Our final bursary funded meet up took Dean and myself back to London to the rare book archives of the Wellcome Library. I had requested in advance some of their 17th century alchemical manuscripts and these had been bought up and were ready and waiting in the viewing room on our arrival.
It was spine tingling to see the physical pages of writings and illustrations charting the journey and learning of some of the individuals who had worked within the Magnum Opus.
The archetypal figure of Mercurious has been a constant presence in this project – surprising and transmuting at every turn. Seeing his name within the latin writings serves as a reminder we are not to expect things to draw to a close in the way we expect. He is likely not done with us yet.
Leaving the collection we went on to meet artist Andrea Zucchini who is training in Jungian analytical psychology and incorporates this into his artwork. Really valuable conversation that gave us much to reflect on. A very talented and authentic artist who I hope we can speak with again.
The visit finished with a visit to the William Blake exhibition to discuss visionary art and creating new mythology. As the research project draws to a close we are discussing what the next steps are for both of us in terms of translating this learning.
