Edition #11 – Alchemy
Welcome to the 11th edition of Wake up screaming – A study, 21 artists deep, into the relationships between Humans, Art and Alchemy.
This month began with The Alchemy Conference here in my hometown of Glastonbury; a weekend of workshops, seminars and networking with alchemists from all over the world. The first two weeks of this exploration were a lot to do with learning and with theory; the second half about immersion, acting on the teachings of the first two weeks, funnelling it outward into my life through direct action and purposeful interaction
After the Alchemy conference I had a chat with Benjamin Turale, the Director of Education at the International Alchemy Guild. Here’s an excerpt from that interview held at the Library of Avalon.
I am fascinated by the positive effect this website is having on my life, the networks and doorways it’s opening up in the real world. I could write a book, “How a website changed my life” – It would talk about this amalgamation between human and technology and how this project is like a plugin to my being, a portal through which the universe can act out its desires on my life.
Wake up screaming enhances my experience by generating positive connections in the real world. To give an example: This month I hosted my first Bardic Fire, it was a modest and intimate affair, uplifting and grounding, it came about as a direct result of my explorations via Wake up screaming. I hope to make this a weekly event, every Sunday gathering at the foot of the Tor.
The study of Alchemy lead me to fire and this is a perfect example of the effect that Wake up screaming is having on my life, the more I give, the more it gives me, through life-enhancing manifestations.
Wake up screaming provides me with a structure for repeated, positive, outward behaviour and this is causing a reaction inside and out: it’s improving my self esteem, encouraging me to be a more open and sociable human and providing a steady repetition that taps into the cycles of the large spherical objects around us.
I suppose it’s a catalyst, a quickener that is concentrating my interests and initiating a swirl of energy around and within me; creating new opportunities for learning, stirring new outlooks, fermenting into new behaviours, distilling into new experiences, causing a transformation that is hard to specify in words, but which has been clarified internally by this study of Alchemy and its relationship to creativity.
Wake up screaming is a nexus point of my own creative expression and an attractor for art and artist that express the inner workings of the human individual. My interaction with the world through this magazine provides endless opportunities for learning, for further study and growth. Like a feedback loop, I feed it, it feeds me, and it feels like this exchange is increasing as the months progress.
Right now I am a human that knows he is engaged in meaningful activity. The temperature of the mantle is just right and through positive interactions in the real world, through newly developing relationships, I am transforming myself and time is disappearing.
The submissions, writings and artwork of the contributing artists guided our journey into alchemy, from an interview with Benjamin Turale the Director of Education at the International Alchemy Guild to the 25 year old alchemical costume and vessels of Penny Burnfield from the photographic studies of locations by John Matturri to a visit to the plant world with Sian Sibley and a complete opening up of the subject and the body by Pascale Pollier. To name only a few.
This edition is the most eclectic and vast to date, providing a wonderful resource for those interested in researching the relationship between humans, art and alchemy.
Enjoy.
Matt Witt
