Next in a series of articles for the launch week of my new book Of the Arte Goetia, I want to discuss the possible role of Elizabethan magus John Dee in the emergence of Goetia into the English language. This is of necessity speculative, as Dee was very careful not to catalog his more illicit materials, but there are a number of circumstances that point to his potential involvement, if only tangentially.
Time
First and foremost is the time period. Dee was in his magical prime during the 1580s, where the bulk of his Enochian sytem was developed, dying in 1609. This places him at the epicenter of a very fertile manuscript period in England. He also possessed perhaps the greatest library in all of Europe, and was frequently visited by traveling scholars for access to those works, so even were there no Goetia manuscript in his handwriting – and there are none identified as such – the source of those manuscript copies could still have originated in the stacks of Dee’s private library.
Diary Evidence
Within the diaries that compose the bulk of the Enochian corpus are a number of references to other works, similar in nature: Heptameron, Arbatel, Ars Notoria, Liber Juratus, and Trithemius’ Steganographia. Thus, we know that he did collect works of this type, even though he was not always open to sharing them. (Since he would likely have been put to death for it, one can see why.)
It was in fact his partner-in-crime, Edward Kelley, that seems to have had a penchant for goetic magic, however, that the elder Dee had little taste for. Kelley was reproached by Dee on at least one occasion for dealing with evil spirits:
Note, my Companion (E.K.) would have caused personal apparitions of some of the reprobate spirits, before the Prince Albert Laskie in my Study, thereby to shew some experience of his skill in such doings: But I would not consent to it: And thereupon Galvah [an angel] gave judgement and warning of such an error, of my Companion his intent, &c. [Casuabon, TFR, p21]
There is a further mention that is of interest as well, where a mention of the spirit Andras (number sixty-three) is given in the diaries of angelic conversation. No mention of the connection is made in the diaries, but – who knows? [See Causabon, TFR, p41]
Library Evidence
A manuscript in the Penn State library (formerly of the Rainsford collection at Alnwick castle) is a copy of Livre des Espirits (Book of Spirits) in Trinity College, Cambridge, MS O.8.29. While MS O.8.29 is reasonably well known, it is the Rainsford copy that states its original owner was John Dee. A great number of manuscripts and books from Dee’s collection did end up at this library, and this “book of spirits” is similar in content to Goetia with a listing of spirits and their offices. If we can believe the annotation of Dee’s ownership, there is direct evidence that Dee owned a very similar manuscript and therefore would not have been above owning what came to be known as Goetia.
While we know the source of at least one translation of Wier’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum into English being Scot’s The Discoverie of Witchcraft, Dee also had a copy of the 1583 edition of Wier’s work, as there is evidence of him lending it to assist in a case of suspected demonic possession. However, it is almost certain that it was Scot’s work being leveraged for the manuscripts, as many translational errors or decisions were brought forward directly. Who knows – maybe Scot borrowed or otherwise had access to Dee’s copy?
Conclusion
This is not to say that there were not others in his time that were interested, and it is as likely that one of these individuals was responsible for one or more variants of Goetia. However, given the position that Dee held – unofficially, of course – in what might be deemed the underground occult community of the time, I strongly believe Dee’s hand is in there somewhere. This is discussed in further detail in Of the Arte Goetia, of course, as well as the influence of a number of other people that trace the exceptionally rich history of this manuscript.
Of the Arte Goetia is available from Teitan Press in a limited edition of 720 copies and 72 special edition copies in slipcase. 6 3/4″ x 8 3/4″ in black cloth hard cover binding; 280pp. [Note that as of this writing, the special edition copies are no longer available.]
The Offices of Spirits, a Hockley manuscript with close connections to Goetia is also available in a limited edition, with some copies still remaining.