The origin of the 'spiritual mirror' used by Elizabeth I's court astrologer turns out to be in the Aztecs
The mirror, the magus and more: reflections on John Dee's obsidian mirror | Antiquity | Cambridge Core
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/mirror-the-magus-and-more-reflections-on-john-dees-obsidian-mirror/38D4BFEA2CB9766973791029C2EE1289
Obsidian'Spirit Mirror' Used by Elizabeth I's Court Astrologer Has Aztec Origins | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine
Dee, who served as a scientific adviser to Elizabeth I, was fascinated by alchemy and astrology and collected a variety of supernatural items. One of the extant collections, the Specter, is stored in the British Museum, but the mystery remains as to where Dee got it and where it was made.
A research team led by Stuart Campbell, a professor of archeology at the University of Manchester, plans to measure the proportion of obsidian material that makes up the speculum and locate the source of obsidian. Elements were analyzed using a portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer (XRF) and compared to obsidian mined in Mexico.
As a result, it was found that the components of the speculum matched the obsidian of the Mexican city of Pachuca. Since Pachuca was under Aztec control at the same time, Campbell et al. Concluded that 'Dee's speculum was made under the Aztec civilization.'
In Aztec civilization, obsidian was regarded as a 'shield against evil spirits' and mirrors as a 'gateway to other worlds'. Dee is believed to have been interested in hearing the existence of such items. The study doesn't reveal when the speculum arrived in Europe or how Dee got it, but Campbell said, 'The historical nature of individual items. I was able to clarify the context, which will help me to understand history. '' When Dee got the speculum, he thought he had a new, exotic and exciting object. It must be. '
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