by Benjamin Rowe
(This discussion originally appeared on the Enochian-l mailing list, and so is not copyrighted.)
To: Enochian list
From: Josh Norton
Subject: Attributes of Six-letter god-names
[Following an enquiry from Khephera...]
In the winter of 1992-1993 and the following spring, I did a long series of works intended to determine the "real" attributes of individual squares within the Tablets; at least, I hoped to get a better and more consistent system than the G.D. version. The overall results of this work were described in the two "Godzilla Meets E.T." papers, which I believe you said you read. Unfortunately, the magickal records for the work were almost entirely destroyed in a hard disk crash in June 1993; as a world-class procrastinator, I naturally did not make backups. :-) So in describing it I am working entirely from memory.
Throughout the work I used a relatively simple method. I would vibrate the Call appropriate to the Lesser Angle, then go into the astral and formulate a Golden Dawn style truncated pyramid around me. The sides of the pyramid would be completely blank, no symbols or colors. The flat top would have the letter of the square I was testing, drawn in the angelic alphabet. Then I would vibrate the divine and angelic names relevant to the square until I got some sort of response.
The idea was that whatever power/entity responded would fill in the blank sides of the pyramid with colors and symbols to define the nature of the square, and would then follow this by elaborating the square's nature through a descriptive vision. For each rank of powers within the Tablets, I began with the Lesser Angle of Air in the Air Tablet, to avoid several possible sources of confusion, and followed up by doing the same rank using the same method on three other Lesser Angles selected at random.
The nature of the actual response differed for each rank, but was generally consistent for all the visions within the rank. For the so-called "servient" angels, the response would launch directly into an allegorical vision of the square's function, and only afterwards would the angel appear visibly and describe the pyramid. In the "Kerubic" squares, the angel would appear, go through the usual recognition and testing procedures, then paint the pyramid and display a descriptive vision.
In the squares of the god-names of six letters, a god-form would appear in the middle of the pyramid, seated on a throne. The god would be carrying various symbolic implements (which I can't remember at this late date) and the throne would be carved with symbols, mostly of one of the planets. The god-form would do nothing; it would not respond to words, gestures, or drawn symbols. I discovered that I had to sit down on the throne and merge my astral body with the god-form for the vision to continue. At that point, the walls of the pyramid would be briefly colored and emblazoned with its defining symbols, and then would turn transparent again to display the explanatory vision. Unlike most visions, where my viewpoint "travels" as the vision progresses, there was a distinct sense that I stayed in one place (on the throne) while the astral world moved around me.
Anyway, the resulting visions showed a consistent set of attributes for the squares of the god-names. The north face of the pyramid was attributed to God (not "spirit" in the elemental sense), the east face was the element of the Tablet, and the west face the element of the Lesser Angle. The south face was attributed to the planets in descending order: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Luna.
But rather than being "pure" expression of the planet's powers, it emphasized them as being representative of a pattern manifesting on three different levels of existence. The visions divided them into pairs. The first square of each pair showed the power there as a male "seed" being thrown down through the planes to be received by the second square of the pair. The second square would nourish and support this seed, growing it into an elaborate network which continually bifurcated and expanded as it progressed downwards, root-like. In the first pair, this network was shown as a pattern of light expanding in space; in the second pair, as the growth of a human nervous system during gestation and maturation; in the third pair, as a plant seed growing into the root and stem-systems of the full-grown plant.
As each of the first two networks penetrated downwards into the plane of the next "male" square below it, the ends to the net would encyst to form seeds again. In the final square, the roots of the net penetrated into the "dead" matter symbolized by the rocky body of the Earth, breaking up that matter and enabling it to be incorporated into living beings.
Obviously, the three levels -- space, the human world, and the material world -- are equivalent to the divine, human/planetary, and elemental worlds that show up in various parts of the Enochian and Heptarchic systems. At the time I wasn't aware of the prominence of this symbolism in the record; I hadn't read it yet. I thought of the division only in the terms of my astrological training, where the planets have somewhat similar functions in the human personality.
The overall results could be tabulated this way:
| Male | Female | |
| Divine | Saturn | Jupiter |
| Human | Mars | Venus |
| Elemental | Mercury | Luna |
My thought is that each six-letter god-name represents a reflection (in the elemental worlds of the Lesser Angles) of the power of the Seniors, while the five-letter name of God (which showed the symbolism of Yod-He-Shin-Vav-Heh) reflects the Elemental King. If we regard the King and Seniors as the divine Father and Mother, respectively, then the Calvary Cross in each Lesser Angle must represent the Son, since it combines their reflections in itself. The fact that the vertical arm of the cross has planetary attributes while the horizontal arm has elemental attributes would show the Son as the intermediary between the divine and mundane worlds, following the customary Christian symbolism.
Or if you prefer something closer to Dee's symbolism, then you could say that the Holy Trinity in the lines of the Great Cross is made manifest through the Son Incarnate in each Lesser Angle.
Josh
To: Enochian list
From: Josh Norton
Subject: Re: Attributes of Six-letter god-names
At 02:51 AM 2/11/97 -0500, Khephera wrote:
>
>I do have a question: Why is Sol not represented in this- and why would it
>not manifest in the Central square (the Shin of YHShVH)? Sol/Tiphareth is
>the very Sphere of the Crucifixtion which is the focus of the Calvary Crosses
>and the Kherubic (INRI) Angels.
It is. The Cross as a whole is Sol. The Cross is the Son, and the Son is the Sun.
In esoteric astrology, the Sun comprehends the powers of all the planets. In the cabala (in European versions, at least) Tiphereth is the central mediating sphere where the powers of all the other spheres come together. In the crosses of the Lesser Angles, we have the fusion of the Six of the Tree's "Heavenly Hexagram" with the Five of the elemental or mundane spheres under the governance of Spirit. I.e., the union of macrocosm and perfected microcosm in the body of Christ, the Son or Sun. A modern parallel (for those with an aversion to Christian symbolism) would be Thelema's symbolism of the number 418.
To extend what I've said previously, I think that the principle of redemption is the key and essence of the process depicted in the Lesser Angles. I use "redemption" in a much more global sense than Christians use the term, to encompass not only human beings but all the material of creation, but the principle is the same for all levels. The research I did tends to confirm this in all particulars.
In the Six-letter name of God, we have the divine power manifesting in the material world through the planets considered as a double trinity of powers. As described yesterday, when this power finally strikes the "dead" matter at the material pole of existence, it acts to break that matter up into a form that can, in potential, be incorporated into the living creation. (In other visions, the angels have associated this dead matter with the prima materia, the substance out of which all normal matter is formed. They depict this materia as existing in a state of ultimate negativity or inertia; the power of the six-letter name acts to separate a portion of it and make it sufficiently responsive to be acted upon.)
The five-letter name of God was shown as powers expressing the formula of IHShVH, the saving or redemptive power. (Yes, I know this isn't how the Hebrews spelled it -- we're talking Christian cabala here.) This power creates a "vortex" which tends to draw the separated "dead" matter upwards towards the spirit, and (because it contains the archetypes of the elements within itself) defines the forms that matter can take within the living creation.
Both of these names together represent the Christ, who is both Son of God (the six-letter name combining the Mother and Father aspects) and the Savior (the five-letter name).
(I would comment that the symbolism of the Cross does not here represent sacrifice. Rather it represents the divine blessing and the saving power of divine love. In Catholic iconography, the living Christ (as distinct from the dying Christ) is often shown with his arms outstretched, cross-like, as if to embrace the multitude or to pass them his grace. This alternate interpretation is often forgotten.)
The "Kerubic" angels represent the formula of INRI or IRNI, the universal process by which all change, initiation, and movement upwards towards the spirit takes place. The Christ embodied this formula in his life, and the "redemptive" force represented by the crosses of the Lesser Angles makes use of it to transform the materia that has been activated.
The "Servient" angels combine the process of INRI with the power of the five-letter name (minus its letter of spirit) to do the actual "dirty work" of raising up the dead matter and incorporating it into the creation. Their column attributes follow INRI, while their row attributes follow IHVH. But curiously, the IHVH attributes were shown to go from the bottom-most angel upwards rather than top-down as one might expect. This turns out to be reasonably logical once you understand what they were getting at:
Lowest angel = Fire: "heats" the matter and causes each fragment of it to vibrate with its intrinsic "note".
Second angel = Water: Separates and sorts the fragments according to their vibrations, much like a centrifuge.
Third angel = Air: Binds the fragments back together in a structure that accords with the living creation.
Top angel = Earth: "Fixes" or solidifies the pattern, making it permanent.
The "fire" angels are lowest because they must act on the matter first, while it is still in its "lowest" or least responsive state. Each following step figuratively raises the matter higher, where the next angel in turn can get at it.
So each Lesser Angle is, in a sense, the image of Christ pouring his blessing upon the world in order to redeem it. Sixteen times over, once for each sub-element. This system of attributes was not at all what I was expecting when I did the research to discover them. At the time I was theorizing a much simpler system, in which all the columns and rows followed the "Enochian" sequences of elements -- i.e., Air, Water, Earth, Fire, with the central column being Spirit. This theory pleased my sense of elegance, and would have been supported by the one clue on the matter in the diaries. I was secretly somewhat offended when the angels didn't go along with it! Ah, well. So much for what I wanted. :-)
Despite being a non-Christian, I have no problems personally with this symbolism; it fits too well with the powers as I experience them. Unlike many "cutting edge" magicians -- who seem to resent the idea of any being doing them a favor -- I still have a place for Love and Grace in my view of the spiritual cosmos; I can fit it in well enough. I expect that many others will have a hard time swallowing it -- can you imagine Michael Aquino and his ToS bunch dealing with this? <G>
Regards, Ben