John Dee, Occultist and Alchemist

I’m a history geek, so when I get a chance to write about someone or something that combines my love of history with my love of metaphysics and the occult, it’s like a Writer Bonus Round. This month, I decided to tackle the subject of John Dee.

John Dee image from Wellcome [CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

To today’s readers, Dee was perhaps best known for his work as an alchemist and metaphysicist – he was one of the guys, along with Nicolas Flamel and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, who spent decades trying to discover the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone. He never did – although, in fairness, neither did anyone else.

However, if you lived in sixteenth-century England, you would have known Dee for a different skill set. He was a gifted cartographer with an extensive knowledge of geography and astronomical navigation; because of this, he was instrumental in providing instruction to men like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh as they traveled the globe to establish new trade routes. In addition, he shared his thoughts on imperial expansion with Queen Elizabeth I, in his capacity as advisor.

Anyway, there’s a whole lot to John Dee that a lot of people don’t know – read more over here: Biography of John Dee – Alchemist, Occultist, and Advisor to a Queen