A Western Esoteric Understanding of Screens and Cinema: John Dee and Edward Kelley’s Scrying Practices Student: Sascha J. van der Meer Master: Master Media Studies: Beroepsgeoriënteerde Specialisatie (Film Studies) E-mail:
[email protected] University of Amsterdam Date: 07-11-2016 Master Thesis Supervisor: dhr. dr. F.J.J.W. (Floris) Paalman Word Count: 22541 Second Reader: dhr. dr. F.A.M. (Erik) Laeven 1 A Western Esoteric Understanding of Screens and Cinema: John Dee and Edward Kelley’s Scrying Practices By Sascha J. van der Meer, B.A. A thesis submitted to The faculty of Humanities In fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Media Studies University of Amsterdam Amsterdam November 7th, 2016 ©copyright 2016, Sascha Joëlle van der Meer 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 4 KEYWORDS .......................................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Scrying and Western Esotericism .................................................................................................. 7 1.2 Imaginary Media: The Influence of the Supernatural on Media Culture and the Possibilities of the Entanglement of Dee and Kelley’s Past Practice and Present-day Screens ...............................