Word of Set

Praefationis

The 19 Parts of the Word of Set presented here are Dr. Michael Aquino’s translation of a set of magical statements first received and documented in 1584 by John Dee. Since their first reception, magicians have worked with the material by adapting it for the Age or Aeon within which they are working. Magicians have been using the transmission in three ways:

  • Keys – of Magical Understanding
  • Keys or Calls – to access metaphysical planes
  • Calls – from some Source to present information to be decoded and acted upon

The first reception of the Calls, or Keys, was recorded on April 13, 1584, by the Elizabethan mathematician and magician John Dee with the assistance of his seer, Edward Kelly. This first recorded transmission in 1584 CE included 19 magical ‘incantations’ from a source which Dee described as Angelic. Dee provided an English translations from each, which have been published as A True and Faithful Relation of What Passed for Many Years between Dr. John Dee and Some Spirits. The original English noted by Dee can also be found here.

In the late 1800’s the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn rediscovered, adopted, and re-translated the Keys for their Aeon.   In general, the Golden Dawn proclaimed an extensive understanding of, and effective magical use of, the Enochian language. Their translations highlighted their own magical emphasis.  Aleister Crowley later incorporated the Keys into his A:.A:. (Argenteum Astrum = Silver Star), and performed extensive experimentation with the Keys, publishing Enochian material in his ‘The Equinox’ and the culmination of his own set of magical workings utilizing the Keys as Calls to the Aethyrs was published in “The Vision and the Voice”.

In 1969, Anton LaVey presented a Satanic version based on the version Crowley had published, again re-aligning the Keys, this time for his Age of Satan. They were published in the “Book of Leviathan” in his published book: ” “The Satanic Bible”.

Dr. Aquino began his own investigation of the Keys beginning in March 1975, just prior to the founding of the Temple of Set along with his Utterance of the Word of the Aeon of Set: Xeper.  Dr. Aquino hearkened back to Dee’s original transcription, and based on his knowledge of ciphers, pried into the possible linguistic potential of Enochian as a cipher, or code. Over the course of six years, Dr. Aquino performed a series of magical investigations and Workings which resulted in this current translation which is aligned with, and speaks to, the Temple of Set and the Aeon of Set.  Dr. Aquino’s Working of the Word of Set was completed on April 13, 1981, and his investigations and results are published in “The Temple of Set Volume I” and “The Temple of Set Volume II”.

This site is a repository of explorations into the Word of Set, as Keys (to Understanding) as well as a Call from Set, by Setian Black Magicians.

Xeper & Remanifest

Nyx

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