Let's Make Art! Join Us Today and Sunday for Two Events Focused on Alchemical Art
Art of the Second Renaissance Launch Party @ The Stoa is today at noon ET and How to Be an Alchemical Artist is this coming Sunday at noon ET
Dear Friends,
I have some exciting announcements for your this morning.
Coming Home, my usual Tuesday noon meditation will be back next week. We meet almost every Tuesday from 12-1p ET to share what’s alive and weave the medicine of LIFE into a collective contemplation and prayer. It’s heavenly and open to all.
Instead…
TODAY, Tuesday 28th January at NOON ET, we are launching the Art of the Second Renaissance Manifesto and Magazine. This live online event will be co-hosted by artist and Life Itself co-founder Sylvie Barbier, Peter Limberg from the STOA, and me, Schuyler Brown. Participation is free and all are welcome!
We look forward to having you and celebrating a new creative dawn. 🎉 🌅🎉
EVENT: Sunday, February 2 from 12-2pm ET ~ How To Be an Alchemical Artist
Many of you know that my beloved,
, and I are collaborators in life and art. We make mandalas, paintings, poems, AI videos, books, movies, and many other things. What unites us in this passion for creativity is the belief that sacred art—not just the appreciation of it, but the mass making of it—is the way to the golden age of LIFE and LOVE we all desire!We’ve come to understand how much work there is in the world right now to actively transmute the dross of culture into gold! And that, my friends, is alchemy. Alchemical art is the transmutation (specifically) of CULTURE; the resuscitation and rescue of our hearts’ longings and dreams, song, dance, storytelling, ritual, art and glorious self-expression from base, death-mongering, greedy, warring, capitalist motives. We want to encourage people to return to their unique expression of self and invite the sacred back into the world.
One of my teachers and inspirations in this life has been the mysterious George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. He seems to be having a moment with the metamodern set, but he’s always with me. In fact, I’m in the process of finishing a book, Tenacious Magic, in which he’s a main character. In Gurdjieff’s magnum opus, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, he holds forth on many earthly subjects. Chapter 30 is dedicated to ART. The text is insanely impenetrable and somehow simultaneously hilarious (!!). Last night, Ari and I tried to read it together and wound up asking AI for help. Here is how AI summed it up:
In Chapter 30 of Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, titled “Art,” Beelzebub discusses how art began in ancient Babylon as a means to convey knowledge and emotions. Over time, he argues, these practices became distorted, resulting in modern art, which he views as a source of confusion and disconnection from its original purpose. Beelzebub emphasizes that true art should serve to elevate human consciousness, convey higher truths, and contribute to spiritual development, rather than being purely for entertainment or profit.
Gurdjieff was writing this in the late 1940s when the jury was still out on a lot of modern art and it was starting to proliferate. I happen to be a fan of early and high modern art and see its utility and role as part of humanity’s evolution, but I do agree too much of a good thing is…too much. And yes, true art should serve to elevate human consciousness and contribute to spiritual development!
Join Ari & me (and maybe some friends!) on Sunday from 12-2pm eastern for a presentation and participatory experience as we explore how to BE an alchemical artist—from the practicalities to the esoteric underpinnings.
We will talk about some of the principles of alchemical art and make space for a collective sourcing and sharing around what inspires us all right now.
We will look at the importance of ritual and relationship with the elemental spirits and unseen world in the creation of sacred works.
We will delve into the use of AI in the generation of alchemical art, a practice and medium Ari is a pioneer in. Bring a candle. Bring a pen and paper or paints and canvas. Bring your body, your heart and your head.
We will look at the role of money/patronage in liberating imagination and unleashing sacred culture
We are exploring the idea of making this a Sunday series, so let’s shape it together. The event is free and open to all. Please register here: