Enochian magic

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Enochian magic is a system of ceremonial magic based on the evocation and commanding of various spirits. It is based on the 16th-century writings of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley, who claimed that their information, including the revealed Enochian language, was delivered to them directly by various angels. Dee's journals contained the Enochian script, and the tables of correspondences that accompany it. Dee and Kelley believed their visions gave them access to secrets contained within the apocryphal Book of Enoch.

History

Origins and manuscript sources

The Enochian system of magic is primarily the work of two men: John Dee, Edward Kelley. The researches of Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Dr. Thomas Rudd, Elias Ashmole, Dr. William Wynn Westcott and Israel Regardie made additional contributions.

The raw material for the Enochian magical system was "dictated" through a series of Angelic communications which lasted from 1582-1589. Dee and Kelley claimed they received these instructions from angels. While Kelley conducted the psychic operation known as scrying, Dee kept meticulous written records. Kelley looked into a crystal "shewstone" and described aloud what he saw.

This account of the Angelic communications is taken at face value by most Enochian occultists. However, some of them have pointed out remarkable similarities to earlier grimoiric texts such as the Heptameron known to Dee. Such magical texts as The Book of Soyga (of which Dee owned a copy) and others including the magical works of Agrippa and Reuchlin probably also had an influence on Dee and Kelley. The system claims to relate to secrets contained within the apocryphal Book of Enoch.

Liber Logaeth – The Sixth and Sacred Book of the Mysteries

The Liber Logaeth (Book of the Speech of God)(aka The Book of Enoch aka Liber Mysteriorum, Sextus et Sanctus -The Sixth (and Sacred/Holy) Book of the Mysteries)(1583); is preserved in the British Museum as Sloane ms 3189. The correct spelling is Loagaeth but it has been so frequently printed as Logaeth that this spelling is in common use. Written up by Edward Kelley, it is composed of 65 folios containing 101 exceedingly complex magical grids of letters, 96 of which are 49×49 grids (preceded by one "table" composed of 49 rows of text – the first row of which is actually the 49th row of the first table, not in this MS.), plus 5 grids of 36 x 72 cells. It is from Liber Logaeth that Dee and Kelley derived the 48 Calls or Keys (see below), and in which are concealed the keys to the Mystical Heptarchy, a related magical work by Dee. Liber Logaeth has never been published in book form but is available online. Dee himself left little information on his Sixth Holy Book apart from saying that it contained 'The Mysterie of our Creation, The Age of many years, and the conclusion of the World' and that the first page in the book signified Chaos. Note that the title The Book of Enoch attributed to the text of Liber Logaeth is not to be confused with the aprocryphal Biblical The Book of Enoch. (There are three versions of the latter; a facsimile reprint of the Ethiopian version is Laurence, (1995)) Nor should it be confused with Crowley's rescension Liber Chanokh (The Book of Enoch) although all these texts are related.

The Five Books of Mystery

Another manuscript Sloan ms. 3188, also available in a fair copy by Elias Ashmole, MS Sloane 3677. Available online at:). It is an account of the 'actions' or workings undertaken in the Liber Logaeth, titled the Mysteriorum Libri Quinque (Five Books of Mystery (or Mystical Exercises). The Mysteriorum Libri Quinque is the diary for 22 December 1581 – 23 May 1583 inclusive: the first five Books of the Mysteries (and Appendix), ending where Casaubon's A True and Faithful Relation begins. It describes the furniture of the temple; the Seal of God (Sigillum Dei); the Tables of Light; the Great Circle and corresponding Collected Table of 49 Good Angels; System of Enochian Magick - Tikaboo; the Angelic Alphabet (Dee's copies) and the beginning of Loagaeth (i.e., the first few folios of MS. Sloane 3189). There are two transcripts of this manuscript available today: Joseph Peterson and C. L. Whitby.

Other Enochian manuscripts

Yet another central manuscript is Sloane 3191 which comprises: 48 Angelic Keys; The Book of Earthly Science, Aid and Victory; On the Mystic Heptarchy; and Invocations of the Good Angels.

Two further Manuscripts from Dee and Kelley's workings are important to Enochian magic:

• 1) MS. Cotton Appendix XLVI Part I (is the diary for 28 May 1583 – 15 August 1584 inclusive: The Sixth (and Sacred) Parallel Book of the Mysteries (not to be confused with "The Sixth and Sacred Book of the Mysteries", which is part of Liber Logaeth - see above) and "The Seventh Book of the Mysteries" (Kraków), beginning where A True and Faithful Relation begins. It includes the arrival of Prince Adalbert Laski, the journey to Kraków and the dictation of the 48 Calls or Keys (including descriptions of the 91 Parts of the Earth), as well as the Vision of the Four Watchtowers and also the Great Table.
• 2) MS. Cotton Appendix XLVI Part II is the diary for 15 August 1584 – 23 May 1587 (and 20 March – 7 September 1607) inclusive: The Book of Praha, The Royal Stephanic Mysteries, The Puccian Action, The Book of Resurrection, The Third Action of Trebon and the remaining Spirit Actions at Mortlake in 1607, ending where A True and Faithful Relation ends. (It may be seen that Casaubon's A True and Faithful Relation is equivalent to the MS Cotton Appendix in toto, i.e. Dee and Kelley's diaries from 28 May 1585-23 Sept 1607).

Meric Casaubon's 1659 edition of part of these diaries (Cotton Appendix MS. XLVI), entitled A True & Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Yeers between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits contains notorious transcription errors which in some cases were transmitted through many subsequent republications of the Dee/Kelly material; Casaubon's edition was intended to discredit Dee and Kelly by accusing them of dealing with the Christian Devil. An expanded facsimile edition of Casaubon was published by Magickal Childe in 1992

Dee and Kelley's surviving manuscripts later came into the possession of Elias Ashmole, who preserved them, and made fair copies of some, along with annotations.

Rediscovery by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Dee and Kelly never referred to their magic as 'Enochian' but rather called it 'Angelic'. However, in modern occultism it is commonly known as Enochian. It is not quite clear how much of Enochian magic was put to use by Dee and Kelley. Indeed, whether Dee and Kelly ever practiced Enochian is still up for debate. The angels told them not to work Enochian, and there are no diary records of works being done except for one healing talisman that they were instructed by the angels to make. Dee and Kelley's journals are essentially notebooks which record the elements of the system, rather than records of workings they performed using the system.

Some writers assert that Thomas Rudd was the centre of a group of angel magicians who may have used Dee and Kelly's material. The Angelical material of Dee and Kelley also had a considerable influence on the magic of Rosicrucianism. However, little else became of Dee's work until late in the nineteenth century, when it was incorporated and adopted by a mysterious and highly secret brother-hood of adepts in England, who called themselves the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The rediscovery of Enochian magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the 1880s led to Mathers developing the material into a comprehensive and workable system of ceremonial Magick. They invoked the Enochian deities whose names were written on the tablets. They also traveled in what they called their Body of Light (a poetic term for the aura) into these subtle regions and recorded their psychic experiences in a scientific manner. The two major branches of the system were then grafted on to the Adeptus Minor curriculum of the Golden Dawn.

Enochian as an operative system is difficult to reconstruct based upon original manuscripts like the collection of Sir Hans Sloane in the British Museum, but contemporary occult organizations have attempted to make it usable. The Golden Dawn was the first, but their knowledge was based upon only one of Dee's diaries and their planetary, elemental, or zodiacal attributions have no foundation in the original sources.

The Golden Dawn also invented the game of Enochian chess, so that aspects of the Enochian Tablets can be used for divination. The four chessboards do not have any symbols on them, just sets of squares colored in certain ways. Each board is associated with one of the four elements of magick. Pat Zalewski's book (1994) on the subject is definitive.

The papers of the Sphere Group, a sub-group of the Golden Dawn founded by Florence Farr which experimented with Enochian magic, have been edited and published in Kuntz, (1996).

Aleister Crowley and Enochian

Aleister Crowley, who worked with, and wrote about, Enochian magic extensively, contributed to its comparatively widespread use today. Crowley published the Golden Dawn Enochian material as "A Brief Abstract of the Symbolic Representation of the Universe Derived by Doctor John Dee Through the Skrying of Sir Edward Kelly." (Initially published in Crowley's Journal The Equinox Nos VII and VIII, this work was subsequently renamed Liber LXXXIV vel Chanokh, or The Book of Enoch - Chanokh being an older Hebrew form of the name Enoch. Crowley numbered the book as 84 since that number is the Qabalistic numeration for Chanokh. (In some printings the number 89 is mistakenly assigned to the book).

Crowley's most famous work with Enochian focused upon the Calls of the Aethyrs. His visions from these Calls, which he experienced while working with Victor Neuberg in Algeria, formed a document called The Vision and the Voice, also known as Liber 418 (or to give it its full title, Liber CCCCXVIII: Liber XXX Ærum Vel Saeculi, Being of the Angels of the Thirty Aethyrs the Vision and the Voice - see Holy Books of Thelema). The book was written with highly symbolic imagery and is integral to Crowley's explication of his Law of Thelema. Recordings of Crowley reading the First and Second Calls of the Aethyrs (in both English and Enochian) exist; they were recorded as part of a series of wax cylinder recordings made by Crowley in 1922, and can be found on various compilations of these recordings onto CD which are widely available today.

Criticism of Enochian Magic

The value and safety of the Enochian system of magic has been disputed. Paul Foster Case, a 20th century occultist who began his magical career with the Alpha et Omega, was critical of the Enochian system. On Case’s account, the system of Dee and Kelley was in fact a torso of an older, more complete Qabalistic system. The existing Enochian system, according to Case, is both partial and lacking in sufficient protective methods. Case believed he had witnessed the physical breakdown of a number of practitioners of Enochian magic, due precisely to the lack of protective methods. In a letter to occultist Dion Fortune, Case wrote:

“I have personal knowledge of more than twenty-five instances where the performance of [Enochian] magical operations based upon the Order’s [i.e. Alpha et Omega’s] formulae led to serious disintegrations of mind and body… Perhaps the most conspicuous example of the use of these formulas is A.C. [Aleister Crowley] himself, but there are plenty of others I have personally witnessed, whose personal shipwrecks have been just as complete even though their smaller tonnage, so to say, makes the loss seem less deplorable...”

When Case wrote the lessons for the magical order he founded, the Builders of the Adytum or B.O.T.A., he removed the Enochian system of the Alpha et Omega and substituted elemental tablets based on Qabalistic formulae. These formulae were reportedly communicated to Case by Master R..

The system

The two pillars of modern Enochian Magick, as outlined in Liber Chanokh are the Elemental Watchtowers (including the Tablet of Union) and the "World" of the 30 Aethyrs. The Aethyrs are the "heavens" or Aires of the system. Starting with the 30th Aethyr and working to the first, the magician explores only as far as his level of initiation will permit.

The Calls or 'Keys' and the "World" of the 30 Aethyrs

The essence of the Enochian system depends on the utilisation of Eighteen Calls or Keys in the Enochian language (a series of rhetorical exhortations which function as evocations), and a Nineteenth key known as the Call or Key of the 30 Aethyrs. The calls are used to enter the various Aethyrs, in visionary states. The Aethyrs are conceived of as forming a map of the entire universe in the form of concentric rings which expand outward from the innermost to the outermost Aethyr.

The Enochian 'map' of the universe is depicted by Dee as a square (made up of the 4 Elemental Tablets/Watchtowers incorporating the Tablet of Union (Spirit)), surrounded by 30 concentric circles (the 30 Aethyrs or Airs). The 30 Aethyrs are numbered from 30 (TEX, the lowest and consequently the closest to the Watchtowers) to 1 (LIL, the highest, representing the Supreme Attainment). In a similar way to the methods used by magicians to scry upon the Qabalistic Tree of Life, which involves travelling astrally to each pathway and Sephira, magicians working the Enochian system record their impressions and visions within each of the successive Enochian Aethyrs. The systems are comparable but not equivalent; while Enochian has 30 Aethyrs, there are a total of 32 Sephira and paths upon the Tree of Life. Just as a magician may talk about exploring the Tree of Life from Malkuthto Kether, the Enochian magician would talk about exploring the Enochian Aethyrs from TEX to LIL.

Each of the 30 Aethyrs is populated by "Governors" (3 for each Aethyr, except TEX which has four, thus a total of 91 Governors). Each of the governors has a sigil which can be traced onto the Great Tablet of Earth.

In practical Enochian workings, the Nineteenth Call/Key of the 30 Aethyrs is the only call necessary for working with the Aethyrs. It is only necessary to vary appropriately the name of the Aethyr itself near the beginning of the call. Once the Call is recited, the names of the Governors are vibrated one at a time and a record of the visions is kept. The use of Calls 1-18 is rather complex and their usage should be made clear via one of the Enochian textbooks cited below.

The Great Table of Earth: The Elemental Watchtowers and their subdivisions

The angels of the four quarters are symbolized by the Elemental "Watchtowers" — four large magickal word-square Tables (collectively called the "Great Table of the Earth"). Most of the well-known Enochian angels are drawn from the Watchtowers of the Great Table.

Each of the four Watchtowers (representing the Elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water), is collectively "governed" by a hierarchy of spiritual entities which runs (as explained in Crowley's Liber Chanokh) as the Three Holy Names, the Great Elemental King, the Six Seniors (aka Elders) (these make a total of 24 Elders as seen in the Revelation of St. John), the Two Divine Names of the Calvary Cross, the Kerubim, and the Sixteen Lesser Angels. Each Watchtower is further divided into four sub-quadrants (sometimes referred to as 'sub-angles') where we find the names of various Archangels and Angels who govern the quarters of the world. In this way, the entire universe, visible and invisible, is depicted as teeming with living intelligences. Each of the Elemental tablets is also divided into four sections by a figure known as the Great Central Cross. The Great Central cross consists of the two central vertical columns of the Elemental Tablet (the Linea Patris and Linea Filii) and the central horizontal line (known as the Linea Spiritus Sancti).

In addition to the four Elemental Watchtowers, a twenty-square cell known as the Tablet of Union (aka The Black Cross, representing Spirit) completes the representation of the five traditional elemental attributes used in magic - Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit. The Tablet of Union is derived from within the Great Central Cross of the Great Table.

The squares of the Elemental Watchtowers and those of the Tablet of Union are not simply squares, but in fact truncated pyramids, or pyramids with flat tops - thus, pyramids which have four sides and top, for a total of five 'sides'. Again, these represent the traditional five magical elements (Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit) though in varying combinations. There are 20 Pyramids in the Tablet of Union and 156 in each of the four Elemental Tablets. Each pyramid houses an 'angel' with a one-letter name. The angel's attributes (that is, its powers and its nature) are 'read off' according to its position within the Tablet and proportions of the different Elements (whether Earth, Air, Fire, Water or Spirit) represented on its sides. When two Pyramids are combined they form an 'angel' with a two-letter name whose attributes are somewhat more complex. This gives rise to ever-more complex 'angels' depending on the number of pyramids under examination. The attribution of various Elements to the various pyramids is best depicted on a labelled and colored version of the various Tablets; an Enochian texbook is most useful for this purpose.

Enochian temple furniture

Temple "furniture" required for the performance of Enochian magick includes:

• (1) The Holy Table, a table with a top engraved with a Hexagram, a surrounding border of Enochian letters, and in the middle a Twelvefold table (cell) engraved with individual Enochian letters. According to Duquette and Hyatt, the Holy Table "does not directly concern Elemental or Aethyrical workings. Angels found on the Holy Table are not called forth in these operations"
• (2) The Seven Planetary Talismans. The names on these talismans (which are engraved on tin and placed on the surface of the Holy Table) are those of the Goetia. According to Duquette and Hyatt, "this indicates (or at least implies) Dee's familiarity with the Lemegeton and his attempt, at least early in his workings, to incorporate it in the Enochian system". As with the Holy Table, Spirits found on these talismans are not called forth in these operations.
• (3) The Sigillum dei Aemeth, Holy Sevenfold Table, or 'Seal of God's Truth.' The symbol derives from Liber Juratus (aka The Sworn Book of Honorius or Grimoire of Honorius, of which Dee owned a copy). Five versions of this complex diagram are made from bee's wax, and engraved with the various lineal figures, letters and numbers. The four smaller ones are placed under the feet of the Holy Table. The fifth and larger one (about nine inches in diameter), is covered with a red cloth, placed on the Holy Table, and is used to support the "Shew-Stone" or "Speculum" (crystal or other device used for scrying). Scrying is an essential element of the magical system. Dee and Kelly's technique was to gaze into a concave obsidian mirror. Crowley habitually held a large topaz mounted upon a wooden cross to his forehead. Other methods include gazing into crystals, ink, fire or even a blank TV screen. "Aemeth" or "Emeth" is Hebrew for "truth"; the same word was written on the forehead of a Golem in Jewish folklore by magicians who legendarily animated these beings. For detailed information on the history and use of the Sigillum dei Aemeth, consult Campbell (2009)^[18]
• (4) A magician's ring engraved with the god-name Pele.
• (5) The rod "el" painted in three sections, the ends being black and the middle red.

Today

Compared to other theories of magic, Enochian magic is often considered strikingly complex and difficult to grasp in its entirety. One of the difficulties is that many of the source documents are missing, and those that exist are sometimes fragmentary, due to the history of dispersal of Dee's library and manuscripts. Parts of the surviving manuscripts written by Dee have been lost. Paul Foster Case in fact postulated that Dee and Kelley's system was partial from the start, an incomplete system derived from an earlier and complete Qabalistic system. This has allowed numerous interpretations to arise, some of which have solidified into schools of thought with individual bodies of interpretative literature.

Another reason for the system's difficulty is the many and various ways in which the system can be interpreted, and the complex possibilities of the mathematical permutations of various combinations of the letters, tables and diagrams fundamental to the system.

A third difficulty is the use of the Enochian language for the invocations. Magicians see the correct pronunciation of the Enochian letters, words and calls to be integral to magical success in utilising the Enochian system, and the letters must be memorised and their pronunciations learned. Fortunately there have been several compilations of Enochian words made to form Enochian dictionaries which can act as a handy reference. A scholarly study is Laycock (1978). Also useful is Vinci (1976) Authentic pronunciations according to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn usage are given by Israel Regardie in a set of Golden Dawn instructional CDs. Regardie's Enochian dictionary is also reprinted in Crowley, Duquette and Hyatt, Enochian World of Aleister Crowley.

Enochian magic forms the backbone of both the Crowley and Golden Dawn systems of magic. Latest theories include that John Dee knew of the Slavonic Book of the Secrets of Enoch, as well as the Ethiopic Book of Enoch. Many individual magicians or very small groups prefer Enochian magic to other forms as the ceremonial scale required is smaller than needed for Masonic style ritual work. On the other hand, elaborate equipment is required to perform Enochian magic properly, including correct copies of the various Tablets and diagrams, and other apparatus (see "Enochian Temple Furniture" above).

From 1974 until his death, Texas composer Jerry Hunt (1943-1993) used the "great table" of Dee and Kelley's Enochian system to compose his highly idiosyncratic, experimental, and multi-media music, which has been described as "shamanic." Hunt's music, scores, and even the language he used to describe his methods are shrouded in complex esotericism. Hunt's musical application of Enochian magic can be heard in his works "Ground: Five Mechanical Convention Streams," "Birome (ZONE): cube," and "Cantegral Segment 18," among others.

Since Dee is known to have been a spy for Elizabeth I's court, there are interpretations of his Angelic manuscripts as cryptographic documents - most likely polyalphabetic ciphers - designed to disguise political messages (see for instance, Langford). This aspect of the manuscripts is not of major concern to Enochian magicians, but there is no doubt that Dee's knowledge of mathematics and sophisticated cipher systems contributed to his magical system.

Caveats

Anton LaVey's book The Satanic Bible includes a section of "Enochian Keys" within a document called The Book of Leviathan, which purported to have been part of the lost manuscripts of Dr. Dee's. LaVey adapted Dee's Calls to include Satanic references which were not in the originals.

Since horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, in his short work "The History of the Necronomicon" (written 1927, published after Lovecraft's death, in 1938), made John Dee the translator of one of the versions of his mythical book of forbidden lore The Necronomicon (an example of Lovecraft's use of the technique of "pseudo-authenticity"), much has been written connecting Dee and Enochian magic with The Necronomicon. The fanciful connection between Dee and The Necronomicon was suggested by Lovecraft's friend Frank Belknap Long. Modern writings taking the connection seriously are considered fabrications.

Further reading

• Donald Tyson, Enochian Magic for Beginners: The Original System of Angel Magic St Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1997
• Lon Milo DuQuette, Enochian Vision Magick: An Introduction and Practical Guide to the Magick of Dr John Dee and Edward Kelly Weiser Books, 2008.
• John de Salvo The Lost Art of Enochian Magic: Angels, Invocations, and the Secrets Revealed to Dr. John Dee Destiny Books, 2010 (includes CD of de Salvo reading the Enochian calls with correct pronunciation)
• John de Salvo, Decoding the Enochian Secrets: God's Most Holy Book to Mankind as Received by Dr. John Dee from Angelic Messengers
• "John Dee and Edward Kelley's Great Table (or, What's This Grid For, Anyway?)" by Teresa Burns and J. Alan Moore 
• Geoffrey James, The Enochian Magick of Dr John Dee St Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1994
• A. D. Mercer, Liber Coronzom - An Enochian Grimoire Aeon Sophia Press, 2015
• Frater W.I.T. Enochian Initiation: A Thelemite's Magical Journey into the Ultimate Transcendence Denver, CO: Outskirts press Inc, 2006.
• Deborah Harkness, John Dee's Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature London: Cambridge University Press, 2006
• Egil Asprem, Arguing with Angels: Enochian Magic and Modern Occulture 2012

Introduction To Enochian Scrying

A Magical Space for Enochian Scrying

Since the Enochian powers are so sensitive to the visual symbols in a magickal space, the general-purpose magickal space developed in the preceding sections of this paper is likely to be inappropriate for Enochian work. The profusion of objects with which you have populated the landscape would all tend to anchor the forces in unexpected or undesired forms. A space with a more neutral visual appearance needs to be used.

A woman I once met made a habit of surveying people about the appearance of their magickal spaces. Amusingly, nearly all the Enochian magicians she knew (most of whom did not know the others) had chosen to build essentially identical spaces for their work. This space might thus be considered an archetypal Enochian workplace. It consists of a broad, gray plain, surrounded at the horizon by low hills; both plain and hills are illuminated in a flat, sourceless light of relatively low intensity. Overhead, there is a night-sky filled with stars. The plain is large enough that the magician always has a previously-unused area available in which to perform a new series of invocations.

The remaining few magicians in her survey had chosen to go even further in the direction of minimalism than this Michael Moorcock landscape. Their workspaces consisted solely of a clear space within a gray mist, with a featureless gray floor underneath, created ab initio for every invocation.

My feeling is that the plain has a slight advantage as a work-space. It allows for the establishment of long-term or permanent structures, useful for advanced works in which the invocations must be done in section, or for building a temple appropriate to a range of Enochian works.

Scrying Techniques for Enochian Magic

Both the “magick mirror” technique and its extension as a “gate” work as well with Enochian powers as they will with other, more conventional magickal powers. I would recommend that you create a new mirror in your Enochian workplace for every series of invocations that you do, and destroy it after completing the series. Since the Enochian powers tend to accumulate over time, this prevents residual forces from previous works from interfering with a new work.

However, as mentioned above, it is often necessary to provide a firm visual anchor for Enochian powers; you may find that the mirror technique is insufficiently exact, and only gives you confused or contradictory results. If that is the case, one of the following methods will be more effective.

The Golden Dawn devised a technique for using visualizations of truncated pyramids as the starting point for visions of individual squares from the Tablets. This practical method has been proven by use to be very effective, precisely because it provides a well-defined symbolic “anchor” for the Enochian powers. I recommend this technique for beginners, both for this reason and because it tends to focus the powers into their most “earthly”, most readily-comprehensible form.

The basic technique is to build a truncated pyramid in your magickal space. The flat top has an area one-ninth the area of its base. The relative sizes of the top and bottom means the sides are tilted inwards at an angle of forty-five degrees. The letter of the square is visualized on the flat top. The sides of the pyramid are colored and labeled with symbols and images according to a complex system of attributes.

(The G.D. system of attributes is described in detail in book 4 of Regardie’s The Golden Dawn; my own alternate system (which I believe to be a substantial improvement over the G.D. system) is described in the papers titled “Godzilla Meets E.T.”, which can be found at: http://www.hermetic.com/browe/index.html. The pyramid method works very well with either system.)

The pyramid is visualized as being large enough to stand on the top. Having vibrated the appropriate Calls for the name in which the square lies, the magician then stands on top of the pyramid in his astral body, and vibrates the hierarchy of names. As he vibrates each name, the magician imagines the power of that name gathering around the pyramid.

When the last name is vibrated, the magician imagines that each side of the pyramid is gathering in the attracted energy, each taking the type appropriate to its attributes and symbols. This energy is seen moving upwards, being focused as it goes by the narrowing of the sides. The flows of energy from the sides reach the top simultaneously, run into each other, and form a beam of light shining up and outwards into the astral worlds, forming a path to a region of magical space governed by the square. The magician then follows this beam in his astral body until a landscape or other scene forms around him. This scene should symbolize various aspects of the square invoked. From that point, the techniques describe earlier can be used to explore the region.

When the energies traveling up the sides reach the top, they come together on the letter and then shine downwards into the pyramid, illuminating the interior. The angel governing the square is invoked to visible appearance within the pyramid and is tested there. After testing, the angel conducts the magician to various scenes that illustrate the square’s nature.

Since a session using this technique only explores the power of one letter of an angel’s name, you only get a partial view of the angel’s nature. To fully understand an angel, all the letters of its name should be explored in sequence.

When you wish to invoke all of an angel’s powers at once rather than a single letter, it is more convenient to make your anchoring image something like a magickal circle, or a talisman sufficiently large that you can stand on it. A example design for such a circle would have the divine names superior to the given angel written around the rim of the circle. The name of the angel being invoked would be written within the circle, oriented so that it appears upright when you are facing in the direction in which you want the angel to appear. If the angel is associated with a particular magickal formula (e.g., Kerubic angels and the INRI formula) symbols appropriate to that formula might also be drawn within the circle.

Note that the intent of this figure is much closer in function to a talisman than to the traditional idea of a magickal circle. It is not intended to block off its interior from the exterior areas; you should feel free to move in and out of it at will. Nor is it intended to “contain” the invoked force. Rather, the idea is that the charged figure will serve to attract the attention of the appropriate being — like putting a big illuminated sign saying “Land Here!” next to a runway — and will also serve to condition the surrounding magickal space so that it reflects the nature of the invoked powers.

Vibrate the appropriate Calls several times; then enter the magickal space and create the circle. Vibrate the divine and angelic names, and as you feel the invoked power arrive, direct it into the lines and letters in the circle so that they glow and re-radiate the power to the surrounding environment. Keep vibrating the names until the intensity of invoked power seems to level off, then vibrate only the name of the being you wish to contact, asking it to appear before you. Vibrate the angel’s name until it does appear; then apply the tests, and ask the angel what you will.

Calling the angel to the circle is my personal preference; I would rather have the guide take me to the place I want to go than go there first and find a guide afterwards. The reverse may be more comfortable for you. If that is the case, you can vary the above method by concentrating the invoked force in the circle instead of allowing it to radiate. Then imagine that the force is creating a “gate” to the power’s magickal space; imagine the center of the circle opening up as the magick mirror did in the earlier exercises, so that you can step directly through it into that space. Or you can imagine that the powers form a beam of light shooting up from the circle, which you can ride to the powers’ space.

The Design of the Enochian Altar

The altar of enochian angel-magic is cubic and should be made of laurel, as all wooden frames you use. The lateral length of the altar is 36 english inches. On the surface there should be the seven banner of creation, made of tin, beside the other utilities as the crystal-sphere on its frame and the Sigillum Dei Æmeth. John Dee painted the banners on the surface, another possible way of representing them on the altar. Each side of the altar has 21 enochian symbols painted on it, the edges are decorated with the enochian "b". The symbols are written from right to left, as it is common in enochian writings. The letters are derived from the seven long names of the kings and princes of the Heptarchia Mystica, the beginning letter "b", however, is omitted here and appears only at the edges.

Within the "Treatise on Angel Magic" of Dr. Rudd you can find these analogies:

The eastern side (the left side on the altar) is corresponding with the planetary banners of Mercury and Venus, that are being ruled by the angels Uriel and Gabriel (and when referring to dark spirits, the dark angels Amaymom and Egyn or Azazel and Mahazel). Uriel (or Nariel) rules the south-wind and Gabriel controles the north-wind, too.

The western side (on the representation it is the right side) is associated with the banners of Jupiter and Saturn, which also are controled by Uriel and Gabriel.

The northern side is analogous to the banners of the Sun and Mars, which are controlled by the angel Raphael, who also controlles the west-wind. When contacting dark angels the dark angel Paymon or Azael is having controll on this side.

The southern side is analogous to the banner of the Moon and the influence of the angel Michael, who controlles the east-wind. Working on the darker side, the dark angels Uricus or Samael are having control over their spirits.

It may appear confusing that the angels not only control a region of the altar, but also relate to other regions by controlling the winds. The regions of the altar are not to be confused with the quadrants of the Great Table. Dr. Rudd's design of the altar's surface is also in a different orientation and the banners are arranged in a different way then they was arranged by Dee.

The planetary banners have no direct relation to the angels of the Shemhamphorash and the goetic daemons that are controlled by the mentioned angels. A typical way of interpreting the four edges of the altar would be that the 21 letters on each side build the names of the four directions, beginning with a "b". Here you can see that the Heptarchia Mystica is vital for the altar's design. The small square in the center of the altar has 4 x 3 squares which are derived from the same table the names of the kings and princes are being created.

 

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The altar's surface, as it was described by the angels, was printed as title-cover on Meric Casaubons edition. An interesting variation you can find in Dr. Rudd's works who combined the classical angel-magic with the enochian system of angel-magic.

The enochian symbols should be painted in yellow oil-paint. The altar should rest on a red silk-carpet with a length of 72 inches on each side. The four smaller sigills, framed in laurel-wood, are to be placed under the altar's legs. The altar itself is covered with simple white linen. On this cloth the Sigillum Dei Æmeth and the seven planetary banners of creation, made of tin, are arranged. The Sigillum, made of wax, and the seven banners are covered with a red/green silk cloth with cordels. The holy stone of the angels rest upon this red/green cloth. John Dee altered the arrangements, according to his own plans. My own solution is different, too. I have installed the hexagram with the sigills on the ground, big enough that I can stand within it. The design of the altar has a parallel in the "Ars Almadel" of the Lemegeton.

In the design of Dr. Rudd you can find a direct relation to the classical angel-magic. Dr. Rudd establishes this relation also in the planetary banners and the geomantic analogies. His expansions give us the clear message that the enochian system of angel-magic can be changed and altered individually, as long as it is convenient and makes sense. I am tempted to talk of three different enochian systems around: The first and original version by John Dee and Edward Kelley, the version elaborated by Dr. Rudd and as the third and last version the one created by the magicians of the Golden Dawn. The astrological symbols I used as fill-in for the planetary banners because of aesthetical reasons. Instead of the symbol of the Moon, for example, you should place the planetary banner of the Moon there. It took me four weeks of intense work to reconstruct the altar-surface of Dr. Rudd. Click on it to see it in a larger version.

 Dr. Rudd's analogies are quite interesting to analyze. The southern side Meridies of the altar is associated with the first banner, the north side Septentrio is analogous to the fourth and fifth banner, the eastern side Oriens is analogous to the second and third one and the western side Occidens is associated with the sixth and seventh banner. Contrasting to them Michael reigns the southern region and has a relation to the first banner, as well as the enochian symbols of this side. In the east Gabriel and Uriel reign who have relations to the second and third banner. The fourth and fifth banners have a relation to the eastern region as well as the western region, which is reigned by Gabriel and Uriel together, too. The northern region has a relation to the sixth and seventh banner and is being controlled by Raphael. The angel's names written in hebrew are written just above the enochian symbols and the latin names of the cardinal directions.

Wind Direction in Latin	Banner of the enochian edge	Banner of the ruling angel	Ruling Angel	Dark Angel	Angel of the Element
Meridies	1.	1.	Michael	Amaymon	Seraph (Fire)
Septentrio	4. & 5.	6. & 7.	Raphael	Egyn	Cherub (Air)
Occidens	6. & 7.	4. & 5.	Uriel	Paymon	Ariel (Earth)
Oriens	2. & 3.	2. & 3.	Gabriel	Uricus	Tharsis (Water)

The letters in quotation marks represent the hebrew letters of the names. I used for Ayin = O, the rest of the transliteration is self-explanatory. Within the innermost ring the name of the angel of fire is written in the south: Seraph = "ShRPh", in the north the name of the angel of air: Cherub = "ChRVB". In the east you can read the name of the angel of the water element: Tharsis = "ThRShISh" and in the west the name of the angel of the earth element: Ariel = "ARIAL".

Within the second inner ring these angelic names of the ruling angels of the 28 houses of the Moon are written, beginning in the south (Meridies) and reading them clockwise. The first one you can find on the top, just beside the cross: Geniel = "GNAL", Enediel = "ANDAL", Amixiel = "AMZAL", Azariel = "AZRAL", Gabiel = "GBAL", Dirachiel = "DRChAL", Scheliel = "SHLAL", Amnediel = "AMNDAL", Barbiel = "BRBAL", Ardesiel = "ARDZAL", Neciel = "NCIAL", Abduxuel = "ABDZZAL", Jazeriel = "IAZRAL", Ergediel = "ARGDAL", Ataliel = "ATLAL", Azeruel = "AZRVAL", Adriel = "ADRAL" (this name is missing in the manuscript), Egibiel = "AGBAL", Amutiel = "AMVTAL", Kiriel = "QIRAL", Bethnael = "BTHNAL", Geliel = "GLIAL", Requiel = "RTQIAL", Abrinael = "ABRINAL", Aziel = "AZIAL", Tagriel = "TGRAL", Alhoniel = "ALHNAL", Amnixiel = "AMNZAL".

Within the third ring you can find the angels that control the zodiacal signs. Again you start in the south, beginning at the cross and read the names clockwise: Malchidael = "MLKDIAL", Asmodel = "ASMVDAL", Ambriel = "AMBRIAL", Muriel = "MVRIAL", Verchiel = "VRKIAL", Hamaliel = "HMLIAL", Zuriel = "ZVRIAL", Barbiel = "BRBIAL", Advachiel = "ADVKIAL", Hanael = "HNAL", Gabiel = "GABIAL", Barchiel = "BARKIAL" (this name is missing in the manuscript).

The inner ring of the two outer rings is quite chaotic in the manuscripts. There you can find the ten sephiroth and their names of God in Atziluth, the angelic choirs in Yetzirah, the archangels in Briah and the heavens in Assiah. All four cabbalistical spheres are represented in this circle. I corrected the sequence of names and the spelling of the names. Beginning at the cross in the south, you can read these names clockwise: Eheieh = "AHIH", Kether = "KThR", Chaioth ha-Qadosh = "HIVTh HQDSh", Metatron = "MTTRVN", Rashith ha-Gilgalim = "RAShITh HGLGLIM", Yah = "IH", Chokmah = "ChKMH", Auphanim = "AVPNIM", Ratziel = "RTzIAL" (this angel is missing in the manuscript), Mazloth = "MZLVTh", Yahwe Elohim = "IHVH ALHIM", Binah = "BINH", Aralim = "ARALIM", Tzaphkiel = "TzPQIAL", Shabbathai = "ShBThAI", El ="AL", Chesed = "ChSD", Tzadqiel = "TzDQIAL", Chashmalim = "ChShMLIM" (this angelic choir is missing in the manuscript), Tzedeq = "TzDQ", Elohim Gibor = "ALHIM GBVR", Geburah = "GBVRH", Kamael = "KMAL", Seraphim = "ShRPIM", Madim = "MADIM", Yahweh Eloah Va-Daath = "IHVH ALVH VDOTh" (in the manuscript this name is shortened to "ALVH"), Tiphareth = "ThPARTh", Michael = "MIKAL", Malachim = "MLKIM", Shemesh = "ShMSh", Yahweh Tzabaoth = "IHVH TzBAVTh", Hod = "HVD", Beni Elohim = "BNI ALHIM", Raphael = "RPAL", Kokab = "KVKB", Shaddai El Chai = "ShDI AL ChI" (in the manuscript this name of God is shortened to "ShDI"), Yesod = "ISVD", Cherubim = "KRBIM", Gabriel = "GBRIAL", Levanah = "LBNH", Adonai Melek = "ADNI MLK", Malkuth = "MLKVTh", Ishim = "AShIM", Sandalphon = "SNDLPVN" (in the manuscript the analogous term "The Soul of the Messiah" — though in a horrible spelling), Cholem Yesodoth = "ChLM ISVDVTh".

The outer ring contents the 72 angels of the Shemhamphorasch. The copist (or Dr. Rudd) did not have enough place to write all names in the circle itself. In the manuscript the right column contents the missing names. Vehuiah = "VHVIH", Yeliel = "ILIAL", Sitael = "SIThAL", Elemiah = "OLMIH", Mahasiah = "MHShIH", Lelahel = "LLHAL", Achaiah = "AKAIH", Kahetel = "KHThAL", Aziel = "HZIAL", Aladiah = "ALDIH", Lauviah = "LAVIH", Hahaiah = "HHOIH", Yezalel = "IZLAL", Mebahel = "MBHAL", Hariel = "HRIAL", Hakamiah = "HQMIH", Lauviah = "LAVIH", Kaliel = "KLIAL", Leuviah = "LVVIH", Pahaliah = "PHLIH", Nelekael = "NLKAL", Yeiael = "IIIIL", Melahel = "MLHAL", Hahuiah = "HHVIH", Nith-haiah = "NThHIH", Haaiah = "HAAAIH", Yerathel = "IRThAL", Seeiah = "ShAHIH", Reiyel = "RIIIL", Omael = "AVMAL", Lecabel = "LKBAL", Vasariah = "VShRIH", Yehuiah = "IHVIH", Lehahiah = "LHHIH", Chevakiah = "KVQIH", Menadel = "MNDAL", Aniel = "ANIAL", Haamiah = "HOMIH", Rehael = "RHOAL", Yeiazel = "IIZAL", Hahahel = "HHHAL", Mikael = "MIKAL", Vevaliah = "VVLIH", Yelahiah = "ILHIH", Sealiah = "SALIH", Ariel = "ORIAL", Asaliah = "OShLIH", Michael = "MIHAL", Vehuel = "VHVAL", Daniel = "DNIAL", Hahasiah = "HHShIH", Emamiah = "OMMIH", Nanael = "NNAAL", Nithael = "NIThAL", Mebaiah = "MBHIH", Poiel = "PVIAL", Nemmamiah = "NMMIH", Yeialel = "IILAL", Harachel = "HRChAL", Mitzrael = "MTzRAL", Umabel = "VMBAL", Yahehel = "IHHAL", Anuiel = "ONVAL", Mechiel = "MChIAL", Damabiah = "DMBIH", Manakel = "MNQAL", Eiael = "AIOAL", Chabuiah = "ChBVIH", Rachel = "RAChAL", Yabamiah = "IBMIH", Haiel = "HIIAL", Mumiah = "MVMIH".

The greece letters in the top two pentagrams are building the word: Al-pha. The greece letters in the two pentagrams below result in Ome-ga.