Читать книгу Astrology For Dummies - Rae Orion - Страница 55

With the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter in the eighth house of mysteries and Mars in Scorpio in the twelfth house of hidden things, John Dee could not resist the lure of anything arcane. He loved crystals, magic mirrors, and secret symbols, a few of which he invented. Among them:

 A capital letter E with a crown on top that he used to represent Queen Elizabeth.

 Two symbols that he used to represent himself: a Greek delta (∆) and a complicated design that combined symbols for the Sun, the Moon, the elements, and fire. It looks something like the glyph of Mercury and also resembles the image invented by the musician Prince (who also had an eighth-house Sun and plenty of Scorpio).

 A symbol he used in correspondence with Queen Elizabeth that looked like a numeral seven with two zeroes tucked beneath its extended roof, signifying that this letter was for her eyes only. Centuries after Dee’s death, that symbol caught the attention of the novelist Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, and 007 was reborn.

Was he at least a good astrologer? Catherine de Medici didn’t seem to think so; she preferred someone else. But certainly he knew something about astrology, for his prophecies are filled with specific planetary references. One such prophecy inspired Orson Welles to predict a 1988 earthquake in Southern California. You could argue that it’s not that hard to predict an earthquake in California. And this one didn’t even happen. But there was an earthquake in Northern California the following year, so if you want to believe…