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John Dee

1527–1609 · England
John Dee

Description

John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. As an antiquarian, he had one of the largest libraries in England at the time. As a political advisor, he advocated the foundation of English colonies in the New World to form a "British Empire", a term he is credited with coining.

Facts

Born13 July 1527, Tower Ward, London, England
DiedDecember 1608 or March 1609(1609-03-00) (aged 81), Mortlake, Surrey, England
EducationSt John's College, CambridgeLouvain University
Known forAdvisor to Queen Elizabeth I
SpousesKatherine Constable ​ ​(m. 1565; died 1574)​ Unknown ​ ​(m. 1575; died 1576)​ Jane Fromond ​ ​(m. 1578; died 1604)​
Children7 or 8 (incl. Arthur)
FieldsMathematics, alchemy, astrology, Hermeticism, navigation
InstitutionsTrinity College, CambridgeChrist's College, Manchester
Academic advisorsGemma Frisius, Gerardus Mercator
Notable studentsThomas Digges

Life & work in brief

Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.

Work / contributionSignificance
BiographyDee was born in Tower Ward, London, to Rowland Dee, of Welsh descent, and Johanna, daughter of William Wild.
Personal lifeDee "promoted English overseas exploration and expansion in terms of a political and spiritual renewal at home".
AchievementsDee was a devout Christian, with his religiosity influenced by doctrines from Hermetic, Platonic, and Pythagorean systems, which were pervasive in the Renaissance.
Reputation and significanceSome ten years after Dee's death, the antiquarian Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington bought land around Dee's house and began digging for papers and artifacts.
Literary and cultural referencesDee was a popular figure in literary works by his contemporaries and he has continued to feature in popular culture, particularly in fiction or fantasy set during his lifetime or dealing with magic or the occult.

Contribution to the celestial-alphabet tradition

Royal astrologer to Elizabeth I and philosopher of Enochian stellar-angelic letters. His Monas Hieroglyphica unifies the 7 planets and the zodiac into one glyph — a Baroque compression of the 7-doubles + 12-simples structure this project reads. The Enochian angel-alphabet is a parallel constructed celestial script.

In the Luco Library
Monas Hieroglyphica + A True and Faithful Relation
John Dee (Meric Casaubon, ed.)

The planetary kameot — the apparatus they worked with

The 7 magic squares ↔ 7 doubles ↔ 7 planets (Sefer Yetzirah §4). Each square's order n gives a distinct sigil modulus; the constant is M = n(n²+1)/2. Saturn 3×3 = the Lo Shu (M=15), the basis of the Aiq-Bekar sigil method. Caveat (§6.3 / §15b.3): the sigil-over-kamea method is Renaissance (Agrippa, 1531), not medieval Jewish.

♄ Saturn3×3
8
1
6
3
5
7
4
9
2
double ב · M=15
♃ Jupiter4×4
16
2
3
13
5
11
10
8
9
7
6
12
4
14
15
1
double ג · M=34
♂ Mars5×5
17
24
1
8
15
23
5
7
14
16
4
6
13
20
22
10
12
19
21
3
11
18
25
2
9
double ד · M=65
☉ Sun6×6
35
1
6
26
19
24
3
32
7
21
23
25
31
9
2
22
27
20
8
28
33
17
10
15
30
5
34
12
14
16
4
36
29
13
18
11
double כ · M=111
♀ Venus7×7
30
39
48
1
10
19
28
38
47
7
9
18
27
29
46
6
8
17
26
35
37
5
14
16
25
34
36
45
13
15
24
33
42
44
4
21
23
32
41
43
3
12
22
31
40
49
2
11
20
double פ · M=175
☿ Mercury8×8
64
2
3
61
60
6
7
57
9
55
54
12
13
51
50
16
17
47
46
20
21
43
42
24
40
26
27
37
36
30
31
33
32
34
35
29
28
38
39
25
41
23
22
44
45
19
18
48
49
15
14
52
53
11
10
56
8
58
59
5
4
62
63
1
double ר · M=260
☽ Moon9×9
47
58
69
80
1
12
23
34
45
57
68
79
9
11
22
33
44
46
67
78
8
10
21
32
43
54
56
77
7
18
20
31
42
53
55
66
6
17
19
30
41
52
63
65
76
16
27
29
40
51
62
64
75
5
26
28
39
50
61
72
74
4
15
36
38
49
60
71
73
3
14
25
37
48
59
70
81
2
13
24
35
double ת · M=369

Lineage — influence tree

Where John Dee sits in the magi lineage: who shaped this figure, and who this figure shaped in turn. Mage names link to their own ficha.