Enochian banners: twelve silk banners for the ritual space

What the banners are

Enochian banners all 12 are silk banners commissioned by the Enochian Entities for John Dee to make. They demarcate the ritual space, and they contain the names of the guardians at the quarters in the 3-4-5 formula. Those two functions, demarcation and naming, are the whole purpose of the banners, and everything about how they are made and used follows from those two functions.

Demarcation is a practical matter before it is a symbolic one. A ritual space that is marked out is a different space from an ordinary room, and the people working in it know that, because they can see the marking. The banners draw the boundary visibly, in silk, in colour, around the space where the work will be done. That visibility matters, especially in group work, where every person in the room needs to know where the working space begins and ends, and to treat that boundary consistently.

Naming is the second function, and it is just as practical. The banners contain the names of the guardians at the quarters in the 3-4-5 formula. Those names are not decoration. They are the guardians of the quarters, named in their places, in the formula the system gives. A banner that names a guardian in the wrong quarter, or in the wrong colours, is not a small error. It is a banner that does not do its job, and that is why the making of these banners follows the manuscripts, rather than improvising a design that looks Enochian.

The colours, from Dee's manuscripts

These banners are handpainted in the colours mentioned in Dee's manuscripts: red, black, white, and green. That colour list is worth pausing on, because it is specific, and specificity is what separates a working banner from a decorative one. Red, black, white, and green are not chosen for how they look together in a modern room. They are the colours the manuscripts give, and they are used because the manuscripts give them, in the places the manuscripts give them.

Handpainted matters here too. A printed banner, run off in bulk, may carry the right names and the right colours, but it does not carry the same making. Handpainting is slow, it is done banner by banner, and it leaves the small variations that handwork always leaves. Those variations are not flaws. They are the sign that each banner was made deliberately, by a person, for this purpose, rather than produced as a copy. In a working space, that deliberateness is part of what the banners do: they show, visibly, that the space was prepared with care.

Silk matters for the same reason. Silk hangs, moves, and catches light in a way that heavier or stiffer materials do not, and in a ritual space, that movement is part of the atmosphere of the working. A banner that hangs still and stiff is a picture on a wall. A silk banner that moves slightly with the air in the room is a living boundary, and the people working inside it feel that difference, whether they name it or not.

The 3-4-5 formula, and the quarters

The banners contain the names of the guardians at the quarters in the 3-4-5 formula. The quarters, in Enochian work, are the four directions of the working space, each with its guardians, and the formula gives the arrangement of those guardians in their places. If you are setting up banners, set them up according to the system you follow and the teaching you have received, and check the arrangement against the manuscripts and your teacher, not against a general article.

What a general article can say, usefully, is that the arrangement matters, and that it should be checked, not assumed. Before a working, walk the space, check each banner in its quarter, and check that the names are where they should be. That checking is part of the preparation, not a formality before it. A working space that has been checked, banner by banner, is a space you can trust to hold the working, and a space you have not checked is a space you are only hoping will hold it.

In group work, that checking also has a social function. When everyone in the room has seen the banners checked, everyone knows the space is ready, and everyone starts the working from the same footing. That shared readiness is hard to create with words alone, and it is one of the quiet jobs the banners do, simply by being there, in their places, in their colours.

Setting up the space

Setting up with banners is a deliberate act, not a matter of hanging things up quickly before a working. Choose the room, clear it, and set the banners in their quarters before you set out anything else. Give yourself time for this, and do not rush it to fit a schedule that has already squeezed the preparation out of the evening. Preparation is most of the work, and with banners, that preparation is visible: the room changes, banner by banner, from an ordinary room into a working space.

Think about the practical side too. Silk banners need hanging points that hold them safely, without strain on the fabric, and they need a room where they will not be brushed, caught, or damaged during the working. Check the light in the room as well: the names on the banners should be readable in the light you will actually work in, not only in daylight. If you work by candlelight, check the banners by candlelight before the night of the working, not during it.

After the working, take the banners down with the same care you hung them with, or leave them in place if your practice keeps a permanent working space. Either way, treat them as working tools, not as decorations to be left to dust or to fade in sunlight. Silk, handpainting, and the names they carry all deserve care, and care is part of keeping a practice coherent over years.

Working inside the banners

Once the banners are up, the working itself does not change its form, but its footing changes. You are working inside a space that has been demarcated and named, and that footing steadies the work. Petitions spoken inside a marked space are spoken with a clearer sense of place, and that clarity helps both the speaking and the listening afterwards. Sit quietly for a time inside the space before you begin, and let the demarcation do its quiet work on your attention, rather than rushing straight into words.

Keep a record of workings done inside the banners, as you would for any working: date, purpose in one sentence, what you did, and what you noticed afterwards, over days and weeks, not just on the night itself. Note the space itself in that record too: how the banners were arranged, how the room behaved, and anything about the setup that worked well or badly. Those practical notes are how you learn to set a space well, rather than setting it the same way every time out of habit.

Be specific about what you want, as in any working. A marked space does not supply a purpose. It holds a purpose, and it holds it better when the purpose is clear. If you cannot state the matter in one clear sentence, write it down, leave it overnight, and come back to see if it still reads true. That pause is part of the work, not a delay in it.

What not to do

Do not use banners as decoration for a room that is not a working space. A banner hung as a picture, in a room where ordinary life goes on around it, loses its standing as a working tool, and it becomes harder to treat it seriously when you do set it up for a working. Keep the banners for the working space, and keep them stored properly between workings, unless your practice keeps a permanent temple space.

Do not improvise the names, the colours, or the arrangement. If you are unsure about a name, a colour, or a quarter, check it against the manuscripts and your teaching before the working, not during it. A general article cannot settle those details for you, and guessing in the middle of a working is not a substitute for preparation. When in doubt, ask a teacher you trust, and wait until you have an answer you can rely on.

Do not treat a marked space as a substitute for the rest of the working. The banners demarcate and name. They do not speak the petition, they do not do the listening, and they do not close the working. Those parts are still yours, and they still need to be done properly, with attention, every time.

When banners are not the right step

Sometimes the right answer is not a full banner setup at all. If you are working alone, in a small room, or in a space you cannot mark out properly, a simpler demarcation may serve you better than twelve banners hung badly. A working space that is marked simply and well is better than a working space that is marked elaborately and carelessly. Match the setup to the room you actually have, and to the working you are actually doing, rather than to an ideal you cannot realise in that room.

It is also worth saying that banners are not a beginner purchase. They belong to a practice that already works with the Enochian system, with the quarters, and with the guardians, and they make most sense when that practice is already steady. If you are new to Enochian work, start with the foundations, learn the language and the calls, and come to the banners when the system they belong to is already part of your practice.

Enochian banners, all 12

Silk banners, handpainted in the colours mentioned in Dee's manuscripts: red, black, white, and green. They were commissioned by the Enochian Entities for John Dee to make, they demarcate the ritual space, and they contain the names of the guardians at the quarters in the 3-4-5 formula. I make no promise about what they will do for you, only that they are made by hand, for this work.

If you want the banners for that work, this is the set I offer: Enochian banners all 12, $647 CAD. View the product

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