Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy

Scott Stenwick has given us a worthy addition to the contemporary Enochian corpus in "Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy." The first book to outline a system of practice for working with the Planetary system of Dr. John Dee and Sir Edward Kelley, the "Heptarchy" is both a succinct explanation of the source material and a clear outline of how it can be used by Enochian research groups today. Author Stenwick's eclectic style reflects an approach to spirituality that is in wide use among contemporary Enochian magicians, bringing together practices dating back to the sixteenth century and earlier, and twenty-first century approaches that have grown out of the work of late modern esotericists like the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley. At the same time, Stenwick is careful to make clear which parts of his book postdate the work of Dee and Kelley, and to offer suggestions for practitioners who prefer to work in a more traditional methodology.Although there are a few rough spots--the book would benefit from the services of a careful editor to fix the odd typo and massage the occasional weak phrasing--these are minor matters. This is, after all, intended to be used as a contemporary grimoire, not an academic opus.In fact, such lapses are few and easily ignored, and are very much outweighed by the book's many strong points. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in Enochian, next to those of Lon Milo Duquette, Colin Campbell, Aleister Crowley, Joseph Peterson, Aaron Leitch, Teresa Burns, and others.- R. Christopher Feldman, author of "A Question of Authorship: John Dee, Edward Kelley, and the 'Angelic Conversations.'"

Originally I chose this book particularly for two reasons: It's favorable reviews on Amazon, and the fact that it is the only book I have found of a modern practitioner (the auther being a thelemite) on the subject. The author even notes that "While most modern Enochian magicians are aware of its existence, it is neglected [in practice]..." This is surprising since, according to this book and other places online that it is the only complete system that Dee developed.The author first explains likely influences that Dee took from in developing Enochian, including several grimoires that were published at the time. Then, he delves a bit into the Angelic language and his opinions on various pronunciations - including a criticism of Aaron Leitch's work in "Secrets of Magical Grimoires" - as well as various attempts to equate it to the Hebrew alphabet.The next section of the book describing the ideal Enochian temple is where I discovered that the author tends towards being a Dee purist, in that he prefers to have as close to the described `temple furniture' as possible. Though, he does concede that he himself did not use all of the required materials when first working the Heptarchy. Stenwick does say, however, "... I find my magical results significantly improved by the addition of various temple pieces and I highly recommend their use." In later chapters, he also specifies between parts of the workings attributed to the original manuscripts versus later contributions.The following portions, chapters 6 through 10, go into detail regarding methods of conjuration including a great deal on using planetary influences to "tune the space" per to the tradition commonly applied to rennaissance magic, as well as banishing and invoking according to the inteded working. I particularly enjoyed his views on using different combinations of the Lesser Banishing and Invoking rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram based on the microcosm (LRP) and macrocosm (LRH), "The four combinations of the banishing and invoking forms of the two rituals set up four different fields that correspond to specific classes of magical operations." Respectively, he calls them "Banishing field - LBRP/LBRH", "Invoking field - LIRP/LIRH", "Centering Field - LIRP/LBRH", and "Operant field - LBRP/LIRH". In addition to being given several options for opening the temple for operations, namely the above mentioned Golden Dawn rites as well as approval to use the Thelemic equivalents which are the Star Ruby and Saphire rituals, the author gives completely original rituals in Enochian which use the appropriate names from the watchtowers. This is especially interesting to the person who wants to have some sort of daily Enochian practice without specifically conjuring any spirits unnecessarily.The next chapter describes the conjurations themselves, the office of each spirit, their functions and seals. The seals are drawn simply, to my greate pleasure, and are written in Enochian sans serif.The remaining chapters give detail on the charge given to any particular angel and closing the temple. I felt a great sense of relief that he chose to elaborate on the necessity of giving limitations, since I also agree that spirits tend to be very literal beings and will often pick the quickest route to give you what you literally asked for. An example is given where a magician asks for a car, and then finds a toy car. I, for one, have had this type of thing happen to me so it's a great necessity when using spirits to get work done.Overall, I did very much enjoy this book though the author is explicitly a Thelemite, and I am not generally interested in Thelemic rituals. With that having been said, I will still gladly use the Enochian ritual he composed which uses the unicursal hexagram. The book is not very thick, but it is very dense with information which will keep me quite busy. The author's personality, experience, and genuine dedication to the Enochian system are readily evident in the text. I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to people who are both new and experienced in Enochian magic. As the author notes in the book, the more these texts become available, the more we can create a consistent body of knowledge and experience.Bless,Soror DXM

I absolutely loved this book it was a great introduction to the enochian magic practice. The book is really layed out , and I would recommend it to anyone.

I Love all of Scott's Books he really knows how to break down complex ideas and help my visual mind really see all the inner workings. Loved it!

Love this book. Well written

GREAT READ

This is a good book on an often overlooked piece of Dee history, and it's a good read for anyone interested in this small portion of Enochian magic. The book is comprehensive enough that anyone can pick it up and begin using it, or you can bookmark it and play "choose your own ritual" with the chapters how it's written. Well worth the price.

Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy is a book finaling all big parts of Enochian Magick; the other two being the Forces from the Watchtowers and The 30 AEthyrs. While the other two parts have been written about again and again in various books in the last 30 years, there was almost complete silence regarding the Mystical Heptarchy.This book is therefore a very welcomed, nee needed addition to any serious Student of Enochian Magick.It includes very nicely done 7 talismans for each day of the week, plus the eight for the Big King and His Prince, the necessary Angelic Keys are of course also present. All the needed stuff is here from Dee and Kelly, including the furniture of the Temple, Holy Table, Sigillum dei AEmeth, PELE ring etc.This is topped with Dee's Invocations which are also available in revised, Thelemic version!!! Oh, how I wish I had it years ago!All in all I would say this:Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy, by Scott Michael Stenvick is a complement of Enochian Vision Magick, by Lon DuQuette, so if you bought that one, you should also buy this one. You now have a complete system in your hands and you can be merry!93/93Jure

I found this really easy to read and very informative. The author explains things well and makes a complicated subject simple enough for anyone to understand and work with.I enjoyed it so much I bough his other book “Mastering the Great Table”

This book is well written, well documented, and practical. The research is extensive and to the point. The rituals are precise, and can be adapted to suit your own brand of magic. A must for all those who are interested in Enochian magic.