CB and Patricia Shaffer
This conversation took place on enochian-l, and is presented here with permission of both parties.
While I was doing the initial work on the concordance of the calls (which can be seen in draft at http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~cgb143/ ) I noticed, as many others have, that the versions of the calls given in Casuabon's "True and Faithful Relation ..." (TFR) appear mixed up when compared with published versions by Crowley or from Golden Dawn sources.
In answer to questions about those inconsistencies here and elsewhere, it was suggested I might have a look at the "Cotton Manuscript" with reference given as "Royal Appendix XLVI (Sloane Ms 5007)".
During a swift-passing drop in at the British Library (BL) in St Pancras back in the summer, an enquiry confirmed that the reference indicated an item which was part of their collection, so I resolved to call back when I had more time and check it out.
This week I managed to get most of a day in the BL. A preliminary browse through their MSS catalogue on the 'net couldn't find "Royal Appendix XLVI" or "Sloane Ms 5007", so I wasn't 100% optimistic that the reference was correct, but I made the appropriate enquiries in the Manuscripts room and found myself a seat in the laptop-friendly section (they even allow you to plug into a mains electricity socket provided for each readers place). Eventually someone came across and said that they had found the document I had requested, that it was in process of being re-classified, and that it was one of those which required special permission from the Library Superindendant before it could be viewed.
I explained my interest in it, and by this time had already got the laptop set up with the enochian concordance and supporting raw data on the screen. The guy said he could see that I had a specific interest and he appreciated that I had travelled some distance, but that normally such requests would need to be made with advance notice - he would see what he could do.
About 20 minutes later back he came - the volumes were there for me - sign for them at the desk.
I collected two sumptuous leather-bound folios, each I'd say a bit larger in all dimensions than the facsimile TFR I have. The title on the spines "John Dee | Mysteriorum Libri 1583-1607 | Bibl Cotton Append XLVI". I laid the first on the manuscript cradle and experienced quite a tingle as I opened it, realising almost immediately that I appeared to be looking at the handwritten original of what Casaubon transcribed as the TFR. The actual notebooks in Dee's and Kelley's own handscript.
The bad news (as far as the object of the search was concerned) is that this particular manuscript doesn't appear to contain any substantially more complete version of the calls than does TFR. Indeed the confusion of the ordering of the calls in TFR is largely accounted for in the way the manuscript sheets are ordered and bound.
It looks as if Dee and Kelley ran short of paper during the seance of Saturday 14th May 1584, when most of the enochian text of Calls 5-18 was received. What is at first confusing is that both sides of each manuscript sheet are written on, but that the text on the obverse is upside down. It looks as if they began writing on a single side of each sheet, with each being laid face down on top of its predecessor when completed. Then they ran out of paper, so they just carried on using the backs of the already used sheets after turning the pile round so the new text was upside-down on the back of each sheet.
Casaubon has to some extent managed to untangle this for TFR, but it does look as if the sheets which contained the text of calls 14 and 15 are missing entirely, and were when Casaubon worked on them. It also looks as if the then un-numbered original sheets may have become muddled at some point during the actual skrying session, accounting for the fragmentation and misordering of portions of the text of Calls 13, 16 and 17.
The MS sheets as they are now bound are numbered on the front-sheet only, but it is clear that several previous owners have attempted alternative orderings. None of the relevant sheet numberings appears to me to be in Dee's or Kelley's own hand.
The questions remain then: (1) what is the source of the Crowley/GD text of calls 14 and 15? (2) did Dee or Kelley make a transcript of the notes of the session of 14th May 1584 before two or three of the sheets were lost and while they could still remember exactly how to re-order any sheets which had become muddled? (3) if yes to (2), does anyone know where that version of the calls might be?
Apologies for rambling on - any constructive suggestions much appreciated as always.
CB
> The questions remain then: (1) what is the source of the Crowley/GD
text of
> calls 14 and 15? (2) did Dee or Kelley make a transcript of the notes
of
> the session of 14th May 1584 before two or three of the sheets were
lost
> and while they could still remember exactly how to re-order any sheets
> which had become muddled? (3) if yes to (2), does anyone know where
that
> version of the calls might be?
Using the Englished sense given for other calls, most of the Angelic words are easy to figure out. There were only a few that were unique. The correct Angelic words for most of the unique words were given along with the Englished senses. The starting words for each Call, both Angelic and their Englished senses were given at another sitting. Each of the calls ended with the same sequence given for an earlier Call:
ZACAR CA OD ZAMRAN ...
I have the microfilm for the Cotton documents, but have been unable to get my hands on a microfilm reader so far. Here is how I have the 14 - 16th Calls. Note that there were apparently no U's dictated in the Angelic; the "u" sound was indicated in Dee's pronunciation guides.
Fourteenth Key or Call
1 NOROMI
2 baghie
3 pashs
4 balitoh (my best guess, but not "gospel" <g>)
5 ds
6 trint
7 mirc
8 OL
9 thil
10 dods
11 tolham
12 caosgo
13 homin
14 dsbrin
15 oroch
16 QVAR
17 micma
18 bial
19 oiad
20 isrotox
21 dsiumd
22 aai
23 baltim
24 ZACAR
25 CA
26 OD
27 ZAMRAN
28 ODO
29 CICLE
30 QAA
31 ZORGE
32 LAP
33 ZIRDO
34 NOCO
35 MAD
36 HOATH
37 IAIDA
Fifteenth Key or Call
1 ILS
2 TABAAM
3 LIALPRT
4 orocha
5 sobca
6 vpaahi
7 chis
8 DARG
9 dsoado
10 caosgi
11 orscor
12 dsomax
13 monasci
14 baeouib
15 od
16 emetgis
17 Iaiadix
18 ZACAR
19 CA
20 OD
21 ZAMRAN
22 ODO
23 CICLE
24 QAA
25 ZORGE
26 LAP
27 ZIRDO
28 NOCO
29 MAD
30 HOATH
31 IAIDA
Sixteenth Key or Call
1 ILS
2 VIVIALPRT
3 salman
4 balt
5 dsbrin
6 iaod
7 bufd
8 od
9 bliorax
10 balit
11 dsinsi
12 caosg
13 LVSDAN
14 EMOD
15 DSOM
16 OD
17 TLIOB
18 DRILPA
19 GEH
20 YLS
21 MADZILODARP
22 ZACAR
23 CA
24 OD
25 ZAMRAN
26 ODO
27 CICLE
28 QAA
29 ZORGE
30 LAP
31 ZIRDO
32 NOCO
33 MAD
34 HOATH
35 IAIDA
--
Patricia
>Using the Englished sense given for other calls, most of the Angelic
>words are easy to figure out. There were only a few that were unique.
>The correct Angelic words for most of the unique words were given
along
>with the Englished senses. The starting words for each Call,
both
>Angelic and their Englished senses were given at another sitting.
Each
>of the calls ended with the same sequence given for an earlier Call:
>ZACAR CA OD ZAMRAN ...
I didn't have time to dig into the detail in the manuscript of the session where most of the english for Calls 5 - 18 was given. In my TFR that section is on pp 190-194 with the english for Calls 14 & 15 being respectively the fourth and the third on p 193.
I can see notes in TFR which may attribute "QVAR" to 1636 and "DARG" to 6739, and which may well be more clearly set out in the original ms, but I can't see any other Enochian words specified against the English, other than the first one or two for each Call during the session of 11th July 1584 in which D & K seem to set out to reconcile the english and angelic texts.
>I have the microfilm for the Cotton documents, but have been unable
to
>get my hands on a microfilm reader so far. Here is how I have the 14
-
>16th Calls. Note that there were apparently no U's dictated in
the
>Angelic; the "u" sound was indicated in Dee's pronunciation guides.
I was interested to note that "I" and "Y" are distinguished in the way the Enochian is represented in the manuscript.
One reason why the calls extend over so many sheets in the MS is that the letters of Angelic script are throughout written in a vertical column down the LHS of each page, with horizontal lines separating the words - like this:
_______________________________________________
S
O
B
A soba
_______________________________________________
V
P
A
A
H v pa ah
_______________________________________________
The pronounciation guidance is in many cases all there is for a particular word, as many of the sheets have been damaged close to the margins with the vertically written angelic letters lost. It may be worth noting that the pronounciations in the original have not generally been truly and faithfully transcribed by Casaubon. For example, a "short" symbol over the first "a" in "v pa ah" above is not shown in my TFR facsimile. The original MS has plenty of accentuation signs etc, the TFR has relatively few.
It may be then that there is no extant "Master Copy" for the Angelic text of Calls 14, 15 and much of 16. On that basis, Patricia, I generally prefer your rendition to that of the GD for the reasons I've set out in annotations below.
The words I've marked *** below are the ones which seem not to occur anywhere else in the Calls - my comments added with ## prefix
>Fourteenth Key or Call
>
> 1 NOROMI ***
> 2 baghie ***
> 3 pashs ***
> 4 balitoh (my best guess, but not "gospel" <g>)
## yes, I see your reasoning, and it seems better than the
## GD's "O IAD"
> 5 ds
> 6 trint ***
> 7 mirc
> 8 OL
> 9 thil
>10 dods
## here I'd go along with the DOD- radix
>11 tolham
## on the basis of Call 7/22 better than splitting
## into two words "TOL HAMI" as in the GD version
>12 caosgo
## more consistent than the GD's "CAOSGI"
>13 homin
## singular from "HOMIL" of Call 2/41 ?
>14 dsbrin
>15 oroch
## I don't see the difference here from "OROCHA"
## as appears in Call 19/119
>16 QVAR ***
## this is the numeric value 1636
>17 micma
>18 bial
>19 oiad
>20 isrotox
## I'd agree with this: "ISRO" as in Call 13/15
## "-TOX" as a suffix from, say, Call 13/18;
## there's no instance of "TOX" on its own AFAICS
>21 dsiumd
## yes, this is better than GD's "DS I UMD"
>22 aai
>23 baltim
## I see this from the "BALT-" radix, but it doesn't seem
## consistent with the use of "BAGHIE" for "of fury" in
## 14/2 above
>24 ZACAR
>25 CA
>26 OD
>27 ZAMRAN
>28 ODO
>29 CICLE
>30 QAA
>31 ZORGE
>32 LAP
>33 ZIRDO
>34 NOCO
>35 MAD
>36 HOATH
>37 IAIDA
>Fifteenth Key or Call
>
> 1 ILS
> 2 TABAAM
> 3 LIALPRT
## yes, better than GD's "L IALPIRT"
> 4 orocha
> 5 sobca
## these seem as valid as the GD's "CASARMAN"
> 6 vpaahi
## I would use "VPAAH" in preference to GD's "VPAACHI",
## whence the "I" word ending?
> 7 chis
> 8 DARG
## numeric value 6739
> 9 dsoado
## I can't see the "OADO" radix for "weave" anywhere else
## in the calls
>10 caosgi
>11 orscor ***
>12 dsomax
## I see "-OM-" for "know" but why the "-AX" word ending?
>13 monasci
>14 baeouib ***
## I can't see where this comes from, using words from
## elsewhere in the calls I'd render "in the great name
## righteousness" as "DOOIAP DRILPA BALTOH"
>15 od
>16 emetgis ***
## "seat" and "seats" are both rendered with the "-THIL-"
## radix elsewhere
>17 Iaiadix ***
## I see the "-IA-" radix possibly from "LVIAHE" englished
## as "a song of honour" in Call 6/40
>18 ZACAR
>19 CA
>20 OD
>21 ZAMRAN
>22 ODO
>23 CICLE
>24 QAA
>25 ZORGE
>26 LAP
>27 ZIRDO
>28 NOCO
>29 MAD
>30 HOATH
>31 IAIDA
> Sixteenth Key or Call
>
> 1 ILS
> 2 VIVIALPRT
> 3 salman
> 4 balt
> 5 dsbrin
## definitely better than GD's "DS A"
> 6 iaod
## I prefer this to GD's "CROODZI" which I feel
## is pulled out of the context it has in Call 4/21
> 7 bufd
## here I prefer GD's "BUSD" - see use in compound words
## at Calls 19/50 and 18/8. The "f" looks to me like a
## mis-transcribed "s" having crept in somehow
## where it appears in "BUFD" at Call 8/23.
> 8 od
> 9 bliorax ***
## I see the "BLIOR-" radix
>10 balit ***
>11 dsinsi ***
## I think the "INSI" radix for "walk-" occurs nowhere
## else in the calls
>12 caosg
## yes, more consistent for "on the earth" than GD's "CAOSGI"
>13 LVSDAN
>14 EMOD
>15 DSOM
>16 OD
>17 TLIOB
>18 DRILPA
>19 GEH
>20 YLS
>21 MADZILODARP
>22 ZACAR
>23 CA
>24 OD
>25 ZAMRAN
>26 ODO
>27 CICLE
>28 QAA
>29 ZORGE
>30 LAP
>31 ZIRDO
>32 NOCO
>33 MAD
>34 HOATH
>35 IAIDA
If it's of any interest, I annotated my raw texts of several of the Calls with notes of what portions occur where in the manuscript, using the Perl comment character # as a delimiter, as for example:
Call 9
1, MICAOLI, a mighty # Cotton MS p143 about 1/3 of the way down
2, BRANSG, guard
3, PVRGEL, of fire
4, NAPTA, with two edged swords
5, IALPOR, flaming # Cotton MS p144 top
6, DSBRIN, which have
7, EFAFAFE, the viols
8, P, 8
9, VONPHO, of wrath
10, OLANI, for two times
11, OD, and
12, OBZA, a half
13, SOBCA, whose
14, VPAAH, wings
15, CHIS, are
16, TATAN, of wormwood
17, OD, and
18, TRANAN, of the marrow
19, BALIE, of salt # Cotton MS p144 bot
20, ALAR, have settled # Cotton MS p145 top
21, LVSDA, their feet
22, SOBOLN, in the west
23, OD, and
24, CHISHOLQ, are measured
25, CNOQVODI, with their ministers
26, CIAL, 9996
27, VNAL, these
28, ALDON, gather up
29, MOM, the mosse
30, CAOSGO, of the earth # Cotton MS p145 bot
31, TA, as # Cotton MS p146 top
32, LASOLLOR, the rich man
33, GNAI, doth
34, LIMLAL, his treasure
35, AMMA, cursed
36, CHIIS, are they
37, SOBCA, whose
38, MADRID, iniquities
39, ZCHIS, they are
40, OOANOAN, in their eyes
41, CHIS, are # Cotton MS p146 bot
42, AVINI, millstones # Cotton MS p147 top
43, DRILPI, greater
44, CAOSGIN, than the earth
45, OD, and
46, BVTMONI, from their mouths
47, PARM, run
48, ZVMVI, seas
49, CNILA, of blood
50, DAZI, their heads
51, ETHAMZ, are covered
52, ACHILDAO, with diamond
53, OD, and
54, MIR, upon # Cotton MS has MIRC - p147 bot
55, OZOL, their hands # Cotton MS p148 top
56, CHIS, are
57, PIDIAI, marble
58, COLLAL, sleeves
59, VLCININ, happy is he
60, ASOBAMA, on whom
61, VCIM, they frown not
62, BAGLE, for why
63, IADBALTOH, the God of righteousness
64, CHIRLAN, rejoiceth
65, PAR, in them
66, NIISA, come away # Cotton MS p148 bot
67, OD, and # Cotton MS p149 top
68, IP, not
69, OFAFAFE, your viols
70, BAGLE, for
71, ACOCASB, the time
72, ICORSCA, is such as
73, VNIG, requireth
74, BLIOR, comfort # about 2/3 way down Cotton MS p149
Call 17
1, ILS, O thou # Cotton MS p161 obverse at top reading up
2, DIASPERT, third flame # ditto
3, SOBA, whose # Cotton MS p160 top
4, VPAAH, wings
5, CHIS, are
6, NANBA, thorns
7, ZIXLAI, to stir up
8, DODSIH, vexation
9, ODBRINT, and hast
10, TAXS, 7336
11, HVBARO, living lamps
12, TASTAX, going
13, ILSI, before thee # Cotton MS p160 bot
14, SOBAIAD, whose God # Cotton MS p159 obverse upside down - reading from
bottom of page
15, IVONPOVNPH, is wrath and anger
16, ALDON, gird up
17, DAXIL, thy loins
18, OD, and
19, TOATAR, hearken # Cotton MS p159 obverse - upside down - about 2/3 way
to the top of page (call 18 follows on)
If anyone is interested in any others annotated this way, I'm happy to send them by reply to an email.
CB