Categories:
Alchemy & Hermeticism,
Magick & Occult,
Tarot & Divination Books
£75.00
Down Here is the first of a meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated three volume work, The Tarot of Marsilio by Christophe Poncet; a landmark inquiry into the origins of the Tarot de Marseille. Against the prevalent view in the academy – that the tarot was never used, before the 18th century, for anything other than card games – Poncet argues that the Tarot de Marseille is a work of esoteric philosophy hidden in plain sight.
Through a careful analysis of artworks, philosophical texts, and the imagery and symbolism of the cards, Poncet places and dates the deck to Florence in the 1470s. Marsilio Ficino, translator of the Corpus Hermeticum and the complete works of Plato, is identified as the likely mastermind behind this tarot. In this first volume, the imagery and meaning of the Chariot, the Devil, the Lovers, Strength, the Hermit, the House of God, Arcanum XIII and the Fool are explored.
As readers of Two Esoteric Tarots will know, Poncet’s investigation is comparable to that of Peter Mark Adams in The Game of Saturn, shedding new light on heterodox thought in the Renaissance.
Christophe Poncet has been on a decades long quest to discover the truth about the Tarot de Marseille and the esoteric ideas encoded in the cards. The Tarot of Marsilio takes us on an extraordinary journey of discovery, from a lost masterpiece of Botticelli in a ruined castle, through the stacks of the Vatican library, artist’s sketchbooks, and works in the collections of the Louvre, the British Museum, and the National Gallery. Poncet brings us into the hermetic thought-world of the circle around the brilliant polymath Marsilio Ficino.
For the tarot reader and occultist, this work opens up a profound understanding of the cards, their history and the context of their creation. With these keys we can read the visual language of the trumps as they were intended, and play the game of Western esotericism at a deeper level. Whether enhancing our divinations or stimulating the practice of talismanic and image magic, Poncet changes forever our understanding of the most archetypal and iconic tarot deck.
£49.00
The earliest known Rosicrucian ritual system published for the first time.
The subject of this book is Johann Samuel Mund artist, alchemist and Free-mason and his own special interpretation of the Royal Art. It was in Frankfurt that Mund founded the Masonic Lodge known as the Bund der Treue und Wahrheit zu den 3 Rosenkreuzern Weiß, Roth und Gold (Union of Loyalty and Truth of the 3 Rosy Crosses, White, Red and Gold), for which he developed his own doctrine with its own rituals and teachings, which have fortunately come down to us in various manuscript archives.
In this book the authors provide the first complete overview of Mund's teachings, illustrated with the unique images and diagrams that he created specially for them. The authors also explore the conditions prevailing at the time the Lodge of the Union of Loyalty and Truth was founded, the influences that shaped it, and the impact it had upon the development of the High Degrees in the mid-18th century.
What is more, the book sheds light on a fascinating chapter in Masonic history, and one that has been relatively neglected to date, namely the connection between practical and philosophical alchemy on the one hand and dogmatic Freemasonry (at that time not yet fully developed) on the other.
This meticulously researched and richly illustrated volume is a joint production of Salier Verlag, Germany, and Lewis Masonic and contains all the relevant texts in both German and English. It is aimed both at academics specialising in the Enlightenment and the general reader with an interest in the history of ideas, alchemy and esotericism, as well as Freemasons who are eager to explore a fascinating and previously neglected chapter in the development of the Brotherhood.
1st Edition 2024 (bilingual edition in German and English)
Hard-cover binding in imitation leather with gold embossing, thread-stitched, two bookmarks (one Gold and one Rose coloured)
Colour throughout with numerous illustrations
544 pages, 17 x 24 cm
Only 500 Printed
£19.99
£11.69 £12.99