Digital Scans of the Enochian Manuscripts

During the 1580s, Dr. John Dee (a mathematician and astrologer of great fame throughout Europe) conducted a series of “spirit actions” with the scryer Edward Kelley in an attempt to gain knowledge of the world directly from God (יהוה) and his angels. The records of these angelic conferences purport to reveal a method of commanding nature through a knowledge of the interwoven angelic hierarchies and their “Adamic” language, as described in a series of visions and through the use of sigils, tables and “calls”.

The methods described in these spirit actions have been employed by magicians of the likes of Elias Ashmole, Frederick Hockley and Aleister Crowley, with varying degrees of success right up to the present day. However, a series of confusing and misleading efforts to interpret John Dee’s records has resulted from the errors introduced in (amongst others) Meric Casaubon’s 1659 edition of part of these diaries (Cotton Appendix MS. XLVI), entitled A True & Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Yeers between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits.

With this in mind, digital scans of the original manuscripts in John Dee’s hand are here available for scholars and magicians alike to assess for themselves. Unfortunately, MS. Ashmole 1790 (20ff.) is not available here, due to the excessive cost of reproduction rights at The Bodleian Library.

• For details of the manuscripts reproduced here, see The British Library Manuscripts Catalogue.