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Although the two men had very different personalities, Dee being the somewhat more rational and discrete of the two, Kelly and Dee found themselves embarking as companions on an arduous series of séances that would demand several years to undertake. Following an invocational formula, the two would contact and converse with angels and disembodied spirits. Seated at a table laden with various tools and symbols, Kelly would gaze into a crystal ball and report his visions to Dee, who acted as scribe. In this way they received the "secret angelic language" to which the initation ceremonies of the Golden Dawn refer. This complicated tongue, whether or not once actually spoken by an ancient race, is nevertheless a true language in every sense of the word, with a vast vocabulary and a syntax and grammar of its own. This language is the most important contribution of Dee and Kelly, although the magical work of the two men was not limited to that purpose alone. Travelling through Central and Eastern Europe, Dee and Kelly found a
suitable environment for their work among the famed alchemists'
stalls at the palace court of emperor Rudolf II in Prague. Here, while
Dee kept his Art mostly to himself, Kelly would hold public demonstrations
of the art of gold-making and was even knighted after a showing off his
powers to the court. So impressed was the emperor by him, that Kelly gained
a prominent position and was put in charge of producing alchemical gold
for the state. Unable to meet the demands of the emperor and having killed
a local in a duel, Kelly was imprisoned. After two years in imprisonment
, Kelly took a dire fall and broke his leg badly while attempting to escape,
which led to a ghastly amputation. After another unsuccessful escape during
which he broke his other leg, Sir Edward Kelly died, either by his own
hand or suffering from the poor prison treatment. Dr
Dee long outlived Kelly and died at eighty years of age in Manchester,
England. |
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