disinformation | john dee and cosmo-politics

Welcome to Disinformation | July 06, 2003

Abuse Your Illusions - the follow-up to Everything You Know Is Wrong & You Are Being Lied To is in the store and every bit as essential. The long-awaited Disinformation DVD is in too!
>>Go

U.S. Weighs Military Intervention in Liberia
>>Go

What The European Papers Say
>>Go

Violence Mars Nigerian Strikes
>>Go

Religion in the News: June 2003
>>Go

john dee and cosmo-politics
by Alex Burns (alex@disinfo.com) - December 28, 2000

Elizabethan England magus John Dee (1527-1608) is best known in occult circles for the 'Enochian Keys', a series of nineteen magical incantations received by Dee and collaborator Edward Kelley during a period of Angel/Spirit scrying (1583-1589), which has dwarfed Dee's other Work. Some researchers have suggested that the 'Wisdom of Enoch' and the 'Adamic' language concealed counter-espionage codes, and subtle para-politics designed to symbolically transmutate the collective unconsciousness (his trademark signature '007' influenced Ian Fleming's James Bond).

Dee played a pivotal role in influencing Elizabethan England, from the time of his studies at Louvain University (1548). His knowledge of 'Mathesis' (mathematical magic), 'Theurgy' (supernatural powers), and interest in geography, mathematics, navigation, and cryptography brought him to the attention of Queen Elizabeth (he served her as Royal Astrologer), who eventually appointed him in 1592 as Warden of Christ's College (until 1605).

Dee's long-term influence can be found in para-political Workings that are ignored by the Enochian-obsessed occultnik. His personal library of over 2000 books and 198 manuscript codices surpassed Cambridge University's library and Oxford University's Corpus Christi College. Dee's multi-layered fusion of alchemy and cryptography dominates his analysis of Trithemius' 'Steganographia' (1606). His 'Mathematicall Praeface' (1570) to Euclid was highly regarded, as were his writings 'Propaedeumata aphoristica' (1558), 'Monas Hieroglyphica' (1564), and Parallacticae Commentationis Praxosque' (1573). Dee's 'natural philosophy' combining Astrological Physics, Hermeticism, Mathematics, and Optics was a transitional bridge between the symbolically rich and evocative language of Magic, and emerging empirical Science. Labelled a 'Conjurer' in Marian England, Dee's vast knowledge and intellectual reputation protected him from periodic witch-hunts.

From 1551 to 1583, Dee was consultant to the 'Muscovy Company', which was attempting to find North-eastern and North-western sea-routes to Cathay. He directed the voyages of Adrian and Humphrey Gilbert, and three by Martin Frobisher from 1576-1578. He brought astronomical and navigation instruments to England from Continental Europe in 1550, worked on calendar reform, promoted antiquarian dealings, and helped develop scientific cartography (his research was reportedly used by the Dutch). He was informal friends with Gerard Mercator, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Philip Sydney's circle.

In 'General & Rare Memorials' (1570), Dee foresaw the rise of the 'Incomparable BRYTISH EMPIRE', stimulating empire-building ideologies and colonialist propaganda (magician Don Webb has suggested that Dee's Word was 'Regi': 'I will reign'). His expected 'Petty Navy Royall' (the English Fleet) defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, a decisive military victory which subsequently influenced the geo-political balance of Western Civilization.

Seeking increased patronage, Dee had reluctantly journeyed to Poland in late 1583 at the invitation of Prince Albrecht Laski. Alienating his various patrons (Count Rosenberg of Bohemia), Dee returned to England in 1589, but faced a decline of power under King James in Tudor England. Although he died virtually penniless in 1608, Dee's vast 'Cosmo-politics' mosaic played a truly revolutionary role for the next three hundred years in Western Civilization. The true magical fruits of Dee's para-political Workings was not the still relatively obscure and misinterpreted 'Enochian Keys', but a subsequent entity known as the British Empire.

Audioletter Number 31
The 'Cosmo-politics' of this 1978 document relate to wacky geo-political 'space wars' between the USSR and USA during 1977, involving Moon bases, Neutrino weapons, 'Killer' Soviet satellites and more. Best read as a parable on what an 'English Fleet/Spanish Armada' scenario would resemble in the contemporary era.

John Dee
Useful succinct John Dee biographical data-file: "Dr. John Dee, despite his apparent delusions, was one of the keenest minds of his time. He his credited for making the calculations that would enable England to use the Gregorian calendar, he championed the preservation and the collection of historic documents and he was very well known for being a great astronomer and mathematician. It could be said that Dr. Dee was the one of the first modern scientists, although he was one of the last serious alchemists, necromancers and crystal gazers."

John Dee On Mathematics
A diagram and brief commentary from John Dee's influential 'Mathematicall Preface' (1570), posted online by PhD in Neuro-biology candidate Daniel Glaser (could there be a neuro-biological explanation for Dee's enigmatic 'Hieroglyiphic Monad'?).

The John Dee Society
The 'John Dee Society' was formed to produce a standard edition of his published and unpublished works; and to reconstruct the vast personal library he had at his disposal. An intriguing project with interesting possibilities.

John Dee And The English Calendar: Science, Religion And Empire
A brief 1996 online exchange regarding John Dee's influence on the Gregorian calendar system. Contains some intriguing information and insights.

Francis Bacon & John Dee
This essay explains the cultural significance within the Elizabethan milieu of John Dee's '007', and parallels Dee's research with that of Francis Bacon. Includes analysis of Dee's decline under the reign of King James.

Encyclopaedia Britannica: John Dee
The venerable 'Encyclopaedia Britannica' entry on John Dee balances his cosmo-politics with his reputation as an English magus.

Galileo Project: John Dee
Compiled for the 'Galileo Project' by Indiana University Department of History and Philosophy of Science member Richard Westfall, this is a very well researched and comprehensive data-file on John Dee, containing biographical information and analysis of his cosmo-political influence.

John Dee & The Secret Societies
Ron Heisler's scholarly essay 'John Dee and the Secret Societies' (part of Levity.com's mammoth 'Alchemy' web-site) places Dee's scrying experiences within the contexts of the socio-political and cultural upheavals of Elizabethan and emerging Tudor England. Includes material on Dee's subsequent influence on Rosicrucian circles and an impressive analysis of the 'Apocalyptic' nature of the infamous 'Enochian Calls', which are misinterpreted by mystics and occultists unfamiliar with the 'life conditions' within which Dee operated in.

No Messages Posted Yet...