Occult Book Worm Summer Club: American Gothic, with Thea Wirshing and Laetitia Barbier, beginning July 10
4-Week Online Course
Dates: Thursday July 10, 17, 24, 31.
Time: 7pm –8.30 PM EDT
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Taught via Zoom by Thea Whirshing and Laetitia Barbier
Hello introverts—what are you doing this summer?
Would you care to join Laetitia and Thea for a four-session book club weaving together literature, the occult, and the textually obscure? This summer, we’re inviting you to a gentle gathering where we’ll read and discuss excerpts from texts that are little-known, delightfully forgotten, or unexpectedly relevant—not the kind of readings you stumble upon every day.
Our theme? American Gothic. Each session features selections curated for group reading and we hope, lively discussion. Our aim is to open the door to the pleasures of engaging with primary sources, comparing perspectives, and exploring how esoteric research can unfold through a wide, surprising—and often delightfully entertaining—lens.
Come if you’re drawn to dark corners, strange books, and quiet company. We’d love to read with you!
Thursday July 10: Carl Gustav Jung on UFOs - with Laetitia Barbier
In our first class, we'll explore a couple of texts written by Carl Gustav Jung on the phenomenon of flying saucers, alongside some of his commentary on what this strange occurrence seemed to reveal about the American psyche. Jung studied this topic during the last decade of his life and ultimately published a book titled Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies. We'll examine the archetypal dimensions he identified in the UFO phenomenon—how it served, for him, as a symbolic expression of collective anxieties and spiritual longings—as well as its appearance in dreams and its deeper psychological meanings.
Thursday July 17: Charles Brockden Brown Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, 1805, with Thea wirshing
America's first gothic novelist and horror writer was born a Quaker, but quickly converted to Enlightenment secularism in the radical 1790s. He wrote a series of bizarre tales about the extremes of religious belief and their haunting of the American landscape. His most famous character, Carwin the Biloquist, is seduced by a dangerous occult magus into using his powers of ventriloquism to wreak havoc on the minds of the American people. Brown exploits the ancient association of ventriloquism with demonic possession in this unfinished novella.
Thursday July 24: Death Thrice - Paul Foster Case, Eden Gray, Rachel Pollack, with Laetitia
In this session, we will explore three key perspectives from American tarot scholars who played a foundational role in reshaping—if not outright inventing—tarot practice in North America. For some, their work arose in both connection to and opposition against the legacy of the Golden Dawn tradition; yet each ultimately moves beyond that inheritance in meaningful and enduring ways. These three seminal voices reveal, each in their own manner, a distinct relationship to the archetype of Death—as both a symbolic and cultural force, one that continually shifts shape over time. Drawing from a curated selection of texts and excerpts, we will also reflect on how the Death card functions as an archetype today, and interrogate what it stirs in us—emotionally, culturally, and imaginatively.
July 31st: George Lippard"The Speech of the Unknown" from Washington and his Generals, 1847, with Thea Wirsching.
Labor advocate, journalist, novelist, and Rosicrucian George Lippard was a hot-tempered radical, with as much passion for the occult as for the storied history of America. In fact, he may have made up a tall tale (or two, or twelve) about the founding of the nation that many of us still believe today. For example, it is to Lippard that we owe the fiction that Pliladelphia's Liberty Bell rang out on July 4th. In class we will look at Lippard's influential fantasies of secret teachers who motivated the founding of the United States
Thea Wirsching is an Evolutionary astrologer, scholar, and Mom. She taught English at the college level for five years, and now regularly offers Tarot and astrology workshops. Thea’s doctoral dissertation made a study of American occult literature, and much of that research was funneled into her award-winning Tarot deck, the American Renaissance Tarot. What her various pursuits have in common is the healing power of narrative, whether that appears in the laying down of cards, the interpretation of a natal chart, or the analysis of how historical texts can speak to us meaningfully in the present moment.
French-born Laetitia Barbier is an independent scholar, as well as a professional tarot reader and teacher. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Art History from La Sorbonne University Paris in 2009. Laetitia has worked with Morbid Anatomy from 2012 to 2024 as a programming director, head librarian, and occasional curator. Her book Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive was published in 2021 with a foreword by Rachel Pollack. She is the author of the Tiger Tarot Guide Book, a unique Tarot deck by symbolist artist Lori Field. As a writer and scholar, she has the privilege of collaborating with the iconic French maître-cartier Grimaud, notably on the exquisite re-release of their 1930s Tarot de Marseille and Belline Oracle. Laetitia has lectured, taught and read cards for various cultural institutions, such as Greenwood Cemetery, Artyard, Fotografiska NY, the College of Psychic Studies in London or the New York Public Library. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
4-Week Online Course
Dates: Thursday July 10, 17, 24, 31.
Time: 7pm –8.30 PM EDT
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Taught via Zoom by Thea Whirshing and Laetitia Barbier
Hello introverts—what are you doing this summer?
Would you care to join Laetitia and Thea for a four-session book club weaving together literature, the occult, and the textually obscure? This summer, we’re inviting you to a gentle gathering where we’ll read and discuss excerpts from texts that are little-known, delightfully forgotten, or unexpectedly relevant—not the kind of readings you stumble upon every day.
Our theme? American Gothic. Each session features selections curated for group reading and we hope, lively discussion. Our aim is to open the door to the pleasures of engaging with primary sources, comparing perspectives, and exploring how esoteric research can unfold through a wide, surprising—and often delightfully entertaining—lens.
Come if you’re drawn to dark corners, strange books, and quiet company. We’d love to read with you!
Thursday July 10: Carl Gustav Jung on UFOs - with Laetitia Barbier
In our first class, we'll explore a couple of texts written by Carl Gustav Jung on the phenomenon of flying saucers, alongside some of his commentary on what this strange occurrence seemed to reveal about the American psyche. Jung studied this topic during the last decade of his life and ultimately published a book titled Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies. We'll examine the archetypal dimensions he identified in the UFO phenomenon—how it served, for him, as a symbolic expression of collective anxieties and spiritual longings—as well as its appearance in dreams and its deeper psychological meanings.
Thursday July 17: Charles Brockden Brown Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, 1805, with Thea wirshing
America's first gothic novelist and horror writer was born a Quaker, but quickly converted to Enlightenment secularism in the radical 1790s. He wrote a series of bizarre tales about the extremes of religious belief and their haunting of the American landscape. His most famous character, Carwin the Biloquist, is seduced by a dangerous occult magus into using his powers of ventriloquism to wreak havoc on the minds of the American people. Brown exploits the ancient association of ventriloquism with demonic possession in this unfinished novella.
Thursday July 24: Death Thrice - Paul Foster Case, Eden Gray, Rachel Pollack, with Laetitia
In this session, we will explore three key perspectives from American tarot scholars who played a foundational role in reshaping—if not outright inventing—tarot practice in North America. For some, their work arose in both connection to and opposition against the legacy of the Golden Dawn tradition; yet each ultimately moves beyond that inheritance in meaningful and enduring ways. These three seminal voices reveal, each in their own manner, a distinct relationship to the archetype of Death—as both a symbolic and cultural force, one that continually shifts shape over time. Drawing from a curated selection of texts and excerpts, we will also reflect on how the Death card functions as an archetype today, and interrogate what it stirs in us—emotionally, culturally, and imaginatively.
July 31st: George Lippard"The Speech of the Unknown" from Washington and his Generals, 1847, with Thea Wirsching.
Labor advocate, journalist, novelist, and Rosicrucian George Lippard was a hot-tempered radical, with as much passion for the occult as for the storied history of America. In fact, he may have made up a tall tale (or two, or twelve) about the founding of the nation that many of us still believe today. For example, it is to Lippard that we owe the fiction that Pliladelphia's Liberty Bell rang out on July 4th. In class we will look at Lippard's influential fantasies of secret teachers who motivated the founding of the United States
Thea Wirsching is an Evolutionary astrologer, scholar, and Mom. She taught English at the college level for five years, and now regularly offers Tarot and astrology workshops. Thea’s doctoral dissertation made a study of American occult literature, and much of that research was funneled into her award-winning Tarot deck, the American Renaissance Tarot. What her various pursuits have in common is the healing power of narrative, whether that appears in the laying down of cards, the interpretation of a natal chart, or the analysis of how historical texts can speak to us meaningfully in the present moment.
French-born Laetitia Barbier is an independent scholar, as well as a professional tarot reader and teacher. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Art History from La Sorbonne University Paris in 2009. Laetitia has worked with Morbid Anatomy from 2012 to 2024 as a programming director, head librarian, and occasional curator. Her book Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive was published in 2021 with a foreword by Rachel Pollack. She is the author of the Tiger Tarot Guide Book, a unique Tarot deck by symbolist artist Lori Field. As a writer and scholar, she has the privilege of collaborating with the iconic French maître-cartier Grimaud, notably on the exquisite re-release of their 1930s Tarot de Marseille and Belline Oracle. Laetitia has lectured, taught and read cards for various cultural institutions, such as Greenwood Cemetery, Artyard, Fotografiska NY, the College of Psychic Studies in London or the New York Public Library. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
4-Week Online Course
Dates: Thursday July 10, 17, 24, 31.
Time: 7pm –8.30 PM EDT
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Taught via Zoom by Thea Whirshing and Laetitia Barbier
Hello introverts—what are you doing this summer?
Would you care to join Laetitia and Thea for a four-session book club weaving together literature, the occult, and the textually obscure? This summer, we’re inviting you to a gentle gathering where we’ll read and discuss excerpts from texts that are little-known, delightfully forgotten, or unexpectedly relevant—not the kind of readings you stumble upon every day.
Our theme? American Gothic. Each session features selections curated for group reading and we hope, lively discussion. Our aim is to open the door to the pleasures of engaging with primary sources, comparing perspectives, and exploring how esoteric research can unfold through a wide, surprising—and often delightfully entertaining—lens.
Come if you’re drawn to dark corners, strange books, and quiet company. We’d love to read with you!
Thursday July 10: Carl Gustav Jung on UFOs - with Laetitia Barbier
In our first class, we'll explore a couple of texts written by Carl Gustav Jung on the phenomenon of flying saucers, alongside some of his commentary on what this strange occurrence seemed to reveal about the American psyche. Jung studied this topic during the last decade of his life and ultimately published a book titled Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies. We'll examine the archetypal dimensions he identified in the UFO phenomenon—how it served, for him, as a symbolic expression of collective anxieties and spiritual longings—as well as its appearance in dreams and its deeper psychological meanings.
Thursday July 17: Charles Brockden Brown Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, 1805, with Thea wirshing
America's first gothic novelist and horror writer was born a Quaker, but quickly converted to Enlightenment secularism in the radical 1790s. He wrote a series of bizarre tales about the extremes of religious belief and their haunting of the American landscape. His most famous character, Carwin the Biloquist, is seduced by a dangerous occult magus into using his powers of ventriloquism to wreak havoc on the minds of the American people. Brown exploits the ancient association of ventriloquism with demonic possession in this unfinished novella.
Thursday July 24: Death Thrice - Paul Foster Case, Eden Gray, Rachel Pollack, with Laetitia
In this session, we will explore three key perspectives from American tarot scholars who played a foundational role in reshaping—if not outright inventing—tarot practice in North America. For some, their work arose in both connection to and opposition against the legacy of the Golden Dawn tradition; yet each ultimately moves beyond that inheritance in meaningful and enduring ways. These three seminal voices reveal, each in their own manner, a distinct relationship to the archetype of Death—as both a symbolic and cultural force, one that continually shifts shape over time. Drawing from a curated selection of texts and excerpts, we will also reflect on how the Death card functions as an archetype today, and interrogate what it stirs in us—emotionally, culturally, and imaginatively.
July 31st: George Lippard"The Speech of the Unknown" from Washington and his Generals, 1847, with Thea Wirsching.
Labor advocate, journalist, novelist, and Rosicrucian George Lippard was a hot-tempered radical, with as much passion for the occult as for the storied history of America. In fact, he may have made up a tall tale (or two, or twelve) about the founding of the nation that many of us still believe today. For example, it is to Lippard that we owe the fiction that Pliladelphia's Liberty Bell rang out on July 4th. In class we will look at Lippard's influential fantasies of secret teachers who motivated the founding of the United States
Thea Wirsching is an Evolutionary astrologer, scholar, and Mom. She taught English at the college level for five years, and now regularly offers Tarot and astrology workshops. Thea’s doctoral dissertation made a study of American occult literature, and much of that research was funneled into her award-winning Tarot deck, the American Renaissance Tarot. What her various pursuits have in common is the healing power of narrative, whether that appears in the laying down of cards, the interpretation of a natal chart, or the analysis of how historical texts can speak to us meaningfully in the present moment.
French-born Laetitia Barbier is an independent scholar, as well as a professional tarot reader and teacher. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Art History from La Sorbonne University Paris in 2009. Laetitia has worked with Morbid Anatomy from 2012 to 2024 as a programming director, head librarian, and occasional curator. Her book Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive was published in 2021 with a foreword by Rachel Pollack. She is the author of the Tiger Tarot Guide Book, a unique Tarot deck by symbolist artist Lori Field. As a writer and scholar, she has the privilege of collaborating with the iconic French maître-cartier Grimaud, notably on the exquisite re-release of their 1930s Tarot de Marseille and Belline Oracle. Laetitia has lectured, taught and read cards for various cultural institutions, such as Greenwood Cemetery, Artyard, Fotografiska NY, the College of Psychic Studies in London or the New York Public Library. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.