The Four elements

Despite its apparent complexity, the Enochian calls are structured around the four elements. The 18 Calls evoke the spirits residing in the four Enochian Watchtowers, which represent the four elements. One of the main problems is that the GD ignored the implicit order within the 18 Calls, and imposed the directions of the Watchtowers according to Western Magic. The whole situation was fudged, and resulted in the magician being expected to imagine himself in the Centre of the Tablet of Union before invoking the Watchtowers! An excellent analysis of this fundamental problem is found in “Shamanism and the Esoteric Tradition” by Angelique S. Cook and G.A. Hawk, who concluded that the Shamanic tradition, probably the most powerful, and certainly the most pervasive spiritual system in the world, should be used, namely, that Air should be in the North, Water in the West, Earth in South, and Fire in the East, which is the same as in the Tablet of Union.

The Enochian system is very complicated, with huge numbers of angels with unpronounceable names, and they all seem to have overlapping functions imposed on a hierarchy. There are also the Watchtowers, the Seal of Truth, the Tablet of Nalvage, for example. While the Dee documents clearly indicate that they should be integrated, most books on the subject tend to repeat what has already been said, or comment on the Golden Dawn input. The problem is that MacGregor Mathers and others who introduced Enochian into the Golden Dawn did a brilliant analysis, but omitted key parts that made it comprehensible. Mathers lived in a time where secrecy was paramount, and deception was considered a legitimate means to hiding the truth. My other criticism is that no-one has criticised the idea that Golden Dawn rituals are necessary to invoke the spirits, especially since Dee only included prayers to be read. Indeed, the lack of ritual within Dee’s Enochian writings has been used as proof that he did not use the knowledge given by the Angels!

The Visions

The visions should create correspondence or harmony within the magician and his surroundings. There are now many versions of the same rituals from the Golden Dawn, and it is difficult to know which are the originals, and if they are, how are we to know that everything is correct? While there is tremendous detail, with examples of how to invoke a spirit from each of the Watchtowers, they suggest that enough is available for the student to work out how to deal with any spirit. A moments thought should make one realise the difficulties with this proposition. By contrast, the original Dee papers emphasise the importance of wholeness, of going from the general to the particular, of keeping balance and harmony. The Golden Dawn Enochian magic emphasises individuality, and while there are checks and balances that the magician is supposed to employ when he is skrying, it all supposes that the magician has the requisites to start with!

So far the understanding of the facets of Enochian magic have not been put together in a coherent form except in the context of the Golden Dawn. Almost all books on Enochian ignore the philosophical background, where Dee describes the Fall, the loss of knowledge, and its restoration through Enoch. Dee’s commentary on sheds light on the meaning of the Calls.