Hello Jeff,
Perhaps Dee's interests in Rudolf's court provided a side-door entrance
into the workings and intentions of the Spanish monarchy.
Regards,
Dana
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 12:26
PM
Subject: VMs: Edward Dyer in Prague
Here is an extract from levity.com
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/golden_m.html
2.
Kelley, 1586, Trebona in Bohemia
In the mid-19th century a private diary of
Doctor John Dee came to light,
'written in a very small illegible script on
the margins of old almanacks.'
The diary recounts that learned doctor's
journey to Bohemia, in the company
of Edward Kelley. In the year 1588, the
Elizabethan courtier Dyer received
from Dee the news that his colleague
'had at last achieved the secret of the
ages, that Kelley could indeed
transmute base metals into gold.' This news
brought Dyer to Prague later in
the year to see for himself how matters
stood.
Dee's diary for 1586
tersely records some stages of the Work: 'March 24th,
Mr K. put the glass
in dung.... Dec 13th, Mr E.K. gave me the water, erth
and all.' Then, on
19th December 'novi kalendarii', meaning the Gregorian
calendar, at
Trebona, in the castle of Count Rosenburg, 'E.K. made
projection with his
powder in the proportion of one minim upon an ounce and
a quarter of
mercury and produced nearly an ounce and a quarter of best
gold; which gold
we afterwards distributed from the crucible' (5).
Looking at the Dee
diaries this is significant. What can this 'gold' be
that catches the
interest of one of the most important intelligence
operatives of
Leicester's network. Remember the Spanish Armada
is underway and no amount
of Gold will save the situation in the near
future, especially not a simple
promise. At a crucial time for the English
spy network one of its vital
controllers travels abroad! This must have
been an intelligence gathering
trip. Something Dee could not trust to a
courier. This was the very month
before the defeat of the Armada. No
time for a jaunt.
I believe the
whole of Dee's magical works need critical review. They
are not what they
seem. If this had been a bluff or a simple con on the
part of Dee at such a
critical time for England he would have been
placed in the tower and
executed. Dee would have been well aware
of this fact. You can call him
anything else but he was no
fool.
Jeff
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