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Occultwiki (talk | contribs) (Created page with "350px|thumb|1824 engraving of John Heydon '''John Heydon''' (10 September 1629 – c. 1667 or later) was an English Neoplatonist occult...") |
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==Author, occultist, and legal problems== | ==Author, occultist, and legal problems== | ||
He attracted attention in royalist and [[occultist]] circles for [[divination|predicting the future]], including the death of Oliver Cromwell, then Protector. Their royalist connections caused both Francis and John Heydon to be imprisoned in the final years of the Commonwealth era. The Restoration of 1660 resolved Heydon's incarceration – though he was imprisoned briefly later in 1663 for dealing in suspect (treasonous) literature, and in 1664 for debt. | He attracted attention in royalist and [[occultist]] circles for [[divination|predicting the future]], including the death of Oliver Cromwell, then Protector. Their royalist connections caused both Francis and John Heydon to be imprisoned in the final years of the Commonwealth era. The Restoration of 1660 resolved Heydon's incarceration – though he was imprisoned briefly later in 1663 for dealing in suspect (treasonous) literature, and in 1664 for debt. | ||
His 1663 book, ''[[Theomagia|Theomagia Fundamentals of Geomancy]]'', remains a fundamental text concerning the [[divination]] art of [[geomancy]]. In it, he describes the characteristics for numerous geomantic spirits (including [[Zazel]]) which are not found in other [[grimoire]]s of the period. | |||
In 1665, Heydon published ''Psonthonphanchia, or a Quintuple Rosiecrucian Scourge for the due Correction of that Pseudo-chymist and Scurrilous Emperick, Geo. Thomson'', a fierce response to a pamphlet issued by physician George Thomson criticising the conduct of those members of the Royal College of Physicians who left the city during the Great Plague of London of 1665–66. | In 1665, Heydon published ''Psonthonphanchia, or a Quintuple Rosiecrucian Scourge for the due Correction of that Pseudo-chymist and Scurrilous Emperick, Geo. Thomson'', a fierce response to a pamphlet issued by physician George Thomson criticising the conduct of those members of the Royal College of Physicians who left the city during the Great Plague of London of 1665–66. | ||
In 1667, Heydon was imprisoned, again, in the Tower of London for his part in the treasonous plots of his patron, the Duke of Buckingham. He was accused of "treasonable practices in sowing sedition in the navy and engaging persons in a conspiracy to seize the Tower" | In 1667, Heydon was imprisoned, again, in the Tower of London for his part in the treasonous plots of his patron, the Duke of Buckingham. He was accused of "treasonable practices in sowing sedition in the navy and engaging persons in a conspiracy to seize the Tower." He claimed however, that he was innocent and was the victim of someone paid to inform against him. | ||
==Death== | ==Death== | ||
The precise date of Heydon's death is unknown. | The precise date of Heydon's death is unknown. | ||
==Legacy== | |||
Heydon was accused of plagiarising Sir Thomas Browne, Thomas Vaughan, and other writers; his ''Physician's Guide of 1662'' largely derives from Sir Francis Bacon's ''New Atlantis''. He was referred to as "an ignoramus and a cheate" by Elias Ashmole; Frances Yates termed him a "strange character...an [[astrology|astrologer]], [[geomancy|geomancer]], [[alchemy|alchemist]], of a most extreme type."; while [[A.E. Waite]] considered that all that was of value in his mysticism was derived from anterior writers. | |||
[[Category:Occultists]] | [[Category:Occultists]] | ||
[[Category:People]] | [[Category:People]] | ||
[[Category:Authors]] | [[Category:Authors]] | ||
[[Category:Alchemists]] | |||
[[Category:Astrologers]] | |||