Part Two: When Tudor polymath John Dee meets a man who claims he can speak with angels, his path to understanding the universe suddenly becomes clear. At their instruction, the pair begin searching for the fabled philosopher’s stone. But the angels grow increasingly demanding, and soon Dee must confront a terrible ultimatum.
Centuries later, a strange incident in a French town suggests that angels may still be with us.
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A key source was The Diaries of John Dee (1998), edited by Edward Fenton. Several other books were very useful:
John Dee’s Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy and the End of Nature (1999) by Deborah Harkness
The Years of the Wizard: The Strange History & Home Life of Renaissance Magicians (2025) by Rachel Morris
The Arch-Conjuror of England (2011) by Glyn Parry
The Secrets of Alchemy (2012) by Lawrence M. Principe
Prophecy: Prediction, Power and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI (2026) by Carissa Véliz
The Queen’s Conjuror: The Life and Magic of Dr Dee (2002) by Benjamin Woolley
The following websites and articles also helped us tell John Dee’s story:
“Phantom pregnancy: The mental health condition that mimics a baby’s arrival” by Rosemary Counter, National Geographic (11 September 2023)
“Some Workmen’s Wages in 1588” by Elizabethan.org
“A robot in Prague and an elixir for Rudolph II” by Habsburger.net
“John Dee: Elizabethan 007, scientist, magician and spy” by History Extra (8 October 2021)
“Nothing But Solitude” by Christopher P. Heuer, Lapham’s Quarterly (14 May 2019)
“Mathematics, navigation and empire” by Alex Grover, Royal Museums Greenwich (8 July 2019)
“Martin Frobisher’s North West Passage expedition 1576–78” by Royal Museums Greenwich
“The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth” by A. L. Rowse, History Today (May 1953)
“Elizabeth I’s Coronation Procession” by Tudor Times (16 August 2019)
“John Dee and Edward Kelly: Through a Glass Darkly” by Michael Wilding, The Brazen Head (18 October 2020)
I previously wrote about predictions here and about Dan Kahan’s work here. For more on “badges of membership” see “Climate-Science Communication and the Measurement Problem”, Advances in Political Psychology (20 February 2015) by Dan M. Kahan and “Identity: Dan Kahan” by Informal Science.
For the story of Gilles D’Ettore, we drew on the podcast series The Mystic and the Mayor (2025), as well as the following articles:
“French town reels from fortune teller scandal” by Chris Bockman, BBC (27 May 2024)
“«Se faire flouer ainsi par une prétendue voyante…» : l’affaire du maire d’Agde «ensorcelé» sidère” by Christian Goutorbe, Le Parisien (23 March 2024)
“Comment le maire d’Agde est tombé sous l’emprise d’une voyante ventriloque et la voix de « l’archange Michaël »” by Samuel Laurent, Le Monde (18 April 2024).
“France’s ‘swinger’ capital rocked by fortune teller scandal” by Harriet Marsden, The Week (4 June 2024)
