Alchemical Magick and Mystery

Tanja Laden (Supernatural LA Weekly, Sept. 19, 2011)

Alchemy lab, Long Beach conference (Erica Marie Liscano/laweekly.com)

Int'l Alchemy Conference: Getting Magickal and Mysterious in Long Beach

Whether it's through Kundalini yoga, Vedic astrology, Feng Shui, Wicca, or Kabbalah, the people of Los Angeles have always been willing to go to any lengths to find answers to the unexplained, especially with 2012, a magnet for New Age theories, a few months away.

But if this year's International Alchemy Conference is any indication, those lengths don't exactly include driving to Long Beach.

The annual International Alchemy Conference got its start in 2006 at the convention-center Mecca of the United States: Las Vegas. It moved to L.A. two years later, where it continued to attract what organizers describe as "the largest gathering of alchemists in 500 years."

According to many exhibitors, this year's modestly-sized crowd was a symptom of the alchemists' move from the Los Angeles Convention Center, and lane closures in both directions of the Long Beach Freeway didn't help.

Despite the distance and thinner crowds, the 2011 International Alchemy Conference was still a success, especially since all proceeds benefited Japanese relief efforts by way of the Golden Pyramid of Peace. More