Hakansson on Dee

208-9
Petrus Bungus Numerorum Mysteria (1599)

Unitas numerorum fons, & origo, Divinae creaturarumorigini, aeternoque principio similis esse videtur: per ipsam enim humana mensin Dei contemplationem congruenter tolli potest.

unity, the source and origin of numbers, seems to be similar to the divine origin and eternal principle of created things: for by means of it the human mind is able to be raised in a corresponding manner to the contemplation of God.”

209 H: In graphically visualizing God’s “Numbryng ofthinges” and incorporating the different aspects of Pythagorean number mysticism into a unified symbol, Dee’s “Hieroglyphic Monad” became an instrument by which the mind was able to transcend dianoetical reasoning and raise itself into pure intellection, noesis.

212 Ficino Opera Omnia p.1837 “... quod in te videt et auditverbum domini: mens autem pater Deus” “that in you which sees and hears is theWord of the Lord, whereas your mind is God the Father.” (-Hermes in CH)

235 Plotinus De rebus philosophicis libri LIIII. in enneades sex distributi (London, Royal College of Physicians, shelfmark D124/5, 17c), fol. 1r (new pagination)

Est autem ipse simpliciter intellectus ubique totus: sunt etin eo non solum per ideas, verum etiam per proprius (ut ita dixerim)existentias intellectuales animae, secundum intellectualem sibi propriamfacultatem, etiam dum sunt in corpore. Quemadmodum lineae a centro adcircumferentiam, et radij non reliquentes solem interim terrena contingunt:atque sicut lineae radijque extra prominentes inter se loco distant, in ipsotamen principio sunt loco simul: Sic animae apud nos secundum corpora situdistantes, ibidem sunt omnes secundum intellectum in mente divina: secundumintellectus inquam suos , illic inter se differentes, sicut et linearumradiorumque termini inter se sunt alij, etiam ubi centrum solemque contingunt. Hinceffici vult Plotinus, ut intellectus prophetae hominisque abstracti, et si inOriente tantum videatur esse, prospiciat tamen quae fiunt in Occidente, atqueex uno quadom loco miraculosum aliquid agat in alio, et cogitationeafftioneque sua clam moveat alios: semper in simplici mente divina, totasemper ubique praesente. Qua quidem praesentia et Deus percipiat preces, ethomines cum Deo familiarissime colloquantur. Esse quoque vult intellectuseiusmodi familiares hominum daemones, assiduosque duces singulis singulosattributos.” (Ficino’s commentary on Ennead IV; Dee’s emphasis) [Ficino: itis possible for God to hear our prayers and for man to converse with Him.Moreover it explains why some men possess prophetic gifts and the ability toproduce marvels at a distance, as well as the power to affect others with theirthoughts and feelings.

236 Trithemius asks his friend to pray for him. Epistola familiaresp. 100

Ora mecum, precor ad Deum, ut quod volumus, maximeque velledebemus, nobis ille concedat. Scribo sapienti & Deo dilecto sacerdoti, quinos iuvare potest precibus & votis, ut mens reformetur inversa, sit unum inamore & cognitione unius summi boni, Patris, & Filii, & Spiritussancti, gratiam assecuta principii, a quo multitudine labitur, unitate ad ipsumreformatur.

So that my perverse mind might be reformed and be made one in the love and knowledge of the Highest Good, the Father, Son, and HolySpirit; having been overtaken by the grace of its origin, from which it fellinto multiplicity, it might itself be reformed to unity.



250 Dee’s copy of Pompilius Azalus’ De omnibus rebusnaturalibus

[underlined passage stressing that magic is inherent in the writings of the holy patriarchs, and that the Ars notoria is a licitform of magic, based on the power of prayers.]

Et de ipsorum formi in vita patrum et aliis scripturissacris plures leguntur, tanquam magica consistentur [...] Arsquenotoria de apparentibus figuris bonorum angelorum, quam devote orationibus,& sine peccato mortali advocantur...” Dee’s emphasis

251 Ars notoria:

Et tu Deus meus, qui in principio creasti coelum &terram, & omnia ex nihilo: qui in Spiritu tuo omnia reformas, comple,instaura, sana intellectum meum, ut glorificem te per omnia opera cogitationum mearum & verborum meorum.



Oh God my God ... who reformest, and makest all things bythy own Spirit; compleat, fulfil, restore, and impland a sound Understanding inme.



270 H: Not only did the celestial bodies emit rays of bothsensible and occult character; since the natural sphere was an exemplum of thecelestial realm, in which each entity corresponded to a model in the supralunarsphere, all entities, even earthly ones, emitted rays and occult influences inthe manner of stars, impressing their power on surrounding objects.

al-Kindi De radiis, p. 224 “Age ergo, cum mundus elementaris sit exemplum mundi siderei ita quad quelibet res in ipso contentaeiusdem speciem contineat, manifestum est quod omnis res huius mundi, sive sitsubstantia sive accidens, radios facit suo modo ad instar siderum; alioquinfiguram mundi siderei ad plenus non haberet.


Thus, everything that existed in actuality in the universe emitted rays in every direction, filling the whole world and making its powerpresent at every place in the universe.

p. 224 “Hoc ergo pro vero assumentes dicimus quod omne quodactualem habet existentiam in mundo elementorum radios emittit in omnem partem,qui totum mundum elementarem replent suo modo. Unde est quod omnis locus huiusmundi radios continet omnium rerum in eo actu existentium...”

273 Kindi “stressed that spoken words (voces) emit rayswhich act on the physical world and that words, ‘just like herbs and other things’were assigned powers by the celestial harmonies.” p.233 “...voces in actumproducte radios faciunt sicut et alie res actuales, et suis radiis operantur in mundo elementorum sicut et aliaindividua. Et cum innumerabiles sint differentie vocum, unaque actualiterprolata suum habet effectum in rebus aliis elementaribus, differentem abeffectu aliorum, et sortite sunt voces suum effectum a celesti armonia, sicutet herbe et res alie...”

276 Kindi all things are connected to each other “byrelation of similitude or dissimilitude” p.229 “una res ad omnem aliam actuexistentem relatione similitudinis vel dissimilitudinis colligatur...”

277 in the texts familiar to Dee the metaphor of the lyrewas invoked to describe a form of magic that differs considerably from the onewe find in al-Kindi’s and Bacon’s works. A typical example can be found in Deinsomniis of Synesius, where the simile is used to describe the “concord ofthe world” which enables the magician to use divine tokens – by Ficino renderedas illices, literally “baits” – to attract the powers of other things inthe universe. For “just as all things in the world are signified [significantur]by one another, so they are reciprocally affected.” Thus, by understanding howthe different parts of the universe are related, the wise man can become a magician.

Cum enim universum hoc sibimet sit compatiens atqueconspirans, opportet partes congruenter inter se convenire utpote quae uniusaeque totius sint partes. Consyderatione vero dignum est, utrum huc tendant illices,vel motacillae magorum. Mundana enim sicut ex se vicissim significantur,sic invicem permulcentur. Iam vero sapiens est, qui mundanarum partiumcognationem tenet; trahit enim per aliud, aluid praesentia tenens, velutpignora quaedam procul absentium voces videlicet, & materias, atque figuras...”

(Dee’s emphasis)

278 Synesius “Est enim in partibus sicut concordia quaedam,sic insuper & discordia; nam mundus hic non est simliciter unum, sed expluribus unum, suntque in eo partes partibus consentientes interim, atquedissidentes; ita tamen ut earum dissensio ad consensionem universi conducat,sicut lyra constitutio quaedam esttonorum dissonantium, atque consonantium. Ipsum vero ex oppositisunum ad harmoniam, & lyram pertinet, atque mundum.

279-80 Ficino’s translation of Proclus’ on sacrifices(lifted by della Porta)

Agnoverunt enim et in infimis suprema et in supremis infima:in coelo quidem terrena secundum causam modoque coelesti; in terrena verocoelestia sed modo terreno [...] Quae quidem veteres contemplati, aliiscoelestium alia terrenorum adhibuerunt, unde divinas virtutes in locuminferiorem ob quandam similitudinem deduxerunt. Nempe similitudo ipsasufficiens causa est ad res singulas invicem vinciendas. (Dee’s copy noannotations)

286 In his third aphorism he notes that not only thosethings which “are plainly evident” have actual existence, but also those things“which, seminally present, as it were, in hidden corners of nature, wise mencan demonstrate to exist.”

Propadeumata aphoristica III pp. 122/123: “Sed &illa quoque quae quasi Seminaliter, in naturae latebris, Extare, Sapientesdocere possunt.”
He then goes on to describe magic as basedon the manipulation of these “seminally” present things, simultaneouslyemphasizing the natural and religiously legitimate character of this magic:
Propadeumata aphoristica X, pp.124/125-126/127 “Per harum ergo rerum naturalium (modis variis) in mundoSeparatim existentium, Unionem: & aliarum Seminaliter tantum prius inNatura positarum, Actuationem, miranda magis, vere, naturaliterque (nec violatain Deum fide, neque Christiana laesa religione) praestari possunt, quam quismortalis, credere queat.” By the uniting of such natural things that existseparately in the universe, in their different fashions, and by the actuationof other things placed somewhat higher, seminally, in nature, more wonderfulthings can be performed truly and naturally, without violence to faith in Godor injury to the Christian religion, than any mortal might be able to believe.

292 In De signatura rerum Paracelsus states that eachoccult art devoted to the the reading of natural signs has its own particularstars, and that these stars “sign” terrene things “in a supernatural manner.”Thus, the stars that produce marks in the earth “sign or impress their marks onterrestrial bodies of the whole world in many and various ways”, not only byproducing earthquakes, hills and valleys, but also by bringing forth Designatura rerum “gamaheos on bare shapes and images having remarkablepowers and potencies.” Paracelsus never discusses these remarkable powers,however, confining himself to the remark that they are received from the sevenplanets just as a target receives a thrown bullet or spear.

De signatura rerum

“Hinc enim multae aliae quoque artes prodeunt, ut Geomantia,Pyromantia, Hydromantia, Chaomantia, & Necromantia, quarum quaelibet suapecularia astra habet quae astra modo supernaturali ita signant. Et sciendumest, astra Geomantiae signa sua signare seu imprimere in terreno corpori universi orbis, multis quidem ac variis modis.Nam & terram mutant, & terrae motus ac hiatus pariunt, gignunt colles& valles, multa nova crescentia paturiunt, proferunt Gamaheos nudis figuris& imaginibus, insignes vires & potentias habentes, quas quidem aseptem planetis accipiunt, non secus acorbis seu scopus glandem aut telum accipit a iaculatore.” Waite p.191 forEnglish’d

293 PC De vita longa, I.6, in Opera omnia, p.56 “ExInfluentia supernaturali non modo incantationes, verum etiam imagines, &Gamahaeas fluxisse”

[not only incantations but also images and Gamahaeas receivetheir power from supernatural influences]


294 Synesius introduces his text by describing how theentire world is like a single living creature, within whose frame all thingsconstitute or manifest “signs” of other things. The universe is like a “book”written in characters of different languages: a book in which all things are“signed” with “letters of all kinds” which the wise can read.