THE ENOCHIAN WATCHTOWERS

An Analysis of the Documentation and Mathematics

By Dana Marie Tringo

Copyrighted 1999

The history and background of Dr. John Dee is well documented by a variety of authors. However, in terms of this paper, it is important to remember that John Dee was a mathematician as well as a scholar, qabalist, linguist and magician. He was familiar with both the practical, computation aspect of mathematics and the esoteric aspect. He was searching for knowledge that could be gained through a direct link with God. Geoffrey James states in his book Angel Magic, "The notion that technological breakthroughs could result from communicating with angels seems odd to the modern mind. To Dee, however, the concept had all the force of logic. Dee, unlike a modern scientist, did not see human knowledge as something that was growing and changing as people learned more and more about the universe. Dee and his contemporaries didnÌt think of human history in terms of progress, but in terms of rediscovery." (72) Dee was hoping to "rediscover" a direct link with the divine and the mechanics of the universe.

The seals were given first. They were provided to Dee in a specific manner. The following quote was taken from A True and Faithful Relation for What Passed for Many Yeers Between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits by Meric Casaubon, (TFR). It was delivered on June 25, 1584. It is on page 172-173.

E.K. Now he spreadeth the aire, or openeth it before him, and there appeareth before him a square table.

Now he taketh off the Table the black Carpet.

Now he taketh off a green Carpet.

E.K. On the left corner (farthest from E.K.) did a T appear on the Table: Out of the top of this T do four beams issue of clear collour bright.

÷÷That part [pointing to that T] of the table of the earth of those that govern earth: that is are governed by the Seven Angels that are governed by the Seven that stand before God, that are governed by the Living God, which is found in the Seal of the Living God.(Tan with the four) which signifie the four powers of God principal in earth, &c.

÷÷Move not, for the place is holy, and become holy.

÷÷I said not so, he said it, that beareth witnesse of himself. Unto this obey the other three Angels of the Table.

E.K. On the farther corner of the Table (on E. K. his right hand) is a crosse like an Alphabet Crosse.

This crosse, and the other T do seem to lye upon the Table, in a dim donnish, or a sky colour. All the Table over seemeth to be scribbled and rased with new lines.

÷÷The earth is the last, which is with the Angels, but not as the Angels, and therefore it standeth in the table of the Seven Angels, *which stand before the preference of God on the last place, without a Letter, or number, but figured by a crosse.

÷÷It is expressed on the Angle of the Table, wherein the names of the Angels are gathered, and do appear, as of Michael and Gabriel.

i. I remember, there is an Alphabetary Crosse.

E.K. Now in the corner of the Table, on the right hand to E. K. appeareth another cross, somewhat of this fashion and appearÌd these Letters and Numbers.

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÷÷It is in that Table, which consisteth of 4 and 8.

E.K. In the last corner of this earthly Table appeareth a little round smoke as big as a pinÌs head.

E.K. Now is all covered with a mist.

It is clear from this quotation that the seals are laid out in a specific order. The arrangement is not changed at any point further in the available documentation. There were no actual elemental or directional alignments given at this point.

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This particular vision is detailed out in TFR on pages 355-357 and occurred on January 15, 1585. Please note, that this vision was revealed approximately six months after the revelation of the seals and the watchtowers.

E.K. Here is i one with a vail afore his face, as it were, a Hair Cloath of Ash-collour: I know him not yet: I see a Garden full of fruit, of divers sorts. In the midst of it is a place higher then the rest. On that place standeth a round house, it hath four corners, [within] and 4 windows: and every Window is round, and hath 4 partitions, round also. It hath 4 doores, and at the East Door is one step, at the South 2 steps, and at the North 3, and at the West Door, 4 steps: The first door is white, like crystal, transparent: The South Door is red of an high colour, transparent. The North Door is bright black, not to be thorough seen, as the rest. The West is Green, like an Emerauld Stone: So as the South Door like a Ruby. The Doores be all plain. The house within (as it may be judged by the transparent Doores) seemeth to be white, and empty.

E.K. He hath his face covered, openeth the East Door; and all the House seemeth to be on fire, like a furnace. The fire within doth weve, and move about in the house, and by the roofe. Now he openeth the West Door, and there appeareth, as if all the house were a fountain full of water÷

÷÷E.K. Now he openeth the Red Door. The house seemeth darkish, of the colour of the smoak of a wax candle being put out.

÷÷By it self, it is not, but by the Sunne, it is cleare÷

÷E.K. Now he openeth the black bright Door; and the house there seemeth full of black dust, like Gun-powder colour, or somewhat of leadish colour.

This excerpt provides the organization of the elements very clearly. Fire in the east. Air is in the south. Water is in the west. Finally, Earth is in the North. This is not the familiar organization to most people. This organization is based on the alchemical weight of the elements. Fire is alchemically the lightest and closest to the spirit. Earth is the heaviest.

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It should also be noted that the Vision of the Round House is a heavily alchemical vision and analysis and discussion should be references from that point of view. The ancient Greek philosophers took the time to alchemically analyze the elements and their relationships to one another. Donald Tyson does an excellent interpretation and illustration to which I refer the in Appendix IIIÛThe Elements in The Three Books of Occult Philosophy. In short, this representation places the elements in the organization presented to us in the Vision of the Round House based on weight, composition and relationship to the other elements. A brief review of the Alchemical tracts and engravings of the 16^th and 17^th century also offers support to organization offered by consistently placing fire in the east, air in the south, water in the west and earth in the north. When all of this information is consolidated, the seals align with specific elements and directions.

We initially began this research to better our understanding of this system. Our first question was to determine which set of tablets were correct. As we sought a definitive answer, we learned more about this nebulous and elusive system. We uncovered more questions and learned more things that are rarely or never touched upon by other researchers.

We started with a hypothesis and research watchtowers on poster board. Our hypothesis was "The Raphael tablets were the correct tablets". On the research tablets, we included all the variations of letter combinations for the tablets. We included both the Michael and Raphael tablets from DeeÌs work. We also used MatherÌs, Donald TysonÌs from Enochian Magic for Beginners, and David HulseÌs from Key of it All Book Two: Western Mysteries.

As we moved forward, we develop a few suppositions. First, it is clearly stated in DeeÌs conversations that there should only be one letter per square. MatherÌs tablets may have been incomplete research tablets that were erroneous copied exactly the way they were presented. This gives us a reason for having more than one letter in each square. He may have come up against a block in his research he could not overcome. He simply passed his papers on to another person. The history of the research within the original Golden Dawn is a series of incomplete notes from multiple members. There is a documented history that research notes were being shared and passed around within the group to one degree or the other.

Second, Tyson used RaphaelÌs tablets for the lettering, but his organization of the watchtowers was based on the square in the circle glyph in DeeÌs Liber Scientiae:

Tyson returned to the available work of Dee. He based his conclusion strictly on what could be gleaned and interpreted from the available documentation. However, the documentation of DeeÌs work is itself either unclear or possibly incomplete. There are many vague and unclear answers given by the spirits. We also must remember that these were personal diaries. There may have been concepts perfectly obvious to Dee, but not to us. Dee did not feel compelled to document what was obvious to him. Unfortunately, this leaves DeeÌs work unable to be the final authority in many cases.

Third, Hulse created a gematria for Enochian. However, it seems too complex to be manageable in this system. The amount of work needed to extrapolate the gematria gives it a forced feeling. Also, it was developed from the calls. This in and of itself is not a problem. The issue is that the gematria cannot be consistently correlated within the text of the calls. The numbers represented in the calls all have there own unrelated names.

Fourth, we decided to adopt the paradoxical axiom, "simple in complexity, complex in simplicity". We felt it was reasonable to expect that there would be a comprehensible gematria involved, but it needed to be simplistic. A complex basic aspect would make the system too unmanageable to understand and use. We researched this extensively. No one gematria that had been applied to the system worked satisfactorily. They were either too unmanageable to be useful or not extensive enough to withstand heavy questioning. This sent us to search for a system that would work without being forced.

Finally, we decided that mathematics would be our ultimate test. Regardless of the numerical system used, one plus one always equals two. Gematria being number based can be proven ultimately by math. We felt that the tablets were similar in structure to kameas or magical squares. The basic mathematical premise of a kamea is that the horizontal and vertical totals are equal. Therefore, we could rule in or rule out a system based on how well it was able to add up. Now, all we needed to do was find a feasible system.

Due to DeeÌs background, extensive education and knowledge, his passion for linguistics and as a bibliophile, we felt he had access and familiarity with a multitude of approaches to numerology and gematria. We widen our circle of research. We came across the tract entitled "The Alchemical Marriage of Christian Rosenkruetz". This tract presents us with a simple, all-encompassing numerology in the form of a riddle. This particular system is known as Pythagorean numerology.

Pythagorean numerology sets up the numerical correspondences with groups of letters:

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Each letter is substituted for a number. Then, the numbers are totaled. This system makes use single numbers. The word or letter combinations being totaled are added down to a single digit. For example,

D = 4 A = 1 N = 5 A = 1

4 + 1 + 5 + 1 = 11

1 + 1 = 2

Also, through our research we came across the transcription of one of the 49 tablets of the good angels. These tablets were used to derive the calls. There are numbers on the tablet. The numbers are 1 through 9. There are no 0Ìs and nothing higher than a single digit. This discovery further strengthened our belief that the Pythagorean system was correct. These are the only numbers used is the system beyond those found on the Sigillum Dei Aemeth. The numbers on the Sigillum are used as instruction for reading it.

We applied this system to both the Michael and Raphael tablets. The feeling was that if the tablets function similar to kameas, they should total out. However, this was unsatisfactory. Neither tablet could be corresponded fully. This returned us to the transcriptions available of DeeÌs work. Michael originally revealed the tablets. However, errors were made in the transcription. Raphael then provided some correction to the tablets.

We proposed that human error might have occurred both times. The communication between Divine Light and human comprehension is limited by our ability to comprehend the abstract. Ultimately, we thought it might be a combination of the tablets that was correct. We used Pythagorean numerology. We addressed only those squares that were different from the Michael to the Raphael tablets. We were able to come up with a set of tablets that stood up to the ultimate test, MATH. This was a long and tedious process and required a combination of both tablets. Ultimately, we found that not only did each tablet added up similar to a kamea, so do each subquadrant. We also found that the total of each banner name was equal to the total of the respective tablet itself.

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