“His physiognomy is like the picture of King Edward the sixth...”
Mensis Mysticus Saobaticus: Pars prima ejusdem 10 april 1584¹

The System of Enochian Magick, Part V: More on the Round Table of Nalvage

By Frater David R. Jones

Reprinted from Voume 8, Number 1 of Lion and Serpent, the Official Journal of Sekhet-Maat Lodge, O.T.O. Reprinted here with Permission.

 

THE ROUND TABLE OF NALVAGE

 

II. THE ORDER AND KNITTING TOGETHER.²

“As the tree in sappy life, watering her self throughly, bringeth forth the ornament of her own beauty: So the spiritual part of man being good and dignified, burnisheth himself, with his sound and faithful thought: I mean the glory and shew of his own beauty; for the soul of man groweth either with beauty to salvation, or with dishonour and filthiness, to damnation.

“I have done my Commandment. I have as a Schoolmaster warned you, and as a friend counselled you: I will also teach you.”³

In order to facilitate the understanding of the mechanics of the Table, the lettered positions in each of the 4 quadrants or ‘Continents’ have been assigned numeric values. These are read left to right, and in order from top to bottom as is shown below:

Each line4 of each ‘Continent’ or ‘Life’ was assigned, by the angel Nalvage, a quality or property as follows:

1st Continent

1.1 [1-2-3] .......................... idz = Gaudium
Joy, gladness

1.2 [4-5-6] ....................... aoi = Praesentia
Presence / present circumstances⁵

1.3 [7-8-9] ..................... mzr = Laudantes⁶
....................................... or Triumphantes⁷
Those who praise, or those who triumph/are victorius

 

2nd Continent

2.1 [1-2-3] .......................... bna = Potestas
Power, control, opportunity

2.2 [4-5-6] .............................. daz = Motus
Motion

2.3 [7-8-9] .................... iab = Ministrantes
Those who serve⁸

 

3rd Continent

3.1 [1-2-3] ................................. sai = Actio
Action, performance

3.2 [4-5-6] ........................... god = Factum
Fact, deed

3.3 [7-8-9] .................. urr = Confirmantes
Literally those who strengthen⁹

 

4th Continent

4.1 [1-2-3] .............................. fos = Luctus
Sorrow, mourning, lamentation

4.2 [4-5-6] ........................ sea = Discordia
Disagreement, dissension, discord

4.3 [7-8-9] ................... rdi = Confundantes
Literally those who mix together¹⁰

The lines¹¹, though they represent properties specific to their order in the Continents, may not represent names or words as such. These lines probably function as constituent parts; out of which the formation of names are drawn by the given geometric mechanics. This would follow the general pattern first set forth in Liber Mysteriorum Secundus¹² for the formation of the two Angelic Squares, where the lines are delivered as baskets of winged creatures and pillars, and a hierarchy of names is derived therefrom. This avoids dealing with the fundamentally unpronouncable combinations of consonants posed by reading the lines individually.

From these lines the angel Nalvage extracted, by geometrical13 manipulation14, a passage in the Angelic tongue, the meaning of which is related to the properties listed above.

1st Continent

[1-4-2] ...................... Iad = Vita Suprema¹⁵
[7-5-3] ............................. Moz = Gaudium
[8-6-9] ........................... Zir = Praesentia16

2nd Continent

[7-8-4] ....................... Iad = Vita Secunda¹⁷
[9-5-1] ................................ Bab = Potestas
[6-2-3] .................................... Zna = Motio

3rd Continent

[3-2-6] .............................. Iad = Vita Tertia
[1-5-9] ...................................... Sor = Actio
[4-8-7] ................................. Gru = Factum

4th Continent

[9-6-8] .... Iad = Vita quae etiam est mors¹⁸
[3-5-7] ................................... Ser = Luctus
[2-4-1] .............................. Osf = Discordia

From this numerical relationship, the geometrical symmetry can be observed. The first (1-4-2) is the inverse of the last (2-4-1), the second (7-5-3) of the penultimate (3-5-7) and so forth.

     

And the Call that can thus be extracted from the Table as follows:

0.1 .................................... Iad = God 0.2 .......... Mozod19 = The joy of God 0.3 ..................... Zir = Presence, I am 0.4 .................................... Iad = God 0.5 ... Bab = Power, mobility, possibility 0.6 ........... Zna = Motion, movement 0.7 .................................... Iad = God 0.8 ................................ Sor = Action 0.9 .......................... Gru = Deed, fact 0.10 .................................. Iad = God 0.11 ..... Ser = Mourning, lamentation 0.12 ............................ Osf = Discord

Iad Mozod Zir Iad Bab Zna Iad Sor Gru Iad Ser Osf

I AM THE PRESENCE OF THE JOY OF GOD. THE MOTION OF GOD’S POWER (OR POSSIBILITY). THE FACT OF GOD’S ACTION. THE DISCORD OF GOD’S LAMENTATION (MOURNING).

“Not withstanding, consider that you are servants: Do therefore the will of your Master. You are become free: Be faithful and thankful to him that is the giver of liberty: Nay you are become children: partakers of the counsel of him that sitteth and seeth, and saith I am. Therefore be sober, faithful, and waver not, for the inheritance of your Father is great: your freedom without recompence, and your Master the King of Justice.”²⁰

 

Notes

1. p. 73 Meric Casaubon’s A True & Faithful Relation... (New York: Magickal Childe, 1992).  
2. For Part I. and bibliographic details see: http://www.hollyfeld.org/Esoteric/Email/enochian-l/index  
3. All quotations herein are from the Spirit Action of Tuesday April 10, 1584 and transcribedverbatim from pp. 73-76 of Meric Casaubon’s A True & Faithful Relation.  
4. Pat Zalewski’s The Golden Dawn Enochian Magic (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1994) p. 154reads each of these lines in reverse, “dzi, ioa, mzr...” etc., and identifies each as an AngelicChoir. He attributes to the general qualities an identity as “those who...” which grammaticallyis only properly assigned to the third lines in each continent and the names about the circumference, the attributions of which end in ‘-antes’.  
5. Metaphorically ‘effect’ or ‘power.’  
6. Cf. Revelation IV: 9-11, VII: 12.  
7. Originally the participants in a procession honoring Bacchus (drunkards?), later of the triumphs of Roman victors and of the Caesars.  
8. Cognate with the English ‘ministers.’  
9. Transferative meaning ‘those who secure,’ ‘reinforce’ or ‘confirm.’  
10. Metaphorically those who ‘confound,’ ‘confuse,’ ‘illude,’ or ‘bewilder.’  
11. Pat Zalewski pp. 153-5 et passim The Golden Dawn Enochian Magic concludes that the order of the words of these four lines should be read in reverse, ie “Zir Mozod Iad” etc. This makes some grammatical sense, if one accepts an English grammar correlation to the Angelic tongue. The word order is generally similar, though not identical in all places. This rendering might make better English of the Latin given; and would yield an equally accurate, but more literal: “The Motion of the Power of God” etc. It is not clear what Nalvage intends. The difficulty is in the inconsistency of reading the lines of the Continents in reverse letter by letter, but the phrases in reverse word by word. As this passage contains known and identifiable words of the Angelic language, the letters of these words cannot be conveniently be inverted.  
12. Sloane MS. 3188 cf. Christopher Whitby edt. John Dee’s Actions with Spirits (New York:Garland, 1988): vol. 1 pp. 120-123, vol. 2. 68-101. Joseph H. Peterson edt. John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery (New York: Weiser, 2003) pp. 118-146 and Clay Holden edt. Liber Secundus (http://www.john-dee.org/Secundus.pdf) pp. 16-30.  
13. A graphical representation of this process can also be found in vol. 10 pg. 8 of Israel Regardie’s The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic (Phoenix AZ: Falcon, 1984).  
14. Note the numeric symmetry in the formula for extracting the words. How the first is equal to the last, the second to the penultimate, etc.  
15. ‘Iad’ is identified with the titles of the 4 Continents, but in the Angelic tongue: iad =god vide the 1st, 8th, 9th & 17th Calls, cf. Geoffrey James The Enochian Evocation of Dr. John Dee (Gillette NJ: Heptangle, 1984) aka The Enochian Magic of John Dee. (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1994) pp. 65, 80, 83, 94, words: 1.5, 8.18, 9.66, 17.17.  
16. Likewise zir = I am: Calls 2, 3 & 4, G. James pp. 69, 70, 73, words: 2.53, 3.4, 4.6.  
17. John III:3  
18. For the translation of this Latin see above and Part I of this essay. (vide note 1.)  
19. Dee: “I pray you, is Mozod, a word of three letters, or five?” Nalvage: “..... In wrote three, it is larger extended.” [Dee. z extended is zod.] D.: Will you pardon me if I ask you another question of this extension?” N.: “..... Say on: Moz in it self signifieth Joy; but Mozod extended, signifieth the Joy of God.”  
20. Nalvage, p. 73, A True & Faithful Relation...