Uploaded February 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
John Dee, Edward Kelley and William Shakespeare:
Alchemy and espionage at the court of Rudolph II
by Vincent Bridges (1952-2015)
In celebration of the upcoming June 2016 Alchemy of Prague event we are releasing this rare footage of the great esoteric historian Vincent Bridges.
Info on the June event is here:
academysacredgeometry.com/courses/alchemy-prague-2016
In his now-famous diary, on December 19, 1586, John Dee writes:
19 Dec. On the 19th day (by the new calendar), to please Master Edward Garland (who had been sent as a messenger from the Emperor of Muscovy to ask me to come to him, etc) and his brother Francis, E.K. made a public demonstration of the philosophers' stone in the proportion of one grain (no bigger than the least grain of sand) to 1 oz and a 1Ž4 of common (mercury) and almost 1 oz of the best gold was produced. When we had weighed the gold, we divided it up and gave the crucible to Edward at the same time.
Who are these "Garland brothers" who witnessed such a significant demonstration? Could one of them, Francis Garland, be the cover name for secret agent and courier William Shakespeare? If in fact Dee's courier was William Shakespeare, this connection to John Dee and Edward Kelley and their intersecting magical and alchemical circles can help us answer two of the most vexing question in Shakespearian scholarship: first, why is it so difficult to find references to the Bard in his own time? And second, how and why does the work of someone who is all but invisible through 1593 become associated with the plays that for more than two decades dominate Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, and become the most-read and most-performed plays in the English language?
The Secret Identity of Edward Kelley
While the modern tendency has been to dismiss Edward Kelley's gold-making as a trick to ensnare the gullible, there is no question that many people alive at the time thought it was real and said they witnessed it. As Lyndy Abraham, Charles Nicoll, and Lauren Kassell have all written about in more detail, "an incredible series of attested transmutations remain" from Kelley's years on the continent, with eyewitness accounts ranging from French alchemist Nicolas Barnaud to Elizabethan courtier Sir Edward Dyer to Dee's son (and Dyer's godson) Arthur, and once-removed accounts from many others, including the Holy Roman Emperor himself. Kelley's gold-making apparently so convinced Sir Edward Dyer, and Dyer's intelligence report back to England so convinced William Cecil, Lord Burghley, that Burghley later used Dyer as an emissary to try to get Kelley to come back to England.
But who really was Edward Kelley? He introduced himself to Dee originally under the name Talbot, and Dee accepted him despite the apparent confusion. Kelley's crucial role in the angelic workings, and his reputation as an alchemist, make the silence on his background and origins even more significant. By following the few clues that do exist, we can arrive at a whole new perspective on the real "Edward Kelley."
Shakespeare, John Dee and the Hermetic Revolution:
Alchemy and Espionage in the Magickal Theatre of Elizabethan England
Did such basic Elizabethan theatrical devices as the use of curtains come from John Dee and Edward Kelley's crystal scrying? Did Dee himself supply the design from which the nine great theatres of Elizabethan London were built? Were Dee and Kelley the source and inspiration for the education and sudden rise to prominence of the young playwright, William Shakespeare? Can the plays of Shakespeare be considered the mystery plays of a neo-pagan Hermetic revolution in 16th century England? Shakespeare, John Dee and the Hermetic Revolution: Alchemy and Espionage in the Magickal Theatre of Elizabethan England takes a new look at Shakespeare's plays, and Dee and Kelley's apocalyptic aspirations, to find the outline of an Imperial mysticism that has roots in the ancient Hermetic mysteries of precessional astronomy and the survival of the western Goddess tradition. From Shakespeare's magical mystery tour of 16th century esoteric currents, the book also looks forward, examining how the Hermetic revolution led to the scientific and political revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Join us for the next Alchemy of Prague event June 2016
sponsored by Roger Green
academysacredgeometry.com/courses/alchemy-prague-2016
John Dee, Edward Kelley and William Shakespeare:
Alchemy and espionage at the court of Rudolph II
by Vincent Bridges (1952-2015)
In celebration of the upcoming June 2016 Alchemy of Prague event we are releasing this rare footage of the great esoteric historian Vincent Bridges.
Info on the June event is here:
academysacredgeometry.com/courses/alchemy-prague-2016
In his now-famous diary, on December 19, 1586, John Dee writes:
19 Dec. On the 19th day (by the new calendar), to please Master Edward Garland (who had been sent as a messenger from the Emperor of Muscovy to ask me to come to him, etc) and his brother Francis, E.K. made a public demonstration of the philosophers' stone in the proportion of one grain (no bigger than the least grain of sand) to 1 oz and a 1Ž4 of common (mercury) and almost 1 oz of the best gold was produced. When we had weighed the gold, we divided it up and gave the crucible to Edward at the same time.
Who are these "Garland brothers" who witnessed such a significant demonstration? Could one of them, Francis Garland, be the cover name for secret agent and courier William Shakespeare? If in fact Dee's courier was William Shakespeare, this connection to John Dee and Edward Kelley and their intersecting magical and alchemical circles can help us answer two of the most vexing question in Shakespearian scholarship: first, why is it so difficult to find references to the Bard in his own time? And second, how and why does the work of someone who is all but invisible through 1593 become associated with the plays that for more than two decades dominate Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, and become the most-read and most-performed plays in the English language?
The Secret Identity of Edward Kelley
While the modern tendency has been to dismiss Edward Kelley's gold-making as a trick to ensnare the gullible, there is no question that many people alive at the time thought it was real and said they witnessed it. As Lyndy Abraham, Charles Nicoll, and Lauren Kassell have all written about in more detail, "an incredible series of attested transmutations remain" from Kelley's years on the continent, with eyewitness accounts ranging from French alchemist Nicolas Barnaud to Elizabethan courtier Sir Edward Dyer to Dee's son (and Dyer's godson) Arthur, and once-removed accounts from many others, including the Holy Roman Emperor himself. Kelley's gold-making apparently so convinced Sir Edward Dyer, and Dyer's intelligence report back to England so convinced William Cecil, Lord Burghley, that Burghley later used Dyer as an emissary to try to get Kelley to come back to England.
But who really was Edward Kelley? He introduced himself to Dee originally under the name Talbot, and Dee accepted him despite the apparent confusion. Kelley's crucial role in the angelic workings, and his reputation as an alchemist, make the silence on his background and origins even more significant. By following the few clues that do exist, we can arrive at a whole new perspective on the real "Edward Kelley."
Shakespeare, John Dee and the Hermetic Revolution:
Alchemy and Espionage in the Magickal Theatre of Elizabethan England
Did such basic Elizabethan theatrical devices as the use of curtains come from John Dee and Edward Kelley's crystal scrying? Did Dee himself supply the design from which the nine great theatres of Elizabethan London were built? Were Dee and Kelley the source and inspiration for the education and sudden rise to prominence of the young playwright, William Shakespeare? Can the plays of Shakespeare be considered the mystery plays of a neo-pagan Hermetic revolution in 16th century England? Shakespeare, John Dee and the Hermetic Revolution: Alchemy and Espionage in the Magickal Theatre of Elizabethan England takes a new look at Shakespeare's plays, and Dee and Kelley's apocalyptic aspirations, to find the outline of an Imperial mysticism that has roots in the ancient Hermetic mysteries of precessional astronomy and the survival of the western Goddess tradition. From Shakespeare's magical mystery tour of 16th century esoteric currents, the book also looks forward, examining how the Hermetic revolution led to the scientific and political revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Join us for the next Alchemy of Prague event June 2016
sponsored by Roger Green
academysacredgeometry.com/courses/alchemy-prague-2016
