Enochian Lamen
04/01/12 10:27
The Enochian Lamen or Table of 12 squares is integral to the system of Enochian Magick.
The Enochian Lamen or Table of 12 Squares
John Dee's skrying of the Enochian system began with the materialisation of a crystal ball in his study. An angel appeared in a vision, and directed him to a corner of the room in the West. He saw what looked like a shadow, smaller than the palm of his hand. When he tried to pick it up, he found it was a quartz crystal ball. He set this in gold and it was used for the next twenty years for what became the Enochian system of angel magick.
The day following the materialisation, a table of letters was communicated from which various angelic names were derived. From the first table, a second table was derived and from that was created, by further abstraction, the table of 12 letters upon which the crystal was to be placed. We use seven of the planetary spirits from the first table in Ordo Astri, in the rituals of the hexagram. Names from the four terrestrial Watchtower Tablets are used in the pentagram rituals.
The first time I encountered the Mercurial spirit Madimi – whose name was derived from the second table, the day after the materialisation of the crystal – was in the British Museum. Dee's skrying equipment, including the materialised crystal, is exhibited there. As I stood in front of the glass case, she jumped out of the crystal. It felt as though my mind had been filled with champagne bubbles. I had never encountered such a clear and definite presence. Madimi is not like a discarnate human spirit and not quite like an angel or celestial intelligence either; her nature seems to be somewhere between these. Perhaps that is in character with the dual qualities of Mercury. The museum was about to close and I had no time to enter into a detailed conversation with the spirit; however I was left with a strong impression that I would encounter Madimi again.
In July of 2010, Madimi spontaneously appeared to me again – this time in my own home. She was simply pointing at a square of 12 letters. I recognised them as the letters at the centre of John Dee’s Holy Table – they form a Lamen, according to the diaries of John Dee. After this second encounter I realised that the table of 12 squares is integral to the Enochian system. By using the Pythagorean tetractys I found I could extract seven new angelic names from the 12-lettered square. Through the application of Ptolemaic astrological principles, I was able to work out their planetary correspondences. It was then possible to allocate the 12 squares to the 12 signs of the zodiac, the Quadruplicities and the Triplicities.
My dream life became intense and colourful. For example, on 1st August I recorded in my diary that I dreamed of huge stars with moons (or planets) encircling them and eclipsing, casting their shadows. The stars were multi-faceted like jewels. Thus inspired, I set to work painting my own copy, with layers of indian inks. Once it was finished, I began to incorporate it into my magical rituals.
The Quadruplicities (right to left), 4 names of 3 letters each:
Tio, Ularé, Larel, Eoo
TIO = Leo/Sol
ULR = Scorpio/Luna
LRL = Aquarius/Jupiter
EOO = Taurus/Venus
Triplicities (downwards), 3 names of 4 letters each:
Tulé, Ilaro, Orélo
TULE = Sulphur/Mars
ILRO = Salt/Saturn
ORLO = Mercury/Mercury
The Seven Names:
Tio (Sol); Tulé (Mars); Ularé (Luna); Ilaro (Saturn); Larel (Jupiter); Orélo (Mercury); Eoo (Venus).
The Key to the Flashing Colours:
The red row is Leo/Fire
The blue row is Scorpio/Water
The yellow row is Aquarius/Air
The indigo row is Taurus/Earth
The green column is Mercury
The violet column is Salt
The orange column is Sulphur
Note: The numbers 3, 4, 7 and 12 are representative of the harmony of the universe. See, “Cycle of the Animation of Forms” by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz.
© Oliver St. John 2012