John Dee and the Empire of Angels

"Written in breezy, informal prose, Louv’s overstuffed book will appeal to those interested in angels or the occult." * Publishers Weekly *
“John Dee is the original Elizabethan mage-scientist, who invented the British Empire and invested it with magical power. He is to Elizabeth what Merlin was to Arthur, except he was real. Here’s the original technology of weaponized memes, psyops, and empire building in a gripping, authoritative account of how and why we became an occult society.” * Douglas Rushkoff, author of Aleister and Adolf and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus *
“Any biographical treatment of John Dee must be nothing less than epic--and Jason Louv has gloriously achieved this in John Dee and the Empire of Angels, a truly comprehensive, broad-spectrum, and lavishly beautiful historical study of the master magus and the counter-current of secret history Dee launched into the world, which has affected us all.” * Mitch Horowitz, PEN Award-winning author of Occult America and The Miracle Club *
“A crazy plunge into the weird world of angels and those brave or foolish enough to try to contact them. Be prepared, for this book illuminates the dark corners of history that many institutions would prefer to go unexplored and unmentioned--I’m thankful for the angels that aided Jason in his creation of this mind-spinning, glorious work of occult genius.” * Duncan Trussell, host of The Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast *
“Renaissance magus John Dee boldly set out to systematically tap the mind of God by communicating directly with a complex hierarchy of ‘angelic’ intelligences. It can be argued that he succeeded. His magical diaries have long held intense fascination among Qabalists, alchemists, and explorers of human consciousness who have developed workable magical systems from these records. Jason Louv’s work succeeds, with breathtaking thoroughness, to tell this amazing and true magical tale. More importantly, he also reveals the profound geopolitical significance of Dee’s magical explorations--effects that still shape the global realities of today.” * Lon Milo DuQuette, author of Enochian Vision Magick *
“Jason Louv’s John Dee and the Empire of Angels is a groundbreaking new assessment of one of the Western world’s most influential polymaths. Through a combination of intellectual rigor, sensitivity to both historical and current sociopolitical climates, and perhaps a bit of his own intuitive scrying, Louv offers us a crystalline view of John Dee’s visionary mind and complicated legacy.” * Pam Grossman, author of What Is a Witch and host of The Witch Wave podcast *
“Jason Louv’s masterful account of the enigmatic Elizabethan magus John Dee places him in the top tier of new esoteric writers. . . . Louv’s assertion of Dee as both a creator and custodian of Western civilization is thought-provoking, and it is backed up by meticulous research. Highly recommended.” * Brendan McCarthy, artist, designer, and cowriter of Mad Max: Fury Road *
“The Dee story is among the most mystifying and important in the entire history of the Western esoteric tradition. And here, Jason Louv has given us the most complete, complex, and balanced account yet of Dee and his aftermath. An awesome achievement.” * Ralph Abraham, author of Chaos, Gaia, Eros *
“Jason Louv’s book is absolutely invaluable. It contextualizes the very bedrock that Western ceremonial magic is based on. Dee and Kelly’s legendary experiments are the cornerstone of our Western understanding of how magic works. But there’s more to it than that. Louv’s impressive work is not only an enjoyable, adventurous journey into esoteric history but also one into the multifaceted--and sometimes dangerous--machinations of the human mind.” * Carl Abrahamsson, author of Occulture: The Unseen Forces That Drive Culture Forward *
“Jason Louv weaves a masterfully poetic web that first introduces you and then sucks you into Dee’s luminous world of magick. This book is not just a book about the occult and magick; it’s also a unique historical reference guide that I found to be a hypnotic read. Jason is a brilliant mind and writer, and this book proves that.” * Zach Leary, host of the MAPS. and It’s All Happening podcasts *
“Never has there been a more valuable and more prescient time than NOW to have John Dee and the Empire of Angels published.” * E. Elias Merhige, director of Begotten and Shadow of the Vampire *
“This is the first book I’ve seen where Dee’s angelic magic is neither discussed in isolation, nor dismissed as an eccentric sideline, but recognized as a key part of Dee’s philosophy and political influence right up to the present day.” * Lionel Snell (a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes), author of My Years of Magical Thinking *
“Our current magical revival is largely defined by the restoration of context. It is pleasing to see Dee and Kelley put back into the historical currents that they both defined and were defined by, where they can come alive once again after more than a century’s relegation to the cabinets of Victorian orders. The Queen’s conjuror returns to Mortlake.” * Gordon White, author of Pieces of Eight, blogger and podcast host of Rune Soup *