John Dee and The Empire of Angels PDF
Preview John Dee and The Empire of Angels
For Devi John Dee AND THE EMPIRE OF Angels “Renaissance magus John Dee boldly set out to systematically tap the mind of God by communicating directly with a complex hierarchy of ‘angelic’ intelligences. It can be argued that he succeeded. His magical diaries have long held intense fascination among Qabalists, alchemists, and explorers of human consciousness who have developed workable magical systems from these records. Jason Louv’s work succeeds, with breathtaking thoroughness, to tell this amazing and true magical tale. More importantly, he also reveals the profound geopolitical significance of Dee’s magical explorations—effects that still shape the global realities of today.” LON MILO DUQUETTE, AUTHOR OF ENOCHIAN VISION MAGICK “Jason Louv’s John Dee and the Empire of Angels is a groundbreaking new assessment of one of the Western world’s most influential polymaths. Through a combination of intellectual rigor, sensitivity to both historical and current sociopolitical climates, and perhaps a bit of his own intuitive scrying, Louv offers us a crystalline view of John Dee’s visionary mind and complicated legacy.” PAM GROSSMAN, AUTHOR OF WHAT IS A WITCH AND HOST OF THE WITCH WAVE PODCAST “Jason Louv’s masterful account of the enigmatic Elizabethan magus John Dee places him in the top tier of new esoteric writers. . . . Louv’s assertion of Dee as both a creator and custodian of Western civilization is thought-provoking, and it is backed up by meticulous research. Highly recommended.” BRENDAN MCCARTHY, ARTIST, DESIGNER, AND COWRITER OF MAD MAX: FURY ROAD “The Dee story is among the most mystifying and important in the entire history of the Western esoteric tradition. And here, Jason Louv has given us the most complete, complex, and balanced account yet of Dee and his aftermath. An awesome achievement.” RALPH ABRAHAM, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF MATHEMATICS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ, CHAOS THEORIST, AND AUTHOR OF CHAOS, GAIA, EROS “Jason Louv’s book is absolutely invaluable. It contextualizes the very bedrock that Western ceremonial magic is based on. Dee and Kelly’s legendary experiments are the cornerstone of our Western understanding of how magic works. But there’s more to it than that. Louv’s impressive work is not only an enjoyable, adventurous journey into esoteric history but also one into the multifaceted—and sometimes dangerous— machinations of the human mind.” CARL ABRAHAMSSON, AUTHOR OF OCCULTURE: THE UNSEEN FORCES THAT DRIVE CULTURE FORWARD “Jason Louv weaves a masterfully poetic web that first introduces you and then sucks you into Dee’s luminous world of magick. This book is not just a book about the occult and magick; it’s also a unique historical reference guide that I found to be a hypnotic read. Jason is a brilliant mind and writer, and this book proves that.” ZACH LEARY, HOST OF THE MAPS AND IT’S ALL HAPPENING PODCASTS “Never has there been a more valuable and more prescient time than NOW to have John Dee and the Empire of Angels published.” E. ELIAS MERHIGE, DIRECTOR OF BEGOTTEN AND SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE “This is the first book I’ve seen where Dee’s angelic magic is neither discussed in isolation, nor dismissed as an eccentric sideline, but recognized as a key part of Dee’s philosophy and political influence right up to the present day.” LIONEL SNELL (A.K.A. RAMSEY DUKES), AUTHOR OF MY YEARS OF MAGICAL THINKING Acknowledgments Writing a book is a lonely occupation that is only made possible by a network of good will, patience, and understanding. A great thank you to my girlfriend, Devi Brulé, whose love and patient support carried me day in and day out during the time I wrote this book. A thank you as well to my parents, who encouraged me throughout its creation. Serious thanks must also be reserved for my many students at Magick. Me, who made it financially possible for me to take the time off to write this book. Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing commissioned and published the original article that became this book, and Jon Graham of Inner Traditions commissioned the full work and was greatly supportive of its writing. Thank you as well to Jennie Marx and Manzanita Carpenter Sanz at Inner Traditions for helping it into manifestation. Many people assisted along the way with encouragement, information, or by aiding in my research trips, including Daniel Andrew Nava, Dennis Woo, Alan Green, Adam Parfrey, Michael Le Tigre, Christie Casey-Young, Eli Lee, E. Elias Merhige, Detlev Auvermann, Thomas Negovan, Grant Morrison, Dr. Gregory DePies, and William Kiesel. Maria V. Montgomery and David Richard Jones provided scans of the original Dee manuscripts and assisted with additional information and context, particularly in regard to the chapter on Aleister Crowley. Years prior to writing this book, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Caleigh Fisher helped foster my interest in John Dee and the connection of Christian eschatology to imperialism, and Lon Milo DuQuette’s books and live seminars provided a handle on understanding Dee’s magic. Many people have aided me in experimental research into Dee’s natural philosophy over the years; respect for personal privacy dictates that I must thank them as a whole. A final thanks to all of the Dee scholars and biographers on whose work I stand and whose research has proven invaluable to the present work, including Dame Frances Yates, Glen Parry, Benjamin Woolley, Nicholas Clulee, Deborah Harkness, György Szőnyi, Håkan Håkansson, and Stephen Skinner. Veritas Praevalebit. Contents Cover Image Title Page Dedication Epigraph Acknowledgments In the Garden Introduction: A Sublunary World ENGLAND AT THE DAWN OF EMPIRE THE GREAT CHAIN OF BEING REVELATION THE WESTERN MYSTERY TRADITION AND ESOTERIC PROTESTANTISM READING DEE THE GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED BOOK I: The Magus Chapter 1: Elected Chapter 2: All as Study of All Chapter 3: The Light of the World Chapter 4: The Elizabethan Ascension Chapter 5: Ladder of Spheres
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