Dr. John Dee (1527-1608/9) was the foremost scholar of his day, whose influence on the intellectual currents of Europe was far-reaching and profound, his work leading to the Rosicrucian manifestos, the rise of empiricism and the foundation of the Royal Society. However, as a neo-Platonist, his highest aim was to receive true wisdom from God; and so he is perhaps best known for the records of his "Actions with Spirits" which resulted from his association with the scryer Sir Edward Kelley, wherein is contained a system of classification of the universe based upon figurative, mathematical and linguistic lines.