Nicole Explains It All

In the late 16th century, within the shadowed studies of Elizabethan England, a brilliant polymath and a mysterious medium embarked on a journey to bridge the gap between the earthly and the divine. The result was Enochian, a complex, structured language that remains one of the most intriguing artifacts in the history of Western occultism. [Check out the Enochian dictionary PDF.]

But what exactly is Enochian, and how did it come to be?

The Architects: John Dee and Edward Kelley

The story of Enochian is inseparable from its two primary “discoverers”: John Dee, a renowned mathematician, astronomer, and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, and Edward Kelley, an enigmatic figure with a reputation for alchemy and mediumship.

From 1583 to 1584, the pair conducted a series of intense, highly structured magical scrying sessions. Their dynamic was a partnership of specialized roles:

• John Dee: The orator and meticulous recorder. He provided the intellectual framework and documented every word and vision with academic precision.
• Edward Kelley: The “scryer” or medium. Kelley would gaze into a crystal “showstone” or an obsidian mirror to perceive angelic manifestations and hear their voices.

Through fervent prayer and ritual, Kelley relayed the visions he saw within the stone to Dee, who transcribed them into the journals that survive today.

The Enochian Language

The Enochian language was named by its originators, John Dee and Edward Kelley, as “Angelical”. They also called it the “Celestial Speech”, the “Speech of God”, or the “Language of Adam”. It is an occult constructed language recorded in their 16th-century journals.

The angelic beings allegedly dictated it to Kelley through a scrying stone. They claimed this was the original divine language used by God to create the universe. In this mythology, Adam used this language in the Garden of Eden. He gave all creatures their “true names.” This captured their exact essence. It allowed him to communicate directly with God and the angels. After the Fall of Man, this perfect language was lost. Humanity was left with degraded terrestrial tongues. Ancient Hebrew was said to retain the barest traces of it. Dee believed that by recovering Enochian, he could correctly decipher the “Book of Nature.” He thought this could unlock the secrets of creation. Ultimately, he hoped it would help usher in an apocalyptic New World Order.

The language features its own unique alphabet of 21 regular characters. It also includes one aspirated character. Words are written from right to left, similar to Hebrew. Learning the language proved intensely frustrating for Dee. The angels’ dictations lacked systematic rules of grammar, syntax, or pronunciation. Additionally, the vocabulary often consisted of extremely difficult consonant clusters like paombd or noncf,,.

Modern linguistic analysis, particularly by Australian linguist Donald Laycock, provides a more mundane explanation for the language. Laycock’s studies reveal that the phonology, word order, and grammar of Enochian are actually “thoroughly English”,. It functions similar to English but is devoid of articles and prepositions. It lacks the complex case endings or verb structures found in languages like Latin, Greek, or Hebrew.

Laycock also noted a distinct difference between the two main bodies of Enochian text received by Dee and Kelley:

• The Liber Loagaeth texts: The earlier texts are entirely untranslated and show phonetic patterning—such as heavy alliteration and repetitive rhyming—that strongly resembles glossolalia (speaking in tongues), which is commonly produced during trance states,,.
• The 48 Angelic Calls: The later texts, which comprise the invocations discussed earlier, came with English translations and function much more like an artificial, English-based language,,. Even so, the vocabulary appears largely arbitrary; most words have no apparent etymology or relation to known languages, though a few resemble biblical names, such as babalond (“wicked, harlot”) resembling Babylon, or luciftias (“brightness”) resembling Lucifer,.

The Reception: A Language Delivered by Light

The transmission of Enochian was not a simple dictation; it was a grueling, multi-layered process that evolved as the angels—according to Dee’s records—adapted to human limitations.

1. The Grids of Liber Loagaeth

The process began in March 1583. Kelley reported seeing a 21-letter alphabet followed by a book titled Liber Loagaeth (Book of the Speech from God). The pages were filled with complex grids of letters. Initially, an angel would use a long rod to point to individual characters on these grids, spelling out prayers one painful letter at a time.

2. Divine Illumination and Yellow Light

Frustrated by the slow pace of letter-by-letter dictation, the method shifted. Dee recorded that a “light” would fly out of the scrying stone and enter Kelley’s head. This Divine Illumination temporarily granted Kelley the ability to read and comprehend the angelic text directly. To record the physical alphabet, the angels projected the letters in a pale yellow color onto blank paper, which Kelley then traced in black ink.

3. Phonetic Dictation and the “Backwards” Safety

Eventually, the angels began reciting texts aloud. The core of the Enochian system is found in the 48 Angelic Calls (or Keys). Because the angels claimed these words possessed the literal power of creation, they took a unique precaution: the first four Calls were dictated backwards, letter by letter. This ensured that Dee and Kelley wouldn’t accidentally “activate” the magic and unleash unintended cosmic forces while simply trying to write them down.

The Key Texts of the Enochian System

If you are looking to explore the primary sources of this celestial tongue, these are the essential manuscripts:

The Enochian Calls, frequently referred to as the Angelic Keys, are a series of 48 powerful invocations. They are written in the Enochian (or Angelic) language. These invocations were delivered to the Elizabethan scholar John Dee and his scryer Edward Kelley. According to the angels who dictated them, these invocations act as literal “keys.” They are designed to open 48 “Gates of Understanding.” This grants the practitioner the ability to access mystical realms and uncover the secrets of creation. It also allows them to command the angels and spiritual forces governing the universe.

Unlike traditional magical systems, invocations here do not require an operator to focus on specific symbols. Instead, the Enochian Calls are believed to possess intrinsic, objective power. They produce a manifestation of force regardless of whether the magician fully comprehends their meaning or symbolic content. This is why occultists warn that while other magical systems require great effort, Enochian magic requires extreme caution. The texts themselves are described as dignified and poetic. They are invitations to the spirits, unlike the tedious pleading or self-debasement often found in Goetic demon evocation. Reciting them in their original Enochian tongue is considered vital, as the sounds act as “words of power” that instantly alter the practitioner’s consciousness to accommodate magical workings.

Structure and Application of the Calls

While there are 48 distinct operations to unlock the 48 gates, there are actually only 19 unique base texts. The structure of the Calls corresponds directly to the magical “geography” of the Enochian system, targeting the Elemental Tablets (Watchtowers) and the 30 Aethyrs (Heavens):

• Calls 1 and 2: These initial invocations define the spiritual poles and the overall framework of the magic. They are used exclusively to invoke the highest angels of the Tablet of Union, which represents the unifying element of Spirit.
• Calls 3 through 6: These Keys are used to invoke the primary forces of the four main Elemental Tablets: Air (3rd Key), Water (4th Key), Earth (5th Key), and Fire (6th Key).
• Calls 7 through 18: These twelve invocations are utilized to activate the “Lesser Angles” or sub-elements within the main Elemental Tablets, such as the “Fire subangle of the Air Tablet” or the “Earth subangle of the Water Tablet”.
• The 19th Call (The Call of the 30 Aethyrs): This single invocation accounts for the remaining 30 Calls. It is used to explore the 30 Aethyrs (or Aires). These are concentric spiritual dimensions. They expand outward beyond the physical universe. The magician recites this exact same text 30 times, changing only the specific name of the Aethyr being invoked, to progress step-by-step through the spiritual planes.

As previously noted in our conversation, the angels claimed these words held the literal power of creation. Therefore, they dictated the first four of these Keys backwards, letter by letter. This served as a safeguard to prevent Dee and Kelley from accidentally unleashing their formidable power during the transcription process. The remaining Keys were delivered forwards. Their English translations were provided several weeks later. This was to verify their profound and consistent meaning.

A Legacy of Mystery

Whether one views Enochian as a genuine celestial revelation, a sophisticated linguistic feat by Kelley, or a psychological phenomenon, its impact is undeniable. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the Elizabethan mind—a world where science, mathematics, and magic were not separate disciplines, but different ways of understanding the same divine architecture of the universe.