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
"Dee
was an exceptional student who entered Cambridge University when he
was fifteen...Dee excelled at Cambridge and was named Underreader
(junior faculty member) before taking his degree. After graduating
he traveled to the Continent to continue his studies, achieving
overnight fame in Paris at the age of twenty-three, when he
delivered a series of lectures on the recently exhumed works of the
Greek mathematician Euclid."
- Visions and Prophesies
"After lecturing and
studying on the European continent between 1547 and 1550, Dee
returned to England in 1551 and was granted a pension by the
government. Dee became astrologer to the queen, Mary Tudor, and
shortly thereafter was imprisoned for being a magician but was
released in 1555."
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
"Dee met the future Queen Elizabeth while she was being held under
house arrest by Queen Mary. The two developed a freindship that
lasted for the rest of their lives. As queen, Elizabeth gave Dee
money...More importantly, she protected him from those who accused
him of withcraft."
- Visions and Prophesies
"Besides practicing astrology and horoscopy in the court of
Elizabeth I, whose favour he enjoyed, he also gave instruction and
advice to pilots and navigators who were exploring the New World. He
was asked to name a propitious day for Elizabeth's coronation, and
he gave her lessons in the mystical interpretation of his writings."
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
"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
"Before we raise our eyes to heaven, kabbalistically illuminated by
the contemplation of these mysteries, we could perceive very exactly
the constitution of our Monad as it is shown to us not only in the
LIGHT but also in life and nature, for it discloses explicitly, by
its inner movement, the most secret mysteries of this physical
analysis."
John Dee, Theorem XVIII
"...In Dee's most Hermetic work, the Monas Hieroglyphica, (One
Hieroglyph), published in Antwerp in 1564, Dee believed he had found
a 'hieroglyph', a hitherto hidden 'symbol' which contained in its
form the very unifying principle of reality. It is a kind of
micro-chip which contains within it all the most elementary
principles of the universe. It is to be contemplated upon and fixed
in memory as an archetype applicable to all studies. But what is it?
If one can imagine a great ocean of prima materia which we may call
in this context 'spirit', a pure unformed, undirected, unmoving,
unmoved homogenous world, then we see the beginning of the universe.
If a hand were to, as it were, drop the Monas Hieroglyphica into
that ocean of potentials, the materia prima would immediately start
forming itself into the universe we imagine we know."
- Tobias Churton, The Gnostics
"In 1570 the first English translation of Euclid's work appeared,
and, although it is credited to Sir Henry Billingsley, who became
sheriff and later lord mayor of London, Dee probably wrote part or
all of it. In addition, he wrote the preface, which encouraged the
growing interest in the mathematical arts."
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
"...Dee stayed in his library, where, bent over his books, he
explored the Talmudic mysteries, the Rosicrucian theories, and a
host of other obscure and occult subjects."
- Daniel Cohen, Masters of the Occult
Dee died in 1608 was two years before the first Rosicrucian
manifesto, the Fama Fraternitatis, began to circulate in 1610.
Enochian
Magick
(1) The Language of Angels
"In the year 1581, however, John Dee's life swerved onto an entirely
new path. He later wrote of how, as he knelt in prayer late one
autumn, 'there suddenly glowed a dazzling light, in the midst of
which, in all his glory, stood the great angel, Uriel'. The spirit
reported handed Dee a crystal 'most bright, most clear and glorious,
of the bigness of an egg' and informed him that by gazing at it he
could communicate with otherworldly spirits."
- Visions and Prophesies
"By dint of continually brooding upon the subject his imagination
became so diseased, that he at last persuaded himself that an angel
appeared to him, and promised to be his friend and companion as long
as he lived."
- Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of
Crowds
"John Dee was enraptured by this prospect, but in spite of the
angel's promise, he had little luck at scrying with this 'shew-stone'.
The scientist resorted to employing others to do the actual scrying,
conversing directly with the spirits, while he kept scrupulous
notes."
"The one with him the longest was Edward Kelley, a classic
Renaissance scoundrel, Kelley was an erstwhile lawyer who had
already had his ears cropped for counterfeiting before he met Dee.
He also stood accused of necromancy - the practice of using dead
bodies for divination."
"Gazing into the glass, he [Kelly] reported to Dee that 'in the
middle of the stone seemeth to stand a little round thing like a
spark of fire, and it increaseth, and it seemeth to be as a glove of
twenty inches diameter, or there about.' In this glowing central
sphere, Kelley claimed to raise a host of spiritual beings who
attempted, among other things, to teach Dee 'Enochian', the language
spoken by angels and the inhabitants of the Garden of Eden. In fact
Dee's alleged Enochian records are elaborate enough to have
convinced some credulous readers that they represented a genuine
pre-Hebraic language. But as least one researcher has suggested that
Enochian was a code Dee used to transmit messages from overseas to
Queen Elizabeth in his alleged capacity as a founding member of the
English secret service."
- Visions and Prophesies
"Dee and Kelly "recorded hundreds of spirit conversations,
including...an angelic language called Enochian, composed of
non-English letters, but which computer analysis has recently shown
to have a curious grammatical relationship to English."
- Terence McKenna, The Archaic Revival
"The discovery of the Enochian language actually came in stages. The
earliest utterings of 'Enochian' by Dee actually resemble Speaking
in Tongues or glossolalia. The recordings of this language show no
signs of an actual language or any kind of syntax at all. This
comprises Liber Logaeth or 'Book Speech from God'. It was not until
the first of the forty eight calls was dictated that the language we
use today surfaced. Each of the calls use definite words repeated
throughout with a real grammar. The pronunciation of these calls was
very similar to English or at least the English spoken four
centuries ago."
- Frater Inominandum, "Who the Hell is This Enoch Guy Anyway?"
"Many magicians assert that the Enochian language predates all human
languages. Gerald J. Schueler is widely considered one of the
foremost experts on Enochian magick. Mr. Schueler states that
Enochian magick is 'the powerful system of Magick used by Aleister
Crowley, and the Golden Dawn, and of the The Necronomicon, to
contact intelligences from other dimensions'."
- Parker Ryan, "Necronomicon Info Source"
"It is now generally agreed by occult scholars that the Enochian
system of Dee and Kelly was directly inspired by those sections of
the Necronomicon which deal with Alhazred's techniques for evoking
the Old Ones. It must be remembered that the Necronomicon was
primarily intended as a history, and while it provides some
practical details and formulae, it is hardly a step-by-step
beginner's guide to summoning praetor-human intelligences. Dee and
Kelly had to fill in many details themselves, so their system is a
hybrid of ideas taken from the Necronomicon and techniques of their
own invention There seems little doubt that...the Enochian language,
and the Enochian Calls or Keys are authentic borrowings, and we must
doubt Dee's claim that Kelly received them from the archangel Uriel."
- Colin Low, Necronomicon FAQ
(Compiled from The Book of the Arab, by Justin Geoffry, Starry
Wisdom Press, 1979)
(2) An Ancient Source?
"Dee and Kelley were not however the first persons to come up with
an Enochian alphabet, a text on alchemy called the 'Voarchadumia' by
Pantheus which was written in 1530 printed an eighteen character
alphabet attributed to Enoch. As it turns out the British Museum
copy of this manuscript has copious marginal notes by none other
than Dr. John Dee. The notes date from 1559 and although the
twenty-one character alphabet of Dee does not resemble Pantheus'
alphabet it is conceivable that he at least got the Idea from that
text. What the characters do resemble slightly are the letters of
the Ethiopian alphabet....The current Book of Enoch was discovered
in Greek and Ethiopian. Donald Laycock suggests that it is entirely
possible that Dee had a copy of this manuscript and could not
translate it so he invented his own language based loosely upon it."
- Frater Inominandum, "Who the Hell is This Enoch Guy Anyway?"
Choronzon is the primary embodiment of Evil in Aleister Crowley's
Enochian mythos.
"Choronzon is mentioned only once in John Dee's diaries, during a
communication from the angels concerning the expulsion of Adam from
the garden of Eden:
- Colin Low, Liber Logaeth
"But Coronzon (for so is the name of that mighty devil), envying
man's felicity, and perceiving that the substance of man's lesser
part was frail and unperfect in respect to his purer essence, began
to assail man and so prevailed. By offending so, man became accursed
in the sight of God, and so lost both the garden of Felicity and the
judgement of his understanding, but not utterly the favour of God.
But he was driven forth (as your scriptures record) unto the earth
which was covered with brambles. ... But in the same instant when
Adam was expelled, the Lord gave unto the world her time, and placed
over her Angelic Keepers, Watchmen and Princes."
- John Dee, as quoted from Geoffrey James, The Enochian Magic of
Dr.John Dee, p..1)
"In this context C(h)oronzon is identical with the Serpent of
Genesis, and with the rebellious angel Samael in Jewish midrashic
and kabbalistic legend."
"There is a confusion over the identity of the 'Angelic Keepers'
mentioned in Dee's record above. That the earth is watched over by
angels is a very old tradition, and it is fascinating to see it
surface during Dee's angelic communications. According to Dee's
angels, the Watchmen and Watchtowers are provided:"
- Colin Low, Liber Logaeth
"...against the usurping blasphemy, misuse and stealth of the wicked
and great enemy, the Devil. To the intent that being put to the
Earth, his envious will might be bridled..."
- John Dee, as quoted from T&FR p.170
"The story appears to be straightforward according both to Dee's
angels and traditional legend: Samael/Choronzon tempted Eve, and was
banished into the world with them, and Watchers were set over the
creation to maintain its bounds. However, traditional legend holds a
surprise:"
- Colin Low, Liber Logaeth
"Samael and his angels were banished to a dark dungeon, where they
still languish, their faces haggard, their lips sealed; and are now
known as the Watchers."
- John Dee, as quoted from Robert Graves & Raphael Patai, Hebrew
Myths: The Book of Genesis
"This legend is recounted in a book that Dee could not have read
because it was lost in Europe until it was brought back from
Ethiopia by the Scots adventurer James Bruce of Kinnaird in 1773. By
an astonishing coincidence this happens to be yet another Book of
Enoch. Although it has been dubbed one of the most boring books ever
written, anyone with an interest in Dee and Kelly's conversations
with angels should read it. Too much attention has been devoted to
the magical system communicated by the angels to Dee; this occupies
a relatively small part of the several hundred pages in Dee's
transcripts. The angels have a great deal to say. It is interesting
to meet again many of Dee's angels in the visions recounted in the
Ethiopian Book of Enoch. It is interesting to compare their
concerns.
"Much of the content of the Ethiopian book is about the background
to the first destruction of the world, an event brought about by the
evil caused by angelic 'Watchers' (Patai suggests an alternative
translation 'guardian angels' - that is, they are identical with
Dee's Watchmen and Overseers). Much of the content of Dee's
transcript is concerned with the final destruction of the world.
This theme occurs constantly, both explicitly and through symbolism
which is clearly linked to the Apocalypse or Revelation of St. John.
Dee was well aware of this, and his margin notes show that he
understood the references. Dee divided the world into three ages:
the first age up to the Flood, a second age up to the coming of
Jesus Christ, and a final age terminated by the destruction of the
world. In common with many (most) Europeans of his time, he lived
his life in an awareness that this end was not a conjecture - it was
a matter of fact - and that it was imminent. The angels confirm
several times that the 'end of days' is nigh.
"There are so many parallels between events leading up to the first
destruction of the world (the biblical Flood) and events leading up
to the final destruction (the Apocalypse) that they must be
considered duals - that is, not as unconnected mythic material, but
as the beginning and end of the same story reflected like mirror
images at opposite ends of time. The three ages of the world are in
some way connected to the three mystical and visionary works that
tell the story: the Ethiopian Book of Enoch, Dee's Book of Enoch,
and the Apocalypse of St. John."
- Colin Low, Liber Logaeth
Read L. S. Bernstein's article on "Egregor" which strengthens the
argument that Dee had access to information from the Book of Enoch,
specifically that concerning the Watchers. Dee and Kelly asserted
that the Nephilim, Giants or offspring of the Watchers, under the
command of Uriel, could be evoked with the Enochian "Call of the
Thirty Aethyrs.
"The entry into the thirty Aethyrs begins with a divine curse
because it is a means to assert control over the entities it evokes:
the Nephilim. The Fallen Ones. The Great Old Ones. This establishes
beyond any doubt that the Enochian system of Dee and Kelly was
identical in spirit, and almost certainly in practice, to the system
of Alhazred as described in the Necronomicon."
- Colin Low, Necronomicon FAQ
(Compiled from The Book of the Arab, by Justin Geoffry, Starry
Wisdom Press, 1979)
An Inglorious End
"On a careful perusal of Dee's diary it is impossible to come to any
other conclusion than that he was imposed upon by Kelly, and
accepted his revelations as the actual utterances of the spirits;
and it seems probable that the clever, plastic, slippery Kelly not
only knew something of the optical delusions then practiced by the
pretended necromancers, but possessed considerable ventriloquial
powers which largely assisted in his nefarious deceptions."
- Lewis Spence, An Encyclopedia of Occultism
"Although he remained in favor with Queen Elizabeth I, Dee, along
with Kelly 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.
"Dee...toured Poland and Bohemia (1583-89), giving exhibitions of
magic at the courts of various princes."
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
In 1595 Kelly was imprisoned by Emperor Rudolf II at Prague for
wizardry and sorcery. He fell in a attempt to escape and died a few
days later.
Dee "arrived in England with a huge baggage train and protected by a
guard of twenty soldiers...But Dee was certainly in need of money
when he arrived. The queen received him at Richmond and awarded him
a pension of two hundred pounds a year. But the great days were
clearly over."
- Daniel Cohen, Masters of the Occult
Queen Elizabeth appointed Dee warden of Christ's College in
Manchester in 1595.
Dee was described by his biographer, John Aubry, as "a beaten old
man with 'a long beard as white as milke, tall and slender, who wore
a gowne with hanging sleves' . He earned a pittance telling fortunes
and even sold his beloved books, one by one, in order to eat."
- Visions and Prophesies
He died on December 1608 in Mortlake, Surrey.
"Over the centuries many scholars of the occult puzzled over John
Dee's handiwork; perhaps the most notorious of these was Adam
Weishaupt, who as a young man was fascinated by the mysterious
'illuminated manuscript'. Rudolf's collection was broken up with the
passage of time, with his collection of rare manuscripts making its
way to the venerable Jorge's famous library in Italy. It survived
the fire that destroyed Jorge's abbey and took his life, and along
with the other remaining fragments of Jorge's collection was stored
at a Jesuit college for many years."
- Mitchell Porter, alt.necromicon FAQ.