Be careful of conflating history with mythos. Academically, the Angelical Language of Dee and Kelley did not exist in any way before them. Hebrew could not have adopted anything from or been influenced by Angelical, because Angelical did not exist before 1581-2. In this light, Angelical would have to have Hebrew influence, not the other way around.
But the mythos – that is the “magical reality” – is different. For example, I was once told by my HGA that “Lapis Lazuli” has roots in Angelical. But I can’t make that claim on any kind of academic or historical or etymological basis. It’s no different than having Marduk, Ra, and Yahweh all claiming to have created the world single-handedly. Mythos isn’t literal history.
As for “Lapis Lazuli” (and I’m not even sure WHICH part of that is supposed to have Angelical roots!*) I would take this info as an invitation to incorporate aspects of one or both of those words into Angelical (like Dee did with Londoh and Madrid), rather than looking back in history for an Angelical basis for the mundane words.
* – As the Angelical for “stone/rock” is “-patralx” or “orri”, it seems unlikely “Lapis” has any link to those words. So perhaps “Lazuli” is where the Angelical is found – and a brief search suggests that word is of Arabic/Persian origin, and is simply the name of the place where the stone was mined. (Hence “Stone of Lazuli.”) So it at least has a mysterious origin to work with. 🙂
Get a signed copy of The Angelical Language (Vols I and II) and The Essential Enochian Grimoire at Doc Solomon’s Occult Curios.
The (Surviving) Dee Collection at the British Museum
It’s not often John Dee pops up in the mainstream – so when he does, you can bet it’s going to get attention from the Angel-botherers. Especially the ones, like me, who count Dee as something of a personal hero. So it’s little surprise this article from CNN is currently making the rounds:
Before you get too excited, there is nothing really ground-breaking here – that is, for most of you who are likely reading this blog and clicked on this particular post. It just says they ran some tests that prove the obsidian mirror in the British Museum’s John Dee Collection is, indeed, from Mexico. Honestly, this was something we already knew – it’s an Aztec mirror. The test just finally proved it. For some reason.
But, of course, I had a few things to say about the museum’s collection of Dee’s magical tools. (I would warn you it might ruin some of your fantasies…. but you’ve already read the title of this blog post, so…) I first wrote a long comment on the Facebook post where I discovered the article. But once I realized how long it was, I decided to also copy it onto my wall in a post of its own. Now that post seems to be making the rounds all on its own – so I decided to post it here, to make it easier to find and share.
So, without further ado, here are some facts about the British Museum’s collection of “John Dee’s” magical tools, in two parts:
PART 1: The black mirror attributed to Dee is not only unproven to have ever belonged to him, but it seems even more likely it did not. Consider this object is in a collection that includes a large golden re-creation of Kelley’s Watchtower Vision – an object Dee was never told to create, that plays no role whatsoever in the magick, and Dee left no record of having created.
To be frank, NONE of “Dee’s” magical objects in the British Museum are certain to have been his. We don’t *know* he cast those wax Seals. Even the now-lost Table of Practice was described as being quite colorful; but Dee was told, when he asked the Angels about using color, they “had no respect of color.” So either Dee decided that meant he could add color, or not, as he wished (which is possible) – or he didn’t make that Table.
Considering these items are in a collection of things very unlikely to have belonged to Dee, AND the fact that old wizards at the time LOVED to claim they had artifacts from ancient wizards they didn’t really have…. well it’s not looking good for the “Dee” collection. (Maybe it should be renamed the “Stuff People Have Claimed Once Belonged to John Dee” exhibit?)
PART 2: Also, and I can’t stress this enough!, Dee never, ever, at ANY time in the journals, used a black mirror to scry the Angels! Not with Barnabus Saul. Not with Kelley. Not with Arthur. Not with…. damn I forget the last dude’s name. [NOTE: there were actually at least two: Bartholomew Hickman and a Mr. Nicholls – the latter of whom did not win Dee’s favor.] But not with any scryer at any time did Dee EVER use a black mirror.
He used a clear quartz stone [sphere] in a frame made for a crystal ball. And this was NOT the stone the Angels “gave” to him.
That one was yet another stone – about the size and shape of an egg, but also kind of flat. IOW – sort of like a lens. That one was for scrying the Parts of the Earth (aka – spying on foreign nations), and while we have the record of an Angel directing Dee to find it, there is no later record of him using it. (I say he probably did, but we don’t have those records. More than likely they were in a separate top-secret military journal that only the Queen and/or Walsingham could see.)”
It is with much sadness that I report the demise of The Magickal Review dot org – which once offered digital scans of all of Dee’s Enochian journals, a PDF of TFR, and many other important academic resources. 😦
I wish I knew what happened, though the site’s administrator (Ian Rons) has been posting for a couple of years that he has lost interest in the Enochian system. He likely simply felt it was time to move on…
I can say, without a doubt, that my last three Enochian books would not have been possible without Ian’s site, along with his direct help and permissions. So wherever you are, Ian, thanks! 🙂
Meanwhile, we have not lost those academic resources! Joshua Knarr acted quickly and recovered most (if not, by this point, all) of the scanned Enochian documents plus a ton of other great material – and archived them all on his Ceremonial Magick Musings blog. Thanks Joshua! 🙂
My new book The Essential Enochian Grimoire has finally been released! :):):) Have you received your copy yet? What do you think? 😉
There are several pieces of information contained in the book that I fully expect to be controversial. Some of it is simply obscure material that has never been published before – such as the proper design and use of the reverse side of the Holy Lamen, the little-known 92nd Part of the Earth, or the proper correlation between the four Watchtowers and the “quarters of the Earth.”  Some of it includes corrections to long-standing mistakes, – such as the fact that only three of the four Watchtower Seals was given in Dee’s journals, or an incorrect number in the circumference of the Seal of Truth, or the six names of God that were switched on the famous “Banner Diagram.”
One of the most important corrections I made to the material was the restoration of the functions of the Heptarchic angels. Students of Dee’s material will already know how confused and incomplete Dee’s list of functions for these angels was. What you may not know is that Dee was well aware of the problem and made several notations in his journals that give us the necessary keys to restore the list.
Unfortunately, I just didn’t have room in The Essential Enochian Grimoire to lay out all the details of how I went about restoring the information. But this is a pretty big change to the commonly-published material, so I felt it was necessary to show my work. It is important for students to realize this is a restoration I have made based on Dee’s own records, and not merely an innovation I came up with on my own. The Essential Enochian Grimoire is ultimately about Dee’s work, not mine. (Mine will follow in a future publication.)
So, in order for you to see my process – complete with journal references and quotes from Dee to back up my points – I wrote an essay entitled Restoring the Enochian Heptarchia. It has been published by the Llewellyn Journal thus far, and you can read it for free. 🙂
I’ve been given the go-ahead to share the cover-art for my next book with you. Check it out!
The Essential Enochian Grimoire – Front Cover
This is the first Enochian Magick book of its kind ever published. It is not a re-hash of Dee’s journal entries, nor is it about magickal theory. This grimoire – as the term implies – is a manual on how to perform the magick.  This may be the first time you’re ever seen Enochian Magick presented as Dee himself would likely have performed it.
And that’s hardly all this book covers! Part 1 is an introduction to the Enochian tradition, perfect for students who are just beginning their study of the material:
– It begins with the mythos of Enoch the Prophet.
– Then outlines the work (and likely intentions) of John Dee and Edward Kelley. As a bonus, I even included a “cast of characters” that explains “who’s who” (both human and angel) in Dee’s magickal journals and biographies about him.
– Finally covering the post-Dee period that eventually led to the Golden Dawn recension of the system (aka Neo-Enochian).  I explain how the original Dee material made it to the Golden Dawn, how it changed as it went along, and exactly what are the differences between the Dee-purist and Neo-Enochian systems.
Part 2 of the book is the grimoire proper:
– Starting with the cosmology of Dee’s system, all of the tools and talismans, the hierarchies of angels (along with their functions and – where Dee recorded them – their appearances) and finally the initiations and magickal rituals used to summon them. All four phases of the system are laid out: the Heptarchia, Gebofal (the Book of Loagaeth system), the Parts of the Earth and the Watchtower system.
– Then the Neo-Enochan system is layed out (entirely separate from the Dee-purist material): including its unique hierarchy of Elemental angels and their functions, the application of occult forces (astrology, Tarot, geomancy, Tetragrammaton, etc) to the Watchtowers, the construction of truncated pyramids and Elemental sphinxes, and the descriptions and attributions of the Coptic-Egyptian Godforms used with the Watchtower squares (as well as with Rosicrucian Chess). These Godforms include updated and corrected color schemes based upon the Elements they represent. Finally, an example Neo-Enochian summoning ceremony is included to show you how it all fits together in practice.
Once you have read and studied the Essential Enochian Grimoire, you will have a firm grasp of the two Enochian currents (Dee-purist and Neo-Enochian), understand the differences between them, and have more than enough material on hand to begin experimenting with either one.
——-
Enochian Magic is one aspect of the Western Esoteric Tradition that students sometimes find intimidating and overwhelming. In The Essential Enochian Grimoire, Aaron Leitch has done a remarkable job of clarifying the Enochian system for the benefit of both beginners and advanced magicians alike. You will not find a better introduction to Enochian Magic anywhere.
—Â Charles “Chic” Cicero and Sandra “Tabatha” Cicero
Chief Adepts of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Co-authors of The Essential Golden Dawn
——-
In the complex and often confusing world of Enochian Magick, Aaron Leitch has accomplished the seemingly impossible by bringing clarity and precision while never oversimplifying or speaking down to the reader. He separates the major sources of what is actually a set of magickal systems—from the works of Dee and from those of the Golden Dawn—and without requiring years of studying an arcane language clearly explains the methods and techniques. He keeps each form of the systems discrete and independent for the purist, but also shows how they can be combined for the adventurer. This book belongs on your magickal bookshelf.
—Donald Michael Kraig, Author of Modern Magick
——-
“Leitch brings his expertise to the fore in what is sure to live up to its name as an indispensable addition to any Enochian magician’s bookshelf. The Essential Enochian Grimoire provides a comprehensive look at the history and composition of both Dee’s original system and the innovations of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley, and others, all appropriately divided so that magicians of either a Dee purist or Neo-Enochian persuasion can take or leave material as they see fit. Leitch goes beyond just the theory of Enochian magic, delivering a workable approach to the system that will be an important asset to many. In addition, he looks at lesser known areas, employing a scholarly approach, while making the system easy to learn and use. A highly recommended book.”
— Frater Yechidah, author of Enochian Magic in Theory and Enochian Magic in Practice
I recently submitted my latest book on Enochian magick. This one is a practical manual – a grimoire. The publisher loves it, and we are moving forward with the editing process. Plus, we’re considering ideas for titles and cover design. (And that is why I’m posting this – see further down.)
The book is intended to explain what Enochian Magick really is – especially for those who are just beginning to look into the system. It will serve as a study guide when you read more advanced texts AND it will serve as a functional Enochian Grimoire – outlining step-by-step how to perform all of the rituals for the Heptarchia, Gebofal (the Liber Loagaeth system) and the Great Table. (Much of this has never seen print before.)
It is in three parts – the first is a general overview of the history of the Enochian Tradition. The second part lays out the system as John Dee recorded it. The third part outlines the Golden Dawn recension of the material –Â including their use of the “Reformed Table of Raphael” and an overview of the Concourse of the Forces.
Both the second and third parts (the actual grimoires) contain the step-by-step instructions for performing the rituals. I don’t waste time on all the ciphers and word squares from which Dee decrypted the system, nor with endless quotes from the Dee journals. I do nothing at all to complicate what is otherwise a simple and straight-forward system of Renaissance Angel magick. I just lay out the system as Dee himself would have practiced it. Then I do the same for the Golden Dawn system. Both Dee-purist and Golden Dawn practices are kept entirely separate, and the differences between the two are plainly explained.
Now, the publisher has asked me what I would like the cover to look like. Personally, I would like it to be a classy cover – akin to what they used on the dust-jackets for The Angelical Language. I don’t want to use the Seal of Truth as that has been done to death. I love the cover of Don Tyson’s “Enochian Magick for Beginners”, but that’s been used. lol All in all, though, you can probably see what I’m getting at. Not too busy, not too pop, not too “Enochian” – I want it to reflect that this is a grimoire of Angel Magick.
So what do you folks think? What would you like to see on the cover of a book like this? In about a week I will send my best ideas to the publisher. Now is your chance to put in a word on what you would like to see as well. 🙂 Let me know!
I was just alerted to this new blog about the Book of Soyga. It is a pretty good write-up – taking us from Dee’s own attempts to question the archangel Uriel about the book, to the re-discovery of the book by Deborah Harkness and finally to the deciphering of the 36 Tables of Soyga by Jim Reeds. The author even created a computer program that allows you to generate new Tables based on your own chosen keywords. 🙂
Personally, I have yet to grasp the significance of the 36 Tables of Soyga. It seems to me that their mystery must be hidden in the keywords that are used to create each one. For example, the Table labeled “Magister” is given the keyword MOYSES – which is suspiciously close to Moses, who legend tells us was the only master to open and enter the highest Gate of Heaven.
The author of the blog seems to agree – linking the concept of the keywords to the Biblical quote from the Book of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And that the universe was created by and through that Word. Much as each Table of Soyga is created by and through it’s keyword.
Therefore, I would personally like to see more work done to decipher the hidden meanings of the 36 keywords. (Well, 35, as MOYSES is pretty clear.) Where do these other keywords come from? Are they corruptions of old Hebrew, Chaldean or Egyptian words? Are they angel names from known grimoires? Are they Qabalistic Names of God taken from various places in Scipture? I’d love to know!
As some of you surely know, I go into some detail about the Book of Soyga in the first volume of my The Angelical Language, Vol 1. That is because I consider the 36 36×36 Tables of Soyga to be the forerunners of Dee’s 49 49×49 Tables of Loagaeth.
I’m not the first to point out the sequential progression from one square number (36) to the next (49). I also notice that Soyga has 36 indecipherable keywords, while the Tables of Loagaeth are given 49 equally indecipherable “titles.” (Well, 48, as we are given neither a title nor an Angelical Calling for the first Table.) Perhaps these titles are used in some manner to decrypt – or even create – the Loagaeth tables? So far no one has discovered the solution.
Meanwhile, in the Book of Soyga, the 36 Tables are associated with astrological correspondences:Â Two for each sign of the Zodiac (for the Biblically significant total of 24), one for each of the seven Planets, one for each of the four Philosophical Elements and finally one for the “Magister.”
From what little we know about the Tables of Loagaeth, it would appear a similar correspondence was intended. As with the “Magister” Table in Soyga, we find one Table in Loagaeth singled out – said to be reserved only for the Christos.
We also know that Loagaeth‘s Table 19 is associated with the “Spirits of the Earth.” Dee called it “Table 18” in his journal, however he often referred to the second Table as “the first” (because Table 1 was inaccessable) – so it is likely that Dee’s “Table 18” is in fact the 19th in the Book.
Table 19 is significant because it is the final Table before the Tables of the 30 Aethyrs begin. Thus it is likely that Tables 1-19 form their own set. Because the 49 Tables of Loagaeth cover the Seven Days of Creation, I assume the first nineteen embody the initial six Days, leaving the final 30 to represent the seventh Day (i.e. – the finished and active universe).
Thus, we have the First Table of Loagaeth representing the Christos/Godhead, and we have the 19th Table representing Earth – clearly indicating a descent from highest to lowest. That is comparable to the Tables of Soyga, which run from the Zodiac, to the Planets to the four Elements. I think a similar set of astrological correspondences are intended for Tables 2-19 of Loagaeth. (The first Table of Loagaeth would be analogous to the final “Magister” Table of Soyga.)
Given all of this, I would suggest that Tables 16, 17 and 18 of Loagaeth represent Fire, Water and Air – though not necessarily in that order. In Dee’s seven Heptarchic tables, the Elemetns are presented in the order of Water, Earth, Air and Fire – which doesn’t put Earth in last place. In my own Discourse on the Enochian Watchtowers , I suggest the Watchtowers represent the four zodiacal triplicities, running in the zodiacal order of Fire, Earth, Air and Water – which also does not place Earth in last place.
So we must be looking at a different pattern here in Loagaeth. Just perhaps, the intended order is that found in the four cardinal directions of a zodiacal chart – which follow the order of Aries (East), Cancer (North), Libra (West) and Capricorn (South). [Additional Note: This pattern – looking toward each quarter of a zodiacal circle – seems to be suggested by the pattern of the four Angelical Callings that correspond to these four Loagaeth Tables.] That would give us the order of Fire, Water, Air and Earth for the Loagaeth Tables 16, 17, 18 and 19 respectively.
Now, we still have Tables 2-15 to figure out. That’s thirteen Tables, which doesn’t leave us room for the twelve signs of the zodiac plus the seven Planets.
Yet, we do have evidence that the planets should be included. The 9th Table – known as the Pagesgem Table – bears the name of the Heptarchic Prince of the Sun Bornogo in a star-pattern in its center. And, if we take a look at the Angelical Call that opens this Table (Call 8), it happens to begin with a reference to “the midday” (or noon). That’s pretty hefty evidence that Table 9 should represent the Sun.
Unfortunately, the names of the other six Planetary Princes do not appear on seven other Tables – leaving us all alone to speculate.  Rest assured I have tried every way I can imagine to get the seven Planets to fit comfortably into the Tables of Loagaeth – so that Table 9 is the Sun and sufficient Tables are left before or behind the group for something else (like the Zodiac). I’ve tried the Heptarchic ordering of Planets as well as the Chaldean ordering. I’ve tried assigning the Planets to Tables 9-15, Tables 3-9, and even Tables 8-14 (using Heptarchic ordering) and 6-11 (using Chaldean ordering). Not one of these schemes fits in a way that makes me comfortable.
So, let’s consider another option: What if Table 9 represents a sign of the Zodiac that is ruled by the Sun? There is only one: Leo, the fifth sign of the Zodiac. That should mean that Tables 5-16 represent the twelve signs. But, dammit!, Table 16 already represents Fire and thus can’t possibly represent Pisces.
Another possibility is grouping the Zodiac signs into triplicities, just as I have suggested is intended by the Watchtowers: Aries, Leo, Sag – Cancer, Scorpius, Pisces – Libra, Aquarius, Gemini – Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo. By keeping Leo at Table 9, we would have the Zodiac running across Tables 8-19.
Unfortunately, it also takes up our four final Tables that were reserved for the four Philosophical Elements. It does place Virgo at Table 19 – which is an Earth sign. But we would have to consider that association a stretch at best. Dee said that Table 19 represents the “Spirits of the Earth” not the “Spirits of Virgo.”
On the other hand, the above ordering of Zodiac signs would place Scorpius at Table 12, opened by the eleventh Angelical Calling. If we look at that Call, we see the Eagle Kherub (traditionally representing Scorpius) calling together a bunch of angels into the “house of death.” And the house of death in the Zodiac is the house of Scorpius.
This is looking good, but has a few problems. First, it leaves only six Tables from 2-7, and that’s one short for seven Planets. We could assign a Planet to Table 1 (the Godhead), but why would should one of the seven Planets be inaccessible to humans? (Yes, the modern Hermetic Tree of Life places one Planet – Saturn – in the inaccessible Supernals. But that Tree wasn’t around when Dee did his work. And even in modern systems Saturn isn’t considered “inaccessible” to humans.)
There are further problems with this as well, which are more easily explained if you have a list to look at. So here is the scheme as I’ve described it so far. (The Planets are listed in the order Dee gives in the Heptarchia):
Table 1:Â Venus
Table 2:Â Sol
Table 3:Â Mars
Table 4:Â Jupiter
Table 5:Â Mercury
Table 6:Â Saturn
Table 7:Â Luna
Table 8:Â Aries
Table 9:Â Leo
Table 10:Â Â Sagittarius
Table 11:Â Cancer
Table 12:Â Scorpius
Table 13:Â Pisces
Table 14:Â Libra
Table 15:Â Aquarius
Table 16:Â Gemini or Fire
Table 17:Â Capricorn or Water
Table 18:Â Taurus or Air
Table 19:Â Virgo or Earth
Here is what I do not like about the above scheme:
1) As I stated previously, Table 1 is inaccessible, and I can’t see why any of the Planets would be associated with it.
2) I still think the final four Tables should be assigned the four Elements, and not Zodiacal signs.
3) My analysis of the Angelical Calls suggests that Calls 1 and 2 (opening Tables 2 and 3) should invoke the seven Planetary Archangels. Why would those Calls therefore open Tables associated only with Sol and Mars?
4) The third Angelical Call (opening Table 4), said by the angels to be “the first of nature and the beginning of your being in body”, appears to describe the entire circle of the Zodiac. This has nothing whatsoever to do with Jupiter.
5) Angelical Calls 3-18 (opening Tables 4-19) seem to address the Zodiacal angels throughout the four quarters of the heavens. So why should Tables 4-7 only represent four Planets?
Here is a possible list of Loagaeth Table correspondences based on the scheme suggested by the Angelical Callings (plus, restoring the Elements to the final four):
Table 1:Â Godhead
Tables 2: The Creator (Iadbaltoh)
Table 3: The Shekinah/Sophia
(I have previously suggested Tables 2 and 3, together, represent the Seven Planetary Archangels, but there is very little to support this from the Calls that open them – Calls 1 and 2. These Calls certainly seem to better indicate the Creator in Call 1, and the references in Call 2 to flowers and a bridal chamber – which is quite “Song of Solmon”-like – seems to hearken to Jewish references to the Shekinah.)
Tables 4-15: The 12 Zodiacal Kings
Table 16:Â Spirits of Fire
Table 17:Â Spirits of Water
Table 18:Â Spirits of Air
Table 19:Â Spirits of Earth
I admit this one looks good. However, I won’t be happy with this until I can find a way to affix Leo to Table 9 and Scorpius to Table 12. Below is a list that shows Leo and Scorpius in place, along with the directions mentioned (or apparently indicated) in the Angelical Callings that open each Table:
Table 4:Â ? (East?)
Table 5:Â ? (South)
Table 6:Â ? (West?)
Table 7:Â ? (North)
Table 8:Â ? (East)
Table 9:Â Leo (Noon/South)
Table 10: ?  (West)
Table 11:Â ? (North)
Table 12:Â Scorpius (North*)
Table 13:Â ? (South)
Table 14:Â ? (South)
Table 15:Â ? (No direction mentioned)
(* The Eleventh Calling – opening Table 12 – describes five angels flying into the east. However, the Eagle calls them back and gathers them into the “house of death.” Traditionally, the Eagle Kherub is associated with the North. See Agrippa’s Three Books, “Scale of the Number 4.”)
And there lies the greatest stumbling block to solving the puzzle! I’ve searched for different ways to arrange the Zodiac signs so they will fit that scheme – leaving Leo and Scorpius where they belong. Letting them run in natural order from Aries to Pisces doesn’t work. Grouping them by triplicity doesn’t work. I’ve even tried to arrange them in different orders according to strength and other considerations used in Renaissance astrology. So far, I have found no scheme that naturally fits.
But, never fear Dear Reader! I will continue to search and ask the angels for guidance. With a little luck and perhaps a miracle or two, I should stumble across the solution someday – maybe soon. 🙂
As many of you know, I believe John Dee was given the Angelical alphabet for more than just writing the perfected Holy Book of Loagaeth. As the angels revealed the mysterious characters in the shewstone, they stated that the alphabet was “preferred before that which you call Hebrew.” I strongly doubt the Angels wanted Dee to get all Jewish people of the world to begin speaking fluent Angelical! Dee himself likely knew enough Hebrew to read untranslated Jewish texts (or at least get the gist of them), but he wouldn’t have had any use for Angelical in such tasks. He did, however, make use of the Hebrew alphabet in his occultism – much of it drawn directly from Agrippa’s ‘Occult Philsoophy.’ You can read for yourself what Dee was studying: It begins in Book III, chapter 24 and continues until chapter 28.
It seems obvious to me that Dee’s angels wanted him to use Angelical in place of the Hebrew alphabet in all of Agrippa’s tables, charts and methods of encrypting/decrypting Divine Names. This is perfectly in line with Agrippa himself, who asserts that his methods can be used with any alphabet.
I’m sure many of you have already read my essay on this subject: The Angelical Alphabet. (Read it now at the link, or you can find it in ‘The Angelical Language’, Vol I.) Over the years since I published it, I have been contacted by several students who wish to make use of the techniques, but need further illustration of the process. The Tables of Ziruph, especially, can be confusing until you get the hang of their proper useage.
So, I am making this blog as an example of how to use the information outlined in ‘The Angelical Alphabet.’ Though I will make reference to Agrippa’s work along the way, I will be using the Angelical Alphabet in place of Hebrew. (There will be only one exception to this – and I will make it clear when I am discussing traditional Hebrew Angels.)
Also note: In this blog, I will use the English-letter equivalents of the Angelical , so we do not have to worry about Enochian fonts. Where necessary, I will mention the letter by its Angelical name. If you want to see a chart of the alphabet and the names of its letters, refer to the Angelical Alphabet essay linked above.
Finding the Name of an Angel from a Horoscope (an Example)
In my essay, I describe this technique in a section entitled ‘Of Finding Out the Names of Spirits and Geniuses from the Disposition of Celestial Bodies.’ This has various uses. If you decode the name from your own natal chart, you have discovered the hidden name of your Nativity Angel. This is one of your Guardian Angels (not the same as Abramelin’s ‘Holy Guardian Angel’), who can speak or assist you with any part of your life covered by your natal chart.
On the other hand, you can also draw up a horoscope for magickal timing – finding a place and time where the stars are fortunate toward your goal or sympathetic toward the Angel(s) you wish to contact. If you then decode a name from this chart, you will have an Angel who is set specifically over your magickal goal. It is then possible to use other standard magickal arts to create a sigil for the Angel, a Talismanic Image, summon it or work with it however you choose.
Let us assume you wish to work with the planet Mars (the planet of agression, strength, protection, etc.). Therefore, you will naturally try to find a time when Mars is strong and well-aspected with the other planets. It is best if Mars himself is above the horizon, and even better if one can find such a time that falls upon a day and hour of Mars. For our purposes, we shall pretend we drew a chart with the following dignities and aspects:
Ascendant: For our purposes here, we will suppose the Ascendant was at 1 degrees Aries.
Luna: 1st House, 17 degrees Aries, with no dignity (meaning neither good or bad). Luna attempts to help the Detrimental Mercury with a Trine aspect, though Mercury is the stronger of the pair. Luna does gain some power for residing in a sign ruled by Mars.
Jupiter: 3rd House, 8 degrees Gemini, in Detriment. Inconjunct with Saturn so that Fate and Fortune are mis-aligned. It is also in opposition to Venus (Fortune and Passion are oppossed here) – which means it is hindering Venus’ attempt to aid Saturn. This maelific Jupiter seems more powerful than Saturn or Venus, if you consider a Detriment to be more powerful than no dignity at all.
Saturn: 8th House, 8 degrees Scorpio, with no dignity. It is inconjunct with Jupiter (Fate and Fortune are not working well together), but Venus is attempting to lend some Passionate support in a Semi-Sextile. It gains some power for being in a sign ruled by Mars (our planet of focus).
Venus: 9th House, 6 degrees Sagittarius, with no dignity. As stated above, Venus is in opposition to Jupiter and Semi-Sextile with Saturn. Both Saturn and Venus are relatively weak, and they are overpowered by the Detrimental Jupiter.
Mercury: 9th House, 15 degrees Sagittarius, in Detriment. This is generally bad news for magick or communication. It is in Trine with Luna, which alleviates some of the negativity – but sadly Luna has no dignity and is therefore weaker than the Detrimental Mercury.
Sol: 10th House, 1 degrees Capricon (thus cusped with Sagittarius), with no dignity in either sign. He has no aspect with any other planet, however he does happen to reside in the sign of Mars’ exaltation. Not particularly strong in the chart, but Mars should lend him some power.
Mars: 11th House, 26 degrees Capricorn, in Exaltation. Without a doubt Mars is the most powerful and fortunate planet in this chart. Not only is he Exalted, he forms no negative aspects with other planets. He is also above the horizon, which is always a plus.
Once you have found this magickal time and drawn the horoscope, it is time to decode the name of your Angel. As Agrippa teaches, one must first assign letters to all 360 degrees of the chart. Beginning with Pa (B) in House 1, degree 1 and moving counterclockwise (that is, with the natural order of the signs), assign one letter of the Angelical Alphabet to each degree, repeating the alphabet (From Pa to Gisg) over and over until you run out of degrees. In my essay I have done this work for you, and provided easy reference tables to find the letter of any degree in a horoscope.
Next, consider the aspects of the chart – specifically the strongest and most fortunate aspects that will aid you in your work. Unfortunate and weak aspects can be ignored. The planets fall in the following order upon our example chart, starting from the First House and moving counterclockwise:
Luna, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, Sol, Mars
The fortunate and/or strong aspects we wish to keep are:
Luna, Saturn, Sol, Mars
That is, the two planets that reside in the signs ruled by Mars, the Sun residing in the sign of Mars’ Exaltation, and Mars itself. The Angelical letters associated with their degrees on the chart are as follows:
Luna: 1st House, 17 degrees = R (Don)
Saturn: 8th House, 8 degrees = M (Tal)
Sol: 10th House, 1 degrees = U/V (Van)
Mars: 11th House, 26 degrees = L (Ur)
To compile the name, you have a couple of choices. One is simpler and, in my opinion, less powerful – and that is to simply take the letters as they fall counterclockwise around the chart, starting with the First House and moving to the Twelfth. In our example, this gives us:
RMUL
Agrippa suggests we add “El”, “Yah”, “On” or “Yod” to the end of the name. However, since we are using Angelical rather than Hebrew, I feel we can dispense with that convention. Thus, the resulting name above could be pronounced Remul, Ramul or even Ramvel, Ramuel, etc. When spelled in Angelical characters, it would only have the four letters Don (R), Tal (M), Van (U/V) and Ur (L).
The other, more powerful, option is to organize the letters according to their strength in the chart – strongest letter first, weakest letter last. If you have done your work correctly, that should place the letter of the planet you are working with first in the name. In our example, the aspects fall into this order of power:
1) Mars:Â In Exaltation, no negative aspects.
2) Sol:Â No dignity, no aspects, in sign of Mars’ exaltation.
3) Luna:Â No dignity, trine with Mercury, in a sign ruled by Mars.
4) Saturn: No dignity, inconjunct with Jupiter, semi-sextile with Venus, in a sign ruled by Mars.
The above results in the following:
LURM
In this case, our angel’s name would be Lurem. Technically speaking, both Lurem and Remuel should be different aspects of the same angel, but Lurem will be the more powerful of the two.
If you have reason to search for the demon or “negative angel” from the same horoscope, you follow a similar – yet inverted – process. First, you must have the name of the good angel. Then, you need to write the alphabet into all 360 degrees of the chart as before, except this time you place the first letter into the descendant – or the 1st degree of the seventh House – running clockwise around the chart. (Again, I have done this work for you in my essay.)
Now, you need only look at the degrees of the letters of the angel’s name. For each degree, take the letter from the spot 180 degrees opposite of (that is, in opposition to) the angel’s letter. In our example, we have:
Thus, the name of the demon is XEYZ – which we might pronounce Zayz or Zay-zod.
Using the ‘Tables of Ziruph’ (More Examples)
In my Angelical Alphabet essay, I also explain the uses of Agrippa’s ‘Tables of Ziruph’ – as found in his ‘Occult Philosophy’ Chapter 27. You will find the section in my essay entitled ”Of the Calculating Art of Such Names by the Tradition of Cabalists’ – though I have again replaced the Hebrew in Agrippa’s charts with Angelical.
Simply put, the Tables of Ziruph allow you to find more angels (or demons) in the same hierarchy as the original name. This is based on the nine-choir cosmology of Dionysus, which groups the angelic hierarchies into three groups of three. From highest to lowest they are: Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones, Dominations, Powers and Virtues and Principalities, Archangels and Angels.
When you use the above-illustrated method of finding an angel’s name from a horoscope, you are technically getting the name from the lowest choir of Angels. With the ‘Tables of Ziruph’ you can use that angel’s name to find the name of his Archangel.
The Angel and his Archangel should be all you need for practical purposes- however you can find the names of yet higher entities if you desire. Enter the name of the Archangel into the ‘Table of Ziruph’ and you will produce a Principality. Enter the Principality’s name into the Table and you will produce a Virtue. Continue this process and you can take it all the way to a Seraph at the Throne of God.
For our purposes, I will assume you only need to find the Archangel who governs our Angel of Mars named Lurem:Â Remember the angel’s name is spelled LURM (Ur, Van, Don, Tal), which was compiled from the planets Mars, Sol, Luna and Saturn in our horoscope.
Look at the ‘Ziruphic’ Table of Planets in my essay. Look for the first letter of our angel’s name in the line called the “Entrance of the Good Angels.” (Ur is the eleventh letter down that column.) Now, scan leftward along Ur’s row in the table until you reach the column of the letter’s planet Mars (three columns to the left).  In that column we find the letter H (Na) – so that is the first letter of our Archangel’s name.
Now, find the second letter of our angel’s name – U (Van) – in the “Entrance of the Good Angels.” (It happens to be the 19th letter down.) Since this letter was associated with Sol, we need to scan leftward along that row until we reach the column of Sol (two columns over) – where we find the letter C/Ch/K (Veh). This is the second letter of our Archangel’s name.
Follow this same process for the remaining letters of the angel’s name. If we find R (Don) in the “Entrance of the Good Angels” and scan leftward to the column of Luna, we find that the third letter of the Archangel’s name is N (Drux). Finally, if we find M (Tal) in the “Entrance of the Good Angels” and scan leftward to the column of Saturn, we find that the last letter of the Archangel’s name is Q (Ger).
Putting these new letters together, we have: HCNQ. It seems like a bit of a tongue-twister, but we might pronounce it Hay-sen-ohk. (I note the similiarity of this name to the word Cnoqod, which means “servant.”)
If you wanted to find the next name up the hierarchy – in this case a Principality – you would use the exact same process to enter the Archangel’s name into the ‘Table of Ziruph.’
If you wished to find the Archdemon that governs the demon in your chart, you would simply follow the same process as above – except you would enter the letters of the demon’s name into the table from the “Line of the Evil Angels” instead.
One More Thing about the ‘Tables of Ziruph’
In the above examples, the method of using the ‘Tables of Ziruph’ depends on first finding the name of an angel or demon from a horoscope. This way, each letter in the name has a specific planet assigned to it. However, what about using the ‘Tables of Ziruph’ with the name of existing Angels – who do not come with planetary aspects assigned to each letter?
For this purpose, I will drop the Angelical and return to the Hebrew Agrippa used in his charts. So if you want to follow along, you will have to refer to Agrippa’s ‘Occult Philosophy’ Chapter 27 and his Ziruphic Table of the planets.
Let us begin by assuming you are working with a Hebrew Solar Angel -such as the Intelligence of the Sun Nakhiel (Nun, Kaph, Yod, Aleph, Lamed). Further, we will assume that Intelligences such as Nakhiel are “Angels” by the Dionysian hierarchy, and we will use his name to generate an Archangel.
First, prepare the name of Nakhiel by removing the “-el” suffix. If our Angel had a “-iah”, “-iod” or “-on” suffix we would remove that as well. (This is because we will be adding one of these Divine Names directly to the Arhcangelic name we generate. As stated previously, I do not follow this convention at all for Angelical names – but I do follow it for Hebrew names.) This leaves us with the letters Nun, Kaph and Yod.
Since we are dealing with an Angel entirely related to the Sun, we simply need to enter these letters into the “Entrance of the Good Angels” and scan leftward to the column of Sol (the very center column) for every letter:
N (Nun) = Z (Zain)
Kh (Kaph) = Ch (Cheth)
I (Yod) = A (Aleph)
This results in a name with the letters ZChA. And, since we are using Hebrew, I will add one of the Names of God “El”, “Yah” or “On” onto the end of the name. Agrippa suggests that “Yah” is used only for good angels and “El” can be used for angels or demons. (He does not mention the proper use of the Greek “On.”) Personally, I don’t find much support for this concept among the angel and demon names I have studied. Thus, I suggest simply adding the Name of God that fits best linguistically in the name. For “ZChA”, I think “El” fits the best – giving us the final result of: ZChAAL or Zachael, which we might pronounce Zak-ay-el.
Thus, Zachael is an Archangel who governs Nakhiel. You could further enter ZChA into the ‘Table of Ziruph’ – using the colum of Sol for all letters – to find a Solar Principality that governs Zachael.
I will bring this blog post to a close here. I hope the above illustrations have been useful to you in putting this material into practice.
It is unusual for me to make an issue out of a negative review of one of my books. Of course, if I find a mere attack posted as a “review”, I’m likely to take it to one of my forums and poke fun at it. Everyone has a good laugh. 🙂 Yet, you won’t likely see me talking about that kind of thing here.
However, I have received one less-than-glowing review- for The Angelical Language Vol 2 (An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the Tongue of Angels)- that does merit some discussion. It is not really an attack – the guy gave the book three stars, and at least suggested it would be useful if errors were fixed. Though I also think the author was grossly exaggerating when he insisted the errors were “just too numerous to list.” (Certainly the list of errors couldn’t be longer than the book itself! lol)
Plus, several of the examples he does offer are not errors at all, but are issues that scholars have long debated. The 48 Angelical Calls were not given to Dee as a complete and perfect set. There were a lot of issues with their reception, and both Dee and Enochian scholars since his time have worked to correct and complete them. What you see in The Angelical Language are *my* conclusions, even if they conflict with the conclusions of others.
I originally wrote a reply to this review that boiled down to: “Don’t mistake your own conclusions about Dee’s material as immutable fact.” It also reminded the reader that I don’t consider the Lexicon to be the final word on the language forever. The work continues, the Lexicon will be updated and expanded as the years continue.
However, for a while now, I’ve felt that something was not quite right with my reply. It almost said what I wanted it to say, but didn’t quite convey the message. Finally, I realized that I had put too much emphasis on replying to the reviewer himself, where the emphasis should have been on the continuing evolution of the work. And, worst of all, it was missing a certain invitation to all of you.
Below I am posting both the original review, and my updated reply. If you own, or plan to own, a copy of my Angelical Lexicon I hope you will read on:
REVIEW
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Room for improvement, May 24, 2010
By  Veritas “KK”
This review is from: The Angelical Language, Volume II: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the Tongue of Angels (Hardcover)
This is an interesting work, where clearly a lot of effort has gone into it. However, I was somewhat disappointed by the fact that the author has used, for his main source, Casaubon’s printed version of Dee’s works, which contain many errors. One example will suffice: the word ‘Peral’, to be found in Key 5 (according to Leitch and many other authors), never appears in Dee’s works at all. It is in fact a misprint for ‘Peoal’. At least Leitch has inserted it in its correct position. There are a number of other spelling errors throughout the Keys. I would also strongly argue against some of the numbered listings of the Keys near the beginning of the book, where, in my view, they are clearly wrong, but it was nice to see that in the first Key he lists 86 words (despite the fact that many individual words are numbered incorrectly), which is certainly correct. My last criticism is with accents: Dee never uses the circumflex (found throughout this work, and interpreted as as long vowel); all these should be replaced with a breve (from the Latin brevis – short), being a short vowel or syllable. The number of errors in this work are just too numerous to list, simply because the author is not using original source works.
To be of any real value, works such as this must be based upon Dee’s original manuscripts; relying on printed sources is a serious mistake. I have found no printed source which is free from errors, some of them are appalling. My own 40 year study in this field may one day be published. As a final note, I would say that, a revised and corrected version of this work would be a valuable addition to Enochian (not a word Dee ever used) literature.
REPLIES:
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Salmontree says:
My understanding from reading the intro to Volume I, was that the author exhaustively used the original source (Dee’s notebooks) and did not use Casaubon as his main source, as this reviewer states.
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Aaron Leitch says:
Greetings!
Salmontree, you are correct. TFR was among the sources for my work, but was not my only source. It is quoted extensively in my books simply because (at the time I wrote them) it was the most commonly available source for my readers to reference for themselves. (Now, thankfully, anyone can see Dee’s originals online at The Magickal Review website.)
I am fully aware that TFR contains many mistakes and misprints (and mis-placed pages, etc, etc). These mistakes have been well vetted by Enochian scholars, and you will find them corrected in my work. (For example, check the entry for Coronzom.)
Of course, that doesn’t mean that this project – which I accomplished alone over the course of 10 years – didn’t see a rare mistake or two make it through the filters. I state very clearly in the introduction that my work is not offered as definitive of the language. It is simply the best anyone has offered to date, and it is my sincere hope that all Enochian students and scholars will do their part in correcting AND expanding the Lexicon. Any mistakes you folks help me find, I will be happy to correct for the next printing of the book.
As for the 48 Angelical Calls: I had to do a lot of corrective work on them before I could present them with their cross-reference numbers. The Calls were not simply given to Dee as a completed set. Not only Dee, but many Enochian scholars since him have worked to correct them.
I invite any and all Dee and Enochian scholars, students and practitioners to contact me if they find something I missed. This project is a living and growing thing, and it will take many minds and many years to fully understand and develop the Tongue of Angels.
Ananael (The Secrets of Wisdom) 