At first glance, this may seem off topic, but I find the Roman Polanski movie, "The Ninth Gate" to be heavily influenced by alchemical thought. Starring Johnny Depp and Emmanuelle Seigner, this film follows the adventures of Depp's character, a somewhat sleazy rare book dealer who is launched on a journey up the Tree of Life. The imagery of this movie is taken directly from the Book of Thoth tarot cards and is heavily influenced by Crowley's qabbalistic and alchemical teachings. Check the scenes in the movie against the corresponding Tarot trumps and you'll see what I mean.

It's only recently that I started seeing Crowley's teachings primarily in terms of alchemy, but I recently woke up to the discovery that alchemy is mostly what they are about. This has fanned a previously mild interest in alchemy to what promises to become a roaring flame flaring up to calcinate my soul and produce the Stone of the Wise in time. "The Ninth Gate" is very instructive in revealing the process once I realized just what I was looking at.

With love under will,

Bob, Adastra,
The Wizzard of Jacksonville