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From the beginning of human history, individuals across cultures
and belief systems have looked to the sky for meaning. The movement
of celestial bodies and their relation to our human lives has been
the central tenant of astrology for thousands of years. The
practice has both inspired reverence and worship, and deepened our
understanding of ourselves and the world around us. While
modern-day horoscopes may be the most familiar form of astrological
knowledge, their lineage reaches back to ancient Mesopotamia. As
author Andrea Richards recounts in Astrology, the second volume in
TASCHEN's Library of Esoterica series, astronomy and astrology were
once sister sciences: the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid at
Giza was built to align with constellations, Persian scholars
oversaw some of the first observatories, and even Galileo cast
horoscopes for the Medicis. But with the Enlightenment and the
birth of exact science, the practice moved to places where mystery
was still permitted, inspiring literature, art, and psychology, and
influenced artists and thinkers such as Goethe, Byron, and Blake.
Later movements like the Theosophists and the New Agers, would
thrust the practice into the mainstream. Edited by Jessica Hundley,
this vibrant visual history of Western astrology is the first ever
compendium of its kind, exploring the symbolic meaning behind more
than 400 images, from Egyptian temples and illuminated manuscripts
to contemporary art from across the globe. Works by artists from
Alphonese Mucha and Hilma af Klint to Arpita Singh and Manzel
Bowman are sequenced to mirror the spin of the planets and the
wheel of the zodiac. With wisdom from new interviews with
astrologers like Robert Hand, Jessica Lanyadoo, and Mecca Woods,
Astrology celebrates the stars and their mysterious influence on
our everyday lives. About the series The Library of Esoterica
explores how centuries of artists have given form to mysticism,
translating the arcane and the obscure into enduring, visionary
works of art. Each subject is showcased through both modern and
archival imagery culled from private collectors, libraries, and
museums around the globe. The result forms an inclusive visual
history, a study of our primal pull to dream and nightmare, and the
creative ways we strive to connect to the divine.
Celebrating the magick of the natural realm, Volume IV of The
Library of Esoterica, delves into the symbolism, ceremony, and our
ritual relationships with the botanical world. A visual journey
through our interdependent evolution with nature, Plant Magick
celebrates botanicals as creative muse - from ancient Greek
sculptures to Renaissance paintings to visionary art inspired by
psychoactive plants, cacti, and mushrooms. Our myths, beliefs, and
shared stories are continually reflected in nature; purity
represented by the white lily or spiritual awakening by the bloom
of the lotus. Our joys and laments are mirrored in the cycle of the
seasons, in the seed birthing sprout, or in the dead leaf falling
softly from winter branches. Plants, trees, and flowers as
signifiers of transition are also deeply embedded within rites of
passage rituals across global cultures. Rose petals strewn along
the wedding aisle mark the evolution into womanhood and marriage. A
wreath of lilies stands sentinel over an open grave. A lover's
bouquet awaits on the doorstep. The wooden May Day pole is circled
by girls wearing crowns of woven daisies, celebrating the coming of
spring. Birth, unions, and burials - cycles of joyful celebration
and deep grieving, all are marked symbolically with herbs, flowers
or branches of a tree - the integration of nature into ceremony our
method of signifying catharsis. Since time immemorial, plants have
also served as potent symbols within the religions of the world;
Buddha attaining enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, Eve plucking
the Apple of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. From root to vibrant
blossom, Plant Magick explores the fertile, interconnected history
between plants and people, the multitude of ways in which we
embrace plants in spiritual ceremony, as healing medicine, as
creative muse and as gateways into deeper explorations of
consciousness. About the series The Library of Esoterica explores
how centuries of artists have given form to mysticism, translating
the arcane and the obscure into enduring, visionary works of art.
Each subject is showcased through both modern and archival imagery
culled from private collectors, libraries, and museums around the
globe. The result forms an inclusive visual history, a study of our
primal pull to dream and nightmare, and the creative ways we strive
to connect to the divine.
Initiating readers in the fascinating and complex history of
witchcraft, from the goddess mythologies of ancient cultures to the
contemporary embrace of the craft by modern artists and activists,
this expansive tome conjures up a breathtaking overview of an
age-old tradition. Rooted in legend, folklore, and myth, the
archetype of the witch has evolved from the tales of Odysseus and
Circe, the Celtic seductress Cerridwen, and the myth of Hecate,
fierce ruler of the moonlit night. In Witchcraft we survey her many
incarnations since, as she shape-shifts through the centuries,
alternately transforming into mother, nymph, and crone-seductress
and destroyer. Edited by Jessica Hundley, and co-edited by author,
scholar, and practitioner Pam Grossman, this enthralling visual
chronicle is the first of its kind, a deep dive into the complex
symbologies behind witchcraft traditions, as explored through the
history of art itself. The witch has played muse to great artists
throughout time, from the dark seductions of Francisco Jose de Goya
and Albrecht Durer to the elegant paean to the magickal feminine as
re-imagined by the Surrealist circle of Remedios Varo, Leonora
Carrington, and Leonor Fini. The witch has spellbound through
folktales and dramatic literature as well, from the poison apples
of The Brothers Grimm, to the Weird Sisters gathered at their black
cauldron in Shakespeare's Macbeth, to L. Frank Baum's iconic Wicked
Witch of the West, cackling over the fate of Dorothy. Throughout
this entrancing visual voyage, we'll also bear witness to the witch
as she endures persecution and evolves into empowerment, a
contemporary symbol of bold defiance and potent nonconformity.
Featuring enlightening essays by modern practitioners like Kristen
J. Sollee and Judika Illes, as well interviews with authors and
scholars such as Madeline Miller and Juliet Diaz, Witchcraft
includes a vast range of cultural traditions that embrace magick as
spiritual exploration and creative catharsis. About the series The
Library of Esoterica explores how centuries of artists have given
form to mysticism, translating the arcane and the obscure into
enduring, visionary works of art. Each subject is showcased through
both modern and archival imagery culled from private collectors,
libraries, and museums around the globe. The result forms an
inclusive visual history, a study of our primal pull to dream and
nightmare, and the creative ways we strive to connect to the
divine.
To explore the Tarot is to explore ourselves, to be reminded of the
universality of our longing for meaning, for purpose and for a
connection to the divine. This 600-year-old tradition reflects not
only a history of seekers, but our journey of artistic expression
and the ways we communicate our collective human story. For many in
the West, Tarot exists in the shadow place of our cultural
consciousness, a metaphysical tradition assigned to the dusty glass
cabinets of the arcane. Its history, long and obscure, has been
passed down through secret writing, oral tradition, and the
scholarly tomes of philosophers and sages. Hundreds of years and
hundreds of creative hands-mystics and artists often working in
collaboration-have transformed what was essentially a parlor game
into a source of divination and system of self-exploration, as each
new generation has sought to evolve the form and reinterpret the
medium. Author Jessica Hundley traces this fascinating history in
Tarot, the debut volume in TASCHEN's Library of Esoterica series.
The book explores the symbolic meaning behind more than 500 cards
and works of original art, two thirds of which have never been
published outside of the decks themselves. It's the first ever
visual compendium of its kind, spanning from Medieval to modern,
and artfully arranged according to the sequencing of the 78 cards
of the Major and Minor Arcana. It explores the powerful influence
of Tarot as muse to artists like Salvador Dali and Niki de Saint
Phalle and includes the decks of nearly 100 diverse contemporary
artists from around the world, all of whom have embraced the medium
for its capacity to push cultural identity forward. Rounding out
the volume are excerpts from thinkers such as Eliphas Levi, Carl
Jung, and Joseph Campbell; a foreword by artist Penny Slinger; a
guide to reading the cards by Johannes Fiebig; and an essay on
oracle decks by Marcella Kroll. About the series The Library of
Esoterica explores how centuries of artists have given form to
mysticism, translating the arcane and the obscure into enduring,
visionary works of art. Each subject is showcased through both
modern and archival imagery culled from private collectors,
libraries, and museums around the globe. The result forms an
inclusive visual history, a study of our primal pull to dream and
nightmare, and the creative ways we strive to connect to the
divine.
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