Angels, Gold and Lust: John Dee and the Philosopher's Stone (Part 2)

A young man wearing a cowl hunches over it, feeding charcoal into the stack. He's been doing this for weeks now, at regular and frequent intervals. In the time before thermometers, controlling temperature is a delicate art. This furnace and the glass egg on top must remain at a constant. At the other end of the room is an older man, John D, the famous mathematician. John D is focusing intently on the glass vessel, quill scratching into parchment as he

takes notes. He's hoping to see a change in the mysterious white matter inside it. No, he's willing it to change, to turn deep red a sure sign that they're on the right path. Their backer, the nobleman who owns traybon cars, needs results. D himself has bet everything, his career, his standing, his home on this venture, and the cow clad man hunched over the furnace. They've been iterating with all sorts of ingredients, salts, earth, suspended in water, horse manure, menstrual blood.

They're objective to bring forth a substance that has been sought for centuries, but seldom, if ever obtained, a substance so powerful that it can force base metal into gold and even keep a man from death. John D and his associate are searching for the fabled Philosopher's Stone. A chill autumn wind whips around the castle walls, whistling through cracks in the masonry. John D puts down his quill and waits, I'm Tim Harford, and you're listening to cautionary tales.

John D believed that numbers held the key to the universe, and he'd bet on navigation and exploration as the tools to reveal its hidden architecture. Around his fiftieth birthday, he had championed a mission to find the Northwest Passage. When it failed, D was devastated. He lost his reputation, his money, and his self confidence. Seeking a second chance at unraveling nature's secrets, he turned to the world of spirits. Good Christians believed in angels and in their ability to see

the future. It was more transgressive, though, to actively seek their advice. The people who did this were called scriers. They would speak to angels and spirits by looking into a shiny showstone, such as a mirror or a crystal ball. Since scrying meant bypassing the church, it wasn't uncommon to find that a scrier was on the run, and because of their sensitivity to the occult, they also tended to be rather eccentric. Dee's first scrying partner ended up in

court facing criminal charges. But then a mysterious stranger appeared at D's door under portentous skies of deep arterial red. The stranger introduced himself as Edward Talbot, a distant kin to the Talbot Earls of Shrewsbury. He was young, walked with the aid of a staff, and kept his head covered by a hood. He also seemed to be intelligent and better educated than the average sqrire. There was something captivating about him. D decided to give him a chance.

In March fifteen eighty two, Talbot knelt in D's study amid stacks of books and manuscripts and peered into a dark, gleaming mirror. Himself retreated to a nearby room to pray. A few minutes later, he heard Talbot cry out, and he hurried back. The angel Uriel had made contact. D was hooked, and he wasted no time in asking Uriel via Talbot about the mysterious angelic language, a lost tongue encoded in a divine cipher that was believed to mirror

the structure of creation. Talbot's next revelation was extraordinary. The archangel Michael would help D recover the angelic language. D was awestruck. If this was true, it would unlock the price that he had long sought the hidden workings of the universe, and he would be instrumental in restoring lost knowledge to humanity. What must I do to have the sight and presence of Michael, the blessed Angel?

about the man, but he managed to suppress them. Scrias were itinerant by nature, so a nebulous past was normal, And besides, Talbot was prodigiously talented. His visions majestic and elaborate. D recorded them all in his diary, Convinced that he'd at last found the partner had been looking for. His entries were detailed and methodical. Within days, the scrier's visions escalated. The great Archangel Michael appeared in the mirror, sword in hand,

and there was a man there too. He was kneeling with his back to Talbot, who couldn't see his face. The archangel tapped the man with his blade, as though dubbing a knight. Then the man rose and turned, and the scrire revealed his identity. He did resemble me. John d Encountenance, the d of Talbot's vision had been anointed, chosen for some higher task. It was a seductive story, one that the real flesh and blood d simply couldn't resist. Talbot and d continued scrying together. Each session D led

them in the same preparatory ritual. They washed, shaved, dressed in fresh clothes, read from the scriptures, and prayed faced, seeing all four points of the compass. As the months passed, more angels identified themselves, explaining their places in the spiritual hierarchy. Talbot had exhausting apocalyptic visions of fire and brimstone that left his heart palpitating furiously, and archangel Michael began to dictate a holy table of numbers with a sacred sigel

at its center. It was all going rather well until it wasn't. A few months later, De wrote a grim note in his diary. I have confirmed that Talbot was a cossoner. A cosoner was a fraud. Fast forward nearly four hundred and fifty years to the town of Agd in France. It's twenty twenty and Gield Detour is speaking with his father. That might seem unexceptional, but for one detail. Gild De'tur's father died over twenty years ago. A woman

called Sophia Martinez has helped them reconnect. Martinez describes herself as a medium, hypnotherapist and healer, a specialist in the cleansing of energy for people and places. Her clients have included doctors, architects, and police officers, and she comes highly recommended. Detur himself used to be a Secret Service officer, but he's now the mayor of agd. His father ran for mayor too, but he passed away just before the votes were cast. Detur took up the torch and he's held

since two thousand and one. He misses his father immensely. As time passes, he continues to consult Martinez. One day, when Detur is in his office at the town hall, his phone buzzes. It's dark, gleaming screen lighting up. The call is from a withheld number, Hello, Gesutor. The voice is guttural and rasping. Who is this?

D had made a discovery. His scrier's name wasn't Edward Talbot, but Edward Kelly, and he certainly wasn't related to the Talbot Earls of Shrewsbury. He'd given his master a fake identity. Talbot, or rather Kelly, defended himself. He got his hands on d diary, and beneath the charge of cousiner, he scrawled his own affronted entry.

a dilemma. On the one hand, Ayane detested the man and wanted him gone from her house. On the other, they'd been making good progress in their work. The angelic language glittered just ahead or without Kelly, the signal from the heavens would go cold. Should he abandon the project, or choose to trust Kelly and plow on his wife, or his scrire cautionary tales will return. D managed to suppress his doubts. A few months later, he reunited with

Kelly and offered him a place in his household. Jane Dee's loathing was but there was nothing she could do. Her husband was spellbound. De pledged Kelly a salary of fifty pounds per year. He was in debt and struggling for an income, but he was hardened by a reassuring forecast the Queen's glowing favor would soon return. The Queen's favor did not return, and other courtiers gave him the cold shoulder, but the angels had a ready explanation.

for passage or lodgings. For now, they were stuck. In spring fifteen eighty three, as d and Kelly were busy transcribing the Angelic language, Prince Laski of Poland paid a visit to the English court. A distinctive figure, Laski wore his long white beard tucked into his belt, and gold and yellow shoes that curled the toes. He was charismatic,

fabulously wealthy, and a favorite of his king. The Prince took an interest in d and Kelly's work and he visited them in Mortlake with a high stakes question for the angels. Would he Laski be the next king of Poland? Yes, said the angels, The crown would very soon be his. Did d and Kelly believe this forecast? Or was it calculated flattery? D, after all, had once profited by predicting

the rise to power of Queen Elizabeth herself. Lasky was thrilled, offered to fund a journey in Europe and pledge D a salary of fifty pounds per year to the angel whisperer Kelly. He offered twice as much, but D learned that the Queen's spies had made a shocking discovery. Laski was not beloved by the King of Poland. In fact, it had been exiled by him. He was also broke, having burnt through his fortune raising private armies in a bid for the throne, and he'd run up enormous bills

all over England. Had D and Kelly fooled him or had he fooled them? It got worse. Lasky started claiming that he was related by blood to Queen Elizabeth and spreading pamphlets about his own popularity as suspicion of the Polish Prince grew d realized that he'd hitched his wagon to a falling star. He decided not to quit, but

to flee. He scrambled to borrow four hundred pounds and packed several hundred books, the Showstone and his most prized possession, his perspective class the kind of forerunner of the telescope. And so the Lord Albert Laski, I, mister e Kelly, our wives, my children, we went toward our ships a low grazer. One dark night in September fifteen eighty three, they slipped past their creditors and sailed for Holland d Kelly and their families trudged through the Netherlands and across

northern Germany, lodging at drafty inns. Lasky meanwhile glided between the great houses of Europe, enjoying all the privileges of his rank. It sooned and bitterly cold. Jane Dee, charged with managing a household and three small children on the move, must have been miserable. Dee himself agonized over his decision to leave. Had he made the right choice, The angels revealed that he had passed the point of no return.

England now viewed him as a renegade. In February fifteen eighty four, the exhausted party reached the prince's ice bound home of Lascar. The welcome was even chillier than the climate. Lady Laski took an instant dislike to her husband's rag tag entourage, and it soon became clear that the Prince's

dire finances couldn't support them for long. The Angels now appeared to have a change of heart, ordering that d and Kelly abandon their bankrupt patron and head to the golden city of Prague of a make or break mission awaited them. Prague was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, the heart of a sprawling empire that covered much of

modern day Central Europe. From his soaring castle high above the city, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph the Second ruled over a patchwork of lands that stretched from the Baltic to the Alps. Rudolph was obsessed with the occult, and his castle was crammed with eclectic objects. Have asked cabinets of curiosities that included clockwork, autometer, vials of virgin's blood, shriveled mandrake roots, an enormous narwhale tusk, and what he claimed

were the leathery remains of a dragon. Below the Imperial Palace was a nest of winding streets, where astrologers and alchemists lived and worked. Rudolph was particularly interested in the Philosopher's Stone, a powerful substance that promised to transmute base metals into gold and supply an elixir of eternal youth. Monarchs everywhere craved the stone, and Rudolph kept a stable

of alchemists on his pay roll. They labored in secret, subterranean labs, away from the disapproving eyes of the Catholic Church. As the summer unbeat down, De's loaded wagons rattled into Prague. Here, Kelly's focus shifted. Curious about the Philosopher's Stone and its lucrative potential, he began experimenting with a mysterious red powder that he said he had found back in England. The Angels, however,

were restless. They announced that unless d delivered a shocking ultimatum to Emperor Rudolph, Satan would harm his beloved wife and children, a cunning fish of stratagem D was appalled, but what choice did he have? Declimbed to the Imperial castle, where he was ushered past displays of dissected frogs and magical amulets, and admitted to Rudolph's privy chamber. The Emperor had been told that the clever visitor from England had something useful to say to him. He waited expectantly, surrounded

by his courtiers. De steeled himself, then began.

patron Laski for money. The messages from beyond again changed. It seemed that the angels wanted D and Kelly to focus on a new assignment, the Philosopher Stone. They ordered that d retire his showstone and burn his records. D was baffled as to how this fit their mission to decode the Angelic language, but exhausted, he went along with it. At the prompting of Kelly's Angels. D and his family had plodded from the court of Queen Elizabeth Tulaski, from

Laski to Emperor Rudolph, and their journey still wasn't finished. Now, wealthy nobleman count villem Rosenberg took an interest in the pair. He invited them to his castle in Treybon, Southern Bohemia, where he gave them a laboratory and everything they needed to pursue the Philosopher's Stone. Kelly took the lead, wielding that strange red powder. D the Great Scholar, now acted

as assistant. Word of their experiments spread. The Czar of Russia sent two merchants to Treybon with a lucrative offer of employment. Kelly declined, but before they left, he gave them a dazzling performance. Adding a tiny grain of his red powder to a crucible of mercury, he miraculously produced what he said was an ounce of the best gold. And as Kelly's reputation grew, so too did his wealth.

In early fifteen eighty seven, he returned from a trip with an opulent gold necklace, valued at a staggering three hundred ducats. He didn't give it to his own wife. He gave it to Jane d Cautionary tales will return after the break. August twenty twenty three, at a lavish wedding in the south of France, one hundred white chairs line a path to an altar framed with angel wings.

Local medium Sofia Martinez is getting married. Walking her down the aisle in the role of proud father figure is none other than long serving mayor of aged Yield at All. The All isn't the only client here. A number of the wedding guests have also engaged Martinez's services. Today they enjoy live music and two buffets. It's a beautiful wedding and it looks expensive. A couple of months later, the Mayor's ex wife Geraldine Sanchez de Toor walks into the

aged police station with a strange story. She too, has been consulting Sophia Martinez. Recently, she started receiving phone calls from a rasping, guttural voice that purports to be the archangel Michael. The voice, which asks to be called Papa, knows all sorts of details about her private life, and

it's begun requesting favors for Martinez. Sanchez de Tour later withdraws her complaints, but by then the police have heard from others they've been contacted by the rasping voice two and at least one worried about its influence on the mayor. An official investigation is opened. The police can't bring the archangel Michael in for questioning, so instead they followed the money. Spring fifteen eighty seven, Treybon By now D has been tethered to Kelly for more than three grueling years. The

angel's requests had dwindled. Then in April, her spirit appeared to Kelly in the form of a young girl. She tantalizingly offered to reveal God's secrets, but there was a requirement that D and Kelly had to fulfill. First, it wasn't prayer or alchemy, but unity. They were to sh everything in common, including their wives. D was horrified. Nothing is unlawful, which is lawful? Until God came the convenient

spiritual loophole. D and Kelly were warned that if they refused to obey the command, the consequences would be disastrous. The mysterious red powder their meal ticket would turn to dust, the angels would vanish, and the secrets of the universe would be locked away forever. D adored his wife, yet what choice did he have. H'd state everything on the angels. When grief stricken, he finally told Jane about their latest order.

Her reaction shattered him. She fell a weeping and a trembling for a quarter of an hour, and I pacified her as well I could. D tried to persuade Jane that they must follow God's will. Eventually she agreed, I.

One answer lies in the spirit of the age. D truly believed that God was beneficent and wanted good things for him. The existence of angels was a fact. Difficulties were simply divine trials and far from being a red flag. Kelly's volatility and strangeness proved that his soul was sensitive to the supernatural. D also had a very real need for patronage. One way or another, he had to produce results.

But there's another explanation at play here too. Psychologist Dan Kahan has argued we don't always use our intellect to seek the truth, but to preserve our sense of who we think we are. He calls this process identity protective cognition. What we believe isn't just a reflection of what we know. It's a badge of membership to our tribe. Our beliefs allow us to belong. John Dee's tribe was the intellectual

elite of Europe. He saw himself as the man who would decode the hidden architecture of the universe, even as he became less and less relevant to the people in power. Edward Kelly, of course, never turned mercury into gold. Charlatan's had all sorts of tricks. Preloaded crucibles, hidden pellets, sleight of hand. This was stage magic, and the showmanship that made Kelly a compelling scrier probably also made him a

convincing alchemist. D understood stagecraft decades earlier. He had shocked an audience at Cambridge University with a mechanical beetle that was so lifelike they thought he'd bewitched it, But by the time he reached Bohemia, d was too bought in to see the hoax in front of him, because the more you give up for a vision, the more you have to believe it. To admit that Edward Kelly was a fraud would mean admitting that John d was no longer a brilliant scholar, but an impoverished old man who'd

been deceived by a common trickster. The truth was far too painful for John D to face, and so in a long, slow process of self preservation, he chose to believe the lie. In May fifteen eighty seven, D made a terse entry in his diary pactum factum. The agreement had been executed. He had sacrificed his wife to Kelly's angels. That summer, Queen Elizabeth sent envoys to Trebon. They wanted Kelly, and they ignored thee entirely. At the castle, tensions boiled over.

Jane D was pregnant, and John D was ever more dependent on Kelly, who frequently erupted into violent outbursts. Irritated that D was hanging on. In an effort to make peace, D wrote Kelly and his wife charitable letters, but to no avail. Privately, he was afraid encrypting his diary in an increasingly complicated code. In October, Kelly and his wife Joanna told the household servants that D was in league with the devil. Haniced, D tried again to turn the tide.

He gave Kelly his most prized possession, his perspective glass, that telescope like device that tricked the eye and made small objects seem large. Kelly took it, but he had no use for a scholar's instrument. He passed it to Rosenberg who passed it to the Emperor. D's perspective glass, his treasured window into the laws of nature, was tucked away to gather dust in Rudolph's cabinets of curiosities. Rosenberg Io was irked by D's presence. As far as he

was concerned, the man was a dead weight. He ordered d to leave Trebon and arranged for Kelly to be moved to another laboratory. In February fifteen eighty eight, D gave up. He handed Kelly his books on alchemy and watched him ride away. In modern day act investigators made a startling discovery. Between twenty twenty and twenty twenty three, there were over three thousand phone calls between Gield Dettor and Sophia Martinez. Martinez has since admitted to playing the

archangel Michael. She reportedly revealed to police that she's an accomplished ventriloquist and gave them a demonstration of Michael's rasping voice.

Martinez was charged with fraud and concealment. As of recording, they're both awaiting trial. Both Detor and Martinez deny the criminal charges, and they are presumed innocent until judgment, but

neither of them seems to deny the spiritual influence. Detoru's lawyer has claimed that he was exploited, vulnerable in his grief for his late father, and according to the prosecutor, Martinez has regretted her behavior, attributing her claims about Detau's father to a downward spiral from which she couldn't escape. It's tempting to file John Dee Away as a relic from a distant time, but The story nagged nearly four hundred and fifty years later, would suggest that channels of special,

unimpeachable knowledge have an enduring appeal. Shortly after John d and Edward Kelly parted ways, and nine months after the wife swapping agreement, Jane de gave birth to a baby boy. She and her husband named him Theodorus Trebonianus, Gift of God. At Trebon, the D's were out of options, and they began the arduous journey back to England. John D held on to hope that Kelly would have a change of heart and follow them. Instead, painful news arrived from Rudolph's court.

The Emperor had given Kelly a castle and lands and made him a baron of Bohemia. D was crushed. A further blow awaited him in England. When he reached Mortlake, he discovered that his cottage had been ransacked by his creditors. Many of his most precious tomes on geography, horology, Arabic and Hebrew had been taken, and his magnificent library lay in ruins. Dee found himself totally irrelevant at court. He eventually accepted a job in the North as warden of

Christ's College, Manchester. It was a respectable enough role, but hundreds of miles from the corridors of power. Jane Deeye had followed her husband across Europe, raising their children on the road, and submitting to Kelly's dark wife swapping command in Manchester, her journey came to an end. She succumbed to the deadly plague that was ravaging the city and passed away in sixteen oh five, aged fifty. As for John d he returned to London and lived into his eighties,

Buried by manuscripts. White haired, penniless, he worked with scriers until his very last days, ever convinced that the universe would give up its deepest secrets if he only knew how to ask. There are various accounts of what became of Edward Kelly. Some say that he had a fight with an influential alchemist at Rudolph's Court and ended up in prison. Others that he faked his own death. Others still that he fled to Russia. You can believe what

you like, after all John de did. For a full list of our sources, see the show notes at Timharford dot com. Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright, Alice Fines and Ryan Dilley. It's produced by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music are the work of Pascal Wise. Additional sound design by Carlos San Juan at Grain Audio and Dan Jackson.

Bend A. Dafhaffrey edited the scripts. It features the voice talents of Melanie Guttridge, Genevieve Gaunt, ed gohen Stella, Harford, Bassa Munroe, Jamal Westman, and Rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohne, Eric Sandler, Carrie Brody, Christina Sullivan, Kira Posey, and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. If you like the show, please remember to share, rate,

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