity as Catalyst for Radical Transformation (Weiser/Red Wheel, 2026). Drawing from the book’s exploration of alchemy as a creative, philosophical, and spiritual practice, the presentation centers on one of history’s most enduring mysteries: the Philosopher’s Stone.
Structured around the twelve stages of the Great Work described by the fifteenth-century alchemist George Ripley, The Alchemical Imagination reinterprets alchemical traditions through the lens of contemporary art and culture. This talk examines how the search for the Stone has continually reinvented itself across time. Along the way, we will encounter the strange and imaginative methods alchemists devised in pursuit of transformation: encoded diagrams, laboratory experiments, visionary practices, and theories of hidden vital forces. Together, these stories reveal alchemy as a hybrid field where experimentation, imagination, and devotion converge.
Part historical introduction and part reflection on creativity, this presentation considers why the Philosopher’s Stone continues to captivate artists, mystics, and dreamers today. Hovering between material reality and metaphor, the Stone remains an emblem of humanity’s desire to engage the impossible—and to be transformed by the search itself.
The talk will be followed by a Q&A. Open to all levels of experience and interest.
Eliza Swann, also known as Emerald, is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and alchemist whose work explores mysticism and its relationship to contemporary art practice. In 2014, they founded Golden Dome, a nonprofit art school for mystics dedicated to experimental creative education. Eliza received a BA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Central Saint Martins in London. 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). Their writing has appeared in BOMB, Momus, Contemporary Art Review LA, Perfect Wave, and numerous anthologies. Their work has been supported by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The Foundation for Contemporary Art, PEN America, and many others. They currently serve on the faculty of Pratt Institute, where they teach alchemy.
Images:
The Peacock Stage (detail from Splendor solis oder Sonnenglanz), attributed to Jörg Breu the Elder, 1531-1532.
Detail from copy of Rotulum hierolgyphicum G. Ripplaei Equitis Aurati, c. 1588.
