Enochian 70875 224390887 2008-07-08T17:22:23Z Pseudo daoist 8627 /* Skeptical and linguistic evaluations */ deleted original research/uncited material {{POV-check|date=December 2007}} :''This article is about the Angelical Language recorded in the journals of Dr. [[John Dee]]. For Dee's overall system of Angel Magic, see [[Enochian Magic]]. For other examples of divine or angelic languages, see [[Divine language]].'' '''Enochian''' is a name often applied to an [[occult]] or '''angelic''' language recorded in the private journals of Dr. [[John Dee]] and his seer [[Edward Kelley]] in the late 16th century. The men claimed that it was revealed to them by [[angel]]s, while some contemporary scholars of [[magick]] consider it a [[constructed language]]. Applying the term "Enochian" to the language is a modern convention—not found in Dee's journals. Dee referred to the language as "Angelical", the "Celestial Speech", the "Language of Angels", the "First Language of God-Christ" and the "Holy Language". He sometimes referred to its alphabet as "[[Adamic language|Adamical]]" because (according to Dee's Angels) it was used by Adam in Paradise to name all things. Dee also recorded that the Patriarch [[Enoch (ancestor of Noah)|Enoch]] had been the last human (before Dee and Kelley) to know the language—thus prompting later scholars to refer to the language and Dee's entire magickal system as "Enochian". ==Dee's Angelical== According to Tobias Churton in his book ''The Golden Builders'',<ref>{{cite book |author=Churton, Tobias |title=The Golden Builders |publisher=Signal Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=0-9543309-0-0 |pages=}}</ref> the concept of an Angelic or pre-deluge language was common during Dee's time. The importance of it was connected with the idea that if the language of angels could be known then it would be possible to directly interact with them and with the universe through it. Dee began to allude to his search for knowledge through the [[angel]]s in [[1581]] when he mentioned in his personal journals that God had sent "good angels" to communicate directly with his prophets. In [[1582]] Dee teamed up with the seer [[Edward Kelley]] (although there had been at least a couple of others before him)<ref> Deborah Harkness, ''John Dee's Conversations with Angels'', 16-17. </ref>. With Kelley's help as a scryer Dee set out to establish lasting contact with the angels, which resulted among other things in the reception of the Enochian or Angelical language. According to Dee's journals <ref> Now in various collections of the British Library. See especially Sloane MSS 3188, 3189 and 3191, and Cotton Appendix XLVI. All the above are available in digital scans at : http://www.themagickalreview.org/enochian/mss/. </ref>, Angelical was supposed to have been the language God used to create the world, and which was later used by Adam to speak with God and the angels, and to name all things in existence. Adam then lost the language upon his [[Fall from Paradise]], and constructed a form of proto-[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] based upon his vague memory of Angelical. This proto-Hebrew, then, was the [[universal human language]] until the time of the Confusion of Tongues at the [[Tower of Babel]]. After this, all the various human languages were developed, including an even more modified Hebrew (which we know as "Biblical Hebrew"). From the time of Adam to the time of Dee and Kelley, Angelical was hidden from humans with the single exception of the patriarch Enoch—who according to the angels recorded the "Book of Loagaeth" (Speech From God) for humanity. The book was then lost again in the [[Deluge of Noah]]. The angelical language as revealed to Dee and Kelley encompasses a very limited text corpus. Additionally only parts of it come with English translations. The reception of what has become known as Enochian started on March 26 1583, when Kelley reported visions in the crystal of the twenty-one lettered alphabet characteristic of the language. A few days later Kelley started receiving what became the first corpus of texts in the purported Angelic language. This resulted in the book ''Liber Loagaeth'' (“Book [of] Speech from God”). The book consists of 49 “calls” or prayers in the Angelic language, but also of 95 great letter tables, each of 49 x 49 letter-filled squares.<ref> This book is now in British Library MS Sloane 3189.</ref> Unfortunately the angels never bothered translating the texts in this book. The other and most important set of Enochian texts was received through Kelley about a year later, in Krakow. These are more important since they come with English translations, thus providing the basis for the Enochian vocabulary. The texts comprise 48 poetic verses, which in Dee’s manuscripts are called “Claves Angelicae”, or “Angelic Keys”. The Keys are assigned certain functions within the magical system. Dee was apparently intended to use these Keys to "open the 49 Gates of Wisdom/Understanding" represented by the 49 [[magic squares]] in ''Liber Loagaeth'': :I am therefore to instruct and inform you, according to your Doctrine delivered, which is contained in 49 Tables. In 49 voices, or callings: which are the Natural Keys to open those, not 49 but 48 (for one is not to be opened) Gates of Understanding, whereby you shall have knowledge to move every Gate… <ref> The angel Nalvage, cited in Casaubon ed., ''A True and Faithful Relation…'', p. 77 </ref> :But you shall understand that these 19 Calls are the Calls, or entrances into the knowledge of the mystical Tables. Every Table containing one whole leaf, whereunto you need no other circumstances. <ref> The angel Illemese, cited in Casaubon ed., ''A True and Faithful Relation…,'' p. 199) </ref> While these texts contain most of the vocabulary dozens of further words are found hidden throughout Dee's journals, and thousands of undefined words are contained in the ''Liber Loagaeth''. Marked stylistic differences between the words in Loagaeth and in the Keys have led some present-day magicians to assume that these represent two different "dialects" of the language {{Fact|date=September 2007}}. == Skeptical and linguistic evaluations == [[scientific skepticism|Skeptics]] have pointed to this discrepancy between the two revealed sets of Enochian texts as an indication that Enochian is in fact not a consistent language.<ref> See Donald Laycock, "Enochian: Angelic language or mortal folly?", 19-64 in ''The Complete Enochian Dictionary''. Also Egil Asprem, "'Enochian' Language: A proof of the existence of angels?" in ''Skepsis'' (13.12.2006), http://www.skepsis.no/marginalia/enochian_language_a_proof_of_t.html. </ref> For instance it has been noted, especially by the Australian linguist [[Donald Laycock]], that the texts in the Loagaeth material show phonetic features that do not generally appear in natural languages. <ref> Laycock, "Enochian: Angelic language or mortal folly?", p.33. </ref> Rather, the features shown are commonly found in instances of [[glossolalia]]. This could be indicative of Kelley actually receiving at least this set of texts through the well-known phenomenon of glossolalia. Building on Laycock’s linguistic analysis skeptics also point out that there are even problems with holding that the texts of the Enochian keys represent a genuine [[natural language]]. It is observed that the syntax of the Enochian calls is almost identical with that of English. <ref> Ibid, 43. </ref> Also the very scant evidence of Enochian verb declension seems to be quite reminiscent of English – more so than with Semitic languages as Hebrew or Arabic, which one perhaps would have supposed Adam’s pristine language to be closer related to than English.<ref> Ibid. </ref> These and other points arguably make the reception of the Enochian language less mysterious and hard to account for than some practitioners of [[Enochian magic]] have typically contended. ==Leo Vinci== In 1976, Leo Vinci published a book entitled ''Gmicalzoma: An Enochian Dictionary''. ==Enochian in popular culture== [[Anton LaVey]] included nineteen of the Enochian Keys, both in the original and in English translation, in his ''[[The Satanic Bible]]''. He edited them, however, by replacing the angelic names with the names of demons from Christian theology. Occasional other references have appeared in popular media. In this same book, he says that Enochian is considered older than Sanskrit. ===Music=== * The first band known to exist in the 20th century with the name Enochian is that by solo-artist Raven Lynch. The band was formed in the early 80's and produced industrial music and can be found at http://www.noiseproduction.com or Underneath at [http://download.com/enochian - bio and songs]. * The title of the track "Faaip de Oiad" on the [[Tool (band)|Tool]] album [[Lateralus]] is Enochian. Tool intended for it to translate to "the voice of God." * The track "All Along The Watchtowers" on the [[Aarni]] album 'Tohcoth' (title itself in the Angelic tongue) is sung entirely in Enochian. * The newest Demo track "Foraging for Metals" by the musical artist "Their Name Escapes Me" is intended to reclaim the word BRAP from popular youth culture as it as the name often lesser know Enochian angel (Brap or Briap). * Finnish black metal band [[Enochian Crescent]] have songs with a mixture of English, Finnish, and Enochian. * American rock group Open Systems uses the Enochian language in their art on their recording of Open Systems. * The lyrics to "The Devil Rides Out" by [[The Monochrome Set]] on the [[Eligible Bachelors]] album are from the Enochian Keys in ''[[The Satanic Bible]]''. * [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[symphonic metal]] band [[Therion]] released an album entitled [[Vovin]], Enochian for dragon. ===Fiction=== * The language has been associated with the Hymn of One, a fictional cult in the popular [[lonelygirl15]] web series. * The Enochian alphabet is used to represent the Golem language in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s novels ''[[Going Postal]]'' and ''[[Making Money]]''. In ''Going Postal'' it is referred to as a mystic language, said to be spoken by angels. * In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]'', the character [[Dartz]] wears a pendant with a [[unicursal hexagram]] and Enochian writing around the rim, which is the symbol of the [[Orichalcos]] Stone. The Orichalcos Seal that came from the Stone also has Enochian writing on its rim. <ref>[http://community.livejournal.com/playthedamncard/1253902.html playthedamncard: Why yes, I AM a Geek God<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> * [[Simon R. Green]]'s [[Simon Green#The Nightside series|Nightside]] series mentions Enochian in reference to angels. Enochian is never used in the books. * A reference appears in the movie series ''Prophecy'', which features [[Christopher Walken]] as Gabriel. * In the TV series [[Supernatural (TV Series)|Supernatural]], an Enochian summoning ritual is apparently placed into a movie script causing the set of the film to be haunted by ghosts (Season 2 Episode 18 "Hollywood Babylon") * In Kyt Dotson's serial novella Mill Avenue Vexations, Enochian symbols are used in the invocation ritual performed in Volume 1. Enochian language also made several appearances in other volumes of the book. ==See also== *[[Enochian angels]] *[[Enochian magic]] *[[Occultism]] *[[List of magical terms and traditions]] ==References== <references/> '''Note''': most of these primary sources relate to a version of this entry that was radically rewritten but is still available at http://paganpedia.mind-n-magick.com/wiki/index.php?title=Enochian ===Primary sources=== *Barnstone, Willis, ed. The Other Bible: Ancient Alternative Scriptures. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1984. *Dee, John. The Diaries of John Dee. Ed. Edward Fenton. Oxfordshire: Day, 1998. *John Dee's Library Catalogue. Ed. Roberts, Julian, Andrew G. Watson. London: Bibliographic Society. 1990. *Causabon, Meric. A True & Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years Between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits. ''Introduction by [[Lon Milo Duquette]],'' New York: Magickal Childe, 1992. *John Dee's Actions with Spirits: [[22 December]] [[1581]] to [[23 May]] [[1583]]. 2 vols. Ed. Whitby, Christopher. New York: Garland Publishing, 1988. *Laycock, Donald. The Complete Enochian Dictionary: A Dictionary of the Angelic Language as Revealed to Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley. ''Foreword by [[Lon Milo Duquette]],'' York Beach, ME: Weiser Books 1999. *[[Wolf Leslau|Leslau, Wolf]]. Comparative Dictionary of Ge'ez (Classical Ethiopic): Ge'ez -English / English- Ge'ez with an index of the Semitic roots. Wiesbadan: Otto Harrassowitz. 1991. *Concise Dictionary of Ge'ez (Classical Ethiopic). Wiesbadan: Otto Harrassowitz. 1989. *Liber Henoch Æthiopice, ad quinque codicum fidem editus cum variis lectionibus. Ed. [[August Dillmann|Dillmann, A.]] Ms. 5. Leipzig. 1851. *Pantheus, Joannes. "Voarchadumia contra alchimiam, ars distincta ab archimia et sophia, cum additionibus, proportinonibus numeris et figuris opportuni." n.d. [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=n068226] Gallica &ndash; Bibliothèque nationale de France. 1550. *Trithemius, Johannes. "Steganographia Book One." n.d. [http://www.esotericarchives.com/tritheim/stegano.htm] ([[14 December]] [[2002]]). ===Books and articles=== *Asprem, Egil. "'Enochian' Language: A proof of the existence of angels?" in ''Skepsis'', published 13.12.2006, http://www.skepsis.no/marginalia/enochian_language_a_proof_of_t.html. *Brooks, Lester. Civilizations of Ancient Africa. New York: Four Winds Press, 1972. *Harkness, Deborah. John Dee's Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. *Laycock, Donald. "Enochian: Angelic language or mortal folly?", 19-64 in: ''The Complete Enochian Dictionary'', edited by Laycock and Steven Skinner. York Beach, ME: Weiser Books 1999. *Mandeville, John. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Translated by C. W. R. D. Mosley. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1983. *Phillipson, David. Ancient Ethiopia. London: British Museum Press, 1998. *Schmidt, Nathaniel. "Traces of Early Acquaintance in Europe with the Book of Enoch." Journal of the American Oriental Society 42 (1922): 44-52. ==External links== *[http://www.hermetic.com/enochia/index.html An Enochian Miscellany] *[http://members.aol.com/AJRoberti/enochlng.htm Enochian Linguistics] *[http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/5777/enochian.txt Enochian-English dictionary] *[http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/enoch1.txt Another Enochian-English dictionary] *[http://www.enoch.sofiatopia.org/enoch.htm Enoch and The Day of the End] {{Conlang}} [[Category:Artistic languages]] [[Category:Enochian magic]] [[Category:Language and mysticism]] [[de:Henochische Sprache]] [[es:Enoquiano]] [[fr:Énochien]] [[ja:エノク語]] [[pl:Język enochiański]] [[pt:Linguagem enoquiana]] [[fi:Enochian]]