In response to my post on Dr. Seuss and the Kabbalah, a visitor named Jennifer gave me a link to an interesting essay called Alchemical Kubrick. The essay begins:

Within the tradition of the Great Work of alchemy is the idea that the initiations, explanations and rituals of alchemy are embedded into many great works of art. The pyramids of Egypt and the great cathedrals of France are referred to as “books of stone.” In other words, there is deep knowledge built into these edifices that only an initiate can understand. The great architects and artists had a very clear idea of the message that they were attempting to transmit. It is only the modern viewer of these works that is left in the dark. As Fulcanelli reveals in his masterpiece Mystery of the Cathedrals, the great churches of France were built as part of this Great Work.

But what was this Great Work supposed to accomplish? The answer, according to the alchemists, was the very transformation of the human spirit. Although it is true that the symbols and geometry of the cathedrals were designed so that only a true initiate of the mysteries could understand their significance, the builders and creators of the Great Work knew that everyone who experienced the cathedrals would come away transformed. Even those who were not initiates would still come away with a feeling of awe. Even hot blooded atheists are stilled by the beauty of Notre Dame or Chartes Cathedral.

From there it goes into the “Great Work” being disguised in literary works, and eventually into film. The focus of the essay is an analysis of Stanley Kubrick’s landmark 2001 from an alchemical perspective.

I’ve never actually seen this movie, I hate to admit. But the essay is pretty interesting, and will most likely prompt me to finally get off my ass and check the movie out.