John Dee (1529-1609), the astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I and one the most famous English magicians, was keenly interested in the operations of the natural world. To him, magic, like mathematics, science, and navigation, was a tool he could use to gain knowledge of the Christian universe.
Between 1583 and 1587, Dee dedicated much time to angelic theurgy - the attempt to communicate with angels, believing that direct consultation with beings who were only one step down from God in the universal hierarchy was the best way to attain the level of understanding he sought.
The official view of the Church was that the Devil and demons were tricking those who practised theurgy and that they were not in direct contact with angelic beings. And yet, even though the Church condemned the practice, it remained a popular pastime amongst scholars during the European Renaissance.
So, how exactly did one go about it?
Well, in Dee's case, he never saw or spoke to angels himself. Instead, he was assisted by a scryer called Edward Kelly who used scrying devices such as crystals to aid angelic communication. Kelly claimed that he could see visions of angels in these objects. (The British Museum houses a 'shew-stone' (a circular polished mirror made from obsidian) which is believed to have belonged to Dee.)
Wanting to talk with (rather than just look at) angels, the pair then devised their own method of angelic communication based on The Book of Enoch. The oldest passages of the book are thought to date to the fourth or third century BC, and the entire work expands upon Genesis 6;1-4. This obscure passage seems to imply that at the time of Enoch (sometimes believed to have been the grandfather of Moses), angels bred with human women and gave birth to a race of giants called Nephilim. In The Book of Enoch, these angels are regarded as fallen angels skilled in supernatural arts which they taught to man. For example, Angel Asael taught weapons of war (8;1) and Shemihazah taught spells (8;3). (This apocalyptic text introduced many Christian themes, such as that of hell which is not present in the Hebrew Torah, and also went on to influence Jewish Kabbalah (a form of hermetic belief).)
Dee and Kelly created an Enochian letter grid - a wooden table with Enochian letters and numbers printed on it. Dee considered Enochian to be the language of the angels and as ancient as the creation of the world itself. (Apparently, the angels gradually revealed the language to Kelly, who, despite his great intellect, was also a bit of a shady character. At one point, he convinced Dee that the angels had instructed the two men to partake in a bit of wife-swapping! But that is a blog for another day!
So, did Dee gain the truth he sought?
Well, over several years, Kelly claimed to have spoken with many angels, including the angels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, who left cryptic messages for Dee to decipher. The vast amount of documents Dee left behind demonstrate that he tried tirelessly to master the divine language. However, whether he ever managed to do so (or whether he was simply fooled by the Devil in the form of a con man), only he knows!
