Our Purpose

We look for things that are known by just a few.

Things that are hidden. Mysterious. Arcane. And then we put it together in a book. To teach and remember.

We focus on the hidden history of mental health in the United States. In the time long before SSRS blockers and other wonders of pharmacy. The time when the best cure for depression might be to sever the hemispheres of your brain. Or rip your teeth out.

about

But this was not the intention when the asylums we document and explore were built. These were buildings designed and inspired by the saintly Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride. Buildings designed to uplift, to calm, and to soothe the troubled souls of the insane.

Through the years these places, their purpose, and the environments changed. They became more sinister, more experimental, more cruel. More focused on what medicine can be learned from patients and less focused on what and how patients can be helped.

Asylum Arcanum is the story of this, documented and told, through the eyes of Wolf Cummings. Wolf is an artist, a thinker, a writer, and a former ward of the state. His inside view of these places, and his passion for research and exploration, give Asylum Arcanum a unique place among U.S. histories .

Wolf S. Cummings, Writer

Wolf has spent the first part of his life experiencing behavioral health hospitals and for 20 years after documenting the history as well as the visuals of these places. Currently living off the grid in Santa Fe New Mexico, Wolf is an artist, a writer, and activist for mental health

James J. Lilly, Director

A visual technologist, James has spent the last 10 years documenting, organizing, researching, and directing the creation of Asylum Arcanum. James is a firm believer that unless a society is honest about its past it will never get better.

Bram Meehan, Designer

Bram is really talented. At a lot of things.

Elizabeth A. Lilly, Line Producer

Elizabeth's specialty is organization and motivation with a group of disparate people who sometimes have trouble with mission focus. In addition, as a photographer, adventurer, and mother she is never afraid to get dirty.