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In Sixteenth century England Dr John Dee, astrologer royal to queen Elizabeth the 1st began work with his assistant Edward Kelly, between them they began setting down a magical alphabet and magical system that was claimed they received from extraterrestrial intelligence's. The information was received by "scrying" or crystal gazing as it is more commonly known.
John Dee was born in 1527 in the village of Mortlake near London. He was a learned man, widely read and much in demand, his London house contained one of the finest libraries of the time. He was made Royal Astrologer by Queen Elizabeth 1st but served a far greater capacity advising Elizabeth on politics and magic!
At the age of 27 he made the acquaintance of one Edward Kelly who visited Dees home, he immediately impressed Dee by supposedly seeing visions in Dee's obsidian crystal. Dee and Kelly formed a close partnership which was to last for seven years. Together they produced a staggering amount of work in the fields of occultism and magic.
Dee himself possessed no controllable psychic gifts, and had to rely upon others. This is where Kelly came in, Dee acted as a scribe while Kelly spoke directly with the intelligence's they invoked, according to Dees diary, Kelly looked through a shrew stone (similar to black obsidian) and saw an angel pointing in succession to various letters that were arranged in rows and columns on over one hundred different tablets. Kelly told Dee which letter was being indicated by the angel and Dee wrote it down. Using this system the Enochian or angelic language as it came to be known was received. After each message was received it was re-written backwards indeed, the angel himself dictated each letter in reverse because of the inherent occult power of the language.
The language itself is a complete and original language with its own grammar and syntax, but its true origins are unknown. Did it really come from extraterrestrial or non human entities, angels or spirits? Or did it come from the subconscious minds of Kelly and Dee?
If we look into the lives of Kelly we discover that he was a bit of a rogue. Born in Worcester in 1555 he attended Oxford under the name of Edward Talbot. While at Oxford he got into some sort of trouble and had to leave rather suddenly, a few years later he was pilloried in Lancaster for forgery. It is probable that Kelly was a bit of an occult charlatan, it is conceivable that Kelly fooled Dee into believing he was receiving the Enochian language but there are numerous reasons why that is not likely.
The complexity and intricacy of the language as well as its method of supposed delivery make it seem unlikely that it was created by a single human being. As the letters were dictated in reverse it seems impossible that Kelly could possibly have worked out the messages beforehand or consciously as Dee demanded them through the hundred plus squares, all of which had previously been dictated by the spirits in their correct order.
In direct contrast to Dee who was methodical and reasonably straight and honest in his quest, Kelly paid little attention to detail and he found the whole process of communication aggravating. He was bad tempered, often arguing with Dee over whether the spirits were good or evil. The only questions Kelly seemed interested in were where was the location of buried treasure.
Generally the messages they received from entities were practical and down to earth, but the highlight remains the passages transmitted in the Enochian tongue, the contents of which went from the sublime to the trivial. From Dee's diary it is apparent that the spirits had little to tell, at one session it was recorded that Dee was scolded by a spirit for asking too many awkward questions! If indeed Dee was communicating with non-human entities it seems disappointing that they have nothing of note to tell us.
Dee's records show that they had a spirit guide called Madimi, at one point she told Dee that Kelly was planning to leave him. The message was transmitted through Kelly in Greek, a language he was not familiar with, so he was obviously quite oblivious to its content. A few days later Kelly tried to obtain a sum of money for this very purpose, which may indicate at least that the Madimi spirit guide was a genuine phenomena.
However, all was to go badly wrong, for in 1587 the spirits made the suggestion through Kelly that the two should swap wives! Dee became suspicious that Kelly had falsified the message, nevertheless such was his faith and belief in Kelly and the messages that he agreed to the arrangement. This lasted only a few months before Dee and Kelly parted company.
Dee went abroad to return in 1589, he returned to his old role at the court of Elizabeth but his influence had waned dramatically. Soon Dees few remaining friends were either dead or out of power and he was without money. King James 1st who was king in 1603, both feared magic and did not like Dee, this series of events created his ultimate downfall, and he died penniless in 1608.
As for Edward Kelly he remained on the continent and was a scoundrel to the end, he died from in juries he received why trying to escape from prison. But the Enochian language survived to this day and was introduced into the western occult tradition by Elias Ashmole.
William Wynn Westcott then adapted it for use by The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The legacy of the Enochian language was used by the Golden dawn in its rituals; they believed that simply by pronouncing a demons name it was sufficient to bring it into manifestation. The term Enochian was taken after the Biblical Enoch, who is said to have "walked with God". The golden dawn taught that the alphabet was an ancient language, and that traces of it could be found in the ruins of ancient temples, however due to its complexity, difficulty of pronunciation and guttural sound it is unlikely it was ever spoken. Enochian was probably used as a system of magical sigils and glyphs to give life to important ideas.
As a footnote Kelly's occupation as a medium ended the day he was scrying and received a message that frightened him so completely that he vowed never to skry again. This was the message that brought an end to Dees and Kelly's excursion into Enochian- The language of extraterrestrials or Angels?
"I am the daughter of fortitude and ravished every hour from my youth. For behold, I am understanding, and science dwelleth in me, and the heavens oppress me. They cover and desire me with infinite appertite; for none that are earthly have embraced me, for I am shadowed with the circle of the stars, and covered with morning clouds. My feet are swifter that the winds and my hands are sweeter than the morning Dew. My garments are from the beginning, and my dwelling place is in myself. The lion knoweth not where I walk; neither do the beasts of the field understand me. I am deflowered yet a virgin; I sanctify and am not sanctified. Happy is he that embraceth me:for in the night season I am sweet, and in the day full of pleasure. My company is a harmony of many symbols, and my lips sweeter than health itself. I am a harlot for such as ravish me and a virgin with such as know me not. Purge your streets, O ye sons of men, and wash your houses clean; make yourselves holy, and put on righteousness. Cast out your old strumpets and burn their clothes and then I will bring forth children unto you and they shall be the sons of comfort in the age that is to come."
Dr Dees scrying mirror, wax tablets, and finger ring are on display in the enlightenment room of the British Museum.
angels : angel : john dee : Ian Broadmore :
angels : angel : john dee : Ian Broadmore :
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