THE NEXUS OF ANGELOLOGY, ESCHATOLOGY, AND NATURAL PHILOSOPHYIN JOHN DEE’S ANGEL CONVERSATIONS AND LIBRARY

Abstract

In Cracow on 24 May 1584 John Dee went from the room where he usually conversed with angels to fetch his assistant, a scryer and alchemist of mysterious antecedents named Edward Kelley.1 Kelley was shut up in his personal study in the house they shared, and was obstinately refusing to come out and join Dee around the crystal showstone which gave them access to the fascinating world of angels. Kelley’s reluctance may have been expected since on the previous evening he had expressed distaste for their angelic instructors, and even went so far as to doubt their revelations concerning a true, uncorrupted geography which promised to help Dee master the intricacies of the terrestrial world. Dee and Kelley had been partners in the angel conversations since March 1582, and though Edward Kelley had experienced misgivings before about the worth of the angels’ lengthy and time-consuming messages, his adamant refusal to return to the stone and the angels was somewhat unusual.2