With all of the talk recently about religions that forbid the fundamentally human act of drawing, it is perhaps refreshing to think about a spiritual pursuit that not only encourages the act of drawing, but expresses itself almost entirely through drawings. Alchemy is the subject of this fascinating film. It’s in eight parts and well worth clicking through all the way to the end. The later part of the film features some comments by Carl Jung and there are tons of illustrations to puzzle over. If you can get past some of the slightly amateurish narration, you will be well-rewarded with a presentation of ideas that might be completely new to you.  The film gets more interesting toward the last three parts.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

What I like about alchemy is the sense I get of people working toward something. The entire history of alchemy is one of people searching for what amounts to a spiritual understanding of themselves through constant questioning and investigation. This seems to me to be superior to most religious practice which primarily involves people accepting instructions from an outside and unverified source.