Dr. John Dee And Edward Kelley
Dr. John Dee (1527-1608) and Edward Kelley (1555-1597) were the founders of Enochian Magick. Dr. John Dee was the astrologer of Elizabeth I of England. When she was in prison during the reign of Mary (Bloody Mary), Dr. John Dee was by her side alleviating her that one day she we will be free. Thereafter, Dr. John Dee was protected by the Queen which allowed him to study his intrests, Occult and Magick, secretly and safely. But everyone in Elizabeth's court was interested with Dee's prophetic skills and they were eager to hear from his castings of astrology charts. He became so famous under Elizabeth's court and Elizabeth made him in charge of the court's knowledge on astroloy and intellegence. Along that he went on with his occult and magick studies.
Dee was an Elizabethan scholar and therefore his language skills aided him with his occult studies. Finding the secrets of the so-called knowledge of Enoch (Book of Enoch) was his main purpose. Enoch was a holy person and he was favored by God. The Creator believed that Enoch was worthy enough to learn the secrets of the spiritual realm It is said in the bible that he was taken away to the realm of the spirits and he was given secret knowledge of magick, a magick practice given by the angels. Dee was eager and yearned to fathom out these secrets of the angels and the Creator. He began his search by contacting the spiritual realm through a method called scrying. Scrying is a clairvoyant's specialty and it is preformed with a black mirror or a crystal ball. Dee tried to scry a couple times but he was never patient to improve his scrying abilities. He decided that he needed to find a person who can contact the divine spirits through scrying and that's when Edward Kelley came into importance.
Edward Kelley was an extremely skilled scryer but his interests differed from Dee. He already practiced geotic magick and had no interest in finding out the knowledge of Enoch. Alchemy was his main interest and he yearned to find the secret of the "red powder" that can turn metals to gold. Kelley had something else on mind, which was avirice and money. Upon Dee and Kelley's meeting, Kelley wasn't affable and he planned to use Dee to lead him to the "red powder."
In contrary, Dee used Kelley to contact the spirits. Dee and Kelley was quite successful and obtained many tables, sigils ,tailsmans, and a language system from the angels. Kelley would gaze at his crystal ball and Dee would write down everything that occured. Dee wrote down many documents from these scrying sessions and most of them exist today. It is said that Kelley was used as a connection to reach Dee and the angels spoke in Latin, a language obscure to Kelley. But without the help of Kelley, Dee wouldn't be able to contact these spirits. They preformed these sessions from December 22, 1581 to April 2,1587 (but the sessions were postponed from time to time).
Dee and Kelley had to keep these knowledge in secrecy because of the Christian era. If they had shown it to the public, they would have been accussed of heresy and they would have been persecuted. Dee and Kelley concealed their documents, tablets, sigils, and the crystal ball in a concealed chest. Although Dee cherished these documents, Kelley didn't really rely on these papers because he thought the angels were all false beings. Dee and Kelley learned most of the Angelic secrets within a few days but their work lasted for a few years. Through the manuscripts, Dee and Kelley contacted the angels for the last time on April 2, 1587. But later, Dee consulted another scryer, Bartholomew Hickman, which did not serve any purpose towards Enochian Magick. Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley seperated around the year 1589 and went on with their lives. Edward Kelley died in 1597 and Dr. John Dee died in 1608. It was said that Dr. John Dee tried to burn the manuscripts but failed.
After Dr. John Dee's death, a rich real estate person, Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, bought Dee's library. Cotton found many of the tools that Dee and Kelley used to contact the angels. These tools were the scrying table, one of the crystals, and the wax seals. There is a blue print of the table that exist today, but somehow the table disappeared. All of these items (except the table) can be found in the British Museum today.
Cotton never found the scripts but some of the scripts were accquired by Meric Causabon. Causabon accquired the scrying sessions of May 28, 1583 to April 2, 1587 and he published these angelic conversations through the book "A True and Faithful Relation" (contained Dee's Liber Mysteriorum). It is said that Causabon found these scripts burried in the earth, but that was all probably a rumor. Dr. John Dee's son, Arthur Dee, was very dissapointed when Causabon published the angelic secrets. Not because of the contents, but he did not want his father gaining a reputation on occult studies. Although, he was interested in occult magick and wanted to keep the angelic secrets to himself. Dee passed on some of the scripts to Arthur, but unfortunately Arthur did not receive any instructions on how to practice Enochian magick. He tried to search for the remaining scripts but failed. Arthur's scripts were passed down to his children and was never found again.
Causabon never found out about the scripts contained in the sealed chest. Thirteen years after the publication of "A True and Faithful Relation" the sealed chest got to the hands of Elias Ashmole. He was famous for collecting a perserving sacred and occult scripts. His wife acquired the chest from John Woodward, a real estate owner who probably bought it after Dr. John Dee's death. Ashmole's wife has been keeping the chest for over 20 years, not realizing it's value until her husband finally opened it. The chest contained the sessions of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley from December 22, 1581 to May 28, 1583. These scripts were the most important part of Enochian Magick and it includes the 48 Claves Angelicae, De Heptarchia Mystica, and Liber Scientiae Auxiliis et Victorie Terresris.
If Causabon and Ashmole had not preserved these scripts, Enochian magick would not exist today. Many scholars are still trying to open the secrets of these angels. Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley did not receive the complete practice to Enochian.
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