The Voynich Manuscript, Edward Kelley, and Mormonism

[_Grudunza]

I just watched a documentary called The Voynich Code (YouTube link below). Very interesting, and has many parallels to our religion of note, both relating to the document itself and to one of its suspected authors, Edward Kelley.

The Voynich Manuscript is a book of about 240 pages, containing language that has never been deciphered (many prominent code breakers have tried), as well as many unusual and mysterious illustrations of people and plants. It was discovered in 1912 by a man named Wilfrid Voynich. After many attempts since to try to figure out its meaning and language, several researchers now conclude that it is probably gibberish, and produced by means of randomized ciphers to give it the appearance of complexity, antiquity, and mystery. However, there are some who still argue for its authenticity, and the argument given is typically that it appears to be too sophisticated to be a hoax. (Yes, there are Voynich apologists declaring the equivalent of "Hebraisms.")

The first known owner of the Voynich manuscript was Rudolf II (Roman Emperor from 1576-1612), who had a giant collection of occult books and magical instruments. The parchment it was made on has been carbon dated to about 1420, but some suspect that older parchment was used to make it appear older (Hoffman?). This is speculation, but the idea that it was created specifically to defraud Rudolf seems likely to me. And one of the suspected authors of the manuscript is Edward Kelley, who was hired by Rudolf to create gold (later imprisoned until his death for not producing any). Aside from whether Edward Kelley wrote the Voynich manuscript or not, check this guy out...

- According to accounts, he was known in his early years as a forger and counterfeiter. (Not a treasure digger, though.) He supposedly had his ears clipped as punishment for some early crimes, and wore wigs and hats to cover.

- He worked closely with Queen Elizabeth I's royal magus, John Dee.

- About a year after entering into Dee's service, Kelley appeared with an alchemical book (The Book of Dunstan) which, Kelley claimed, he had been led to by a "spiritual creature." (Note: The Book of Dunstan may have been the Voynich manuscript.)

- He claimed to be an alchemist, and produced small pieces of gold during tests before being hired by Rudolf, which he likely had concealed beforehand.

- He claimed to be the only person on Earth who knew the language of the angels.

- Angels purportedly spoke to him in a special language, termed "Enochian." Kelley said that their language was actually the original prototype of Hebrew: the language with which God spoke to Adam. (pay lay ale, anyone?)

- He wrote the angelic messages in special characters that he read from a magic table. (caractors, Jupiter talisman, etc.)

- Angels told him to swap wives with John Dee. Dee was apparently angered by this, but did share his wife. (Eww, and oy how familiar is that?)

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Kelley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awGN5NApDy4

[_Kishkumen]

Greetings, Grudunza:

All of this is very interesting. If you dig around on this board you will find a number of threads regarding Dee and Kelley as forerunners of Joseph Smith. Many of them have a humorous bent, but they do indirectly address the very real possibility that the influence of Dee and Kelley's efforts found its way into Mormonism through various avenues/individuals. The appearance of influence may have more to do with a shared cultural mileu than actual conscious borrowing from Dee and Kelley, but I regard conscious borrowing as a possibility too.

[_Always Changing]

Grudunza, nice to see you here. Your work is amazing.

[_Grudunza]

Grudunza, nice to see you here. Your work is amazing.

Hey, thanks.

Do I know you from elsewhere?

[_Grudunza]

Greetings, Grudunza:

All of this is very interesting. If you dig around on this board you will find a number of threads regarding Dee and Kelley as forerunners of Joseph Smith. Many of them have a humorous bent, but they do indirectly address the very real possibility that the influence of Dee and Kelley's efforts found its way into Mormonism through various avenues/individuals. The appearance of influence may have more to do with a shared cultural mileu than actual conscious borrowing from Dee and Kelley, but I regard conscious borrowing as a possibility too.

Thanks, Kish. I thought I had done a search here and didn't find anything, but that may have been on reddit. Anyway, I'll look later to see what y'all shared on Dee and Kelley. My apologies if I rehashed things already stated.

I wasn't necessarily posing an influence, though, but more of a parallel, as in, history repeating itself at different times/places.

[_Kishkumen]

Thanks, Kish. I thought I had done a search here and didn't find anything, but that may have been on reddit. Anyway, I'll look later to see what y'all shared on Dee and Kelley. My apologies if I rehashed things already stated.

I wasn't necessarily posing an influence, though, but more of a parallel, as in, history repeating itself at different times/places.

Yes, the search engine does not seem to be working. I now rely on Google to search the board. You don't need to apologize. Some of what you mentioned has not been discussed here.

As for history repeating itself, I think you are right that certain themes appear again and again. In this case, however, I think there are strains of thought in the West that provide the fodder from which these stories and events emerge.

[_Always Changing]

Grudunza, nice to see you here. Your work is amazing.

Hey, thanks.

Do I know you from elsewhere?

Not in person. And there is a board policy on not revealing the identity of posters if deduced. Although your self-presentation here is quite transparent.

[_Grudunza]

Not in person. And there is a board policy on not revealing the identity of posters if deduced. Although your self-presentation here is quite transparent.

Gotcha. But uh... I'm not Eric Herman. Just a fan.