The road to knowledge has always been an elusive one and scarcely is it easily tread. Only those lithe of mind can navigate the oceans of information we find ourselves in; discerning, scouring the horizon for truth's dim glow. For such aspirants, the task becomes a balancing act of intuition and the forging of a logical congruence of one's own. Few seekers find their solace; some grow old and tired, and surrender themselves to the mystery. Some flock to the stale, modern notion of the Scientific Method; one that leaves little if any room for such things as sacredness or divinity. Others yearn to deepen their spirituality and gravitate to the religious spheres, often becoming plagued with cognitive dissonance as faith replaces logic. Less common is the mind that, unsatisfied with it's academic and religious conditioning, turns to occult wisdom in search of counsel.
John Dee, a man regarded as one of the most brilliant minds of the 16th century, was one such seeker. His quest for what he referred to as "radical knowledge", or knowledge of that which was beyond the normal understanding of reality, took him from a world of royal luxury and social status to the enigmatic and forsaken realms of what some call black magick. He's been described as the quintessential magician and his work has influenced everything from Shakespeare, navigation technologies, Elizabethan politics, to the current world of the occult.