Enochian Magic is an elaborate system of ceremonial magic devised by John Dee and Edward Kelly.
Origins
Dee and Kelly claim they received these instructions from an angel and wrote them down. This account is taken at face value by most occultists. However, some of them have pointed out remarkable similarities to earlier grimoiric texts such as the Heptameron known to Dee. Doubts surrounding Kelly in particular have led many non-occultists to the assumption the whole system was originally a fraud devised to Kelly in order to receive more financial support from Dee. The system claims to relate to secrets contained within the apocryphal Book of Enoch.
Rediscovery
It is not quite clear how much of Enochian Magic was put to use by Dee and Kelly. However, rediscovery of Enochian Magic by the Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has sparked remarkable publicity for it in modern occultism. Aleister Crowley, who worked with, and wrote about, Enochian magic extensively, has contributed much to its comparatively widespread use today.
Enochian Magic today
Compared to other theories of magic, Enochian Magic is strikingly more complex and difficult to understand. This has allowed numerous interpretations to arise, some of which have solidified into schools of thought with individual bodies of interpretative literature. Almost all schools agree, however, in that Enochian Magic is a particularly powerful and dangerous form of magic.
Some practitioners hold that Enochian Magic is inherently destructive to the magician. In particular, its use is forbidden for members of the Builders of the Adytum and Servants of the Light.
See also: Choronzon
