The Watchtowers

his page serves as a landing page for subjects relating to the watchtowers. It includes expounding the original material with additional material from the sources, along with personal theories.

One thing that is important to remember when dealing with these tablets, is that they represents a dual system. Although these systems are closely related, there are factors that seem to fit better into one or the other of these systems. The numerical significances being one, where 4 and 3 seem to be naturally tied to the watchtowers, while the number 7 seem to be more closely tied to the 91 parts of the earth.

Edward Kelley’s initial vision #

Dee: It is first to be noted, that this morning (early) to E.K. lying in his bed, and awake, appeared a Vision, in manner as followeth: One standing by his beds head, who patted him on the head gently, to make him the more vigilant. He seemed to be cloathed with feathers, strangely wreathed about him all over.
There appeared to him [E.K.] four very fair castles, standing in the four parts of the world: out of which he heard the sound of a trumpet. Then seemed out of every castle a cloath to be thrown on the ground, of more then the breadth of a table-cloath.
Out of that in the East, the cloath seemed to be red, which was cast.
Out of that in the South, the cloath seemed white.
Out of that in the West, the cloath seemed green, with great knops on it.
Out of that in the North, spread, or thrown out from the gate under foot, the cloath seemed to be very black.
Out of every gate then issued one Trumpeter, whose Trumpets were of strange form, wreathed, and growing bigger and bigger toward the end.
After the Trumpeter followed three Ensign bearers.
After them six ancient men, with white beards and staves in their hands.
Then followed a comely man, with very much Apparel on his back, his Robe having a long train.
After him came five men, carrying up of his train.
Then followed one great Crosse, and about that four lesser Crosses.
These Crosses had on them, each of them ten, like men, their faces distinctly appearing on the four parts of the Crosse, all over. [margin note: These Crosses seemed not to be on the ground, but in the aire in a white Cloud. The great Crosse seemed to be of a Cloud, like the Rain-bow.]
After the Crosses followed 16 white Creatures.
And after them, an infinite number seemed to issue, and to spread themselves orderly in a compasse, almost before the four foresaid Castles.

TFR, page 168; ms Cotton appendix i, folio 188r

Ave expounds the vision #

Ave: I expound the Vision.
The 4 houses, are the 4 Angels of the Earth, which are the 4 Overseers, and Watch-towers, this the eternal God in his providence hath placed, against the usurping blasphemy, misuse, and stealth of the wicked and great enemy, the Devil. To the intent that being put out to the Earth, his envious will might be bridled, the determinations of God fulfilled, and his creatures kept and preserved, within the compasse and measure of order.
What Satan doth, they suffer; And what they wink at, he wrasteth: But when he thinketh himself most assured, then feeleth he the bit.
In each of these Houses, the Chief Watchman, is a mighty prince, a mighty Angel of the Lord: which hath under him 5 Princes (these names I must use for your instruction. The seals and authorities of these Houses, are confirmed in the beginning of the World. Unto every one of them, be 4 characters, (Tokens of the presence of the son of God : by whom all things were made in Creation.)
Ensignes, upon the Image whereof, is death: whereon the Redemption of mankind is established, and with the which he shall come to judge the Earth.
These are the Characters, and natural marks of holinesse. Unto these, belong four Angels severally.
The 24 old men, are the 24 Seniors, that St. John remembreth.
These judge the government of the Castles< and fullfil the will of God, as it is written.
The 12 Banners are the 12 names of God, that govern all the creatures upon the Earth, visible and invisible, comprehending 3, 4, and 5.
Out of these Crosses, come the Angels of all the Aires: which presently give obedience to the will of men, when they see them.
Hereby may you subvert whole Countries without Armies: which you must, and shall do, for the glory of God.
By these you shall get the favour of all the Princes, whom you take pity of, or wish well unto.
Hereby shall you know the secret Treasures of the waters, and unknown Caves of the Earth.
And it shall be a Doctrine, for you onely, the instrument of the World.
For, the rest of your Instructions, are touching the Heavens, and the Time to come: of which, this is the last and extream knowledge.
This will I deliver unto you, (because I have yeilded you before the Lord.)
Upon Monday next, I will appear unto you: and shall be a Lesson of a few dayes.
E.K: The will of God be done.
Dee: Amen.
Ave: In the mean season, desire you of God, such things, as are necessary for you.
He that filleth all things, and from whom all things live, and in, and through whom, they are sanctified, blesse you, and confirm you in peace.
Dee: Amen.
Dee: i beseech you, to Notice this mornings Vision, by words: as all other holy Prophets have recorded theirs.
Ave: A Vision.
The Sign of love of God toward his faithful. Four sumptuous and belligerant Castles, out of the which sounded Trumpets thrice.
The sign of Majesty, the Cloth of passage, was cast forth.
[margin note: Red, White, Green, Black.]
In the East, the cloth red; after the new smitten blood.
In the South, the cloth white, Lilly-colour.
In the West a cloth, the skins Of many Dragons, green: garlick-bladed.
In the North, the cloth, Hair-coloured, Bilbery juyce. The Trumpets sound once. The Gates open. The four Castles are moved. There issueth 4 Trumpeters, whose Trumpets are a Pyramis, six cones, wreathed. There followeth out of every Castle 3, holding up their Banners displayed, with ensigne, the names of God. There follow Seniors six, alike from the 4 Gates: After them cometh from every part a King: whose Princes are five, gardant, and holding up his train. Next issueth the Crosse of 4 Angles, of the Majesty of Creation in God attended upon everyone, with 4: a white Cloud, 4 Crosses, bearing the witnesses of the Covenant of God, with [margin note: King] Prince gone out before: which were confirmed, every one, with ten Angels, visible in countenance: [margin note: 40 Angels, on the 4 Crosses, attending on the principal 16 Angels.] After every Crosse, attendeth 16 Angels, dispositors of the will of those, that govern the Castles. They proceed. And, in, and about the middle of the Court, the Ensigns keep their standings, opposite to the middle of the Gate: The rest pause. The 24 Senators meet: They seem to consult.
I, AVE, STOOD BY THE SEER:

TFR, pages 170-171

Letter case #

In the case of the tabula recensa, greater emphasis seem to have been put on writing the correct letters down, rather than case, with a few exceptions. This lends a bit of support to the theory that the capitalized letters of the watchtowers only serve the function of being the initial letter of the names of the 91 parts of the earth, which in turn can be found by using the characteres symmetrici.

It once again reminds us that the watchtower tablets are a dual system, and here the case of the letters may have been only an aid, to help Dee and Kelley find the names of the 91 parts of the earth.

If any letter should really be capitalized or not is however harder to prove, but looking at the Enochian letters, they do not seem to make a distinction of case.

Numerical symbolism #

Number of names of God in each watchtower
Number of lines in the great cross (linea de spiritus sancti/patre&filio)
Number of parts of the earth from the black cross

Number of arms in the cross
Number of sub quadrants in each watchtower
Number of trumpeters in total
Number of kings in total

Number of princes in each watchtower
Number of crosses in each watchtower

Number of elders in each watchtower

Number of faces on each cross

Number of columns in each watchtower
Number of names of God in total

Number of rows in each watchtower

Number of dispositors in each watchtower
Number of sub quadrants in total

Number of princes in total

Number of parts of the earth in each watchtower

Number of elders in total

Number of parts of the earth from all watchtowers

156

Number of letters in each watchtower

624

Number of letters in total

The numbers that stick out to me personally, are primarily 3 and 4, with a second derived set, made up of 12, 16 and 24. Dee was told to invoke the names of God only, during a four-day period. The number four obviously being important since its markup is evident throughout the tables.

The secondary set, starting with 12 is partly due to 3x4, but also because it is the total number of names of God and generally an important number. 16 and 24 are multiples of 4 and 3.

An argument could be made for the number 7 belonging to the secondary set, since it represents the sum of 3 and 4, but looking at the relevant numbers for the 91 parts of the earth, will show that it is more relevant in that context.

Pronunciation #

Throughout the whole material, there are a number of instances where pronunciation is described or indicated by diacritical marks. In this section, these instances will be explored, but examples will be restricted to only include examples from the watchtowers and will exclude all other examples. This is to isolate examples here in case there are differences between the watchtowers and everything else.

One thing that should be noted about the source material, is that a lot of diacritical marks were omitted in the TFR.

For the material specifically pertaining to the watchtowers, there are few instances where pronunciation are actually indicated, but these are the passages:

Ave: They are thus to be read. In the upper left angle thou hast rzla: pronounce, urzla: by this name the first Angel appeareth. zla: go then to the first r, and pronounce it zlar.

ms Cotton appendix i, folio 202r; TFR, page 178

Dee: So that the third beginneth at l, whose last letter is the first of the second name, and is called Larz, and so of the last: as arzl, to be pronounced arzel.

ms Cotton appendix i, folio 202r; TFR, page 178

Ave: In the first square of the right side thou hast r, beginning the name of the Angel Urzla: put e to it, and it changeth the sound, into Erzla.

ms Cotton appendix i, folio 206r; TFR, page 180

Ave: Take X which is the next letter: look under the Crosse in the first angle; thou hast C z (then o, in the crosse:) then n s. Call it C zod en es:

ms Cotton appendix i, folio 207r; TFR, page 180

Dee: As XOY.
Ave: EXOY
Dee: I note this pronunciation.

ms Cotton appendix i, folio 208r; TFR, page 181

Beyond these instances, there is another example where Dee seem to indicate pronunciation, but there is no official note saying this referring to pronunciation:

Dee: Is not Acca the first Angel?
Dee: En pe at.
Ave: I. Then N P at.
Dee: Then O toi, and P mox.

ms Cotton appendix, folio 209r; TFR, page 181

This hardly presents enough data to extrapolate any sort of coherent pronunciation system, but it does indicate that the vowel sounds can be added to aid pronunciation. Looking specifically at the name rzla, which is to be pronounced Urzla, it would seem that the Ur sound come from the letter (r) pronounced by itself as in the English alphabet. When adding the e to it, the need for a vowel sound has been fulfilled and the Ur sound transforms into an Er sound instead.
The name Czns is to be pronounced C zod en es, which look like every single letter is to be extended into a syllable, by using the pronunciation of the letters themselves, which may indicate a way to treat names that are composed of consonants only.

Some have suggested that the letter Z is always to be pronounced by itself, az Zod. However, this seems to be contraindicated by the name rzla, which is similar to czns in the way it is structured. The first three letters are consonants and extending each letter into a syllable, as we did in czns, would yield something like Ur-zod-la or possibly Ur-zod-ela.

When it comes to the last section mentioned here, if it actually has a relation to pronunciation, it would seem that Ave is correcting Dee. Dee mentions En pe at, and Ave responds with I, then N p at. If this was meant as a pronunciation guide, then Dee did a mistake pronouncing I as en or omitted the I. Looking at the spaces between the letters, suggest it would be closer to I-en-pe-at. Again, this would lend support to extending each letter into a syllable.

There is some support for doing this, however it is a bit of a stretch, but passages such as these could lend support to this theory:

Every letter in Paraoan, is a living fire

TFR, page 188

Now the crosse line, is O i i i t.
Here those Crosses have ten faces.

ms Cotton appendix i, folio 202r; TFR, page 177

These passages tell us that each letter in the watchtowers are pretty powerful by themselves. Maybe each single letter should be regarded as a powerful force, that when combined, form combined powers or rather purposes. This would be similar to how our own words are built up, letter by letter, adding significance or power, to shape a concept or idea into being.

Arrangement #

Moved to a separate page

Colors #

The colors themselves are simple, they are referred to in Kelley’s vision, Ave’s expounded vision and in several other places. The problem arises because we do not know if the colors are attributed to the watchtowers or the directions.
The colors indicated are:

red
white
green
black

If the colors are tied to directions, there is only one single interpretation possible, simply because the colors are always in the same direction:

East - Red
South - White
West - Green
North - Black

If we instead assume the colors being tied to the watchtowers, we have several possible interpretations. For the tabula originalis, it would be:

Red - oro
White - mor
Green - mph
Black - oip

For the tabula recensa, it would be:

Red - oro
White - mph
Green - oip
Black - mor

Last, we have Dee’s arrangement, where he assign the colors in the following manner (ms Sloane 3191, folio 57v):

Red - oro
White - mor
Green - oip
Black - mph

Excluded parts of the hierarchy #

Dee was told that the trumpeter and the five princes were not to be used for work with the watchtowers:

Dee: 1. As of the five Princes, which held up the traine of the King.
Ave: The knowledge of them helpeth not now.
Dee: 2. Secondly of the Trumpeter, what it betokened.
Ave: It hath no relation to the Tables.

TFR, page 187

Later generation of theorists and practitioners have put forth theories concerning these entities, such as the trumpeter being the 2 or 4 central letters of the linea de spiritus sancti and that the princes can be found orbiting the kings name, possibly trying to show a connection to this passage:

After them cometh from every part a King: whose Princes are five, gardant, and holding up his train.

TFR, page 171

The five crosses #

Simply put, these are the central cross, made up of the linea de spiritus sancti and the linea de patre&filio, surrounded by the four sub quadrant crosses. What is noticeable is that Dee himself notes several times that the sub quadrant crosses hold 10 angels each, meaning each letter in these crosses is to be regarded as a power in itself. Looking at the hierarchy, only two entities are actually referenced for the crosses:

The ruler of the sub quadrant
The commander of the sub quadrant