The “Enochian Tablets” have their origin in some of the communications that Elizabethan magus, John Dee (1527-1608) conducted with spiritual entities in the 1580s with the help of his scryer, Edward Kelley (1555-1597/98). Dee and Kelley were instructed to make grids of 13 x 12 squares, and then told to put specific letters into each square. Not knowing where these instructions were leading, it was later revealed that these were an index of names and sigils for 91 spirits that govern the earth and also govern another region of 30 increasingly esoteric “Aethyrs”. These communications, along with other works by Dee, are currently housed in the British Library. It was here that they were studied by the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a late 19th century initiatory society for esoteric and magickal study, that became foundational to much of the magickal and occult practice of the 20th and 21st centuries. The HOGD, expanded the original Dee and Kelley grids into truncated pyramids with Planetary, Zodiacal, Elemental, and Numeric symbols assigned to each facet. Further, the HOGD also assigned colors to all of the symbols and letters. There are four variations on the color system, known as “color scales.”  These are known by the names King, Queen, Emperor, and Empress. The tablets in this exhibition present some of the possible variations within this system, rendering them faithfully to the original specifications with the correct colors assigned to every facet. In the most recent versions, the letters have been re-introduced to the grid. This project serves as one aspect of a broader inquiry into the intersections and disparities between contemporary art and magickal practices. The tablets, thus, can be approached through the lens of historical abstract painting and assemblage or perceived as potential magickal instruments. Few have ever gone to the trouble to construct 3-dimensional versions of these tablets. It is unlikely that anyone has ever pursued these color-only variations. I first saw fully 3-dimensional Enochian tablets at Lon and Constance DuQuette’s legendary “monday night magick” classes (conducted for decades at their home in Costa Mesa) where frequent scrying sessions were conducted (see Lon Milo Duquette’s book Enochian Vision Magick for a description of the method). —Evan Holloway

Holloway was first introduced to the system and some basic scrying principles in the lodge of the venerable Southern California Magus, Poke Runyon. Runyon, in his role as Frater Thabion, will be leading a participatory Enochian rite in the exhibition on Saturday, May 18th.