MAXIMILIAN.

C 2

Nor do I wish these things to be considered, in any way, in this place, or in these times—especially since they have been brought to your Wisdom—as mere incidental works Parerga original: "Parerga." A Greek term referring to secondary tasks or ornamental additions that are separate from the main work.: indeed, not even as superfluous. But enough on this. Therefore, this offspring of mine, the HIEROGLYPHIC MONAD (conceived indeed in London, but born in Antwerp), I most humbly offer to your Most Serene Majesty: Earnestly beseeching you: that you do not disdain to become, for now, its godfather Compater original: "Compater," literally a "co-father." In a legal and spiritual sense, Dee is asking the Emperor to act as a sponsor or protector of the work, much like a godfather at a baptism.: so that later, when it is older in age and more commendable in its reliability, it may always be able to serve you in your presence. From now on, I wish it to be considered yours, O most Clement KING: who, just as you seemed to me, throughout the whole time of its birth, to dwell before my eyes with a most charming gaze; so, for that reason, you made the labor of bringing this forth into the light easy and swift for me.

^a As appears in our Propaedeutic Aphorisms, printed in London in the year 1558, from Aphorism 52.

For that which I carried in my mind for seven continuous years previously, ^a I have most peacefully brought forth into this common air in the space of only twelve days—driven by your incredible Magnetic Virtue, Dee uses the concept of "Magnetic Virtue" here to describe a spiritual or intellectual attraction. He suggests that the Emperor’s greatness acted like a magnet, pulling the knowledge out of him and allowing him to write in twelve days what he had contemplated for seven years. even at such a distance. May that Sacrosanct TRINITY grant that this be happy and auspicious, both for your August Highness and for my most ardent studies of the sincerest truth—that Trinity which (founded in the Omnipotence of the ineffable MONAD, before all ages) lives and reigns eternal: to Whom alone let all praise, honor, power, and glory be forever offered and sung by every creature. AMEN.