View source for The Thoughts and Inner Journey of Dr. John Dee by Clair Iles

{{infobox1
|title=The Thoughts and Inner Journey of Dr. John Dee
|sort=Thoughts and Inner Journey of Dr. John Dee
|author=Clair Iles
|reviewer=Ani Johnson
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
|summary=Wise words dictated from beyond the grave, an interesting fiction or something to discount totally?  The choice is yours.
|rating=3.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=292
|publisher=AuthorHouseUK
|date=February 2017
|isbn=978-1524676698
|cover=Iles_Thoughts
|aznuk=1524676691
|aznus=1524676691
}}

[[:Category:Clair Iles|Clair Iles]] is, in her own words, a normal person who was educated at a normal comprehensive school.  However, she's a normal person who hears dead people.  Yes, Clair is a spiritualist with ability to hear from those who have passed on.  In the past they had generally been relatives or everyday folk.  Imagine, then, her surprise when she felt she was hearing from Elizabethan court polymath John Dee.  Over a period of time she could feel his dictated thoughts and ideas in her mind and this book of the channelled words is the result.  

What do we reckon?  That comes later but first let's go back to the beginning and look at the man himself.

John Dee (1527 – 1608 or thereabouts) was one of Queen Elizabeth I's must trusted advisors.  Astronomer, mathematician, philosopher and alchemist, Dee had a strong interest in magic and the occult.  Therefore when he met Edward Kelly/Kelley (charlatan or mystic, depending on which side you take) who professed to be able to receive communication from angels, John jumped at the chance of learning how it was done.  This resulted in ''On the Mystical Rule of the Seven Planets'' (1582-ish), a how-to guide for summoning and speaking to angels, which he stated was dictated to him by the angel Uriel.

Back in the modern day, Clair's writing style is very readable.  The thoughts arrive in modern English with a slight Elizabethan cadence that drifts in and out.  The ideas are as new age now as they probably were then.  Spiritualist beliefs, philosophy and discussions about reincarnation and making a better life are intertwined with an apparent first-hand account of the Dee/Kelly relationship and Dee's struggle to access a higher plane.

Dee seems very keen to get his point across, offering his story for instruction with a fair bit of reiteration as we go on.  I thoroughly enjoyed his/Clair's turn of phrase, for instance. his first impression of Kelly being that he had ''the look of gypsy and the hair of a stray''.  His bon mots and pieces of advice have become familiar from other sources over the years yet they're the sort of truths that bear repeating, as in ''Release hate, regret, fear, anger and jealousy from your heart.''

What are we to think of the book's premise?  I'm convinced Clair writes in good faith and full belief but are these words authentically Dee?  I'll leave that judgement call to you.  My feelings about whether this is communication from the man himself in particular and about necromancy in general emanate from my belief system as they will, resulting in the same or differing viewpoints, for everyone.  

Being objective, ''The Thoughts and Inner Journey of Dr John Dee'' may not build on what's already known about Dr Dee's life and times in a historic sense but if you feel drawn to new age philosophy, spiritualism or angelology there are some gems to be fossicked and, of course, that fascinating turn of phrase.

(A huge vote of thanks to the publisher for providing us with a copy for review.)

Further Reading: If you want to get more into the character and times of John Dee, albeit through well researched, fiction, we heartily recommend [[The Heresy of Dr Dee by Phil Rickman]].

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