Episode 10 - The Life, Legacy and Influence of Occultist John Dee

Greetings fellow humans! In this episode I discuss the exciting and mystical life of famed occultist John Dee (1527-1609). He was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and personal advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. Dee attempted to merge science, religion and magic during the Renaissance into a cohesive and digestible trinity. He explored esoteric topics such as alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy. Come with me as we explore the influence of this magical man on music, art and culture! Peace and Love everyone, enjoy!! ☆

**I apologize if the audio seems odd or a bit more noisy than usual. I had to have my A/C running while there was a heat wave lol 🙃

"Do what though wilt shall be the whole of the law" - Aleister Crowley

"Discover that which makes you shine, always and forever into infinity"

-Joseph Matthew 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome, one and all, to the Magic Music Podcast. I'm your host, Joseph Matthew, and in this series, we will be discussing various occult and esoteric practices in music, art, and culture. So sit back, relax, and let's explore the unknown together. Enjoy. Hey, everybody. Welcome to episode number 10. It has been... uh quite the whirlwind to say the least um with what's going on in the world right now so if you're not really following the news um good on you because there's a lot of going on right now in the in the middle east and in america and you know whether or not you voted for Whoever you voted for, there's a lot of crazy stuff going on right now. So I hope everyone's well. I hope everyone is taking care of themselves and just trying to live their lives as much as possible without focusing on politics and world news and everything like that. So hopefully... I mean, I've been losing my mind the past couple of days, but... Yeah, so I hope everyone is doing okay. So... I know I haven't posted anything in about, like, it's been about two weeks since the last episode, I think. Episode number nine. But today we are going to be discussing the occultist John Dee. So let's get into it. Some of you who are in various occult circles may know who John Dee is already, but I'm basically going to be giving a brief overview of who he was and what his contribution was to the occult world. He was a very, very influential figure for modern occultists. And his reach has extended far beyond probably what he thought was even possible himself. So John Dee was born in 1527 and died in 1609. He was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, a cultist, and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. He's best known for his efforts to unify science, magic, and religion during the Renaissance, and for his extensive work in the fields of alchemy, divination, and hermetic philosophy. So, let's get into some key aspects of Dee's life and his work. So, first and foremost, he was a scholar and a scientist. He was a highly educated man who studied at Cambridge and traveled extensively in Europe. So this was a guy that he was a very, very, very smart individual and was skeptical actually of a lot of mysticism and things like that. He was a very practical man, a very math and science oriented man, which makes him very interesting. So he was respected as a mathematician and promoted the study of mathematics, navigation, and astronomy in England. Dee served as an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I on matters ranging from astrology to navigation. He even selected the date for her coronation. And that's pretty interesting. So in terms of the occult and Enochian magic, which we'll touch on later and what that is, So later on in his life, he became deeply involved in the occult. He worked closely with a scryer named Edward Kelly, with whom he claimed to communicate with angels. These spiritual entities revealed what Dee called the Enochian language, and that's E-N-O-C-H-I-A-N, Enochian language, which is a supposed angelic tongue and magical system. So he was trying to communicate with angels or spirits. And these weren't evil beings. They were beings of light and love. And yeah, we'll get into what he did practice and what he utilized. So he tried to synthesize the natural sciences with mystical traditions such as Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, and Christian Kabbalah. He believed that true knowledge of the universe required both empirical study and divine revelation. So, yeah, it's like you can't just go drawing pentagrams on the ground and expect to have all of your dreams and wishes come true. I think it was, um, there was a, he's a very popular streamer, um, I think he streams on Twitch and like on YouTube and stuff. His name's Kai Sinat. Most younger people would know. I'm almost 30 years old, but he's more for like the younger generation. He had a quote that I, he was watching a video of his the other day and he was like, you have to meet God halfway. And I thought that was, I thought that was really interesting because if you just put all your eggs in one basket and say, you know, God's going to, help me out. God's going to do this. God's going to do that. Like whatever you think God is to you, you have to still put in a little bit of effort. So yeah, just trying to meet a spirit like halfway instead of having them do all the work because it might not work out in your favor. So his legacy reputation has fluctuated over time. from respected scientists to reputed magician. In modern times, he is seen as a symbol of the Renaissance thinker who straddled the line between emerging science and traditional mysticism. And I think that's really interesting. I feel like I can relate to John Dee. I believe in things like aliens and ghosts and... supernatural stuff i have like an affinity for i haven't really had any personal experiences with with beings um of any kind really i'm pretty rooted i've always been interested in science and how in sacred geometry and mathematics and so i feel like i can relate to john d and he i was listening to a podcast um i guess actually it was an audiobook um on john d a couple weeks ago to kind of prepare for this podcast. And a lot of this stuff, it just kind of resonated with me. He liked to travel. You know, he was very, very well respected. You know, he seemed like a good guy or he might've been a piece of shit. I don't know. But I mean, like as history goes, it's like guys like Aleister Crowley, who was for sure a fucking narcissist and was pretty evil. Sometimes these guys have really interesting ideas so you know it's good to just pay attention and just maybe you can pull something from that even if you if you're a good person you know you can pull from all these different sources whether or not the person his or herself was good or bad you know alrighty so we're gonna dive into the Enochian system and what that is is a complex magical framework Developed by Dee and his associate, or his scryer, Edward Kelly in the late 16th century, it is named after the biblical patriarch Enoch, who was said to have walked with God and received divine knowledge. Almost like a radio transmitter, right? Like you're receiving a signal from a divine source. So Dee and Kelly claimed that Enochian magic was revealed to them by angels, making it a form of angelic magic rather than demonic sorcery. And that's important is that I think he was trying to channel positivity and love and some kind of guidance for humanity itself. And maybe he was soul searching, maybe he was trying to figure something out like he he was a well-read guy very smart and maybe it just wasn't quenching his thirst for knowledge like maybe he was like there's something more to this than like what i've been studying so that probably set him down that path alrighty so the core elements of the enochian system angelic communications d and kelly performed numerous scrying sessions using a crystal ball or a shoe stone. I don't personally have a crystal ball. Some of you may. I like the ones, I don't know what they're called, but yeah, it's like the ones that sit outside in the sun where it kind of reflects the sunlight. Like those are really awesome. I like those. I don't have one. But yeah, like, you know, crystal gazing, stuff like that. Like that's primarily what they did to try to like access this divine realm. Kelly acted as the medium or a scryer, relaying visions and dictations from angels like Uriel, Michael, and Raphael. These messages were meticulously recorded in Dee's diaries. So that's another aspect, too, is he really kept notes of what they were doing, like very, very detailed notes. I mean, to this day, I think, yeah, they can still, you know, pull it up and read what he wrote and... We will get into the Sigilum Dei Emeth, which is like an Enochian symbol that he had drawn up as almost like a portal for these divine angels to talk to him through. And you can look that up online. I'll spell that out and I can... Actually, I'll probably just put up a picture of it as the podcast thumbnail. so that you guys can see what it looks like. It's a really cool symbol, really cool. It basically outlines the Enochian system. So the Enochian language itself, it was a fully constructed language, including its own alphabet, grammar, and vocabulary, which the angels claimed was the original Adamic language spoken before the fall of man. The language was used in magic invocations, prayers, and rituals. Let's see, the watchtowers and the great table. Central to Enochian magic is a large grid of letters called the great table or watchtowers. The table is divided into four quadrants, each associated with one of the four elements, earth, air, water, and fire. And it's ruled by a hierarchy of angels. So from this table, practitioners derive names of spirits, invocations, and sigils. And you can actually, you know, you can make this yourself at home. It's a little fun thing to do on a rainy day. Let's see. So the Enochian calls or keys is a set of 19 poetic invocations in the Enochian language. That's really interesting. I mean, it's... you know whether it was you know shown to them in some kind of a vision or if he was just such a skilled mathematician that he was able to draw this out in his spare time and like you know make something of it it meant something to him which i think like even if you think this is all like you know bs or whatever there is something to this there is something to channeling Channeling, you know, just positivity and well-being and love and kindness. I think there it can really really Help you in the long run instead of just being a negative Nancy all the time doesn't really help you too much So the ethers or Aries His system includes 30 spiritual realms known as the athers which are accessed through ritual and trance and These became particularly important in 20th century occultism, especially in the work of Aleister Crowley, who described visionary journeys through the ethers in The Vision and the Voice. I have not read that work by him, so maybe I'll check that out. But yeah, Crowley was really influenced by John Dee. Really, really apparent. He took a lot from him, so he permeates throughout time. Let's see. So on to his influence and legacy. See, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which Crowley was a part of, they adopted and modified Dee's system as part of its ceremonial magic practices. So they just kind of pulled certain elements from what he believed in and what he taught and wrote down. In modern occultism, Enochian remains a foundational system in many magical traditions, often studied alongside Kabbalah and Hermeticism. We shall touch on those in later episodes. I know I always say that, but eventually we will. So rest assured, I'm not BSing you guys. Alrighty, so... An example of... Enochian Invocation. This gets a little complex here, so just try to stay with me. I'm going to break this down as best as I can. And you guys can also, all this stuff is online, so if you guys are curious about this and you want to see what all the symbols look like and how to draw your own and how to conjure these angels, you can try it. See what happens. You can comment too. If you try it, let me know. Let me know how it goes. Let's see. So an example of an Enochian invocation, specifically the first Enochian call or key, which is used to open the entire system and is considered the most powerful and universal. So this is the first door that you got to open. The first door you got to knock on and it shall open for you. If you do it right. The first Enochian key is Alright, I'm not going to attempt to say this because it's in original Enochian, which is a language that I don't know how to say. So I'm just going to pull up the translation. So a rough English translation from his angelic glossaries. Alrighty, so. I reign over you, says the God of justice, in power exalted above the firmaments of wrath. in whose hands the sun is a sword and the moon a through-thrusting fire, who measures your garments in the midst of my vestures and trusts you together as the palms of my hands, whose seats I garnished with the fire of gathering and beautified your garments with admiration, to whom I made a law to govern the holy ones and delivered you a rod with the arc of knowledge. Whoa, okay, that's, that's a pretty powerful opening, opening key, right? Damn. So, this invocation is used ritually, often with tools like the Sigillum Deumeth, And that is, I'll spell that for you guys. S-I-G-I-L-L-U-M space D-E-I space A-E-M-E-T-H. The Sigillum Deumeth. So it's used with that, the Enochian tablets, and angelic names derived from the system. Practitioners, they usually chant or vibrate the words. to create altered states of consciousness or open communication with spiritual entities. So you are taking away almost like the veil of the material world and opening yourself up to the spiritual realm. So now the calls two through 18 are more specific, linked to particular watchtowers or ethers and are used in more targeted magical work. There is, you guys can pull this up online, but you can, if you type in the Enochian alphabet, basically D created a specific alphabet for speaking with these angels. Almost like just a different language, you know? Um, and so, and I'm looking at it now, a lot of these symbols or letters look exactly, uh, the same. They're actually like pretty similar, but yeah, I think it's, it's so cool that, you know, these, these guys, they can just kind of make up their own language and they're like, Hey, here, here's this thing, like take it or leave it. And it doesn't matter if it's the ultimate truth or if it's not. It's still something cool that you can just kind of look into. The Great Table, also known as Table of the Watchtowers, is a central component of the Enochian magical system revealed to John Dee and Edward Kelly. It's a large grid of letters said to contain the names and powers of angels who govern the spiritual forces of the universe. The angels revealed this table through visions, claiming it reflected the divine architecture of creation. So the great table, whenever I see that, I just think of like a giant table with like, you know, massive legs or something, like the greatest table you've ever fucking seen. But the great table is composed of four elemental watchtowers, each representing one of the classical elements. Air, which is east, water, which is west, earth, which is north, and fire, which is south. Each watchtower is a 156-letter square, so it's 12 rows by 13 columns, and includes... the names of elemental angels, hierarchies of kings, senior angels, and servitors, divisions that relate to astrological signs, planetary influences, and geographic directions. At the center of the four watchtowers is a fifth table called the Tablet of Union, which represents spirit. unifying the elemental forces. Let's get into magical uses. Practitioners use the Great Table during rituals to summon and communicate with specific angelic entities. It's often used in conjunction with the Enochian Calls, the Sigilum Deumeth, and other ceremonial tools. Each quadrant is activated depending on the elemental focus of the ritual. For example, invoking fire angels for will, or transformation. Yeah, you know, you don't have to speak to all of the angels. It's almost like if you're trying to get in touch with one specific entity and help you through a difficult time. And if they can give you, in part, some wisdom onto you. Yeah, I mean, you can pull up online how to how to do your own great table, how to draw your own if you want to. I'm sure you can print it out as well. And you can find his works online also. Okay, so. The Sigillum Dei Emeth, which is Latin for Seal of the Truth of God, is a complex magical diagram central to the Enochian magical system. The term Emeth means relates to truth in Hebrew, signifying the seal's association with divine truth. Its origins and purpose, the Segellum Dei Ameth has its roots in earlier magical traditions, notably the 13th century grimoire Liber Horatis, or the sworn book of Honorius. So Dee, he was seeking a more precise and divinely inspired version. and claimed to have received guidance from angels in constructing his version of the seal. So, maybe he had a vision one day and decided to draft it up. Same thing with, to tie it in with music. Divine inspiration can really come from anywhere. I mean, you can hear a guitar riff in your head or like a drum beat that it comes from somewhere else, comes from this ether that you pull from. And it's almost like you're channeling something that wants its voice to be heard. And you try to represent that the best way that you can. In D's Enochian system, the Sigilum Deameth serves as a powerful talisman designed to facilitate communication with angelic beings. It was used in conjunction with other ritual tools such as the holy table and the crystal shoe stone to receive divine revelations and insights. So he kind of put all of these different elements together to form one cohesive, almost like a signal, if you will, like merging all these things together to communicate with these beings. So the Segellum Dei Emeth, its structure and symbolism, what it is is a highly intricate diagram composed of multiple geometric shapes and inscribed with numerous divine names. It starts with two concentric circles, and these form the outer boundary of the seal. Next is a pentagram located within the circles, symbolizing the five elements, and human microcosm. Next is two heptagons. And heptagon is a seven-sided figure. These represent the seven days of creation and the seven classical planets. And then a heptagram, which is a seven-pointed star interlaced within the heptagons, further emphasizing the significance of the number seven. Divine and angelic names, the seal is inscribed with various names of God and angels derived from biblical and mystical sources. Each component of the seal holds specific symbolic meanings, reflecting the cosmological and theological principles of Dee's esoteric beliefs. Yeah, it's a really interesting symbol. I just kind of like looking at it. It's, you know, I kind of feel something when I look at it, if that makes sense. It's like it just resonates with me in a way. I haven't tried any of these rituals yet, but it's just, you know, it's something that's fascinating to me. So I thought I'd share it with you guys, you know, just to, you know, pique your curiosity a little bit. All right, ritual use. In practice, Dee created five wax discs engraved with the Sigilum Deameth. So the four smaller discs were placed under the legs of the holy table to stabilize and sanctify the ritual space. And one larger disc was positioned at the center of the table, serving as the base for the shoe stone used in scrying sessions. These arrangements were believed to create a sacred environment conducive to angelic communication and spiritual exploration. I asked ChatGPT to, you know, just post some pictures of the Sigillum Deumeth and, you know, you can actually buy your own wax engraving. or wax disc engraved with the Sagittum Diameth, which, I mean, if I had extra money laying around, I might, because it's a really cool symbol. Or, you know, you can get a tapestry or something. It's kind of at our fingertips now. So there's a really, really great channel on YouTube that it's called Lifting the Lamp. And what this host does is he kind of describes various occult practices and symbols and, you know, really, really in-depth analysis of things. But he has a video called Decoding the Sigillum Diameth. So if you just type in that or Lifting the Lamp on YouTube, it's a really, really awesome video if you guys are curious about this and want to just see, like, visuals since this is, you know, audio-only podcast for now. So yeah, pull up a bunch of pictures. So yeah, if you want to... You know, yeah, there's a step-by-step way on how to do it. So if you're interested in creating your own, you'll need a couple materials. You'll need a clean sheet of parchment or high-quality paper, a compass and ruler for precise geometric constructions, ink pens or fine brushes for detailed inscriptions. So construction steps begin by drawing the outermost circle. Within the circle construct the heptagon and inscribe the names of the archangels. Draw the pentagram at the center ensuring it aligns correctly with the heptagon. Add the inner heptagon and heptagram inscribing the appropriate names and symbols as per traditional designs. Maintain focus and intention throughout the creative the creation process as this is a spiritual and meditative practice. So you should be just free from all distractions while you're doing this. Refer to reputable sources or guides to ensure accuracy in the inscriptions and design. So now that we discussed a little bit about Dee and his life and his legacy, what is his influence on modern culture in 2025, right? hundreds of years later i mean people still know who this man is he is just a historical figure that has influenced many many artists many musicians over the course of time so you know he inspired it's such a wide range of artists writers musicians um but some notable figures you know if you guys know william blake It's like visual artists. He didn't directly reference Dee, but Blake's visionary and mystical approach to art shares thematic parallels with Dee's angelic scrying and spiritual cosmology. So there are parallels between him and Blake. Derek Jarman is a British filmmaker and artist whose 1978 film Jubilee features John Dee summoning a vision of England's future. So that's quite interesting that he included that. I've never seen that movie. But yeah, I might check it out. Let's see. Damien Hirst included references to D and alchemical symbolism in his work, such as his 2007 show Beyond Belief. I haven't seen that one either. Brian Catling, who's a visual and performance artist who has incorporated D-like ritual elements and visionary cosmology into his work. especially in the Vor series. It's widely speculated that Dee was a model for characters such as Prospero in The Tempest. That's super cool. Ben Johnson has played the alchemist, satirizes figures like Dee and Kelly. Peter Ackroyd, who wrote the novel The House of Dr. Dee, was blending history and mysticism together. Alan Moore, who I've mentioned before, he wrote The Watchmen. And Alan Moore's big into the occult, so I'm not surprised. He's a comic book legend. Features D and his Enochian system in Promethea and references him in From Hell, which I still have to check out. So I'm not really a very cultured person, I would say. There's a lot of things I have to check out from him. But I've read The Watchmen many times, but... I'll read more of his stuff. Neil Stevenson. D appears in the Baroque cycle, a series of historical novels involving science, magic, and cryptography. Yeah, this is a nice treasure trove here. All right, so now getting into music and composers. Damon Albarn, which he is famous for being in the gorillas created the opera dr d in 2011 with director rufus norris blends elizabethan themes with folk and modern music directly inspired by d's life uh the band coil the experimental band referenced nokia and magical themes influenced by d in several works dead can dance while not explicitly about either atmospheric mystical music often draws on themes he explored. Current 93, frontman David Tibet is heavily influenced by apocalyptic mysticism and magical traditions akin to Dee's work. And also King Crimson, which I didn't know. I love King Crimson. I did a reaction video to Danny Carey, the drummer from Tool. He is playing, I think they're still playing, but the 80s lineup of King Crimson. Adrian Beaulieu, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, and Robert Fripp. They are actually doing, well, it's everyone besides Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford. So basically it's Adrian Beaulieu, Tony Levin, Danny Carey, and Steve Vai. They're playing basically the 80s King Crimson songs on tour. So I reacted to him playing in Discipline. And that kind of makes sense. I mean, it says, Fripp's progressive rock often intersects with hermetic and mystical ideas found in Dee's philosophy. So he was heavily influenced. And in Esoteric Circles, also you have Kenneth Anger. He was an experimental filmmaker who used Dee-inspired magical symbolism in his occult-themed cinema. And I'm sure there are many more individuals that have been influenced by Dee. But yeah, that's all I have for you guys today. Thank you for listening. Thank you for supporting the podcast. Thank you for being awesome. And I know we're living in a crazy time right now, but we will get through it. We have to pray for everybody, pray for innocent civilians that are being affected in war-torn areas right now. So please just be kind to people, love everyone. It's not worth it to hate. It really isn't. But yeah, guys, thank you so much. And I will see you next time. Have a good one.