The Sigil of Ameth
The outer ring of the Sigil contains 40 pairs of letters and numbers. The numbers sum to 440; Michael completed the presentation of the outer ring by displaying a number "1", surrounded by many concentric circles. Adding this 1 brings the total of the numbers presented to 441, which is the numeration of the word "Ameth", Aleph-Mem-Tav, according to Hebrew gematria. Seven of the letters are capitalized, indicating the first letters of certain concealed angelic names. To find the names of these angels, Dee was instructed to use the numbers connected with each letter. Where the number was above the letter, he was to count that many letters clockwise to find the next letter of the name; where the number was below the letter, he was to count counterclockwise. Each name ended when he reached one of the six letters without a number. Thus, seven names were produced:
Dee was instructed to strike out the first "a" of the double a's in the first two names, to produce the names "Thaoth" and "Galas". When this is done, the seven names comprise forty letters, the same as the number of letters in the outer ring of the Sigil. Of these seven names the angel Uriel said: "every letter containing an Angel of Brightness: comprehending the 7 inward powers of God, known to none but himself: a sufficient BOND to urge all creatures to life or death, or anything else contained in this world." No mention is made of the remaining letters in the outer ring, not used to form these names. Only the last of these names appears overtly in the sigil, in the arcs immediately inside the outer ring. To each letter of "Galethog", a cross was appended to produce a set of sigil-like images:
These sigils were placed, one to each arc, counterclockwise around the Sigil of Ameth. Of these sigils Uriel said: "Those seven letters are the 7 Seats of the One and everlasting GOD. His 7 secret Angels proceding from every letter and cross so formed: referring in substance [i.e., in essence] to the FATHER: in form, to the SON: and inwardly to the HOLY GHOST." The letters in the outermost heptagon, just inside the arcs, are derived from the names of the "Seven Angels who stand before the presence of God" listed in Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy. The names of these angels are written vertically in a seven-by-seven grid; in the final square is placed a cross, representing the Earth, thus:
The heptagon is filled by reading the rows horizontally from left to right, applying one row to each segment of the heptagon, going clockwise. Following their usual procedure, the angels presented the letters of the rows first, and only afterwards showed how these rows formed the names of the Angels. The remaining divine and angelic names in the Sigil are all derived, by various means, from the names of the traditional planetary archangels, which are written within and around the pentagram at the center of the Sigil. As with the above table, the derivation was only demonstrated after the names were presented; this served to demonstrate that the angels were working from knowledge not available to Dee and Kelly, and were therefore more than figments of the magicians' imaginations. The names of the planetary archangels were formed into a 7-by-7 tablet, by writing them diagonally from the upper left corner in standard cabalistic order beginning with the archangel of Saturn. The final "L" of each name was replaced in the tablet by numbers, usually appended to the preceding letter:
The seven names between the outer heptagon and the heptagram are "Names of God, not known to the Angels; neither can [they] be spoken nor read of man." They are derived from this tablet by reading the rows from left to right, and are placed in clockwise sequence around the Sigil. In the Angels' view, the derivation shown here is the reverse of the truth. Rather than the planetary angels producing these god-names, "these Names, bring forth 7 angels: the 7 Angels and Governors in the heavens next to us". Between these God-names and the Planetary Archangels in the Sigil stand four additional ranks of beings. Even though they are outside the Archangels (and therefore presumably superior to them) it seems that they are in some way the "children" of the Archangels:
The names in these groups are derived from the tablet by taking the letters diagonally as shown in the diagrams below.
Several of the angels in these groups (notably Madimi, Ave, and Ilemese) played important roles in revealing the Enochian magick two years later. Finally, the names of the seven planetary archangels are placed inside the innermost heptagon. The angel of Saturn, Sabathiel, surrounds the pentagram; the angel of Luna, Levanael, is wholly inside the central pentagon, surrounding the cross of Earth. The remaining names are applied to the pentagram in cabalistic order, beginning with the angel of Jupiter, Zedekiel, at the top point and going clockwise. |
