Famous Alchemists: Dr. John Dee

“Who does not understand should either learn, or be silent.” - Dr. John Dee

13 July 1527-1608

Mathematician, astrologer, occultist, alchemist, diviner, hermetic philosopher, and advisor to Queen Elizabeth 1, Dr. John Dee was one of the most prominent figures in England during the 1500s and arguably one of the most brilliant minds of that era. He spent most of his life dedicated to the study of natural law and believed numbers were the basis of all things and the key to knowledge. Because of Dr. John Dee’s gifted mind, England became the world power we know her to be today. Dr. John Dee was the first to coin the phrase “British Empire. His main goal in life was to understand the spiritual realm and unify the Roman Catholic and the Protestant churches, with the pure theology of the ancients. His advancements in cartography paved the way for England’s expansion into North America. Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh used his maps to discover new trade routes.

As an occultist and alchemist, Dr. John Dee is most famous for his discovery of an angelic language. This language gave birth to a new form of magic and communication with the spirit realm. The Enochian language that he and Edward Kelly discovered together has been the object of much controversy and debate over the centuries. What Dee and Kelly believed to be the language of creation spoken by Enoch and Adam, others have deemed to be the work of fallen angels and demonic spirits. Much of this debate arrived when Kelly told Dee that the angel Uriel ordered them to swap wives. The encounter ended Dee’s and Kelly’s magical relationship and some believed the incident impregnated Dee’s wife with Kelly’s child.

While performing scrying sessions and rituals, Dr. John Dee, a dedicated Christian, would first go through intense fasting and praying. Kelly was the designated scryer and Dee would ask the spirits questions regarding mathematics, natural law, and the nature of the spirt realm. The obsidian scrying mirror and crystal ball they used is still shown at the British museum today. There was also a book of his journal writings published in 1659 called “A True and Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years Between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits.”

Dr. John Dee was also Queen Elizabeth’s most trusted advisor for a time. He choose her coronation date and was the head of her secret service during England’s war with Spain. Dee was also the first 007 and signed all of his letters to her with the code 007, meaning “for the queen’s eyes only.”

Although Dee is labeled at times as a black magician duped by demonic spirits, his contributions to the world through his gifted mind as an alchemist, mathematician, cartographer and hermetic philosopher are undeniable.