Who was John Dee?

[Danustouch]

From the John Dee foundation, some quick "facts" about John Dee.

http://www.johndee.org/DEE.html

[Mnemosyne]

Fabulous information, Danustouch. When studying the Scientific Revolution period, John Dee was defintely one of my favorite thinkers. I always think of him as the guy who spend the later years of his life trying to talk to angels.

[Theres]

an interesting fellow was Mr. Dee.
i have read that after graduating from Cambridge at the age of 18 (!), he spent everyday of the rest of his life working 18 hours a day, eating for two hours, and sleeping the remaining four!
he was actually Queen Elizabeth's astrologer, and she in turn spent alot of money financing his experiments.
he attempted to persuade the Protestant Church of England to adopt a Papal Bull regarding calendar reform, an idea they finally accepted 200 years later!
Dee became more well known as a magician after he met the noted alchemist Edward Kelly. Kelly had been searching for the 'philosopher's stone'. Dee did not particularly like Kelly, but the results of their experiments together were remarkable. the most famous of these involved the dictation to Kelly of a seemingly nonsensical 'language' by an Angel. but Dee was able to recognize this as a legitimate language, and eventually deciphered it. this is the now famous magickal language known as 'Enochian'.
John Dee was also a poet, and was close friends with the geographer Mercator.
unfortunately, Elizabeth died and was followed to the throne of England by James I, who had absolutely NO sympathy for astrologers, magicians or any type of occultists. Dee lost his royal stipend, and spent his last days in poverty. his library (considered one of the finest in Europe, especially regarding occult titles) was partially destroyed by religeous zealots, and the rest were used after his death by his former servants who, being unable to read, used the pages to line their ovens!
Kelly too fell upon hard times. he claimed to have finally created the 'philosopher's stone', but was unable to substantiate his claim. he later murdered someone in a violent rage, and was imprisoned in the Tower. he died there after a fall, some saying that his death was suicide.

[Azure]

And any number of his tools are readily available for viewing at the British Museum - fascinating.

[Mnemosyne]

I didn't know that you could see John Dee's tools at the British Museum. I'll have to check it out. I probably never made it that far in the museum, since I always get stuck looking at the classical works.

Wow, Greenman, you sure know a lot about John Dee. I had no idea that he worked so hard each day. Amazing! I have an article on John Dee somewhere. Perhaps if I have time this evening, I will look for it.

[Calixto]

Kelly died trying to escape prison, where he was imprisoned because he failed to turn lead to gold.

Poor guy.

Dee also was one of Elizabeths chief spymasters. Some think his Enochian was developed as a code for use by Elizabeth's spies.

Interesting no?

Cal

[Mnemosyne]

Hi, Calixto, welcome back. :wave: I just read this really interesting article on John Dee. You're right. Kelly died when trying to escape prison; he fell from a window.

Each person who responds to this thread brings such interesting information about Dee. I had no idea that Enochian was used as a spy language.

Here is something else bizarre about Dee. Well, Kelly got a message from the spirits that he should take a liking for Dee's wife. Dee thought that Kelly was communicating with evil spirits, so they got into argument. Kelly left town. When Kelly finally returned, Dee was so happy that he followed the advice of the spirits. Yep, Dee and Kelly eventually shared their wives.

I read this and many other intriguing stories about Dee at http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/occult/john_dee.html

[Mythrel]

I have to admit I have never heard of this guy...sounds like a really interesting guy...thanks for the info and links

[Danustouch]

Wow..what stories. I can't believe they shared their wives...because a spirit said to. lol. Very interesting stories, Mnemosyne. Thanks for the link!

[Theres]

i'm bumping this thread in honor of John Dee's birthday... July 13, 1527.

[kblackthorne]

Thanks for the link! Someone on anther forum just said, "John Dee? Who's that -- I've never heard of him."

Now I can pass on the link!

[Journeyman]

And their partnership never recovered from the "wife-swapping incident."

[Mnemosyne]

MM, Journeyman! :)

No, their partnership never recovered after the wife-swapping incident. I was just reading one of the links on this thread about Dee. I didn't realized that Kelley was a con man before Dee met him. This info explains some of Kelley's slickness. The stories about these two men never cease. They should definitely make one of those made-for-tv films but them.

[Danustouch]

Oh..now that would be something to see. I did like the made for TV movie about Nostradamus. Not sure how factual it was..but it made for a good watch :)

[Journeyman]

I seem to recall John Dee showing up in one of the Vertigo comics (Sandman,maybe?) in the mid 80's. Anyone remember that?

[Danustouch]

Wow! Can you maybe find a link? That would be cool to see :)

[Journeyman]

Whoops, my bad.
It turns out that Sandman's John Dee is actually Dr. Destiny.

"Mother said, if you are going to be a criminal, John, you are not going to bring shame on the family name. I had to change it. I called myself Destiny. Dee is for destiny..."

John Dee, in SANDMAN #5: "Passengers"

http://www.amk.ca/quotations/neil-gaiman/

Sorry about the false alarm.

[Danustouch]

*bump*