The veil between the worlds grows thin this time of the year, and our thoughts turn naturally toward those we have loved and lost.

In the courts of Renaissance Europe, the line between “magician” and “scientist” was far thinner than we imagine today. Two men embody this paradox: John Dee, the advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, and Nostradamus, the famous French astrologer, astronomer and clairvoyant. Each was celebrated in their own time — but fascinatingly enough; the way we remember them has been reversed.