This is your brain on quicksilver

I do not have the faintest recollection of when or how I picked up a copy of Alexander Roob’s Alchemy & Mysticism, an art book about (unsurprisingly) alchemy and mysticism. It is not quite the Alchemy And Mysticism For Dummies book that I think I would require in order to actually start understanding all this alchemy stuff in a way that makes at least narrative sense to me (obviously the actual material is just… entirely made-up weird nonsense) but it certainly helped add some things to my very piecemeal knowledge of alchemy and associated esoterics.

The art is… well, not all of it is necessarily good, although a lot of it is quite magnificent, but it is all definitely a lot, and it is very strange and interesting. I didn’t really look at the details of all the diagrams and charts and allegorical drawings, partly because a lot of them are heavy on calligraphic text (often in other languages) and partly because I can’t be arsed. I know that doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement but guys, alchemy is bonkers. This book was an experience.