Elizabethan Magick from Shakespeare to John Dee

The Hermetic Hour

In the Elizabethan period the Italian Renaissance came to England. Even though the English had broken with the Roman Church they were still following the Italians in astrology, philosophy, alchemy and Magick. During the reign of The Virgin Queen the British would exceed the Italians in that one aspect of the Hermetic Arts – Magick. The Angelic Revelation of Dr. John Dee is certainly the high water mark of Renaissance Theurgy. But we magicians sometimes forget that the English Elizabethan period was a Magical Age. It was the Time of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and Spencer’s “The Faerie Queene.” Magick was in the air. So let us look back on this golden age and recall some of its magical treasures.