John Dee: The Life and Legacy of the English Occultist, Alchemist, and Philosopher Who Became Queen Elizabeth I’s Spiritual Advisor

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes excerpts of contemporary accounts *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents “Who does not understand should either learn, or be silent.” – John Dee With the golden glow of the candlelight kissing his cheeks, he hovered over a spirit mirror, a flat, exquisitely lustrous “shew-stone” fashioned out of raven-black obsidian. Gazing intently upon his reflection in the dark volcanic glass, he chanted in hushed tones as he ran his fingers across the engravings on the oat-colored wax wheel next to him, the Sigilla iEmeth, which featured a septogram and runic carvings and symbols in minuscule print. Contrary to what one might expect, it was not a phantom, hobgoblin, or demon that he sought, but rather, the seraphic voice, and perhaps even the face of an angel – the one bridge between mankind and their Creator, one who holds the key to all of life's unanswerable questions. Was this man delusional? Perhaps so, but perhaps not. But there was no question among those on hand that this was not an ignorant, philistine, unlettered buffoon of a man who readily boarded the train of groundless superstition. Far from it, this was a man who held not only a master's degree, but a doctorate, and his simultaneously stimulating and mesmerizing lectures drew crowds of royals and nobles from near and far. This was a man who was well-versed in a host of academic fields, and he would go on to serve as one of his queen's foremost personal advisers. He was also a prolific author whose revolutionary ideas helped charted the path for the burgeoning British Empire. The man in question is none other than John Dee, one of the greatest scientific minds of his time, but also one of the most controversial. He was a learned man in fields as varied as mathematics and astronomy, centuries before they became formalized fields of study, but he is better remembered for performing magic and alchemy. Instead of astronomy, he became renowned across England for astrology, and he was one of the country’s most notorious occult writers during his life. Given the variety that the Elizabethan Era had to offer, it should come as little surprise that some eccentric characters with seemingly unique skills pushed to the forefront and became lauded members of society. Over the course of her long reign, Queen Elizabeth I became one of England’s most famous and influential rulers, and it was an age when the arts, commerce, and trade flourished. It was the epoch of gallantry and great, enduring literature. It was also an age of wars and military conflicts in which men were the primary drivers and women often were pawns. John Dee himself has been credited with coming up with the name “British Empire” in the first place. As all of this suggests, to say that John Dee was a storied man would be a grave understatement, to say the least. His multifaceted reputation preceded him, and his name became synonymous with both brilliance and disconcerting eccentricity. By all means, he certainly looked the part - the occultist towered over his peers, his wiry frame cloaked in a charcoal-black “artist's gown” with a ruffled white collar, his veined hands peeking out of his flared sleeves. He bore a pasty, pallid complexion, which seemed almost ghostly, paired with a magnificent beard that was “as white as milk.” Chilling rumors about his immeasurable magical abilities have kept his name alive for centuries. Legend has it that this was a man who singlehandedly cast a crippling curse on the Spanish Armada as the fleet sailed towards England, conjuring up the merciless storms and violent waves that threatened to swallow the ill-starred convoy whole, and left them with no choice but to turn

Genres: History, Biography

75 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 17, 2019

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Jayesh Bheda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in beginning

It's started as interesting read but soon dried up with what appears to be minutes details of selected few incidents

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know enough about John Dee now. The funniest part is where Edward Kelley, John Dee’s assistant who communicated with angels on his behalf announced in that their angel guide had communicated to him that they should share everything including their wives.

[stephanie suh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben Jonson's alchemist Subtle in his famous Elizabethan play 'The Alchemist' is a knave quack intent upon doing a lucrative occult business by luring the gullible, rich or poor, learned or general. But John Dee, Queen Elizabeth I's English-Welsh astrologer, was anything but. He was a highly educated man graduating from Cambridge University with a penchant for esoteric knowledge beyond the realm of the physical world, and brilliant engineering feat contributed to his epithet as the queen's occultist to the eyes of those who regarded him as something of Rasputin in the queen's retinue. Moreover, Dee was a curious figure of science and magic, fact and mystery dissolving into one another.

From the cradle to the grave, John Dee's life appears to be starlit with mystical numbers and stars that govern his destiny to pursue the knowledge of the beyond. Born in the household of a well-to-do textile merchant on July 13th, 1527, Dee's fate was already revealed in the combination of the lucky number 7 and the ominous 13. He was endowed with intellect and heart, which is not typical for an astute scholar with a high education degree. His motto was to seek the treasure of heavenly wisdom and knowledge, which is reminded of Doctor Faust making a pact with the devil Mephistopheles to exchange his soul afterlife. Yet, unlike the grim-faced, aloof Faust wishing for Helen of Troy as his wife, Dee was happily married to his wife and children whose daily activities and conditions he wrote in his lifelong kept journal. Dee was an ingenious engineer in stage productions of plays, creating the modern-day equivalent of special effects employing a man-powered crane and other apparatuses used as a counterweight fly system. Who would call him a real-life figure of complacent Faust seeking the excellent knowledge of the world for minding his own egotistical businesses?

Dee was fascinated with the science behind mathematics and used it to know astrology and celestial navigation in understanding human lives. In fact, during the reign of Queen Mary, aka Bloody Mary, Dee began to exchange letters with the queen's stepsister Elizabeth who used to ask him to read her horoscope. He forecast her imminent ascendency to the throne anon and long prosperous reign of the kingdom, which led him to become her Noble Intelligentsia as her confidante royal astrologer later when the prophecy realized later. Also, Dee chose the coronation date for Elizabeth when Jupiter juxtaposed alone with Venus, opposing Saturn, and conjecturing Mars. The astrological interpretation betrays the virgin queen's reign with the beauty of the goddesses and the power of the god of gods. Methinks, Dee's interpretation must have attributed to the queen's famous Tilbury address in which she described herself as possessing "the body of a weak, feeble woman but the heart and stomach of a king." Furthermore, the famous secret code of "007" was an invention of Dee used between Dee and the queen meaning "For your eyes only" as in "00" as a symbol of eyes and "7" Dee's favorite lucky number.

On the contrary to a general perception of a selfish unsocial academic and self-engrossed magician, Dee had a bona fide intention to use his knowledge to benefit people of all classes. During his post as royal astrologer under Queen Mary's reign, Dee proposed to the queen that she establish a national library accessible to all for the universal education of the minds. This revolutionary idea was unprecedented and rejected. Dee was a man of books and used his learning from reading for the welfare of England. He propelled England into the Age of Exploration. He legitimized the British expansion of territories, including America, to which, according to Dee's certification, a Welsh prince sailed in 1170, which was three centuries before Columbus' voyage. Patriotic stargazer elucidated further that it was Grate Britain's destiny to gain all of the territories supposedly appropriated by King Arthur by coining the term "The British Empire."

After the death of his beloved Queen Elizabeth, Dee dwindled in his career and fell into obscurity, not least because he lost favor with the successor King James I, the scourge of god against witchcraft and magic as deviltry. We don't know whether he was secretly in league with the devil in his once magnificent personal library. The opinions on John Dee are still debatable, if not controversial. Some might say he was a would-be Merlin or Gandalf. Some might call him a Rasputin who tricked the virgin queen into believing superstitions with his mephistophelean pact for the souls to populate the circles of hell. I want to say Dee was akin to Atlas, one of the Titans who was also fascinated with astrology and astronomy and generous with munificent generosity in the form of divine fire to mortals, for which he was condemned to bear the weight of the celestial globe.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the things I was surprised by was the fact that when Dee was 15-years-of-age, he went to St. John's College and studied Latin, grammar, rhetoric, logic, Greek, HEBREW, geometry, astronomy, music, and the three philosophies (Natural, Moral, and Divine).  Why would Dee be studying Hebrew if the Jews were not allowed into the country until the 1650s (or so)?  Was it so he could read the early books of the Bible in Hebrew? Curious.

Dee was certainly a polyglot - everything he touched seemed to reap dividends and led him to more fascinating studies.  From mathematics, geography, and cartography, Dee branched out into alchemy and the occult.  By 1550, Dee was a university teacher of mathematics.  He was widely admired for his charm and ability to explain complex concepts clearly.  One of the great things Dee did was to seek out and bring back to England the second-best library in his country. By his death, however, he had about 100 of his 4000 manuscripts left.

Unfortunately, this book devolved into a study of how John Dee was bilked by charlatans trying for mystical knowledge.  I couldn't understand the point for so much detail about hoaxes.  After running afoul of Pope Sixtus V, Dee had to support himself through fortune-telling sessions and menial jobs.  Essentially, Dee destroyed his reputation through his extensive study of the occult.  I found this to be a singularly uninteresting study of John Dee.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Dee is a most interesting fellow. He was born in 1527 and some claim him to be a relation of King Arthur. He was a private tutor, learned in math, astronomy and other subjects. He also did horoscopes for people, including Elizabeth who became Elizabeth I. He traveled widely and was an avid collecting of books. He even proposed that England should get moving and claim the New World for itself (before the Spanish or the French did.)

On the other hand he believed in alchemy, was extremely poor at picking people to trust and got duped into the Enochian writings and other very questionable things. He also didn't manage his own money well.

So, he was a pretty smart person as far as knowledge of things goes but as far as understanding motivations of other people he didn't do so well.

A rather interesting book.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Nice overview of Dee, who frequently appears in the works of Lovecraft and many of his contemporaries and acolytes. Dee was a very interesting character ,one with an incredible intellect and drive. I look forward to reading more.

[Angelika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess that was just the surface of Dee.

[Andy Valadez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history and fingerprints in math and chemistry. Bizarre.