The Enochians
A subgroup of Order of Hermes
by Anders Sandberg
The Enochians are a small group inside the Order of Hermes. Not
many mages outside of the Order know of them, and even among
the members of the Order they are not very well known. Those
mages who know of them regard them with a mix of irritation,
worry and respect. They are a small, isolationistic fraction which
tend to avoid contact with outsiders, spending their time and
energy in study or on their secret projects.
While they lack any real influence on the rest of the Order, the
enochians have played a important role in the development of the
Hermetic theories of magick. Many theories advanced by enochian
mages have become mainstream in the Order the last few centuries.
But the enochian mages have a very different view from their more
conservative brethren.
Many hermetic mages are studying magick in order to find the
foundations of the Universe. The enochians claim they have found
them. The rest of Order of Hermes remain sceptical of their claims,
and argue that the enochians certainly have found some very
important truths and made several influential discoveries, but
hardly The Truth. The enochians seldom reply to the criticism,
and continue their work.
History and Philosophy
The study of enochian magick began in April 20th 1587, when Dr
John Dee, the famous Elizabethan mage, and his medium Edward
Kelly encountered a being in the Umbra. This Being, which called
itself the archangel Raphael, gave the mages a tablet of letters
today known as "The Great Tablet", or "The Tablet of the Four
Watchtowers". According to Raphael, it contained the secret names
of the angels. The mages began to experiment with it, and found
that they could summon a hierarchy of spirits, which today is
known as the "Enochian Hierarchy". From communications with
these spirits and Raphael they began to formulate a theory of the
Universe and magick, which became the enochian theory of magick.
Soon they had gathered followers in the Order of Hermes, and
became a small but dedicated group which still continue to work
today.
The enochian theory of magick is complex and hierarchic. Every
being, every pattern and every process have a superior. This
superior have another superior, and so on. To control something the
mage must contact a spirit or force which rule over the thing the
mage want to happen. To create fire the mage must summon one of
the angels of fire. To extinguish the fire the mage must summon
another angel who controls the extinguishing of fire. A more
powerful mage may of course summon a superior of both fire-
angels, but this may be a bit risky since the superior angel may
become irritated with the mage asking such trivial services.
Enochian magick use the enochian language. This language is the
true language of spirits according to the enochians. It is a complex
language with almost no vowels and an alphabet without earthly
counterpart. Most mages in Order of Hermes acknowledge that
enochian is a very powerful language, and some groups use it
besides the enochians. The enochians tend to be very careful to use
it correctly, pronouncing everything exactly right. According to at
least some enochians the language is so powerful that a incorrectly
pronounced letter in a ritual can bring the mage certain doom.
Enochian magick is based upon the secret names of angels, spirits
and demons found in the Great Tablet. This tablet, a 27x25
rectangle of letters without any meaning to a non-enochian,
contains the secrets of the universe. The letters represent the true
hierarchy of forces in the universe. It is the blueprint of the
universe, containing the true name of every angel, spirit, demon
and god. Every pattern exists in this tablet, every human fate, and
even the fate of the universe. The question is in which directions
the mage reads it - horizontal, vertical, diagonal or in zigzag.
In short the universe works as follows: In the top of the hierarchy
there is The Highest, the Unknowable, the True Force. This pure
state of existence have allowed a tiny spark of itself to fall down to
create the universe. The force divided into the four elements. Each
element is ruled by one secret name. Each element is also ruled by
three god-names. These 12 names correspond to the signs in the
zodiac. Each element is also ruled by the planetary lords of each
element, besides the names of God. The elements mix with each
other, and create 16 sub-elements, like Air-Water or Fire-Fire. Each
of these subelements is ruled by two names of god, one to call upon
the angels of the sub-element, the other to control them. Each sub-
element has one archangel and four servant angels. Finally, there
are the cacodaemons, the simplest entities who actually do the dirty
work of creating the universe. There are 1024 greater cacodaemons
and a lot more smaller demons.
The universe is divided into 33 aethyrs, each separated from the
others by almost impassable walls, or ring-pass-nots as they are
called in the jargon. The physical world is the lowest of the aethyrs,
surrounded by higher and higher spheres. The Gauntlet and the
Horizon is the two lowest ring-pass-nots. Many enochians believe
the ring-pass-nots must be broken down to ensure the future
ascension of humanity.
Everything that happens is part of the Great Plan. Nothing is
random, everything is planned from the beginning by the Highest.
The mage must understand this Plan, and do his or her duty as a
servant of the Plan. This plan for the universe is revealed in the
forty eight keys, 19 short invocations in the enochian language (The
final key, "The Call of the Thirty Aethyrs" is counted as 30 keys for
at total of 48 keys). Most enochians spend much time studying the
keys, meditating on their meaning and listening to what the spirits
have to say about them.
To use his magick an enochian often calls upon some of the angels,
spirits or demons using the holy names of their superiors. Its highly
ritualistic, and tend to take a long time. Their magick is almost
completely ritual, and requires complete mastery of pronunciation
and the secret names and titles of the spirits. In fact, they almost
never use magick outside their temples. Instead they might send
spirits or forces outside to perform tasks.
Their magick is rigid and somewhat clumsy, but its power cannot
be denied. The hierarchy of spirits they work with can be
extremely powerful, and tend to take an interest in the life of the
magician if he displays enough power and knowledge. It is unwise
to harm a enochian with powerful spirit friends. Many enochians
have spirit mentors which teach the mage in the true meaning of
the Plan. On the other hand, the mage is quite dependent on the
spiritual hierarchy. If he loses contact with it or irritate the spirits,
he may suffer horribly. All in all, enochians tend to do as the spirits
say and the spirits do what the mage says. Both are anyway small
cogs in the mighty Plan of The Highest.
The enochians are solitary, and seldom involve themselves in the
affairs of other traditions . They have some contact with groups in
the Celestial Chorus, but that is just about all. Most of the time they
tend to avoid contact with anyone, preferring to speak with the
spirits. Old enochians are often disturbing and asocial even to
mages, having spent more time communicating with spirits than
with people. They tend to talk in a very formal way, as they are
performing a magickal ritual, and they often think in terms a bit
alien for most humans.
One area enochian mages tend to be active in is the search for
nodes and quintessence. They will use almost any means to gain
control over nodes in order to turn them into temples for the
enochian hierarchy. This is often the only time they clash with the
other traditions. They also sometimes try to explain their vision to
others, sometimes with surprising patience.
Philosophy
We have seen a part of the Great Plan, and know our duty. We must
obey the Plan and make the world ready for the next step in
evolution, regardless of personal pain or danger. We must strive to
understand the Plan every moment, both in our hearts and our
minds. Soon the time of testing will come, the time when the
barriers which imprison humanity will fall and the elements will be
set free. It will be a time of chaos, destruction and sacrifice, but we
will lead humanity out of darkness into the blinding light of the
higher spheres.
Organisation
None. Each enochian is working alone on his little part in the Great
Plan. But they do keep in touch using the spirits, and often get their
orders from ÓaboveÓ. In practice each enochian tend to know his
place in the cosmic hierarchy, and become very irritated when
someone or something overstep his bounds.
Meetings
None.
Initiation
Enochians seldom train apprentices. Most members are mages from
the Order of Hermes or Celestial Chorus who have seen the enochian
vision and joined. Some are orphans, who have contacted (or been
contacted by) the enochian spirits themselves. They have never had
any human mentor, and tend to be very strange.
Chantry
None. Many enochians search for nodes to build temples on. These
are guarded by the most powerful spirits and forces the mage (and
his assisting entities) can summon.
Acolytes
None. Enochian mages tend to be solitary. In the old times they
often used a medium to speak with the spirits the mage summoned,
but today the mage usually speaks with the spirits himself.
Sphere
Forces, Spirit or Prime (Almost all the other spheres are regarded
as unimportant. The mage chooses one sphere as his speciality)
Concept
Hermit, Weird Old Man, Ceremonial Magician.
Foci
Enochian: All spheres. This is a complex, powerful and secret
language with its own alphabet. According to the enochians each
letter contains enough power to shatter the world if pronounced the
wrong way. All magick involving the spirits or the elements in any
way must use one of the 48 keys, which must be memorised.
Tablet of Union: Forces, Life, Matter, Mind, Prime. This is a 4x5
square containing the four holy names of the elements. It is often
written on a parchment or a metal tablet worn as a amulet.
The Great Tablet: Not really necessary for any sphere, but
unless the mage has perfect memory he should have one. This is
the tablet representing the structure of the universe. It is a 27x25
square, containing all the holy names when read in the right
directions.
Showstone: Spirit, Time. Often a black mirror (or a crystal
among the more conservative enochians). Enochians prefer to
contact spirits through the mirror rather than summoning them
directly, since the spirits are supposed to dislike appearing in
material form.
Temple: Spirit. Enochians use not only a circle, but need a
whole room correctly consecrated, with the right incenses, the altar
of exactly the right dimensions and the symbols on the walls drawn
at the astrologically right moment. Often the elemental sub-tablets
are hung on the walls, and the Great Tablet is placed at the altar.
Before entering the temple the mage must purify himself, and
inside enochians wear ceremonial robes.
Quote
"This I was told by the third archangel of Air in Fire: we must
consecrate temples around the world to prepare for the day when
the time is ready. That day the lines of force between them will
burn through the barriers. That day the foundations will crumble.
That day mankind will find its destiny."
Stereotypes
-
Celestial Chorus
- Our brothers and sisters have seen the Light,
and a small part of the Plan. Unfortunately
they have not yet realised that we must break
free from our bonds to reach The Highest, not
the other way around. Hopefully they will
realise this, and join us in our work.
-
Hollow Ones
- A sign that the Day is not far ahead.
-
Order of Hermes
- They do not want to realise that most of their
theories are illusions or half-truths. Too bad.
-
All other traditions
- Enochian mages tend to agree with the views
of Order of Hermes on these traditions. Of
course, most enochians prefer to avoid any
contact as much as possible, so they seldom
have any views at all.
Example Rotes
Opening the four watchtowers (Spirit 3 Forces 2)
The mage summon the powers of the four elements to protect him
and his temple. As long as the mage stay inside the temple he is
protected by the enochian hierarchy. Anything that happens inside
the temple is known by the spirits, who may choose to intervene.
They mostly use coincidental magick, but may in extreme cases
choose to manifest
Closing the veil of the temple (Mind 2 Prime 2)
This rote is a often used way to protect the temple. The mage cloaks
the temple in a veil of uninterest, and seal this by routing some of
the temples quintessence into the veil. A person who don't know
about the temple will simply not notice it, or remain uninterested.
It will not protect from those who know of the temple, but even
those will have some difficulty to find a way in.
Contact spirit (Spirit 2)
The mage summon the spirit by reading the first enochian key and
another key relating to the spirits position in the hierarchy. If
successful, the mage may communicate with the spirit through the
showstone. This rote is very often used, but the mage must be
powerful enough to impress the spirit. Most enochians start out
with cacodaemons and the servant angels, and go on with the
greater angels. All the following rotes use this method to perform
magick.
Manifest cacodaemon (Spirit 2 Matter 2 Prime 2)
Allows a cacodaemon to physically manifest. The mage reads one of
the 48 keys, and draws the three letters of the demons name in the
air while chanting the two secret names who rule over that
daemon. Cacodaemons are generally not very intelligent, and
somewhat lazy. They do not like to have anybody ordering them
around, and would happily escape or hurt the mage if the threat of
their superiors keep them in check. The daemons size and physical
shape is up to itself, and often quite weird.
Summon one of the sixty-four good angels most skilled and
effective in medicine and the cure of sickness. (Spirit 2 Life 3 or 4)
The mage summons a healing angel in order to heal himself or
another. If the angel choose to help depends upon the situation, the
power of the summoner and if it was the correct angel for that type
of wound or sickness. Each angel has its own speciality.
Summon one of the sixteen good angels potent in changing of place
(Spirit 2 Correspondence 3)
The mage summons an angel who will transport him or somebody
else to a desired place. Each angel is specialised in one kind of
transport. For example, Tdim will perform transports over seas and
water while Anaa can transport the mage to hot and sunny places
(Hawaii or a desert).
Summon one of the sixteen good angels skilled and potent in
understanding the secrets of all men (Spirit 2 Mind 3)
The mage summons an angel in order to gain information about
somebody. The angel (if it was correctly summoned and the right
angel for the job) will search out the individual, subtly read his
mind and body and return with the requested information. They
are also good at finding information about other things. Many
enochians spend a lot of time conversing with these angels.
Summon the mighty archangel Pziza of Fire of Fire and his four
cherubic servitors (Spirit 2 Forces 3)
The mage summons one of the archangels of pure fire. The
archangel prefer not to manifest physically, but may perform
services using its static magick. The mage should not summon Pziza
lightly, since fire-angels tend to be impulsive and a bit aggressive.
The archangel is very good at controlling the forces of fire, heat and
destruction, if somewhat overeager to do so.
Summon the mighty archangel Erzla of Air of Air and his four
cherubic servitors (Spirit 2 Mind 4)
The mage summons one of the archangels of pure air. The archangel
tend to manifest mentally, speaking directly into the mages mind.
Air-angels are quick, highly intelligent and curious, but have a
short span of attention unless the mage have something interesting
to say. Erzla is very good at explaining abstract theories and
magick.
Summon the mighty Lord Uolxdo of Earth of Fire, He whose name is
Annihilation (Spirit 2 Forces 4 Entropy 3)
The mage summons one of the Lords of Fire. If the Lord chooses to
help the mage it can destroy almost anything or anyone, using its
own considerable power or its servitors. This often happen using
static magick. Typical effects is terrorist bombings, small
earthquakes, traffic accidents, chemical explosions or riots. The
targets demise is almost a certainty, since the Lord is known for his
tenacity.
Summon the Senior Lord of Saturn in Fire, Arinnap, He who
Protects with a Sword. (Spirit 2 Forces 5 Prime 2 Entropy 2)
The mage summons one of the most powerful spirits in the
hierarchy to protect him. Arinnap will, if the mage has a good
reason, protect him from any harm. Anybody who tries to harm the
mage in any way, even unintentional, will be slain by the Lord. This
Lord is not to trifle with, and can be as dangerous for the mages
friends as for his enemies.
Other Sources of Information
FTP to Lysator Enochian Archive
FTP nic.funet.fi Enochian archive.
Back to Tradition Page
Anders Main Page
Anders Sandberg / nv91-asa@nada.kth.se