Louis Feuillée, a French explorer, botanist, astronomer, and geographer discoverd this curious creature in Buenos Aires during his journey to South America between 1707 – 1711. The monster was born of a ewe and had a “…contrast of three resemblances which it had, that of a child, a horse, and a calf” Source: Wikimedia Commons
Annotations and a letter found in Aesch Mezareph or Purifying Fire, 1714. The beginning of the letter reads: “My Dear John, I have read Aesch Mezareph from cover to cover and can making nothing of it.” Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
Spread found in the book Les Plus Secrets Mystères des Hauts Grades de la Maçonnerie Dévoilés (The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Ranks of Masonry Revealed) by Karl Friedrich Koppen, 1768. Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
The Ovinnik is an evil spirit of the barn from Slavic folklore. He may set fire to your grain and burn down your barn unless you placate him with roosters and pancakes (bliny). A warm touch from an Ovinnik on New Years Eve is auspicious for the year ahead, but a cold touch portends misery. Photo: Natalie.sk. Sculpture: Anton Shipitsa
Alchemical art from Les Vaissevax D’Hermes, 1700. Source: Manly P. Hall’s collection of alchemical manuscripts, Box 14
Leviathan is a massive sea serpent that appears throughout the Hebrew Bible and related texts. Originally there was a female leviathan, but God killed it out of fear that they’d multiply and destroy the world. He saved the flesh of the beast for the banquet at tLeviathan is a massive sea serpent that appears throughout the Hebrew Bible and related texts. Originally there was a female leviathan, but God killed it out of fear that they’d multiply and destroy the world. He saved the flesh of the beast for the banquet at the advent of the Messiah.he advent of the Messiah. In Binsfeld’s classification of demons, Leviathan is considered the demon of envy. Image: Gustave Doré, 1865
Diagrams from Testamentum Theorica, 15th C, a seminal text on medical alchemy. The book, attributed to Ramon Llull, was originally written in Catalan and is one of the first texts to present The Philosopher’s Stone as a way to turn metals into gold and create an elixir of life. Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
A glamour is a spell cast by faeries, witches, sorcerers, and deities to make people or things appear more attractive. It can give the appearance of youth, beauty, turn rags into luxurious clothing, and make worthless objects appear to be treasures.
Diagrams of alchemical furnaces in The Key of Alchemy by Samuel Norton, 1577. I love how amateur these look, it’s from a handwritten manuscript, so perhaps they’re placeholder drawings. From Manly P. Hall’s collection of Alchemical Manuscripts. Box 18, MS102, v10
Emblems from Manly P. Hall’s collection of alchemical manuscripts, 1600, Box 4, MS 19. From: archive.org
The Beast of Gévaudan was a man-eating creature, sometimes identified as a wolf-dog hybrid, that attacked and killed citizens of Gévaudan, France in the late 18th century. Over 600 attacks were recorded, some victims having their throats torn out. Image: Gallica Digital Library
Depiction of an alchemist’s lab from Alchemy, Its Science and Romance, John Edward Mercer, 1921. Image processed and colorized by Eve Harms. Original source: archive.org
