Enochian altar cloth tassels: finishing the flashing cloth

The cloth, and what the tassels finish

Enochian work has its own altar, and its own altar cloth, and both are specified in unusual detail. The Enochian Angels, speaking to John Dee and Edward Kelly, described the altar and its furnishings, and among those furnishings is a red and green flashing silk altar cloth, placed on top of everything on the altar, except the skrying mirror or ball. That cloth is not a decorative covering. It is part of the altar's construction, as given, and practitioners who work the Enochian system treat it as such.

The tassels offered here are the finishing of that cloth. It is not a cloth on its own. It is the tassel work on the cloth, sewn on for you, so that the cloth is finished as a whole piece rather than left plain at the edges. If you are setting up an Enochian altar from the beginning, the cloth and the tassels belong together in your planning, and the tassels should be decided on when the cloth is ordered, not as an afterthought months later.

Red and green flashing silk is a particular material, and its flashing quality is part of its character. The silk shifts between red and green as it catches the light, and that shifting, flashing effect is why the cloth is described that way. The tassels are made to match it: red and green, in the same colours as the cloth, so that the finished piece reads as one thing, not as a cloth with an unrelated trimming added.

Why the tassels are not silk

The tassels themselves are not silk, as those would be nearly impossible to come by, and would be two hundred dollars extra. These are quality made tassels, and they match the altar cloth quite well.

That is a practical trade, and a sensible one. Silk tassels in the exact flashing red and green of the cloth would be a rare find, and the added cost would put the finishing out of reach for many practitioners, for a detail that does not change the cloth's function. The tassels offered here give the finished look and the finished edge of the cloth, in matching colours and good quality, without that added cost. But the standard offering is honest about what it is, and that honesty is part of what makes it trustworthy.

When the tasselled cloth arrives, check the sewing before you place the cloth on the altar. The tassels are sewn on, not pinned or glued, and a sewn finish should sit evenly at the cloth's edges, without pulling or puckering the silk. If anything is loose, that is the time to notice it, before the cloth goes into use, not during a working when your attention should be elsewhere.

Placing the cloth on the altar

The cloth goes on top of everything on the Enochian altar, except the skrying mirror or ball. That placement is specific, and it is worth following exactly as given, because the altar's arrangement in the Enochian system is not arbitrary. Each item has its place, and the cloth's place is over the other furnishings, with the mirror or ball excepted, sitting where it can be used for skrying without the cloth in the way.

Before you place the cloth for the first time, make sure the altar itself is clean and set in order, and that the items beneath the cloth are in their proper places. Lay the cloth evenly, with the tassels falling at the edges, and take a moment to see the altar as a whole. An altar that is set in order, with its cloth properly placed, is easier to work at than an altar assembled in a hurry, because the order of the place supports the order of the working.

Keep the cloth clean and set apart. Silk, and flashing silk in particular, should be kept from dust, damp, and rough handling, and the cloth should not be used as an ordinary table covering between workings. It is an altar cloth, and it should live as one: folded carefully when not in use, or left in place on an altar that is kept for the work, and handled with clean hands.

The altar as a whole, and where this piece fits

An Enochian altar is a system, and the cloth is one part of it, alongside the other furnishings the Angels described to Dee and Kelly. If you are building your altar piece by piece, it helps to plan the whole arrangement, not just the next purchase. The cloth, with its tassels, sits over the furnishings. Beneath it, the other items have their places. Above it, nothing sits except as the system directs, with the skrying mirror or ball excepted from the cloth's covering.

That planning matters because Enochian work is a long discipline, not a single rite. The altar you build now is the altar you will work at for months and years, and a cloth finished properly, with matching tassels, is part of making that altar a place you can return to, working after working, without distraction. Small finishes matter in a long practice. A fraying edge, a mismatched trimming, or a cloth that never quite looked finished will catch your eye every time you sit down to work, and that catching is a distraction you do not need.

It is also worth keeping a record of your altar's furnishings as you acquire them: what each piece is, where it came from, and when it was placed. That record becomes part of your working history, and it is useful when you later need to replace, repair, or add to the altar, because you will know exactly what you have and what matches it.

Working with the cloth in place

Once the cloth is placed, with its tassels sewn on, use the altar as your Enochian practice directs. The cloth's job is to be the covering the system specifies, in the place the system specifies, and to give the altar its finished, set-apart character. It does not need further attention during a working, and that is the point. A properly finished altar does not call attention to itself. It lets your attention go where the working needs it: to the prayers, the calls, the skrying, and the record you keep afterwards.

After each working, leave the altar in order. Straighten the cloth if it has shifted, see that the tassels fall evenly, and put the tools away in their proper places. That closing order is part of the discipline of Enochian work, and it is what keeps an altar a working altar rather than a collection of objects that slowly drifts out of arrangement.

No promise is made here about what the cloth or its tassels will do for you in terms of magical result. That wording is about the work itself, not about delivery dates for a physical item. What is offered is the tassel work on the Enochian flashing red and green silk altar cloth: red and green tassels, sewn on, quality made to match the cloth, with the frank note that the tassels themselves are not silk, as silk tassels would be nearly impossible to come by and would cost two hundred dollars extra.

Flashing silk, and why the cloth's material matters

Flashing silk is not ordinary silk in a red or green colour. It is a shot silk, woven with one colour in one direction and another in the other, so that the cloth shifts between red and green as it moves and as the light changes. That shifting is the flashing, and it is why the cloth is described that way in the Enochian material. A cloth that holds still in one colour would not be the cloth described. A cloth that flashes, between red and green, is the cloth the Angels specified, and its shifting quality is part of its character on the altar.

That character has a practical effect on working at the altar. A flashing cloth catches the eye without demanding attention, in the way a still, bright cloth would. It gives the altar a living surface, changing subtly as candles move and as the practitioner moves around it, and that subtle change supports attention rather than distracting from it. Practitioners who have worked at an altar with a flashing cloth often remark on this: the altar feels alive, without feeling busy, and the cloth contributes to that feeling more than any single object on it.

Caring for flashing silk means caring for a delicate, shifting weave. Keep it from strong, direct sunlight when it is not in use, because light fades shot silk unevenly, and uneven fading spoils the flashing effect. Keep it from damp, which can mark silk permanently, and from rough surfaces that can snag the weave. When you fold it, fold it loosely, along its existing folds where possible, rather than creasing it sharply in new places, because sharp creases in silk become permanent lines, and permanent lines interrupt the flashing surface. These are small cares, but they are the cares that keep a fine cloth fine over years of use.

The tassels, falling at the cloth's edges, complete that surface. They give the cloth a finished border, so that the eye does not stop at a raw edge, and they give the hands something to notice when the cloth is laid and straightened, a small, tactile confirmation that the altar is set in order. A finished cloth, with matching tassels, is an altar that is ready, and readiness is a quiet but real support to any working done at it.

One last practical note: when you order the tassels, confirm that the cloth they will be sewn onto is the Enochian flashing red and green silk altar cloth, so that colours and size match. A tassel option ordered without reference to its cloth risks a mismatch in colour or scale, and a matching finish depends on the tassels and the cloth being considered together, as one piece.

Enochian altar cloth tassels

For finishing the Enochian altar cloth, this is the option offered: Enochian altar cloth tassels, $216 CAD. View the product

This is the option to have red and green tassels sewn onto your Enochian flashing red and green silk altar cloth. The tassels themselves are not silk, as those would be nearly impossible to come by and would be $200 extra; these are quality made and match the altar cloth quite well. The Enochian Angels specified that Dee and Kelly place a red and green flashing altar cloth on top of everything, except the skrying mirror or ball.

A matching Enochian altar cloth is also offered separately: Enochian altar cloth, $162 CAD.

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