Enochian tablets, set of four, hand painted on wood: the four corners of the Great Table

Four tablets, four corners of the Great Table

These elemental tablets comprise the four corners of the Great Table, as given by Uriel to Dee and Kelly, for their continued use to invoke the Enochian Entities. The parts are four elemental tablets. The whole is the Great Table. The giver, in the tradition, is Uriel. The recipients are Dee and Kelly, John Dee and Edward Kelly, whose workings, recorded in the Enochian manuscripts, are the foundation of the Enochian system. The use is invocation: to invoke the Enochian Entities, continued over time, not once, and not as a display. A set of tablets that is understood in those terms is a working tool, for a system, and it should be approached as such, rather than as decoration, or as a set of interesting objects to own.

The Great Table, in Enochian tradition, is the table on which the Enochian system is laid out, in its elemental parts, and the four tablets are its corners, each corresponding to an element, and each carrying the names, sigils, and characters that belong to that element, in the system. Sloane 3191 is a manuscript in the Sloane collection, containing Enochian material, and the sigils on these tablets are marked as recorded there, which places the set in a manuscript tradition, rather than in a modern invention, or in a personal variation.

Hand painted on wood, in the title, is the other anchor. These tablets are not printed, not mass-produced, and not made of a synthetic material that imitates wood. They are painted by hand, on wood, one set at a time, and that making matters, for a tool that is to be used in invocation. A printed tablet can be accurate, in terms of its characters, but it does not carry the same hand work, the same attention, or the same weight as a tablet painted by hand, on a natural material, for this purpose. Wood, as a material, is also part of the tradition of working tools: it is natural, it can be handled, placed, and kept, and it ages, and shows use, in a way that a printed sheet does not. If you are considering this set, consider whether you want a working tool, made by hand, on wood, for invocation, over time, or whether you want a reference image, to look at, and to study. Both have their place, but they are not the same thing, and ordering one when you meant the other leads to disappointment that has nothing to do with the quality of the object.

The four colours, and what is not claimed about them

It does not state which colour belongs to which element, and this article does not assign them. If you need to know which tablet is which element, in this set, check the set itself, and any instructions that come with it, rather than assuming from an article.

Colours, in Enochian work, are not decoration. They are part of the identification of a tablet, and part of how a practitioner orients themselves, in a working, towards a particular element, a particular quarter, and a particular set of entities. Red, green, white, and black, as a set, are distinct, and they are meant to be distinguished, at a glance, in a working space, where light may be low, attention may be focused elsewhere, and a mistake in orientation can confuse a working. Hand painting, in those colours, on wood, gives each tablet a presence that a printed colour does not have: the colour is on the wood, in paint, with texture, variation, and depth, rather than flat on paper, and that presence helps a practitioner orient, not only by sight, but by touch, by weight, and by the feel of the tablet in the hands. That is a practical point, and it is worth noting, because it is part of why a hand-painted set, on wood, is different from a printed set, even when the characters are the same.

The identifying sigils, marked as recorded in Sloane 3191, are the other part of identification. A sigil, in this context, is a character, or a set of characters, that identifies a tablet, an entity, or a part of the system, and that is used, in working, to call, to orient, and to record. Sigils that are marked as recorded in a manuscript are not invented for the occasion. They are copied, carefully, from a source, and that copying is a discipline: it requires attention, accuracy, and respect for the source, rather than improvisation, or improvement, on the part of the maker. If you work with these tablets, check the sigils, against the manuscript tradition you follow, and against your own teaching, and note any differences, honestly, rather than assuming that a hand-painted set must be identical to every other version you have seen. Manuscript traditions vary, in detail, and that variation is itself information, about the tradition, and about the set you hold.

Invocation, and the use of a Great Table

Invocation, in Enochian practice, is not a single, casual act. It is a disciplined practice, involving preparation, orientation, calling, listening, and closing, carried out over time, with a system, and with teaching, rather than improvised from a single article, or from a set of objects alone. This article does not set out an Enochian invocation rite, and it should not be used to invent one. How you invoke, in detail, belongs to the Enochian system you work in, and to the teaching you have received in it. If you work in the Enochian system, follow the methods of that system. If you do not, a set of tablets is a reason to study that system properly, not a replacement for that study, and not a shortcut into it.

The Great Table, as a whole, is used as a working surface, a map, and a focus, in Enochian invocation. The four tablets, as its corners, orient the working in space, and in element, and they give the practitioner a physical structure to work within, rather than an abstract idea of elements, quarters, or entities. That physical structure matters, because invocation is not only a mental act. It involves the body, the place, the tools, and the time set aside, and a set of tablets, laid out, in order, in a working space, helps to create that place, and to hold that attention, in a way that a mental image alone does not. If you are setting out these tablets for a working, set them out deliberately, in order, in a clean place, used for this purpose, and give the working your attention for the time it takes, rather than laying them out hastily, and then being distracted by other matters.

These tablets were given for continued use, not for a single occasion, and that implies a practice that returns, again and again, to the same tools, the same table, and the same entities, over time, building familiarity, understanding, and relationship, rather than seeking a new tool, a new entity, or a new system, at every difficulty. Continued use also implies care: tablets that are used repeatedly, over time, need to be kept properly, handled carefully, and stored in a clean, dry place, away from damage, when they are not in use. A set of hand-painted wooden tablets, used repeatedly, will show wear, over time, and that wear is normal for a working tool, and is not a sign that the tablets have stopped working. It is a sign that they have been used, and used repeatedly, as they were given to be used.

Wood, paint, and care for a hand-painted set

Hand painted on wood, in the title, describes both a material and a method, and both have practical consequences for care. Wood is a natural material, and it responds to its environment: to damp, to dryness, to heat, and to direct sunlight, in ways that a synthetic material does not. Keep these tablets in a clean, dry place, away from damp, away from direct sunlight, and away from heat sources, when they are not in use, and do not leave them where they can be knocked, scratched, or spilled on. Paint, on wood, is also vulnerable to abrasion, to moisture, and to harsh cleaners, and it should be cleaned gently, if at all, with a soft, dry cloth, and not with water, solvents, or abrasive materials, unless you know, for this paint and this wood, that such cleaning is safe. If a tablet shows damage, to the wood or to the paint, set it aside until it can be repaired properly, rather than working with a damaged tool, and distracting yourself, in the working, with worry about whether it will hold, or whether a sigil has become unclear.

That care is not only practical. It is also part of the practice. A tool that is kept properly, handled carefully, and stored in a clean place, is a tool that is respected, and respect, in magical practice, is not a vague feeling. It is shown in actions: in how you handle a tool, where you keep it, how you clean it, and how you set it out for a working. A set of tablets that is kept carelessly, left in a damp place, stacked under other objects, or handled with dirty hands, will deteriorate, and that deterioration will affect the working, not only because a sigil may become unclear, but because the practitioner who handles tools carelessly tends to work carelessly, and that carelessness shows, in the record, and in the results, over time. Keep the set as you would keep any working tool that you intend to use, repeatedly, over years, and it will serve you, repeatedly, over years.

What this set is not, and what to have ready

This set is not a complete Enochian education, and it should not be ordered as if it were. It is a set of tools, for invocation, within a system, and it belongs to a practice, and to a teaching, that extend far beyond the tools themselves. If you do not work in the Enochian system, or you are not studying it, then a set of tablets, however well painted, however accurate its sigils, will not teach you that system, and it will not make you a practitioner of it. It will be a set of beautiful, interesting objects, whose use you do not yet understand, and that is a different thing from a working tool. If, on the other hand, you do work in the Enochian system, or you are studying it seriously, through proper teaching, then a hand-painted set of four elemental tablets, on wood, marked with sigils as recorded in Sloane 3191, is a tool that fits that work, and it is worth choosing deliberately, and caring for properly, over time.

Have your practice ready, as far as you can, before you order: a working space where four tablets can be laid out, in order, a clean, dry place where they can be stored, and a teaching, or a teacher, through whom you are learning Enochian invocation, rather than improvising it from articles alone. Have a way of keeping a record: date, tablets used, entities invoked, in the terms of your system, what you did, what you noticed, and what you learned, over time, not just on a single night. And have a realistic expectation about time. No magical result is promised here, and no set of tablets guarantees a particular invocation, or a particular outcome. What can be promised is that the set will be painted by hand, on wood, in the four Enochian elemental colours, marked with identifying sigils as recorded in Sloane 3191, for this work, and that it is to be used, continued, over time, as part of a practice, not as a display alone.

Enochian tablets, set of four, hand painted on wood

Elemental tablets comprising the four corners of the Great Table, as given by Uriel to Dee and Kelly for their continued use to invoke the Enochian Entities. Painted in the four Enochian elemental colours, red, green, white, and black, and marked with the identifying sigils as recorded in Sloane 3191.

Enochian tablets, set of four, hand painted on wood, $755 CAD. View the product

No magical result is promised. This article does not set out an Enochian invocation rite.

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