The Enochian Great Table

The next objective is to study the great table and it’s correlations, as well as the layout. The great table is comprised of the god and angelic names for the four elements as well as spirit; and the sub-elemental quarters. The angels that Dee and Kelly talked to refer to the great table quarters in the manner of the compass directions, they do not however mention clearly which quarter goes in which compass direction, or which element corresponds with each direction. The instance of elements and their directions were only mentioned in one vision of Kelly’s. Modern Hermeticists have also come up with modern correlations for the four elements on the great table. Many magickians are so used to the modern elemental system that they correlate the this with the great table. However this is not necessarily correct since elemental correlations have changed over the years. Every aspect of our universe and magick is made up of the four elements. These elements are the basis of life and of magick. To get to know the great table is to get to know the universe. The four quarters of the great table relate to these four elements of the universe. Below is a diagram of the great table as originally revealed to Dee and Kelly. There were several adjustments to this table, and a completely new table order given in later Skrying sessions. 

A copy of the great table should be printed out and meditated upon to get to know the energies involved within the system. Eventually the table, or separate tablets can be constructed by painting the letters on wood, or several other mediums. A printout can work in the meantime for meditative and ritual purposes. The printout should be in colour. Several printable versions of the great table can be found at my website at: http://www.enochian.org .The most confusion, as well as the largest debate, within Enochian magick, is the layout and order of the great table. Within this debate is the colour of each quarter, as well as which quarter goes where, and even which element each of these tablets correspond to. This is still up for debate to this day! Is it any wonder why the Enochian system is largely ignored by many practitioners. The idea of now knowing which direction to place each element in seems complicated, however it can be discerned by looking at the various clues in the MS. This confusion seems silly as the system has been effectively used for years! It is even more amusing to note that 3 or 4 different layouts of the great table have been used by many practitioners, all with great success. Luckily it seems as though each of the different watchtower layouts seem to work effectively. It may seem that this statement makes no sense at all, however, it seems as though Enochian appears to work in all forms, it just works much better when practiced as close to the original layout as possible. We all have inherent magickal ability, and if for example we make a mistake in a ritual, there are often still some results. One example of why different layouts may work is as follows, when I was new to magick I did a working where I had accidentally drawn the unicursal hexagram in the opposite direction than I should have. I did not realize this until I had completed the ritual and looked up the hexagrams. However, the ritual purpose still manifested in a short time afterwards. I figure that my intent must have played more important of a role then which way I drew the geometric figure.Unfortunately the angels were not very clear when they dictated the great table to Dee and Kelly. They dictated each quarter separately, then told Dee and Kelly which quarter was placed where. The angels directions were difficult to understand to begin with, coupled with the fact that the angels accused Dee and Kelly of not have a good enough grasp on the system, leads to even more confusion. To make matters worse, there was a 'revised' version of the original great table that was delivered by an entirely different angel three years later. The angels dictated a great table to Dee and Kelly, confirmed that it was correct, then years later said that it wasn’t correct, and hence gave the ‘corrected’ version. This leads to a question of which table to use. Most practitioners of Enochian use the revised version of the great table, while some people stick with the original table. The benefit of using the original table is that there are Dee’s notes on which angels correspond with each direction to make things more clear.The fact that Dee and Kelly might not have been operating by the same elemental correspondences and magickal systems as we do today has also led to a great deal of confusion. The Golden Dawn for example changed the colours of the tablets and their directional correspondences to fit with their own elemental correspondence system. This has brought about yet another version of the great table. Also, the directions of the elements, and the colours of the elements were different in the 1500’s and earlier than they have been since the Golden Dawn system of the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. In Sloane 3191 is the first version of the great table, in the layout that Dee thought the angels had meant. When Dee asked the angels if this version was correct, they assured him that it was. However, there are 5 different versions of the great table all together in the original diaries! At least the proper colours are pretty obvious by Dee's notes. Unfortunately it is not entirely clear which colour goes where. Right before the original great table was received there were 4 coloured clothes that were lifted up to reveal the table. Most practitioners figure that the angels meant these to be the table colours. This assumption is confirmed by Dee’s diagram of the 12 banners, with the 4 squares inside of them shaded to represent the 4 different colours. Edward Kelly had a vision of the angels of the four quarters; this vision was drawn into the form shown in the 'golden talisman'. This should have made the directions and the elements abundantly clear, however the vision and the diagram do not match up. It appears that the diagram is upside down and backwards if you want to relate it to Kelly’s vision. Diagram of golden talisman In this particular vision, there were four castles, within these castles were trumpeters. Before each of these elemental angels, there was a cloth laid out before them to walk on. In the Eastern quadrant was a red cloth "after the new smitten blood"; in the South there was a white cloth, "Lilly-colour"; in the West was a green cloth "the skins of many dragons, green; garlic bladed"; and in the North was a Black cloth "Hair -coloured, Bilbery juyce" (Pages 355, 356 True and Faithful and Page 187 James). In this vision Kelly also sees Fire in the East, Smoke (for air) in the South, Water in the West, and dark blackness in the North. Since the other three elements are already stated, we would assume this to be earth. From Dee’s writings in his Hieroglyphic Monad we can see that he did recognizes the four element system within magick. I believe this vision, as well as Dee’s notes on the Seniors, Kings, God names and angels of the four directions clearly state the colours, direction and element of the four quarters of the original great table. If one however wants to work with the reformed great table, a couple of revisions would need to be made. If we stand the great table on it’s point, like a diamond, then we can align up the quarters with their corresponding elements as listed in Kelly’s vision.According to the above vision, as well as the angels attributions to the table names and the four directions we can at least make the following correlations: ORO: Red - East - FireMOR - White - South - AirMPH - Green - West - WaterOIP - Black - North - Earth These are the directional colours that some practitioners of Enochian magick use today. This colour layout can lead to confusion as most practitioners are used to the yellow, red, blue and black layout for east, south, west and north. It is also important to note that, during the Renaissance period of magick, East was not necessarily Air for example. The elements would have more likely corresponded to the geography of the area. For example, where the ocean or mountains were located might have had more of a bearing of where Water and Earth were placed in the directions. I have done a vast amount of research into the original use of the elements and which direction they were called from to help learn about where Dee and Kelly were coming from. In my research I have not found a system that uses the East: Air, South: Fire layout that was used prior to the GD. The modern elemental layout still leaves many Enochian practitioners correlating Air with the Eastern quarter, and Fire with the southern one, as opposed to the other way around.The diagram of the great circle of the quarters containing the 12 banners in the four directions does not match up with any of the great table layouts, or any visions. This diagram shows that the ORO tablet is in the East; The MOR tablet in the South; the OIP tablet in the West; and the MPH tablet in the North. I believe that perhaps Kelly lost track and got the MPH and OIP tablets mixed up, considering that in another diary entry Dee clearly states that ORO = East, MOR = South, MPH = West and OIP = North. Another way of looking at the layout of the tablets is to see them geographically. When looking at the quarter tables as lined up with the compass points, they lign up quite nicely. The GD on the other hand ligns up the quarter tablets with that of their pentagram layout of the elements. Upper left = Air, upper right = Water, lower right = Fire and lower left = Earth. Diagram of great table with directions This would mean that ORO would be in the East on the original table, and MPH in the West. Then, MOR is placed in the South, and OIP in the North. This example corresponds with the square in the round table vision, but not with the banners. Perhaps Dee and Kelly had the banners mixed up? I prefer to construct the great table, and my watchtower tablets with Enochian letters as opposed to english letters. I feel that this helps bring about the Enochian energy more prevalently. The letters of the Enochian alphabet, just as the Hebrew alphabet, have power inerrant within them. This power can be accessed by their use. I have found the tablets far more potent, and much easier to work with, in this form. English is a mish mash of many other languages and is not original within itself, and therefore does not seem to contain as much power as that of other, older languages. One argument against using english letter is that Dee and Kelly received the tables in English letters, not Enochian, therefore some practitioners prefer to construct and use the tablets with English letters. The angels did try and deliver various things within the system in Enochian letters or words, but were asked by Dee and Kelly to keep it to English for simplicity and accuracy. Making the great table with English letters also help with ease of use, as many people do not know the Enochian letters well enough to read the names off of the great table in Enochian letters.. Creating the Enochian tablets using Enochian letters is just another option of how to enhance the system. If you are concerned about not knowing the Enochian letters as well as the english ones, don't worry, by the time you have painted the entire great table, you will know the Enochian letters by heart!The GD created their enochian tablets using wood with painted letters. The angels did not give specific instructions of how to create the great table, or even if the great table was supposed to be created. Due to this, I figure that artistic licence is allowed. My current set of Enochian tablets is painted on glass. I have painted the corresponding elemental colour on the back to make each tablet into a magick mirror. I then painted the letters on the front in the corresponding or flashing colours. This works very well as each of the tablets becomes a magickal mirror of that particular element which can be used for skrying or traveling into the letters and names more easily. I used the original colours from the manuscripts for the tablets. Here is an example of my tablets below.The GD created a small tablet comprised of the 4 names upon the central great cross, which was called the tablet of union. This was inspired by the MSS where the angels had Dee draw out such a diagram to help explain how the names are derived. This new tablet of union is often used in Enochian workings; it is made up of the four names: Exarp, Hcoma, Nanta and Bitom. A table containing the 4 names in the same arrangement as the tablet of union. In the notes, it appears that Dee wrote the names down in this manner for a quick reference as opposed to there being another small table. The idea (most likely) came from a diagram of the four names on the black cross in Dee's notes. In Dee's case, it looks as though he made the names into a table for easy reference. However, Dee may have meant this to be a tablet unto itself. If you use the four watchtowers separately from the great cross, a tablet of union should be made to balance things out. Constructing the watchtowers does not necessarily have to be a daunting task. The tablets can be constructed by painting onto wood, )which is the most common method) printing them out with a computer, having them made by a sign shop, painting them onto glass, drawing them on paper and colouring them in with felt pens, as well as probably a few methods that I have not seen used. Paint pens can save a lot of time if you decide to paint your tablets. I recommend printing out a copy of the tablets while you work on the set for your temple so that you can start your temple working involving the tablets. Far too many people get caught up in making the tools, and feel they need to be done before performing any rituals; All of the tools are not necessary. Considering that a good set of Enochian tablets can take a month or more, well done computer ones will suffice at first. On the other hand, do not fall in the trap of never making the tools as many do; The table, banners, tablets and other tools of Enochian greatly enhance the work and the practitioners connection with it. When working with the entities contained within the great table, you can either use the standard ceremonial techniques of today, or you can use the divine prayer method of Dee and Kelly. The standard method of today usually includes such rituals as the LBRP, BRH and the Watchtower ritual. Dee and Kelly appear to have used prayers in place of the banishings and invocations. John Dee wrote up extensive Christian flavored prayers for every entity and for every occasion to be used to open the temple, evoke the entities, prepare the magickian as well as everything else. The magick of King Solomon and the Goetia used this particular method for working magick and evoking spirits. It is quite possible that Dee and Kelly borrowed from this idea. It would seem that this is the method that Dee probably used before contact with the angels, then the angels expanded upon what Dee already knew.I have found that using both the ceremonial magick rituals and the prayers combined works very well. I generally cast my circle by invoking the four elements using the Enochian names only, as well as the use of pentagrams. I do not use Hebrew names, this is due to personal preference, not due to any inefficacy of the combination. In ritual, I use the first call, or parts thereof, instead of one of the Enochian or Hebrew versions of the kabbalistic cross. I have found the kabbalistic cross to be very effective for kabbalistic rituals, yet have found the first call to be more effective in Enochian workings. Many people use the Kabbalistic cross in an Enochian translation, this version can work quite well if you are working within a modern ceremonial magick structure.The vision of the banners is contained within Slaone 3191If you refer to the banner vision, the Enochian tablets would line up as follows: Oro Ibah Aozpi to the EastMor Dial Hctga to the SouthOip Teaa Pdoce to the WestMph Arsl Gaiol to the North From this diagram it would seem that this is the placement of the four watchtower tablets, however there is no other reference in the diaries of this alignment other than the golden talisman. This diagram lays out a placement of the 12 banners. The 12 banners could be set up in the temple in this order, however they would not line up with the great table in which there names are derived from. The four directions of the banners are written in Latin in this diagram. Oriens = EastMeridies = SouthOccidens = WestSepientrio = North I consider the diagram of the 12 banners and the four elements to be at the base of the 30 aethyres. This diagram contains the four directions, as well as the 12 mystical names that correlate with the four elements. Compared to Dee's original great table the Oip and Mph tablets are reversed. In the original great table Oip is in the bottom left, whereas in the round table vision Oip is placed at the bottom right hand corner.According to Dee the names on the 12 banners are the "names of God" who "govern all creatures on the earth".This may all seem confusing and just plain ridiculous at this point. Just choose one layout and go with it. I personally use the original great table, with the original colours. If you so desire, you can experiment and work with this layout, then work with the reformed layout and see which one is more effective. You can carefully work through the books and the logic and choose the layout that makes the most sense to you, or you can just use one of them, and look into the specifics at a later point. The exercises such as astral projecting into squares of the tablets may also help a great deal in this decision. My personal use of the tablets was derived from experimentation with several different forms. I found all of the layouts to work to some extend. I however found the present layout to work exponentially better than any other layout for myself.The most important thing to realize when working with the tablets is to choose one version of them and then stick with that. All together there are eight possible tablet combinations including the GD layout. The GD version is the only version that is not possible according to the manuscripts, yet many practitioners of that systems have worked with them in this arrangement successfully for years. Diagram of governors sigils and reformed governor names. If one is to use the reformed table, the names of the governors of the 30 aethyres must be changed to correlate with the new letter changes. All of the spellings of the angelic and governor names used by Dee and Kelly were based on the original table. The diaries show only work that was done with the original table layout and spellings of the names. The other possibility is that Dee did not get a chance to work with the newer version. There is the list of the angels, seniors, god names and cacodemons of the great table broken down into tables. They also included Dee's version of prayers for each group of entities. The original manuscripts are in Latin. These prayers and the words within the tables have been translated to English by Jeoffrey James in his "The Enochian Magick of Dr. John Dee" book.