In the gentle embrace of nature, we often find moments that elude our hurried gaze, secrets that only the patient observer can truly grasp. “The Arboreal Alchemist: Poetry through Nature’s Eyes”” is a poetry collection that invites readers to slow down, to listen closely, and to feel deeply the voices of nature. In these verses, I seek to personify the elements of the natural world, giving voice to the silent wonders that surround us daily. With humility and reverence, I present this collection, a humble offering to the eternal beauty of the Earth. The verses within these pages breathe life into the seemingly mundane. They celebrate the rustle of leaves as they gossip with the wind, the shimmering dance of sunlight on water, and the ancient wisdom of towering oaks. The poems are born from moments when I, like all of us, have failed to truly see the world around me, moments when I yearned to perceive nature as she perceives us. The tone of this collection is one of reverence and humility. Nature, in her infinite wisdom, serves as both the muse and the mentor. The words flow gently, like a babbling brook, as I strive to capture the profound beauty and wisdom that lies within every rock, tree, cloud and gust of wind. It is a humble endeavour to offer gratitude to the silent forces that shape our world. As you immerse yourself in these poems, you will find that they evoke a sense of wonder and introspection. They encourage the reader to reflect on the small miracles that often go unnoticed—the delicate intricacy of a spider’s web, the steadfast endurance of a mountain, or the relentless cycle of seasons. Each poem reminds us that the world is alive with stories waiting to be heard. There are some surprises in the form of humour and nostalgia as well strewn across the collection.

Acknowledged as the "Artist of the Century," Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) left a legacy that dominates the art world to this day. Inventing the ironically dégagé attitude of "ready-made" art-making, Duchamp heralded the postmodern era and replaced Pablo Picasso as the role model for avant-garde artists. John F. Moffitt challenges commonly accepted interpretations of Duchamp's art and persona by showing that his mature art, after 1910, is largely drawn from the influence of the occult traditions. Moffitt demonstrates that the key to understanding the cryptic meaning of Duchamp's diverse artworks and writings is alchemy, the most pictorial of all the occult philosophies and sciences.

The Tree of Life and Arboreal Aesthetics in Early Modern Literature explores the vital motif of the tree of life and what it meant to early modern writers who drew from its long histories in biblical, classical and folkloric contexts, giving rise to a language of trees, an arboreal aesthetics. An ancient symbol of immortality, the tree of life was appropriated by Christian ideology and iconography to express ideas about Christ; however, the concept also migrated beyond religious doctrine. Ideas circulating around the tree of life enabled writers to imagine and articulate ideas of death and rebirth, loss and regeneration, the condition of the political state and personal states of the soul through arboreal metaphors and imagery. The motif could be used to sacralise landscapes, such as the garden, orchard or country estate, blurring the lines between contemporary green spaces and the spiritual and poetic imaginary. Located within the field of environmental humanities, and intersecting with ecocriticism and critical plant studies, this volume outlines a comprehensive history of the tree of life and offers interdisciplinary readings of focus texts by Shakespeare, George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, Aemilia Lanyer, Andrew Marvell and Ralph Austen. It includes consideration of related ideas and motifs, such as the tree of Jesse and the Green Man, illuminating the rich histories and meanings that emerge when an understanding of the tree of life and arboreal aesthetics are brought to the analysis of early modern literary texts and their representations of green spaces, both physical and metaphysical.

Into the Green provides rich detail for four different types of green environments, describing the ecology, terrain, hazards, and resources of each.

The literary influence of alchemy and hermeticism in the work of most medieval and early modern authors has been overlooked. Stanton Linden now provides the first comprehensive examination of this influence on English literature from the late Middle Ages through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Drawing extensively on alchemical allusions as well as on the practical and theoretical background of the art and its pictorial tradition, Linden demonstrates the pervasiveness of interest in alchemy during this three-hundred-year period. Most writers—including Langland, Gower, Barclay, Eramus, Sidney, Greene, Lyly, and Shakespeare—were familiar with alchemy, and references to it appear in a wide range of genres. Yet the purposes it served in literature from Chaucer through Jonson were narrowly satirical. In literature of the seventeenth century, especially in the poetry of Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, and Milton, the functions of alchemy changed. Focusing on Bacon, Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, and Milton—in addition to Jonson and Butler—Linden demonstrates the emergence of new attitudes and innovative themes, motifs, images, and ideas. The use of alchemy to suggest spiritual growth and change, purification, regeneration, and millenarian ideas reflected important new emphases in alchemical, medical, and occultist writing. This new tradition did not continue, however, and Butler's return to satire was contextualized in the antagonism of the Royal Society and religious Latitudinarians to philosophical enthusiasm and the occult. Butler, like Shadwell and Swift, expanded the range of satirical victims to include experimental scientists as well as occult charlatans. The literary uses of alchemy thus reveal the changing intellectual milieus of three centuries.

With the Collaboration of Cotter LiThe process of decrypting innovation and creation, as a lurking nondescript so far, is theorized and operationalized based upon interdisciplinary taskings.First comes the mapping between real world and human brain; innovation is redefined as discovering new interrelationships in the brain using an algorithm, well-defined in 5 steps, of searching unknown relations herein, and the psychological synesthesia governing communications in the brain is dutifully augmented and made to function accordingly. The Dante effect then binds the fresh interactions into a metaphoric tome which is mapped back to the real world to become an up-to-date theory or a new appliance.Since the author has been nurtured both in Chinese spiritual excellence and advanced Western cultures, this book is penned in a provocative style of knowledgeably poetic prose that will appeal to a broad audience.In the era of Artificial Intelligence, it is the human capacity of Thinking Synesthesia acquitted itself with distinction in the profound understanding of various interrelationships that transcends time and will be blessed with eternal youth.

Cobwebs hung in weird, grotesque festoons from the vaulted roof. There was a strange odour in the ancient cellar. A bent figure crouches over forbidden books and mixes indescribably strange ingredients in a cauldron. The cauldron bubbles and foul fumes arise. The alchemist transfers the secret formula to a flask. It travels carefully and ceremoniously from flash to retort and back again. Unnatural things happen in the flask... terrifying things. Suddenly a human figure appears, yet it is not human in all respects. Has the alchemist made this strange, frightening thing, or has it come from realms beyond? The alchemist finds himself involved in a series of breathtaking psychic adventures such as he had never imagined possible even in his wildest dreams.

In the enchanting realm of Vacari, where humans and elves coexist harmoniously amid the lush landscapes of Goldmoor, an ominous shadow looms. Phoenix Shadowwalker, a warlock of unparalleled darkness, hungers for dominion over the majestic city of Goldmoor, threatening to shatter the tranquility that the reigning King and Queen have worked tirelessly to maintain. But hope flickers in the hearts of two unlikely champions—Ong, a relentless warrior with an indomitable spirit, and Lady Keisha, whose resolve matches her unwavering determination. Together, they embark on a perilous quest: to unite the disparate races of humans and elves, forging an alliance strong enough to thwart Phoenix's insidious designs. Yet, their mission takes an even more treacherous turn. To save Vacari from the clutches of darkness, they must call upon the ancient and powerful dragons, who have been absent from the realm for centuries. These mythical beings hold the key to Vacari's salvation. As destinies intertwine, a tale of valor, unity, and relentless hope unfolds. Will Ong and Keisha's determination be enough to stave off the encroaching shadows, or will Vacari's destiny be forever altered by the wicked Phoenix's malevolence? Only time will reveal the true depths of their courage in this realm of magic and intrigue."