Customer Reviews

The Enochian Magick of Dr. John Dee: The Most Powerful System of Magick in its Original, Unexpurgated Form

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

James' book is basically a copy of Dee's own "grimoire" of Enochian and Heptarchic magick, excerpted by Dee from the raw material of his diaries. James' translations of Latin passages have been severely criticized by other Enochian scholars (e.g., Robert Turner) but the passages in question do not bear much relevance to the actual practice of the magick. James has also "corrected" the Enochian Calls so that -- in his estimation -- the Angelic versions fit better with their English translations; these small differences do not seem to greatly affect the potency of the Calls. His editorial intervention is otherwise minimal.

There are better books than this on Enochian. When I bought this volume I had very few books on the subject and it probably ended up confusing me more. While presented in an antiquarian fashion it lacks references to where the author had taken the information from. For those who are serious on Enochian, I would recommend Cassabon (if you can track it down), Turner's Elizabethan Magic, and the books published in McLean's Magnum Opus Heremetic Sourcework series.

James has distilled the magically useful material from Dee's often-obscure diaries and presented it in organized form, creating an "Enochian grimoire." However, some of the material was not delivered in the order in which James presents it, and there is little historical or background information. I recommend Donald Tyson's _Enochian Magic for Beginners_ to people who lack experience with Enochian magic, and this book as a handy reference for those who already have the background knowledge that James does not provide.

In this book, Geoffrey James set out to deliver a sourcebook on Enochian magick. The work was originally published in 1984.

I think that this has been an important work in recent years. It is hard to imagine other scholars following James' lead without his publication of this book.

However, the work suffers from two important failings. On the first note, James lacks practical experience with the subject he writes about. This lack undermines both James' translations of the Latin portions and his claims that he is correcting the Angelic keys. Hence at best this should be seen as a work of historical and antiquarian interest, not a practical manual.

The second failing is that James does not seem to understand the philosophic schools of Dee's time and this further undermines the translations and "corrections."

I gave this work three stars because of its historical importance and because it is better to have this version than not to have any translation of this work if one is studying Dee's life. However today (24 years after the work was originally published) there are better translations out there.

Descriptions of John Dee's earlier work with his Enochian magick are given as well as exerpts from Dee's diaries. Much information not given in Golden Dawn sources are presented as well as a usable version of the Enochian angelic calls. A must read for anyone aspiring to practice Enochian evocation

You should be aware that The Enochian Magick of Dr. John Dee: The Most Powerful System of Magick in its Original, Unexpurgated Form has been reprinted under the name Enochian Evocation of Dr. John Dee, The. The cover and title are completely different (probably due to the change in publisher), but the content within the book is exactly the same. Don't drive yourself crazy seeking a rare, super expensive copy of an out-of-print version when a very affordable copy is within easy reach.

This is an excellent book (it's actually part of the Modern Mystery School's recommended reading list). If you're looking for a history of John Dee, this book is a little sparse on that topic. The book isn't very self-explanatory at all, in fact. What you're looking at is Dee's grimoire: magick he received from angels, these beings' account of the world and Dee's personal notes about his experiences. There's good wisdom here. However, if you want to learn Enochian magick thoroughly, and in a safe manner, I recommend you study in a school or with a reputable teacher with a long, sound lineage in this field. Frankly, while books are wonderful resources, there is only so much you can glean from them compared to the experiential learning one receives from structured training.

This book is still a great secondary reference (much of it being translated into English from Dee's original Latin). I recommend this over most other books on the topic of Enochian magick, as much of their content has unfortunately been modified by modern writers.

I have used this text in working Heptarchic magic (the first of three types found in the Dee manuscripts) and found it quite useful. No book that really gets into the Dee diaries is going to be too smooth. A great many pages were lost due to unfortunate accidents, however the heart of the magic in his diaries is here. While this book is a great secondary source, Ben Rowe was right in criticizing the Latin, it certainly could have been better. [Hence the 4, rather than 5 stars] My own copy is heavily annotated. It is a book for the working magician primarily but would easily serve for the armchair esotericist as an example of the what should be looked for in an Enochian grimoire. James has condensed many separated pages of diary text into what you need to use the information in magical workings. One measure of its value is that hardcover versions - if you can find one- are selling for $300. James has not injected too much of his own interpretation into this book. It hews pretty closely to the Dee diary information. What he has done is arrange it in logical blocks as best he can so that you can find everything about a subject in one place. I recommend it as a good extract from the diary material as presented by Casaubon's - "A True & Faithfull Relation..." and Joe Peterson's "Five Books of Mystery" [and - even more directly, the British Library microfilms of Dee's actual diaries, which they are taken from].
The bibliography of source manuscripts is extensive and detailed, the one of printed sources is more modest. As James was writing 23 years ago (with a 1994 update by Llewellyn), the number of good Enochian books were understandably more limited. A good book that should be in the library of anyone planning on a serious involvement with Enochian magic.

This is one of the most complete compilations I have seen in quite some time. Among the many titles that claim to be authoritative, this title is unique. Geoffrey James is a true scholar, and offers an objectivity in his appraisals that many more well-known authors lack. I recommend this book to any academic student of the Western Magickal Tradition. It is solid reference guide and an appropriate companion to the excellent book "Enochian Magick for Beginners: The Original System of Angelic Magick" by Donald Tyson. (Five Stars)

this is a very complex system of magick and what a better way to study it than from the words of John dee,I felt this book had some very distinct and moving/powerfull energy,I recomend going for it I would make sure to read it in it's entirity first then think about actually using it. love,life and light

I've been studying grimoires for the past 15 years and always have wanted something that only this book has now offered. Not only can you feel the power of its chants but you also learn the TRUE enochian magick; I should like to suggest any novice NOT TO practive the ritual therein contained but go for Golden Dawn's and Abramelin's ones first.

Mephisto