Today marks the 36th anniversary of the death of the great Canadian writer, lecturer, and mystic Manly Palmer Hall (1901-1990). He, perhaps more than any other 20th century person, contributed the most to the dissemination and popularization of Western esoteric knowledge. His vast compendium of secret lore, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, published in 1928, represents a definitive watershed in the study of esoteric traditions and belongs on the shelf of every person with even a passing curiosity into the matter.

In 1934, Hall founded the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), an American nonprofit organization to promote the study of the world’s wisdom literature, mysticism, comparative religion, and metaphysics. Hall believed the accumulated wisdom of humanity was the birthright of every single individual - a mission continued by PRS to this day and one which we at the Embassy of the Free Mind identify with absolutely. Our founder Joost Ritman was motivated by the same spirit, and knew of Manly Hall’s identical mission in America - and in his own way, founded a ‘sister’ institution to support that mission in Amsterdam.

Mr Hall and Mr Ritman met on several occasions and over the course of several years, developed a friendship that also resulted in the gift giving of several rare and curious books to one another. It is a joy to occasionally come across one of these books with Mr Hall’s signature in them in our library.

In our view both men were torch bearers of the ‘prisca theologia’, or Golden Thread, the ageless wisdom of the Western mystery traditions, and today the Philosophical Research Society continues to tend that flame in North America, while we tend to it on this side of the Atlantic at the Embassy of the Free Mind.

As we here at the Embassy of the Free Mind, we continue to mourn the recent passing of Mr Ritman, it seems fitting to acknowledge a broader tradition to which he himself belonged - one which Manly P Hall was an essential standard bearer of.

Corey Andrews is a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam and a researcher working for the Ritman Research Institute. His research focuses primarily on 17th and 18th century Rosicrucianism and the life and works of Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670).

On Wednesday, September 2nd at 7PM PST join In-person or on Zoom! An evening with Chloe Cassens celebrating the enduring and outsized legacy of Jean Cocteau’s 1946 cinema masterpiece.

Cinemyth Presents: Give Me Back My Beast! A lecture celebrating 80 years of Jean Cocteau’s Beauty & the Beast (1946) with Chloë Cassens

This Event is FREE to all PRS Astral Members!

If you are a PRS Astral member please scroll down to the bottom of the page for more details. If you are not a PRS Astral Member Consider joining today to gain access to our growing archive, as well as free & discounted PRS on-line events.

Join Chloe Cassens, author of SACRED MONSTER and Cocteau scholar for an evening celebrating the enduring and outsized legacy of Jean Cocteau’s 1946 cinema masterpiece LA BELLE ET LA BETE. Cassens will bring her signature style of Cocteau expertise to PRS in a lecture and discussion about the film’s backstory, themes, and influence — all of which are still relevant to our current culture, 80 years following its premiere at the very first Cannes Film Festival. *Please note: this does not include a screening of the film.*

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Chloë Cassens is the representative of the Severin Wunderman collection, the largest in the world of works by the artist Jean Cocteau. Her perspective on Cocteau is singular as she is Wunderman’s granddaughter. An in-demand expert and scholar of Cocteau, she has spoken to audiences at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice; L’Alliance in New York City; the British Film Institute in London; the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles; and many more. Chloë has been featured in Le Monde, Tatler, Observer, and the New York Times has called her “The Little Scorpion of the French Riviera.” Her writing has appeared in periodicals such as A Rabbit’s Foot, 7Hollywood, and S&M Magazine.

Chloë was born in Los Angeles and raised between L.A., Switzerland, and France. She received a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Barnard College. She lives in Los Angeles and Paris with her dachshund, Louis.

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Join scholar Daniel Matt in a talk exploring how Kabbalah reimagines God. On Sunday, August 30th from 12PM-1:30PM.

How Kabbalah Reimagines God, an online talk with Daniel Matt

If you are a PRS Astral Member scroll down to receive a 10% discount to this event. If you are not a PRS Astral Member consider joining today to receive access to our growing on-line archive and discounts to PRS on-line events.

Explore how Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, reimagines God. God is Infinity (Ein Sof), beyond anything we can conceive. God is the energy animating existence. Balancing these “impersonal” facets of God, we will discover the ten Sefirot, aspects of God’s personality. Finally we will explore the feminine half of God, Shekhinah, who represents the return of the Goddess, long suppressed and denied by official religious thinkers and texts.

Daniel Matt is a scholar of Kabbalah and the Zohar. Among his books are: The Essential Kabbalah (translated into seven languages), God and the Big Bang, and his 9-volume, annotated translation of the Zohar (The Zohar: Pritzker Edition), which has been hailed as “a monumental contribution to the history of Jewish thought.”

In 2022, Daniel’s biography of Elijah the Prophet was published in Yale’s series Jewish Lives: Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation. This book was awarded the inaugural Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Book Prize, established by Yeshiva University.

Daniel taught for many years at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He resides there and currently teaches Zohar online (https://www.danielcmatt.com/zohar-courses.html).

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On Saturday, August 29th from 11AM-12:30PM PST. Take a walk on the occult side with “wild scholar” David Holzer in this online talk hosted by PRS!

Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic - An Online Talk with David Holzer

Scroll down if you are a PRS Astral Member to receive a 10% discount to this on-line event. If you are not a PRS Astral consider joining in order to receive access to our growing on-line archive and discounts to on-line PRS events.

Lou Reed: “My god is rock ’n’ roll. It’s an obscure power that can change your life.”

Love or hate it, Lou Reed’s 1975 album Metal Machine Music (MMM) stands alone in rock and roll lore. Over the years, myths and legends have grown up around MMM. This talk will reveal fascinating true stories of the mystical influences behind the album.

In 1975, Lou Reed had come in out of the cold after spending the 1960s in the wilderness with cult band The Velvet Underground. His 1972 Bowie-produced Transformer spawned the surprising international hit 45 “Walk on the Wild Side”. Sally Can’t Dance, his 1974 album, reached the US top ten charts.

To this day, Metal Machine Music is still dismissed by most as Lou’s perverse drug-addled prank to force his label RCA and bewildered management to drop him just when he’d become a star. But MMM was nearly a decade in the making. Every sonic element was meticulously planned. And it was made for a magickal purpose.

As Lou said, “The thing I really like is…the Tarot, the I-Ching, [Theosophist] Alice Bailey books.” Inspired by Lou’s devotion to Bailey’s teachings and his fascination with esoteric, occult, and other magickal practices like those of the Johrei Church, Metal Machine can be seen as the rock and roll equivalent of drawing down healing white light.

Using MMM as our grimy prism, we will present a picture of an entirely different Lou Reed from the mythologized Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal, showing him as a lifelong magickal thinker. We will tell the story of how MMM became the increasingly revered and influential living, breathing avant-garde classic it is today and show how Lou returned to the album’s principles in his later years to make some of his most powerful music ever. A discussion will follow.

David Holzer is a London-born author described by Laurie Anderson as a “wild scholar.” He writes about music and musicians, Beat literature and art, the counterculture, and varieties of contemporary spirituality. In his work, he explores and attempts to resolve the mystery of why some works of art by remarkable artists have an exceptional power to fascinate. His writing on music is regularly featured in Ugly Things magazine. For several years, he wrote for the respected Beat Scenemagazine. He has been published on the Yoga International and LA Yoga websites and in Om magazine. ‘The Secret Writing Mantra,’ his popular yoga for writers’ course is offered on the DailyOM platform. David’s forthcoming book Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic draws on extensive research and hours of interviews with Lou’s friends and collaborators. He lives in Spain and Hungary with his wife.

https://davidholzer.com/lou-reed/

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Mystic Vision: A Surrealist Ball Honoring Betye Saar
Become a Member Today and receive $20 off your ticket! Sign up here!

PRS Astral Member’s Can Scroll Down to the Bottom to find a discount code.

In celebration of the two-year anniversary of our Membership program, we’re throwing a one-of-a-kind surrealist ball: Mystic Vision: A Surrealist Ball. This is not merely a benefit—it is an invitation to awaken the dreamer within.

Mystic Vision is an altar to memory, to intuition, and to the unseen world that shapes our lives. This year’s Surrealist Ball, at PRS, honors artist Betye Saar, celebrating a century of her visionary practice and enduring influence in Los Angeles and beyond. Inspired by Saar’s assemblage language and spiritual cosmology, the evening transforms our campus into an altar where the personal and the ancestral converge.

Drawing from Saar’s use of found objects, iconography, and the charged symbolism of the eye, the evening centers on the act of seeing beyond illusion, beyond surface, and into layered histories and future possibilities. The space becomes an immersive assemblage: mirrors, eyes, and reflective surfaces recur as portals of perception, invoking Saar’s enduring engagement with sight as both protection and revelation.

A central ceremonial moment: the Opening of the Eye calls the room into communion. As a collective we honor lineage, protection, and the radical act of imagination, offered in tribute to Saar’s hundred years of world-building and cultural alchemy.

Guests are invited to dress as extensions of the exhibition and assemblages in motion. Think: protective charms, spirit vessels, cosmic eyes, relics of past and future selves.

At its heart, Mystic Vision is about gathering and about creating a shared psychic space where art, ritual, and community intertwine. It is a night to be seen and to see differently. To honor the power of art, stories, and bodies as carriers of meaning.

All proceeds support the continuing work and vision of The Philosophical Research Society.

Tickets!

Note: PRS Membership is not required to attend this event! Becoming a member does get you a discounted ticket (plus many other discounts and benefits year-round). Join today!

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THE EVENT'S PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE:

A live performance by Geneva Jacuzzi!
A DJ set from Jocelyn Romo
A musical installation and performance by Pauline Lay
Workshops with Sóla Saar and Cindy Rehm of HEXENTEXTE in the bookstore.

Tickets!

THE EVENT'S PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE:

A live performance by Geneva Jacuzzi!
A DJ set from Jocelyn Romo
A musical installation and performance by Pauline Lay
Workshops with Sóla Saar and Cindy Rehm of HEXENTEXTE in the bookstore

Tickets!

PLUS! Tarot readings with Sanyu Estelle (multihyphenate-multitalented soothsayer) Liz Vazquez (astrologer & artist), Madre Jaguar, and tarot scholar James Jude throughout the night! Artist Megan Whitmarsh will offer dedicated dream readings.

*readings are scheduled with the reader and offered for an additional price based on the type of reading

Mystic Vision: A Surrealist Ball Honoring Betye Saar

Become a Member Today and receive $20 off your ticket! Sign up here!

In celebration of the two-year anniversary of our Membership program, we’re throwing a one-of-a-kind surrealist ball: Mystic Vision: A Surrealist Ball. This is not merely a benefit—it is an invitation to awaken the dreamer within.

Mystic Vision is an altar to memory, to intuition, and to the unseen world that shapes our lives. This year’s Surrealist Ball, at PRS, honors artist Betye Saar, celebrating a century of her visionary practice and enduring influence in Los Angeles and beyond. Inspired by Saar’s assemblage language and spiritual cosmology, the evening transforms our campus into an altar where the personal and the ancestral converge.

Drawing from Saar’s use of found objects, iconography, and the charged symbolism of the eye, the evening centers on the act of seeing beyond illusion, beyond surface, and into layered histories and future possibilities. The space becomes an immersive assemblage: mirrors, eyes, and reflective surfaces recur as portals of perception, invoking Saar’s enduring engagement with sight as both protection and revelation.

A central ceremonial moment: the Opening of the Eye calls the room into communion. As a collective we honor lineage, protection, and the radical act of imagination, offered in tribute to Saar’s hundred years of world-building and cultural alchemy.

TICKETS

This event is curated by the Surrealist Study Group and secretfiresla.

Special thanks to the Saar Family and Roberts Projects.

Betye Saar, “Eye”, 1972.

Guests are invited to dress as extensions of the exhibition and assemblages in motion. Think: protective charms, spirit vessels, cosmic eyes, relics of past and future selves.

At its heart, Mystic Vision is about gathering and about creating a shared psychic space where art, ritual, and community intertwine. It is a night to be seen and to see differently. To honor the power of art, stories, and bodies as carriers of meaning.

All proceeds support the continuing work and vision of The Philosophical Research Society.

Tickets!

Note: PRS Membership is not required to attend this event! Becoming a member does get you a discounted ticket (plus many other discounts and benefits year-round). Join today!

Tickets!

THE EVENT’S PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE:

A live performance by Geneva Jacuzzi!
A DJ set from Jocelyn Romo
A musical installation and performance by Pauline Lay
Workshops with Sóla Saar and Cindy Rehm of HEXENTEXTE in the bookstore

ART EXHIBITIONS THROUGHOUT THE CAMPUS FEATURING WORKS BY:

Betye Saar
Regina Herod
Mimi Haddon
Cameron Michel

PLUS! Tarot readings with Sanyu Estelle (multihyphenate-multitalented soothsayer) Liz Vazquez (astrologer & artist), Madre Jaguar, and tarot scholar James Jude throughout the night! Artist Megan Whitmarsh will offer dedicated dream readings.

*readings are scheduled with the reader and offered for an additional price based on the type of reading.

TICKETS

FULL LINEUP:

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Wine, beer and a variety of other drinks will be served, including NA beer by Headlight Brewing Co.

Sponsored by dublab.

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Psychological individuation and spiritual awakening are different yet complementary modes of human development. In this presentation, Dr. Patrick Mahaffey will synthesize insights and practices from process theology, Jungian psychology, the Diamond Approach, contemplative yoga, and integral philosophy that support integrative spirituality—forms of inner work that conjoin psychological wholeness with spiritual realization. The presentation will conclude with reflective meditation exercises to embody and process the material covered.

This event marks the Los Angeles launch of Dr. Mahaffey’s new book, Individuation and Beyond: World Views, God-Images, and Self-Realization, from which his presentation will draw. Copies of his book are available at the PRS Bookstore!

ABOUT the BOOK:

Individuation and Beyond is a profound exploration of the psychospiritual journey toward wholeness and awakening. Drawing on over five decades of academic study, spiritual practice, and teaching at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Dr. Patrick J. Mahaffey interweaves insights from process relational theology, Jungian depth psychology, the Diamond Approach, contemplative yoga traditions, and integral philosophy. The book invites readers to engage deeply with their inner lives by examining the worldviews and God-images that shape meaning and identity. He proposes a form of integrative spirituality—a path that unites psychological wholeness with spiritual realization. More than a synthesis of great ideas, this work is a guide for the modern seeker—a mandala of perspectives designed to illuminate the divine within the human. Each chapter concludes with reflection questions and practices that encourage experiential engagement, making the book both intellectually rigorous and personally transformative.

Dr. Patrick J. Mahaffey is Professor Emeritus in the Mythological Studies Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute, a practitioner of contemplative yoga, and the author of Individuation and Beyond: Worldviews, God-Images, and Self-Realization.

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Join us on-line, Saturday, August 11AM-12:30PM for Bringing the Gods Back to Life: Black Queer Cosmologies in Sculpture, Ritual, and Film with Dr. Marques Redd

If you are a PRS Astral Member scroll down to receive a 10% discount to this event. If you are not a PRS Astral Member consider becoming a supporting member to receive access to our growing on-line archive and discounts to PRS on-line events.

An artist talk on Rainbow Serpent Cosmology, a new spiritual, artistic & ritual practice rooted in Black queer life & ancient Egyptian myth

What does it mean to revive ancient Egyptian cosmology as a living, embodied practice centered on Black queer life? In this online class, Dr. Marques Redd shares the vision behind Myth‑Science of the Gatekeepers, a project of the collective Rainbow Serpent (which advances Black LGBTQ culture through emerging tech, multimedia art, and traditional African knowledge systems). The project’s core is a set of sixteen life‑size glass busts of Black queer people, each cast in the form of a reimagined Egyptian deity – Amun, Khonsu, Ra, and others.

These sculptures are potent ritual objects at the heart of a rapidly growing artistic and spiritual universe, inspiring additional works produced by Redd such as (1) Blackstar Sanctuary, a VR film featuring a virtual temple dedicated to the sixteen deities; (2) Opening the Mouth, a live performance, inspired by the ancient Egyptian Opening of the Mouth ritual, designed to ritually enliven the statues; (3) This is the Body of the Sun, an eight‑foot, cast aluminum sculpture of Ra; and (4) May We See Thy Beauties, a forthcoming feature film with fourteen members of the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Redd will situate this work within three interwoven histories: the complex metaphysics of ancient Egyptian artmaking; the African American tradition of engaging ancient Egypt (beginning with the 19th‑century scholar, journalist, and abolitionist Martin Delany); and the long, often overlooked lineage of Black queer artists who have activated Egyptian myth as a source of liberation.

Dr. Marques Redd is a traditional African cosmologist, independent scholar, multimedia artist, and Co-Founder of Rainbow Serpent, a Black LGBTQ art | tech | spirituality organization. His work reclaims, reinterprets, and extends indigenous African knowledge systems – particularly from Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) and West African (Yoruba, Dogon, Dagara, and Igbo) contexts – through sculpture, film, performance, immersive media, photography, writing, light installation, music, and healing retreats.

Redd’s recent body of work centers on Myth-Science of the Gatekeepers (2024), a series of sixteen glass sculptures depicting Black queer Kemetic deities. The project has generated an expanding constellation of works including Blackstar Sanctuary(2024), an immersive virtual reality temple experience; Opening the Mouth (2024), a site-specific dance performance inspired by the ritual of the same name; Knowing the Evolutions of Ra (2024), a musical retelling of a Kemetic creation narrative; X (Nu/Apuat/Geb) (2025), a photographic portrait extending cosmology into lens-based practice; This Is The Body Of The Sun (2026), an eight-foot cast aluminum sculpture of the solar deity Ra; and May We See Thy Beauties (forthcoming), a performance film created in collaboration with the Sun Ra Arkestra and Sidra Bell Dance New York.

His earlier projects include Obi Mbu (The Primordial House) (2021), a dance film and photography series exploring an Igbo creation narrative; The Four World Ages(2023), a multimedia performance and public art project examining cyclical theories of human history; Playing the Cosmic Strings (2021), a collaboration with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra exploring Igbo conceptions of the origins of music; and The Three Sisters (2024), a large-scale architectural lighting installation displayed across Pittsburgh’s three Sister Bridges.

Redd has also directed the documentary films Miracles: The Redd Family Collection of Black Art (2025) and Between Us, The Gaze: Ajamu X / FIERCE: Pittsburgh(2026). His essays span Black literature, photography, music, and visual culture. His forthcoming book, Rainbow Serpent Cosmology Gate 0: A Black Queer Theory of Number and Mythogenesis, articulates a contemporary Black queer spiritual system rooted in African cosmological traditions.

www.therainbowserpent.orgwww.marquesredd.com

Purchase tickets here for Bringing the Gods Back to Life: Black Queer Cosmologies in Sculpture, Ritual, and Film with Dr. Marques Redd

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Creative Conditions opened with a screening of two short documentaries. Mr. Wash traced the early days following Mr. Wash’s release from a life sentence after being freed by President Obama in 2016, while Peter: On Fishing shares insights into Shire’s approach to life and art. A conversation between Mr. Wash and Peter Shire moderated by Compton Museum co-founder Abigail Lopez-Byrd followed, along with an audience Q&A.

This event was held in support of Mr. Wash’s new book, Artists in Space, featuring studio visits with 20 of L.A.’s most dynamic working artists today. The 200-page hardcover publication showcases how each individual cultivates environments to nurture their own creative expression. All proceeds from Mr. Wash’s book go towards building the Art By Wash Studio & Community Center in Compton, CA. If you would like to support the efforts of Mr. Wash and the Compton Community you can purchase a copy of the book here.

If you enjoy Mr. Wash’s talk and want to hear more of his stories you can join us in person at PRS on August 27th, to celebrate a decade of Mr. Wash being free from incarceration! You can purchase tickets to this celebratory event, The Wisdom of Time: Mr. Wash on a decade of freedom w/Tala Madani, here.

Mr. Wash is a self-taught artist and criminal justice reform advocate living and working in Compton, CA. Wrongfully convicted in 1997 for a non-violent drug offense and handed a life sentence due to mandatory minimums, Mr. Wash learned and refined his craft in prison before President Obama granted him clemency 21 years later.

Since his release, Mr. Wash’s work has been shown and acquired by institutions including the Hammer Museum, LACMA, the Huntington Library, and Palm Springs Museum. In 2024, Mr. Wash presented a solo show at Jeffrey Deitch L.A. His latest paintings are currently on view at David Zwirner L.A. www.artbywash.com

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Join Laetitia Barbier in an online course viewing the Tarot deck as an anatomical structure and uncover deeper layers of meaning.

Tarot Anatomy: Arcanas and the Body as a Sacred Vessel for Intuitive Work

If you are a PRS Astral Member scroll down to the bottom for a 15% discount off of this workshop! If you are not a PRS Astral Member consider joining as a member if you want to receive discounts to online PRS workshops and classes.

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Apart from a few exceptions, most Tarot decks share a remarkable characteristic: they feature human figures. These bodies—posed, postured, and poised in deliberate attitudes—form one of the cornerstones of Tarot interpretation, their gestures speaking volumes in silence. The human body, with its bends and movements, becomes a language of its own, one that transcends words. Beyond the visible, the organs concealed within also carry profound symbolic weight, their meanings evolving across cultures and histories. Even taboo body parts shift and transform, their significance reframed over time.

The body is both a sacred and profane vessel, an antenna tuned to the divine yet anchored in earthly experience, driven by needs. In this class, we will explore how the human form—both the figures on the cards and our own embodied presence—becomes a metaphor for understanding instinctual messages. Which bodies are speaking to us? Are they the bodies depicted in the Tarot, or the sensations and wisdom of our own flesh?

By viewing the Tarot deck as an anatomical structure, we uncover layers of meaning that stretch far beyond the surface. During a reading, the cards and our bodies unite as tools of divination, expanding the ways we perceive and interpret the stories they hold. Through this exploration, we’ll delve into the archetypal understanding of the anatomical machine at large, the organs that allow it to function, the ways classic art history has shaped our perception of bodies, and how to develop techniques that attune us to the messages coursing through our physical selves.

This class invites you to sense from within what the Tarot reveals about your stories, your hopes, and the places where healing awaits. Together, we’ll weave a practice that harmonizes intuition, art, and embodiment, allowing the wisdom of the cards to be felt not only in the mind but truly experiencing in the pulsating vessel of the soul.

You can purchase tickets to this workshop here.

Laetitia Barbier

French-born Laetitia Barbier is an independent scholar, as well as a professional tarot reader and teacher. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History from La Sorbonne University Paris in 2009. Laetitia has worked with Morbid Anatomy from 2012 to 2024 as a programming director, head librarian, and occasional curator. Her book Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive was published in 2021 with a foreword by Rachel Pollack. She is the author of the Tiger Tarot Guide Book, a unique Tarot deck by symbolist artist Lori Field. As a writer and scholar, she has the privilege of collaborating with the iconic French maître-cartier Grimaud, notably on the exquisite re-release of their 1930s Tarot de Marseille and Belline Oracle.

Laetitia has lectured, taught and read cards for various cultural institutions, such as Greenwood Cemetery, Artyard, Fotografiska NY, the College of Psychic Studies in London or the New York Public Library. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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When the Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was rediscovered decades after her death her work was often looked at through the lens of Wassily Kandinsky’s abstraction. Julia Voss and Daniel Birnbaum reverse the method. Af Klint is being explored as a starting point. Her paintings are taken as a lens to examine Kandinsky’s. The result is astonishing.

Professor Julia Voss first saw a painting by Hilma af Klint in 2008 and has been fascinated by the Swedish painter ever since. As the arts editor of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, she wrote the article “Art History Must Be Rewritten” about Hilma af Klint in 2013. In 2017, she decided to quit her job, learn Swedish, and research af Klint’s life and work. Her book “Hilma af Klint. A Biography” became a bestseller and was published in English by Chicago University Press in 2022. With Daniel Birnbaum, she published “Hilma af Klint and Wassily Kandinsky. Dreams of the Future” with David Zwirner Books in 2026. Julia Voss works in the president’s office at the German Historical Museum in Berlin and teaches art history at Leuphana University in Lüneburg.

Daniel Birnbaum is a writer and curator based in Paris. He is professor of philosophy at the Städelschule in Frankfurt and a contributing editor to Artforum. From 2000 to 2010 he was rector of the Städelschule in Frankfurt and director of its Portikus gallery. Between 2010 and 2018 he was director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm. In 2009 he curated the the 53rd Venice Biennial. His most recent exhibitions are Wassily Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint. Dreams of the Future at K20 in Düsseldorf (with Julia Voss), and Fata Morgana (with Massimiliano Gioni) at Trussardi Foundation in Milan. Recent publications include Exhibition, Academy, Museum: Notes on the Frames of Art (Walther König, 2022) and the novel Dr B (Gallimard, 2022). In 2024 Birnbaum joined the Warburg Institute’s Visionary Circle.

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Betye Saar left this earth four days before she would have turned one hundred years old. We write this as both an eulogy and a celebration of life, because with Betye, the two were never separate. She taught us that grief and reverence can share a room, the same way she taught us that beauty and rage can live inside the same assemblage, the same window frame. Nothing about her practice asked us to choose between mourning and joy. It asked us to hold both in the same way she held everything: with care, with reverence, with craft, and with an eye for what others had overlooked.

Betye was a seer. Long before she became one of the most celebrated artists today, she was already a wanderer in search of meaning and someone who traveled, who studied, who sat with ancestral spirits, with esoteric teachings, and with the discarded alike, looking for the threads that connect what is visible to what is not.

Betye Saar practiced a kind of mysticism where one looks at a broken object and sees the spirit still inside it. She understood, long before it was fashionable to say so, that the personal is political and that memory is material. She was telling us, in every piece she made, that what society throws away still has a spirit worth honoring. And in that belief, she was really talking about people. She showed us how we can be reassembled into something powerful.

That belief became a weapon in the fight for Black liberation. In 1972, Betye took the mammy figure, one of this country’s oldest and cruelest caricatures, and rearmed her. Betye understood that the fight for Black liberation was not only fought in the streets; it was fought in the imagery we inherited and the imagery we dared to remake. She spent her life dismantling the visual language of racism, one found object at a time, and rebuilding it into something that fought back.

Because her vision did not end with her, as it lives on in the children she raised, artists and seers in their own right, carrying her fire forward. This is perhaps the truest measure of a mystic: that she not only saw clearly in her own lifetime, but that she passed the seeing on. The vision is still being shared with us, all of us, if we are open enough to receive it.

To every artist who digs through flea markets and family attics looking for meaning in what’s been left behind: you are working in Betye Saar’s lineage. To every artist who has turned rage into something beautiful and confrontational at once: you are carrying her fire forward. She practiced liberation in how she lived, in who she raised, and in what she refused to let the world forget.

A fuller celebration of her life is still to come, and we look forward to gathering with her family and our community in her honor. But today, on behalf of everyone at The Philosophical Research Society, we simply say: thank you, Betye.

Thank you for showing us that nothing has to be thrown away, not our anger, not our history, not our joy, and that all of it, gathered with care, can become something sacred. Thank you for teaching us how to see, how to seek, and how to find the ways of the future. You crossed over just shy of one hundred years, but you left behind a body of work vast enough to guide us for an eternity.

To learn more about Betye Saar’s work please visit: betyesaar.com. A list of current exhibitions around the world can be found here.

Local Exhibitions:

Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar

on view until August 22, 2026

Roberts Projects

Roberts Projects is delighted to present Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar, an exhibition exploring the central role of costume design in Saar’s early career and throughout her life as a mother and artist. The archivally-driven exhibition features over 200 objects, including costume designs, photographs, drawings, garments, jewelry, artworks and historic materials from the 1950s–1970s.

As part of a series of exhibitions and initiatives celebrating the occasion of Saar’s 100th birthday this summer, Let’s Get It On advances a new understanding of the artist’s design work as a vital part of her interconnected and ever-evolving practice. The exhibition is accompanied by a forthcoming comprehensive catalogue published by Roberts Projects.

Betye Saar: Drifting Toward Twilight

on view until November 2027

Huntington Library

“Betye Saar: Drifting Toward Twilight” transforms an entire room in the Scott Galleries into what the artist calls a “cocoon-like environment.” The walls are painted in an oceanic blue gradient, featuring a poem by Saar and phases of the moon. Shifting lighting effects in the gallery emulate phases of daylight to twilight, evening to night, and night to dawn. Inside the canoe, Saar positions mysterious “passengers,” including antlers in metal birdcages, children’s chairs, and architectural elements—all drawn from the artist’s ever-evolving collection of found objects. The space beneath the canoe is illuminated by a cool neon glow, highlighting plant material.

Los Angeles Central Library: A History of Its Art and Architecture, a talk with author Stephen Gee co-presented with Angel City Press

Declared one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, Los Angeles Central Library is a monument to fine architecture and artwork—and, of course, is renowned for its collection of the written word and its world-class special collections. Los Angeles Central Library and its history are as fascinating as any of the storied volumes found on its shelves. City leaders fought for decades to build a landmark structure and later battled to demolish it, yet generations of Angelenos have watched the building stand tall, survive fires, and endure into the twenty-first century. Year after year, Central Library proves its essential place in the heart of Los Angeles. And each year it becomes more important.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Los Angeles Central Library: A History of its Art and Architecture, the Library’s beautiful building, paintings, murals, sculptures, decor, and storied tile work are captured by the lens of renowned Hollywood documentarian, photographer and graphic designer Arnold Schwartzman. And its remarkable story visuals and civic involvement is chronicled by architectural historian Stephen Gee. Gee tells the story of the creative minds that shaped the structure: architects Bertram Goodhue, Carleton M. Winslow, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates; sculptor Lee Lawrie; muralists Dean Cornwell and Albert Herter; painter Julian Garnsey, and philosopher, Hartley Burr Alexander, and many more. In detail that has never been chronicled before, Gee shares the drama of the public’s fight to save the Library on several occasions, including the heart-wrenching story of the 1986 fire that destroyed or damaged more than a million volumes. More than 250 firefighters risked their lives for the love of books, and then the citizens of the city came together to save thousands of smoke- and water-damaged books. That the priceless artwork originally installed in the 1926 building was preserved is nothing short of civic miracle. Schwartzman shows the art—and much more—in page after page of color, all juxtaposed with historic images and blueprints, many never-before published.

Stephen Gee is an award-winning writer and television producer, and the author of five books. His works include Iconic Vision: John Parkinson, Architect of Los Angeles; Los Angeles Central Library: A History of Its Art and Architecture; Los Angeles City Hall: An American Icon; Paul R. Williams: Master Architects of Southern California, 1920–1940; and Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City, 1900–1930. Gee was awarded the 2025/2026 Elizabeth B. Motika and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship in Architectural History at The Huntington. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Norfolk, England.

This July, the Philosophical Research Society celebrates our beloved city’s rich and diverse past with YesterdayLA, a month-long exploration of unique stories and works of art that have become part of the fabric of Los Angeles history.

The landscape of our city is changing faster than ever before. By examining the LA of yesterday, we invite Angelenos to gather together to not only look back but forward to the possibilities of our great city’s tomorrow.
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Throughout its 90+ year history The Philosophical Research Society has stood as a sanctuary for those seeking truth and enlightenment, with its doors open to Angelenos who have created great works of art and innovation and spiritual evolutions across the eras. YesterdayLA will explore the fascinating stories of our city’s past with the continued spirit of curiosity that has stood as the pillar of PRS’s mission.

Learn more about upcoming events in the series here!

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On-line & In-Person! Wednesday, July 22nd from 7PM-8:30PM PST.

Places Wonderful and Strange: A Cinemyth Lecture Series on Lynch’s LA & the Mysteries of Twin Peaks

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAURA PALMER! SCREAMS, DREAMS, & MYTHS OF METAMORPHOSIS IN TWIN PEAKS with Devon Deimler, PhD

My soul is wrought to sing of forms transformed to bodies new and strange! – Ovid

The whole world is wild at heart and weird on top. – David Lynch

Laura Palmer, percolate muse of Twin Peaks’ mysteries, was born on this day, July 22, 1972. Laura has meant many things to many people. The Log Lady says Laura is the one leading to the many. Laura describes herself as the two. And, in the terror and transcendence of her splitness, we see Laura branch into forms natural and supernatural, cosmic and material, demonic and, to many viewers who “feel like they know her,” angelic.

Myth is known for its hybrid creatures and uncanny transformations between gods and animals, humans and objects, angels and monsters, underlings and kings. These strange fascinations are not only wonders of the imagination but look-alive images of emotional truth. Metamorphic myths portray the necessity of alteration during moments of crisis—when survival is a matter of changing form.

To honor Laura in all of her complexity, we’ll harken back to her mythic ancestors in Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Persephone (Proserpina), homecoming queen of the underworld, and the girls who become trees, birds, and snake-haired stone-gazers to escape bodily violation. We then turn to the modern mythos of Twin Peaks, in which sufferings and joys transfigure into bizarre objects like ceiling fans, traffic lights, creamed corn, drawer pulls, and pale horses, demonstrating how aesthetic correspondences act as psychic portals within the series, and in cherished aspects of David Lynch’s dreamy creative process. Above (and below) all, we’ll look at the transformative faces and fates of Laura, from her plastic arrival to her nuclear creation myth in The Return: Part 8.

Come celebrate the 54th birthday of the eternal Laura Palmer, dreamer of Twin Peaks and the best screamer in the world. We will have an altar to Laura, where you may leave offerings and take a chocolate bunny, maybe even a slice of cherry pie.

Devon Deimler, PhD is a writer, artist, and researcher. She earned her PhD in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute with a dissertation on Dionysian aesthetics. She holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her experience in the arts includes founding an independent record label, Wildfire Wildfire Productions, and working as Assistant to the Director at the Dennis Hopper Art Trust. She is a professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Curator at OPUS Archives and Research Center; and former Scholar-in-Residence and a Contributing Artist at the Philosophical Research Society, where she now serves as Operations and Publications Manager. Devon is the editor of three volumes of Manly Palmer Hall’s The Twilight Hour: Dreams, Sleep, and Symbols and Mythology I and II, and is published in Truth & Soul: A Robert Downey Sr. Reader.

Interested in this event? Become a PRS Astral Member for a 10% discount on this event and all future online events & classes!

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Artist Agnes Pelton (1881–1965) and astrologer-musician-artist Dane Rudhyar (1895-1985) are names both obscure and famous. Close friends for over thirty years, Pelton has emerged as a leading figure of 20th-century American metaphysical art while Rudhyar—in addition to his substantial musical, artistic, and philosophical efforts—is thought to be the most influential theorist of and most prolific writer on modern astrology. Together with a small band of their creative peers and at sharp odds with the prevailing trends of the era, they would go on to form the core of the Transcendental Painting Group (1938-1941), a distinctly North American attempt to promote abstract art that emphasized spiritual illumination and inspiration. How did they come to be associated with this group? What metaphysical concepts inspired their work? How did their friendship and the unique social world of "new age" Los Angeles chart the direction of their lives?

On the eve of the opening of Another World: The Transcendental Painting Group at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, artist, educator, and theosophical researcher Michael Carter (MFA, Claremont Graduate University) discussed the uniquely Southern Californian genesis of Pelton and Rudhyar's creative achievements. Carter revealed the influence of specific theosophical doctrines in Pelton's artwork and Rudhyar's astrology, including a revealing inquiry into the origins of psychological astrology. Along the way, he illuminated the sites and events of the early 1900's new age scene in LA and its profound influence on their lives. He concluded by showing the conditions of their legacies today and what has become of the sites associated with Pelton and Rudhyar's time in and near Los Angeles.

Michael Carter received his MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 2010. His work is an investigation into metaphysical theories of art and the cultural histories of science, philosophy, and religion in modernity to the contemporary. Carter's artworks have been exhibited extensively locally and abroad, including shows and performances in Los Angeles, Denmark, and Romania. He has studied Theosophy and its wider history for more than a fifteen years. www.michaelcarter.studio

We hope you will join us this month as we celebrate our beloved city’s rich and diverse past with YesterdayLA, a month-long exploration of unique stories and works of art that have become part of the fabric of Los Angeles history. Learn more about this series here!

Hidden away from the bustle of Los Angeles is the Craftsman home of Judson Studios, the legendary stained glass artisans whose hand-crafted works have been a family tradition for five generations.

From the earliest days of the studio during the Arts and Crafts Movement to the newly refined fused stained glass used in today’s contemporary buildings, Judson Studios work has been recognized internationally as among the world’s finest stained glass artistry. Often compared to the work of Louis Tiffany, Judson Studios glass has become world-renowned for its innovations in stained glass art and technology. Frank Lloyd Wright tapped Judson Studios in the 1920s to produce the subtly colored windows for Hollyhock House, the architect’s most famous structure in Los Angeles.

Like other stained glass craftsmen, much of Judson’s finest work has been installed in religious buildings. Judson Studios developed methods for blending subtle variations of color in glass for the project at the Church of the Resurrection, the possibilities of glass as an artist’s medium became increasingly apparent.

Join Judson Studios president David Judson for a talk on the oldest family-run stained glass studio in America and nearly 130 years of artistry and innovation.

This talk was co-presented with Angel City Press publisher of JUDSON: Innovation in Stained Glass.

If you are interested in this talk and LA history, join us in July as we celebrate our beloved city’s rich and diverse past with YesterdayLA, a month-long exploration of unique stories and works of art that have become part of the fabric of Los Angeles history. Check it out here!

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Today’s pull tends toward the world, and the oracle invites us to take up the tending. Because tending is what love does in the face of the incomprehensible.

Four texts gather around this hour, each one a different instrument for the same work.

Facsimiles of Egyptian Hieratic Papyri (1910) opens the circle: high-quality reproductions of ancient manuscripts written in hieratic script, the cursive hand scribes used to move sacred speech quickly from mind to reed pen, ink to papyrus. Among them survives a late priestly text from around 310 BCE on ritual spells, curses, and precise liturgical instructions for defeating Apep, the cosmic serpent of chaos, darkness, and dissolution who coiled each night against Ra’s solar barque. The instructions are exact because the stakes were absolute: spit on his image, bind him in wax, name every part of his body so that naming might be a form of control. And yet (and this is the part worth sitting with) he could never be permanently destroyed. Only perpetually repelled. There is no spell in the entire corpus that ends Apep for good.

The Egyptians built their entire cosmology around a battle that had to be refought every single night, forever. They understood something we keep having to relearn: that renewal is a practice and you don’t defeat the dark once. You tend the light, night after night.

The Gods of Rebirth (1973) by Nevill Drury, dedicated to his father, carries the thread forward out of the temple and into the modern occult imagination. Drury maps the mythology underlying Western esotericism, tracing how Isis, Osiris, and Thoth flowed forward into Hermetic and Kabbalistic currents, feeding the deep roots of modern magic. A father’s name in the dedication, a son writing about rebirth: the book is itself a small act of the thing it describes, one generation handing the old gods to the next so they don’t go silent. Drury understood that contemporary people hunger for transformation but often lack the narrative scaffolding to metabolize it and to change, but we don’t have a myth large enough to hold the change once it happens.

Heindel’s Cosmo-Conception (1948) extends this into deep time. Here the divine fractures through successive planetary periods, spirit descending into matter so dense it forgets it was ever spirit at all and then, slower, harder, the long return. Evolution recast as the universe learns to recognize itself in increasingly complex mirrors, each incarnation a slightly clearer reflection. The soul passes through this descent and return again and again, gathering experience the way a river gathers silt, pressing always toward a higher consciousness it cannot yet fully remember it once had. It is Apep’s nightly defeat written across millennia instead of hours and the same forgetting, the same fight, the same insistence on coming back toward the light.

Maeterlinck’s The Light Beyond (1917) arrives last. Drawing on spiritualism, mysticism, and psychical research, Maeterlinck asks plainly what, if anything, awaits consciousness beyond physical death. Consciousness, he suggests, may belong to the cosmos itself rather than to any individual self as an infinite and impersonal awareness underlying all existence, of which our private sense of “I” might be only a temporary countercurrent. It is a vision that costs something to hold: if true, it means the self we tend so carefully isn’t the thing that survives. And Maeterlinck does not flinch from naming the vertigo this produces:

“Survival with our present consciousness is nearly as impossible and nearly as incomprehensible as total annihilation.”

That sentence is the hinge the whole hour turns on.

Which returns us to the barque, and the serpent, and the priestesses who never stopped keeping watch. None of these four books promises an ending to the dark. The papyri don’t kill Apep, they only repel him until tomorrow night. Drury doesn’t resolve the old gods, he hands them on, still unfinished, to whoever reads next. Heindel doesn’t complete the soul’s ascent but he shows it mid-river, still gathering itself across lifetimes. And Maeterlinck doesn’t answer what waits beyond death, but only refuses to let the question shrink. What unites them instead is the willingness to keep tending something incomprehensible because tending is what love does when certainty isn’t available.

One of our most favorite sections of the journal was “Happenings At Headquarters” first published in the Summer of 1953. This section was “devoted to the general activities of the Society and fragments of information which we believe will be of interest to our friends and readers.”

PRS Membership Manager Malik Ever is bringing this back! Let’s take a few moments together to reflect and share a few special memories from the year so far.

Building a Temple to Knowledge

Artist Derek Simpon attended one of our monthly PRS Magical Mystery Tours and wrote an article about the experience on Tetragrammaton - a newsletter curated by Rick Rubin. You can read the full story here.

“The facility’s dedication to “all truth seekers” seems mystifying. How could a place retain total openness of spirit through 90 years of global ideological divide? Confucius often suggested that an individual who cultivates themselves with awareness can nurture a heart-centered dynamic in their own family. Along with many other heart-centered families, their own family can then nourish a well governed state. Kingdoms and countries composed of these well governed states can then operate in harmony, inspiring a heart-centric humanity. Hall put this principle to work in constructing The Philosophical Research Society. A small group of individuals consciously cultivating themselves would make up the staff. As this staff maintains this temple to knowledge welcoming all truth seekers, the Society’s heart-centered dynamic maintains a lasting impact on the institutions within its immediate vicinity, in time rippling out to reach all corners of the Earth. One gets the sense that everyone working onsite shares in the beauty of this belief, and that the strength of this belief amplifies in joining the team. Spending time around those like-hearted, whether coworkers or visitors, is recognized by both Shipping Manager Amanda Brass and Librarian dama as a massive privilege of the work. More hidden treasures are revealed to these two each and every day as they assist seekers in thumbing through the archives.”

If you find yourself in LA you too can attended one of our Magical Mystery Tours or come to PRS on Thursday or Friday to view selections from the archives yourself.

This June we also announced the launched of the PRS Library Preservation Fund.

The Library Is the Heart of PRS

Calling all bibliophiles, wisdom seekers, and preservationists!

The Philosophical Research Society is looking for stewards who share our commitment to preserving a living archive of human wisdom — and the singular building that houses it.

The heavy rains and ongoing threat of fire in Los Angeles have created an urgent need for action. This year, we are raising $100,000 to replace the roof and original skylights over the library and lecture room — repairs that are critical to protecting both the historic landmark building and the precious collection of books and artwork within its walls.

If you are able to donate to the preservation of the PRS Library, please take the time to visit our fundraiser page.

"To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books" -Manly P. Hall

Speaking of books…

PRS Bookstore

Our monthly Manly P. Hall Book Club led by Amanda Brass has spent the last couple of months reading The Adepts in the Esoteric Classical Tradition - Part 1 : The Initiates of Greece and Rome.

Here’s an example of what they have been discussing:

“Little by little the flame flickered out…But the flame did not die. Like spirit of which it is the essence, it cannot die, because it is life, and life cannot cease to be.”

-Manly P. Hall

The bookstore continues to bring in a steady stream of curious readers. The front shelf of the bookstore is currently gloriously decked out in books written by or about Octavia Butler. In part of an upcoming Octavia Butler solstice celebration presented by Urban Ecology Conservatory, curated by Schessa Garbutt of Firebrand, and co-sponsored by Level Ground.

I still hold the memory of the first time ever reading Octavia Butler’s words. I was camping in the middle of nowhere Kansas, watching a thunderstorm roll in over the Kansas river and turn the sky a deep shade of purple. I stayed awake all night unable to put the book down. I have since read-and re-read all of her books multiple times over the year. My personal bookstore recommendation would be anything written by Octavia Butler. I was excited to see a graphic novel adaptation of ‘Parable of the Sower’ on our shelf. Perhaps you will be lucky enough to pick it up!

PRS Hansell Art Gallery

At the end of May we said goodbye to the exhibit Brain Drawings: The Art of Harry Smith curated by Rani Singh, Director of the Harry Smith Archives. It was a special exhibit bringing together film screenings, an art exhibit, live musical performances by Devendra Banhart and friends Dory Bavarsky, Griffin Kisner, Dave Longstreth, and John Moods, panel discussions with Jessica Hundley, David Orr, and William Kiesel, artist presentations by Adam Green, an online class with Matt Marble, and a special visit to the Getty Research Institute’s Harry Smith collection with David Brafman and Rani Singh.

Earlier in the year we were delighted to feature the work of Brian Merriam in a solo exhibition In Every Flower The Face of God. His work in photography and mixed media focuses on the symbolic aspects of the natural world and their interplay, reflection and correlation across all scales. He was selected as a contributing artist by the Philosophical Research Society in 2025.

2026 Contributing Artists

PRS is excited to welcome ten new contributing artists to our campus! It was PRS founder Manly P. Hall’s view that any collection representing a heritage of wisdom and beauty must include not only exemplary books but also symbolic art. PRS continues to uphold this view by fostering the creation and interpretation of contemporary art as a vital source of wisdom addressing subjects both ancient and present.

Keep on the look out for events from our contributing artists throughout the years. To learn more about each of them individually, as well as our previous PRS contributing artist click here

Concerts in the PRS Library

The concerts on the campus of the Philosophical Research Society aim to bring listener and creator together for one transcendent experience. Special thanks to Programmer Emily Rose Epstein for creating a home for this series in our library.

In May Little Mazarn, a self-described esoteric saw band, played a magical concert in the library. The band was comprised of Lindsey Verrill (she/her) and bandmate Jeff Johnston (he/him). Having accidentally stumbled upon Little Mazarn’s music a few months ago, I was personally thrilled to learn that they would be stopping at PRS on their tour. Not only was the esoteric saw playing excellent but it was awesome to watch & hear Jeff also play the glockenspiel with a bow as well. Afterwards, multiple people told me how thrilled they were to be listening to music that felt genuinely unpredictable. Refreshing! Checkout Little Mazarn’s music

7th House Screenings

In March we proudly presented the world premiere of an original program conceived and curated by 7th House in cooperation with The Jim Henson Legacy: JIM HENSON: EXPERIMENTS IN VISUAL THINKING, a very special theatrical gathering of the experimental and philosophically-minded short films of one of the most imaginative creative forces of the twentieth century, Jim Henson — featuring a rare screening of his surreal and cerebral 1969 film THE CUBE in its entirety. Widely beloved as the creator of the gleefully anarchic Muppets and a key architect of the educationally revolutionary Sesame Street, Henson’s work was always guided by a deep ethos—one that embraced eccentricity and strangeness as virtues, celebrated the beauty of difference and the power of found family, and insisted on kindness, curiosity, and care for both one another and the world around us. Above all, Henson believed in the boundless potential of imagination, and in “play”—in goofing around—not as mere frivolity but as a creative and philosophical imperative.

We held two screenings for this event, and each night the audience was packed. I watched The Cube for the first time and wow! We love all things Jim Henson at PRS. We love all things puppets for that matter. Special shout-out to Alex McDonald who programmed the series!

PRS’s 2nd Annual Surrealist Ball!

Our second annual Surrealist Ball has officially been announced!

If you are reading this newsletter, you’re in luck! Tickets to the Surrealist Ball will be announced to the general public this coming Monday, but you, dear subscriber, can purchase your ticket before then - here. This is an in-person event only.

Become an in-person PRS Member and gain access to exclusive $40 Surrealist Ball tickets available only to PRS members.

Upcoming at PRS

During the month of July, join PRS contributing artists, scholars, and special guests to walk into the mysteries of the woods and greet the esoteric ideas and images animating Twin Peaks’ mythogeography. William Kiesel, Devon Deimler, and Guadalupe Arellanes, of PRS’ esoteric “Gotta Light?” panel are back to present individual deep-dives into the series’ dreams and doubles, myths and symbols, hauntologies and spiritual philosophies.

Every week, once a week in July, attend one of these incredible lectures in-person or streaming online! Take a look at the PRS calendar here to checkout all of our July Twin Peak’s events curated by Devon Deimler. As well as all of the other great things we have planned for this upcoming month!

Thanks for reading the first iteration of Happenings at Headquarters! We will see you in the fall with more updates on what is going on in the little world of PRS. Until then!

This Sunday, June 28th from 11AM-12:30PM PDT

Let one of LA’s most sought-after Tarot readers, Sophia Knapp of Tarot by Sophia, orient you on this transformative journey.

You have in your hands a beautiful Tarot deck, and are ready to unlock its secrets.

Let one of LA’s most sought-after Tarot readers, Sophia Knapp of Tarot by Sophia, orient you on this transformative journey.

RSVP For Sophia's Tarot Class Here1

Intro to Tarot

is your essential roadmap for self-guided inquiry. In this immersive class, Sophia will share everything that you need to start reading Tarot with confidence for yourself and for others. With her signature blend of live presentations, reading demonstrations, and respect for Tarot’s esoteric roots, Sophia creates a learning experience that balances intuitive interpretation with creative exploration.

This class is open to all seekers, no prior Tarot experience required.

RSVP For Sophia's Tarot Class Here!

Recommended materials:

A Rider-Waite-Smith deck (any version: the classic Rider, Centennial Waite-Smith, Radiant Rider-Waite, etc.)

A journal for taking notes if that’s your preferred learning style.

This class is an intro session for our upcoming ONLINE 4-part class series with Sophia - Tarot Foundations: Elemental Journeys starting on July 12th! Over the span of four weeks, we’ll explore all 78 cards through the lens of the four classical elements - Fire, Earth, Air, and Water - to understand how the suits, symbols, and archetypes interrelate.

Sophia Knapp is an artist and clairvoyant channel known for her precise, transformative insight and grounded presence. She works with individuals navigating change, offering guidance through psychic perception and the modalities of Tarot and Astrology. Her sessions are practical and strategic, supporting clients in reconnecting with their own clarity, intuition, and inner wisdom. A pioneer in luxury wellness, Sophia introduced intuitive and Tarot offerings at Soho House West Hollywood, Little Beach House Malibu, and the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, where she continues to serve as the resident reader. She has worked with thousands of clients worldwide, both in private practice and through spiritual activations for companies including Netflix, Meta, Pinterest, Hulu, Bustle, Converse, and Dôen.

RSVP For Sophia's Class Here!

William Kiesel, a current PRS contributing artists and an esoteric library of knowledge himself, is a scholar of esoteric symbol systems in historical and contemporary contexts. He brings his decades of scholarship and experience in the antiquarian book trade together as the director at Ouroboros Press, the publisher of classic texts of Western Esotericism.

Watch his talk below on the history of Tarot, and join us in LA on Thursday, June 25, in person for Alchemical Symbols in the Ripley Scroll w/ William Kiesel (Magic of Books series) in the PRS library.

Next month on July 15th he returns for PRS’s Cinemyth Series on the Mysteries of Twin Peaks with his lecture: The Occult Themes of Twin Peaks: Dualism, Doubles, & Doppelgängers. Online and in-person ticket options are available!

Keys to the Mysteries: Origins of the Major Arcana with William Kiesel

Of the five suits of the Tarot, the Trumps offer symbolism and emblematic iconography stemming from ritual traditions in the ancient world, through Renaissance era playing cards and into a modern divinatory tool. This visual presentation discusses the historical sources behind the ‘Spirit Suit’ of the Tarot tracing its roots through cultural, astrological, and alchemical links in the development of these important and popular oracle cards.

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The Philosophical Research Society is looking for stewards who share our commitment to preserving a living archive of human wisdom — and the singular building that houses it.

The Library Is the Heart of PRS

_{Manly P. Hall’s Adventures with Books, a recorded talk with William Kiesel}

In the 1920s, a young Manly P. Hall began traveling the world in search of source texts and early printed works that explored humanity’s wisdom traditions: alchemy and astrology, ancient mythology and mysticism, Eastern philosophy and Western esotericism. It was his aim that this collection would form the nucleus of a permanent community library. A living library filled with books and art that illuminates how to live in harmony with ourselves, our communities, and the wider world.

For over sixty years, Mr. Hall collected books to add to the PRS collection. Important to the collection were esoteric art and source materials. He journeyed to India, China, Japan, Egypt, Europe and Mexico — acquiring rare manuscripts, early printed works, and photographs that revealed the great symbolism found in many spiritual lineages and provide a foundation for us in our lives today. Each volume he brought home was a small act of preservation. Together, they became something extraordinary. A home for a community of seekers.

The Philosophical Research Society is looking for stewards who share our commitment to preserving a living archive of human wisdom — and the singular building that houses it.

The heavy rains and ongoing threat of fire in Los Angeles have created an urgent need for action. This year, we are raising $100,000 to replace the roof and original skylights over the library and lecture room — repairs that are critical to protecting both the historic landmark building and the precious collection of books and artwork within its walls.

An anonymous donor has generously committed a $25,000 matching grant for any donations received during the month of JUNE! We now turn to members of the PRS community who can help us raise the remaining $75,000.

DONATE TO THE PRS LIBRARY FUND

The 2026 Library Preservation Fund - Repairing the Roof and Skylights

By helping us repair the library’s roof and original skylights, your donation ensures the library collection remains safe and is open to the public for years to come.

All gifts are fully tax-deductible. Every contribution, at every level, directly supports the preservation of this irreplaceable collection.

Donate and receive....

• $25 - an invitation to attend a free group tour of PRS, and our lasting gratitude.

• $150 - all of the above and your name on our library donor acknowledgment webpage.

• $500 - all of the above and an invitation to attend a special library talk and reception.

• $1,000 - all of the above, plus a private tour of PRS with items from special collections on display.

• $2,500 - all of the above, plus 8 hours of private research time in the library (by appointment).

• $5,000 - all of the above, plus an additional 8 hours of private research time (by appointment).

  DONATE TO THE PRS LIBRARY FUND

  Become a PRS Legacy Steward and pledge yearly support to the library!

  Choose yearly support at the $1,000 level and above and receive recognition on the Library Preservation donor wall.

  In addition, your continued support:

  • Maintains the building, books, and archives by purchasing supplies to repaint the building, repair the library floor, and ordering archival supplies

  • Keeps the library open on Thursdays and Fridays, 12–6 pm, offering open access to over 30,000 rare works on mythology, alchemy, art, astrology, and Manly Hall’s personal books, artwork, and photographs.

  • Funds an emergency preparedness plan being created through the Alliance for Response Emergency Preparedness Program (ARERPP) which includes important fire safety upgrades

  

  The 30,000 volume collection illuminates how ancient ideas continue to make a difference in lives today: as inspiration for art, as a foundation for inquiry, as a gathering place for community. It is a space for students, scholars, artists, mystics, and all seekers. Each year, the library receives over 2,000 visitors and hosts more than 100 events — lectures, art exhibitions, reading groups, and community conversations sparked by the energy of the collection.

  

  

  Donate to the PRS Library Fund!