The guys I know who stuck with this stuff got themselves involved in the modern OTO or gnostic ceremony or whatever. They aren't exactly what I'd call focussed

The guys I know who stuck with this stuff got themselves involved in the modern OTO or gnostic ceremony or whatever. They aren't exactly what I'd call focussed people, they might not make great programmers. In all honesty, I couldn't get my head around it. They vocally rebel against their Catholic upbringing yet replace it with... dogmatic rituals based on Catholicism. It's notable about John Dee that he was doing this stuff as part of the British elite inner circle, royalty, rather than of a rebellious clique (Crowley, Yeats) or of privileged, decadent society (like the Hellfire Club). His life was pretty tragic though. His partner in scrying was clearly a chancer and serial bullshitter, who used Dee's obsession to take everything from him - including his wife.