A True and Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years Between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits [Paperback]

 

 

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Dr John Dee's "A true and faithful relation of what passed for many years between Dr John Dee and some spirits" (TFR) is arguably one of the most important works to come out of the Elizabethan era. First published in 1659 the TRF has been sporadically in print ever since. Dee was hailed in his day as the most learned man of the age and was a voracious reader and book hunter - his library rated some 5000 titles whilst the University of Oxford library only boasted some 500 in his day. Sadly his collection was ransacked and burned by superstition peasants whilst he was travelling in Europe.

John Dee was a magus, spy, philosopher and hermeticist for Englands the Fairy Queen, good Queen Elizabeth 1st. He marvelled at the natural world and delighted in information, prehaps more than anything else. As a part of his quest he desired to know the secrets of creation and employed a psychic "Edward Kelley" to aid him in skrying sessions communicating with the Enochian angels. This angelic conversation went on for many years. The two would sit at Dee's shewstone (reputedly given to him by the Archangel Uriel (some say Michael) and Kelley would skry whilst Dee would direct the visions. Over time the Angels revealed a mysterious language originally called Angelic (although more recently dubbed Enochian) which is the key to the most tantalising and fascinating occult artifacts we have today. We only have fragments of the Angelic language however linguists such as Donald Laycock have stressed that it is a real language which shows "traces of grammar" and proper parts of speech. The few words we do have however make up the Clavaculae Angelicae or Angelic Keys or calls which form the basis of an intriging - almost Harry Potter like - magickal system which works without the need to mess with years of meditations on systems such as the qabalah. Of course it is horribly complex and a demon to understand!

Meric Causabon (who wrote the introduction) was not generous to Dee and published the book in an attempt to discredit him decades after Dee's death, however it is clear to see the Dee absolutly outclassed Causabon in language, intelligence and sheer verve at daring the unthinkable and asking God himself for answers. It seems that Dee got some too. We own Causabon a debt of gratitude as his failed attempt to do this gave the world something which might have never seen the light of day. Dee never planned for all his work to be published.

Make no mistake, this is a very difficult book to read and you will need to struggle with small print, Elizabethan English and some difficult and misleading conversations. However it will vastly repay the readers efforts.

To learn more about Dee and his magic I also recommend

The Queens conjuror - G Woolley - The life and exploits of the Good Doctor
Enochian for Beginners - Donald Tyson - Not a beginners book at all, but details the Enochian system
The vision and the Voice - St Aleister Crowley - The poets' account of skrying the 30 Aethers of the Enochian universe. Interestingly Dee didnt do this himself and evidence suggests he never used the Enochian system. At least we dont have the diary entries for his use of Enochian.

Be warned however once you mess with the Enochiana the universe is never quite the same again

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