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Edward kelley
Dr. Dee's interest in the properties of glass soon merged with his interests in magick, and encouraged by books on demonology,
he began to experiment with using glass and crystals as divination devices, a practice known as scrying. All of his experiments
were fruitless. In despair, he turned to outside help, eventually settling upon John Talbot, a pharmacist turned alchemist
who had turned to criminal means to support his obsession with alchemy. Talbot, who changed his name to Kelley upon entering
Dee's employ, became Dee's full time crystal gazer.
As a piously religious man, despite the rumors surrounding him, Dee had no interest in contacting demons, opting instead to
try to converse with angels. The experiment was a success- a being referring to itself as 'Madimi,' soon manifested. Kelley
would gaze into a crystal and describe his visions to Dee, who posed various questions and kept scrupulous notes. The result
of years of effort in this endeavor was the Enochian magical system- a means of contacting angels through the use of a system
of 'calls' and a language Kelley claimed was dictated directly from the angels.
The so-called 'Enochian' language, named after the biblical Enoch, has a sophisticated grammar that has baffled skeptics.
While it must be remembered that Dee had considerable background in ciphers and languages, his scrupulous diaries indicate
that it was Kelley who received and dictated the material to Dee, making it that much more mysterious. Kelley was not the
educated man Dee was, and had not the ability or the talent required to create such a language. In fact, Kelley seemed unaware
of the spiritual import of what he was doing- during one session he interrupts the angel's message to ask for money!
About those Angels...
Dee and kelley continued their work while travelling around europe seeking work as alchemists; Kelley eventually became suspicious
of the nature of the so-called 'angels' and began to resist the work. When Dee pressed, he resumed for a little time- only
to have a vision so terrifying that he refused to scry again, and left Dee's service permanently. Kelley died shortly after
leaving Dee's employ, of injuries received from a fall during in an attempted prison break. Dr. Dee returned to England to
find his house and library had been destroyed by a mob. He returned to the university, held various acedemic posts until 1604,
when he was once again charged with sorcery, and was forced to appeal to King James for protection. He died in poverty only
four years later.
John Dee's legacy is deep and broad-his cartographic tools allowed unprecedented explorations, and he made many advances in
European mathematics and geometry. His fearsome appearance in a tall pointed hat and his penchant for crystal balls gave the
world the archetype of the wizard after which dozens of story book wizards have been based, including Gandalf, Harry Potter,
and even the Wizard of Oz. He founded the Rosicrucian order, the first of many magical secret societies, which promoted spiritual
growth throughout the centuries.
Long after his death, a young man in the United States used a scrying crystal to contact an angels- who gave him a book written
in a mysterious angelic language. The young man, Joseph Smith, went on the found the Mormon Church. In the nineteen fifties,
archaeological digs turned up magical talismans created nearly two thousand years ago by Coptic Christians, which bear mysterious
characters which bear a startling resemblance to Dee's angelic language.
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