dee

John Dee
1527 - 1608

Edward Kelley

The inspiration for Shakespeare's Prospero and Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, Dr. John Dee was an interesting man to say the least. To truly do him justice would take pages and pages. This is a short bio, so much will be missed. I will concentrate on the information dealing with the occult, but there was much more to Dr. John Dee's studies and works.

Born on July 13, 1527, in London, England, John Dee was an "English alchemist, astrologer and mathematician who contributed greatly to the revival of interest in mathematics in England."- Encyclopaedia Britannica

At 15 John Dee entered Cambridge University where he excelled at his studies. Between 1547 and 1550 he toured and lectured on the European continent. At 23 years of age he achieved fame in France where he delivered a series of lectures on the works of the Greek mathematician Euclid.
Dee's skills in astrology were famous enough to reach Queen Mary Tudor. Although she was Catholic she had Dee draw her charts. When one of his charts were unfavorable to the Queen she had him imprisoned. She did let him free, but afterwards she would regularly have him arrested and released on her whim. This caused Dee to become secretive about his occult studies.
Dee had a strong frienship with Queen Elizabeth that started before she took the throne. Elizabeth gave Dee money, and more importantly, protection.In 1558 Queen Mary died and Elizabeth took over. Dee was free to explore his occult interests as he pleased.

In 1581 Dee began to have strange dreams and began to complain of hearing strange
noises in his house. He wrote of how as he knelt in prayer, "there suddenly glowed a dazzling light, in the midst of which, in all his glory, stood the great angel, Uriel." Uriel gave Dee a crystal stone that Dee describes, "most bright, most clear and glorious, of the bigness oof an egg." The angel informed Dee that the crystal could be used to communicate with otherworldly spirits.
Dee tried his hand at scrying, but without success. He hired others to gaze while he took meticulous notes of what they said and saw.
In 1582 Dee met Edward Kelley. Kelley was a natural and began to relay messages at once. The two would spend the next seven years working in the occult sciences together.

"Dee's house in Mortlake, near London, was for many years a major center of science in England. Dee salvaged many ancient scientific tomes that had been scattered when Roman Catholic churches and monasteries were ransacked during the Reformation, and his own library of more than 4,000 books may have been the largest of its kind in Europe at the time." -Visions and Prophesies

"Although he remained in favor with Queen Elizabeth I, Dee, along with Kelley and their wives and servants, were forced out of England when the clergy began preaching against magical activities. A mob destroyed much of Dee's valuable library of books." - Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The Liber Logaeth, or Book of Enoch was produced in 1583. The book of Enoch comprised a language dictated by the angel that, when it was completed, the angels said, would offer perfect truth from God. Kelley was having problems with the gazing. The angles gave him horrible nightmares and sent him into fits. Kelley thought that the angles were evil. Dee would not give up on it, and Kelley continued his work despite his misgivings.
   Some believe that Kelley was deceiving Dee. There are facts that dispute this though.The men were not making large amounts of money from their work, and while Dee worked for love of knowedge, Kelley was a materialist. There is the fact that the poetry of the Calls is remarkable, and Kelley was not a poet.The Calls were received in a manner that also contridicts deception. The first five were dictated, one letter at a time, backwards, by indicating the position of the letter on a large table or chart. The angel would point to a letter and Kelley would give Dee the position, leaving Dee to look up which letter it was. The translations were not received until some time later, yet the grammer and sytax of the language is intact. There was also a session in which Dee is warned in Greek not to trust Kelley, Kelley did not speak Greek.
    In 1584 Dee received a mission from the Angels. He was to go to the Holy Roman Emperor and tell him that he was evil, that if he did not reform God would put his foot against his breast and throw him down. How Dee avoided execution is unknown, but he did. It is known that during a later visit Dee promised Rudolf the secrets of the Philosopher's Stone.*
    In 1586 the Pope levied claims against Dee for heresy and the conjuring of spirits. Rudolf arranged for Dee and Kelley to hide out with his friend Vilem Rozemberk. Perhaps the Emperor did it for friendship, maybe he just wanted the Stone.* During this time Dee and Kelley began to practice alchemy in earnest. It is claimed by Dee's son Arthur that they did transmute base metals into gold. They also continued work on the conversations with angels. In 1589 Dee and Kelley parted company.

Enochian alphabet

John Dee was influencial in many more fields. He was influential in the fields of architecture, painting and in the arts. He was recognised as a remarkable scientist and mathematician. His library was visited by people from all over Europe. He promoted the reform of the English calendar and made massive leaps forward in the science of cartography. He was one of the first British supporters of Copernicus' theory that the Earth orbits the sun. He is credited with coining the phrase 'British Empire'.

In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died. Her successor, James I was deeply against all forms of occult studies. Dee either stopped or again hid his search for divine wisdom. When his wife, Jane, passed away he retired to the village of his birth, Mortlake. In 1608 Dr. John Dee died. He never finished his Enochian language, nor did the angels deliver the wisdom that they had promised. Interestingly, Dee was never known to practice the magic taught to him by the angels.

* Philosphers Stone : a substance that could turn base metals into gold

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