The Mystical Cabaret was a type of lecture-performance that Alejandro Jodorowsky hosted in Paris (and sometimes elsewhere), often on Wednesday evenings, combining tarot, symbolism, humor, storytelling, symbolic acts, and audience interaction.
It was a living space, "a mirror," in his words, where symbolism became a vehicle for inner awakening.
Editorial presentation of the book Mystical Cabaret
We read: "A symbol does not convey a precise message; it acts as a mirror that reflects the seeker’s level of consciousness. There are no sacred texts in themselves; the sacred character is given by the reader."
Alejandro Jodorowsky’s point is that what "sacralizes" a text or a joke is the inner openness of the one who hears or reads it.
Initiatory Tales
Jodorowsky claims a wisdom of simplicity: "Why not seek wisdom in the humblest literary art of all: the joke." Why not treat these short tales as if they were initiatory texts?
Format, Operation, and Context
Free Admission / Voluntary Participation: Audiences could donate whatever they wanted to cover the venue costs, to ensure accessibility.
Variable Venues: Depending on the season and circumstances, the Cabaret Wednesdays were held in various Parisian venues.
Content: Public tarot (readings in front of the audience), metaphorical interventions, personal exegeses of religious or mythical texts, debates, and sometimes acts of psychomagic or symbolic psychodrama.
Themes covered were: existential neuroses, relationships, myths, the Gospels (in one’s own interpretation), the tarot itself, stories, jokes, and Zen koans.
One person who attended these sessions described:" I discovered him in June 1987... the conference was entitled: "The Way of the Cross"... Alexandro’s mystical artistic language responded... my life was taking another direction "
Another witness recalls: "Jodorowsky would arrive dressed in purple, start with two or three jokes, and gradually move toward a deeper theme."
According to the Humano file, Jean Giraud (Möbius) participated in some of these meetings, illustrating the porosity between art, spirituality, and comics.
