Adam McLean
Encyclopedia
Adam McLean is a well known author and authority on alchemical
texts and symbol
ism. In 1978 he founded the Hermetic Journal
which he published until 1992 during which time he also started publishing the Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks, a series of thirty nine editions (to 2011) of key source texts of the hermetic
tradition. He is author of A Treatise on Angel Magic, A Commentary on the Mutus Liber, The Alchemical Mandala, The Rosicrucian Emblems of Daniel Cramer,
In 1995 he began the Alchemy Website, which provides thousands of pages of texts, articles, bibliographical, historical and scholarly analysis, as well as an extensive library of images found in alchemical books and manuscripts - well over 100 megabytes of information. Originally influenced by depth psychological and esoteric views on alchemy, since the late 1980s McLean has become more focused on a scholarly perspective on the subject. Though an enthusiast and promoter of interest in the various facets of alchemy, he feels that the subject can best be studied using a scholarly methodology, and he now bases his approach entirely on the original manuscripts, texts and imagery of alchemy and not on the wild speculations of the present day esotericists and popularisers.
McLean was born and brought up in Glasgow, in the West of Scotland. Early in his life he developed an interest in chemistry and mathematics which he later studied at University. While at University in 1965-69, he became interested in esotericism and occult spirituality, and began reading the vast tomes of Theosophy, Anthroposophy and related mystical traditions. He was especially drawn to alchemy, though at that time there was little available in print to study. During the early 1970s he studied all these ideas in great depth, and eventually felt able to begin writing and editing the Hermetic Journal. He was fortunate to live near Glasgow, which has the best collection of alchemical books and manuscripts in the world - in the Ferguson Collection in Glasgow University Library and the Young Collection in the University of Strathclyde. McLean became a regular visitor to these collections and so was able from an early age to immerse himself in the original documents.
In the late 1980s, with the help of a sympathic sponsor he set up the Hermetic Research Trust and briefly located himself in London. This gave him direct access to the many collections located there. Throughout the 1990s McLean was supported by Joseph R. Ritman, the founder of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica. J.R. Ritman gave McLean the opportunity to devote himself full time to researching alchemy and related areas of study. This was an extremely productive period in which he deepened his knowledge particularly of the manuscript material. In 1995, when the internet moved out of the University sphere towards the individual consumer, McLean saw the opportunity and need to provide an online resource on alchemy and thus the Alchemy web site was created.
During this period McLean was able to devote some time to painting and he has produced (to 2011) over 1000 coloured emblems, from alchemical, mystical, astronomical and emblem books. He has also created a significant number of facsimile oil paintings of alchemical images from manuscripts. He is a practical person, rather than someone entirely immersed in academia or abstractions, even undertaking the bookbinding and production of his works.
From the year 2000 he began to produce a series of study courses on alchemical texts and symbolism (seven to date). Through these McLean provided ways of seeing alchemical symbolism in its proper context rather than projecting modern interpretations upon these images. He also provided in depth readings of major alchemical texts, again placing them in their correct context. As, earlier in his life he had worked with esoteric and depth psychological ideas, he is now very aware of the limitations and seductions of such approaches and the need for clear thinking in order to understand the subtleties of alchemical material.
In the last few years he has also taken an interest in the artwork of modern tarot
. He sees the plethora of modern tarot designs as a kind of documentation of our time. He is not interested in the tarot as fortune-telling or even as esoterica, but rather from an art historical approach. He has now gathered one of the largest collections of modern tarots as the basis for his studies. The artwork of modern tarot, he says, is almost entirely neglected by present day art historians and academics and no libraries seem interested in collecting tarot decks as a resource. It is his view that tarot with its thousands of designs should be seen as the emblem books of the late 20th and 21st centuries.
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
texts and symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism. In 1978 he founded the Hermetic Journal
Hermetic Journal
The Hermetic Journal started out as a quarterly journal dedicated to the hermetic tradition, edited by Adam McLean. The first issue was released in August 1978 and publication continued until 1992....
which he published until 1992 during which time he also started publishing the Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks, a series of thirty nine editions (to 2011) of key source texts of the hermetic
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
tradition. He is author of A Treatise on Angel Magic, A Commentary on the Mutus Liber, The Alchemical Mandala, The Rosicrucian Emblems of Daniel Cramer,
In 1995 he began the Alchemy Website, which provides thousands of pages of texts, articles, bibliographical, historical and scholarly analysis, as well as an extensive library of images found in alchemical books and manuscripts - well over 100 megabytes of information. Originally influenced by depth psychological and esoteric views on alchemy, since the late 1980s McLean has become more focused on a scholarly perspective on the subject. Though an enthusiast and promoter of interest in the various facets of alchemy, he feels that the subject can best be studied using a scholarly methodology, and he now bases his approach entirely on the original manuscripts, texts and imagery of alchemy and not on the wild speculations of the present day esotericists and popularisers.
McLean was born and brought up in Glasgow, in the West of Scotland. Early in his life he developed an interest in chemistry and mathematics which he later studied at University. While at University in 1965-69, he became interested in esotericism and occult spirituality, and began reading the vast tomes of Theosophy, Anthroposophy and related mystical traditions. He was especially drawn to alchemy, though at that time there was little available in print to study. During the early 1970s he studied all these ideas in great depth, and eventually felt able to begin writing and editing the Hermetic Journal. He was fortunate to live near Glasgow, which has the best collection of alchemical books and manuscripts in the world - in the Ferguson Collection in Glasgow University Library and the Young Collection in the University of Strathclyde. McLean became a regular visitor to these collections and so was able from an early age to immerse himself in the original documents.
In the late 1980s, with the help of a sympathic sponsor he set up the Hermetic Research Trust and briefly located himself in London. This gave him direct access to the many collections located there. Throughout the 1990s McLean was supported by Joseph R. Ritman, the founder of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica. J.R. Ritman gave McLean the opportunity to devote himself full time to researching alchemy and related areas of study. This was an extremely productive period in which he deepened his knowledge particularly of the manuscript material. In 1995, when the internet moved out of the University sphere towards the individual consumer, McLean saw the opportunity and need to provide an online resource on alchemy and thus the Alchemy web site was created.
During this period McLean was able to devote some time to painting and he has produced (to 2011) over 1000 coloured emblems, from alchemical, mystical, astronomical and emblem books. He has also created a significant number of facsimile oil paintings of alchemical images from manuscripts. He is a practical person, rather than someone entirely immersed in academia or abstractions, even undertaking the bookbinding and production of his works.
From the year 2000 he began to produce a series of study courses on alchemical texts and symbolism (seven to date). Through these McLean provided ways of seeing alchemical symbolism in its proper context rather than projecting modern interpretations upon these images. He also provided in depth readings of major alchemical texts, again placing them in their correct context. As, earlier in his life he had worked with esoteric and depth psychological ideas, he is now very aware of the limitations and seductions of such approaches and the need for clear thinking in order to understand the subtleties of alchemical material.
In the last few years he has also taken an interest in the artwork of modern tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
. He sees the plethora of modern tarot designs as a kind of documentation of our time. He is not interested in the tarot as fortune-telling or even as esoterica, but rather from an art historical approach. He has now gathered one of the largest collections of modern tarots as the basis for his studies. The artwork of modern tarot, he says, is almost entirely neglected by present day art historians and academics and no libraries seem interested in collecting tarot decks as a resource. It is his view that tarot with its thousands of designs should be seen as the emblem books of the late 20th and 21st centuries.