Alchemy and the Symbolics of Color: A Four-Week Online Class with Alchemist Brian Cotnoir, Begins April 10
4-week online class via Zoom
Thursdays, April 10 - May 1, 2025
7 – 9 pm ET
$125 Paid Patreon Members / $145 General Admission
Please note: All classes will be recorded for those unable to attend
This four-part course will explore the physical and philosophical underpinnings of color symbolism in alchemical and mystic practice. We will begin with an examination of basic alchemical and color theory, looking at Isaac Newton’s hermetic work in alchemy and optics, the evolution of the eye, the biological processes of vision, and optical illusions, as well as the physics and biology of color perception. We will also look at the concept of “Color is light in a diaphanous medium,” as articulated by Bishop Robert Grosseteste in De Colore (ca 1230), and trace its impact on the color theory work of Goethe, Kandinsky, and Florensky, and examine Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s humanist/ romantic view of the origins of color. We will end with a deep dive into two specific practices that work with color in a symbolic way—Orthodox Christian Iconography and Alchemical practice—as means towards begin to understand the symbolics of color common to both.
Readings and bibliography will be provided.
Brian Cotnoir is an alchemist, artist, and award-winning filmmaker. A contributor to Frater Albertus’ Parachemy, he is also theauthor of a series of Alchemy Zines. His books include Alchemy: The Poetry of Matter (2017), The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy, Alchemical Meditations,On the Quintessence of Wine, and the Emerald Tablet, his translations of and commentary on, the earliest Arabic and Latin versions of this seminal text. His Emerald Tablet was part of the Language of the Birds: Occult and Art show in 2016 in New York City.
He occasionally gives talks and has presented workshops and seminars around the world on various aspects of alchemical theory and practice based on his research.
His film work has been screened at Museum of Modern Art, Sundance Film Festival, HBO, PBS and other international venues.
Khepri Press, launched in 2014 with the publication of the Emerald Tablet, is the vehicle and portal for his alchemical work.
4-week online class via Zoom
Thursdays, April 10 - May 1, 2025
7 – 9 pm ET
$125 Paid Patreon Members / $145 General Admission
Please note: All classes will be recorded for those unable to attend
This four-part course will explore the physical and philosophical underpinnings of color symbolism in alchemical and mystic practice. We will begin with an examination of basic alchemical and color theory, looking at Isaac Newton’s hermetic work in alchemy and optics, the evolution of the eye, the biological processes of vision, and optical illusions, as well as the physics and biology of color perception. We will also look at the concept of “Color is light in a diaphanous medium,” as articulated by Bishop Robert Grosseteste in De Colore (ca 1230), and trace its impact on the color theory work of Goethe, Kandinsky, and Florensky, and examine Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s humanist/ romantic view of the origins of color. We will end with a deep dive into two specific practices that work with color in a symbolic way—Orthodox Christian Iconography and Alchemical practice—as means towards begin to understand the symbolics of color common to both.
Readings and bibliography will be provided.
Brian Cotnoir is an alchemist, artist, and award-winning filmmaker. A contributor to Frater Albertus’ Parachemy, he is also theauthor of a series of Alchemy Zines. His books include Alchemy: The Poetry of Matter (2017), The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy, Alchemical Meditations,On the Quintessence of Wine, and the Emerald Tablet, his translations of and commentary on, the earliest Arabic and Latin versions of this seminal text. His Emerald Tablet was part of the Language of the Birds: Occult and Art show in 2016 in New York City.
He occasionally gives talks and has presented workshops and seminars around the world on various aspects of alchemical theory and practice based on his research.
His film work has been screened at Museum of Modern Art, Sundance Film Festival, HBO, PBS and other international venues.
Khepri Press, launched in 2014 with the publication of the Emerald Tablet, is the vehicle and portal for his alchemical work.
4-week online class via Zoom
Thursdays, April 10 - May 1, 2025
7 – 9 pm ET
$125 Paid Patreon Members / $145 General Admission
Please note: All classes will be recorded for those unable to attend
This four-part course will explore the physical and philosophical underpinnings of color symbolism in alchemical and mystic practice. We will begin with an examination of basic alchemical and color theory, looking at Isaac Newton’s hermetic work in alchemy and optics, the evolution of the eye, the biological processes of vision, and optical illusions, as well as the physics and biology of color perception. We will also look at the concept of “Color is light in a diaphanous medium,” as articulated by Bishop Robert Grosseteste in De Colore (ca 1230), and trace its impact on the color theory work of Goethe, Kandinsky, and Florensky, and examine Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s humanist/ romantic view of the origins of color. We will end with a deep dive into two specific practices that work with color in a symbolic way—Orthodox Christian Iconography and Alchemical practice—as means towards begin to understand the symbolics of color common to both.
Readings and bibliography will be provided.
Brian Cotnoir is an alchemist, artist, and award-winning filmmaker. A contributor to Frater Albertus’ Parachemy, he is also theauthor of a series of Alchemy Zines. His books include Alchemy: The Poetry of Matter (2017), The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy, Alchemical Meditations,On the Quintessence of Wine, and the Emerald Tablet, his translations of and commentary on, the earliest Arabic and Latin versions of this seminal text. His Emerald Tablet was part of the Language of the Birds: Occult and Art show in 2016 in New York City.
He occasionally gives talks and has presented workshops and seminars around the world on various aspects of alchemical theory and practice based on his research.
His film work has been screened at Museum of Modern Art, Sundance Film Festival, HBO, PBS and other international venues.
Khepri Press, launched in 2014 with the publication of the Emerald Tablet, is the vehicle and portal for his alchemical work.