The Book of Soyga
Scholars of Occult Magic, rejoice! The heretofore unpublished Book of Soyga, written by 16th century magician Dr. John Dee, is coming to print for the first time. Previously known only through references in other texts, the Book of Soyga was discovered in 1994 at the British Library. Since that time, a team of translators, artists, and scholars have been hard at work to bring this text to a contemporary audience.
"Practitioners in the western esoteric tradition have speculated that the Book of Soyga may have had influence on the Enochian System of Magic which was dictated to Dee and Kelley by the Angels." The Book of Soyga contains its own magical system, similar in style to the Enochian System, which makes use of a grid structure, populated by language and symbols. The publication of this book offers a new line of inquiry to contemporary researchers who are interested in experimenting with the frameworks outlined by Dee and his scryer, Edward Kelly.
The Book of Soyga, slated for publication in early 2013 by Clavis Editions, will include the original Latin transcription, as well as an English translation. Clavis Editions is a collaboration between Ouroboros Press and Three Hands Press, the aim of which is "to make available some of the most sought-after and rare occult texts in both library and fine editions." Based on the prior work of these publishers, readers should expect an exquisite handling of Dee's book.
Image painted in the 16th century by an unknown artist, courtesy of Wikipedia.
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John Dee's Calendar
Dr John Dee is well-known to students of the occult in regard to his and Kelly's invocation of spiritual entities but he is less well known for his calendrical work. Dee was an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, in particular, on the reform of the calendar. He invented a calendar which was different from and superior to the Gregorian Calendar. Dee's calendar has a 33-year cycle including eight leap years.
According to the research of the archaeoastronomer Simon Cassidy, Dee's Calendar ensures that the vernal equinox always occurs on March 21 (as intended by the Nicene Fathers), provided that the calendar is used at a particular longitude. Surprisingly, this longitude is that of Washington, D.C. (or rather, was in Dee's time). Could there be a connection between Dee's calendrical work and the site chosen for the location of the U.S. capital? The fully story is given at John Dee's Calendar and God's Longitude.
A full explanation of Dee's calendar is given at The Dee-Cecil Calendar and its Date Conversion Algorithms. That page also explains (again based on the research of Simon Cassidy) how Stonehenge can be used as a 33-year-cycle calendar (and it may have been constructed with this in mind, in conjunction with its use as an eclipse prediction device).
Was the Book of Soyga written by Dee?
Following the link to http://www.clavisjournal.com/aldaraia-or-the-book-of-soyga/ reveals that the publisher describes it as "a Treatise on Astrological Magic once belonging to Dr. John Dee", but does not say that it was actually written by Dee. We read:
"When Kelley made contact with the angel URIEL through a crystal sphere, Dee immediately asked; ‘Is my Book of Soyga of any excellency?’."
"my Book" indicates that the book was in Dee's possession but does not mean that Dee was the author. Dee collected many curious texts for his library, and the Book of Soyga may have been one of them.
RE