Dee's Holy Table and Shew-Stone Sessions

Following angelic instructions recorded in 1582–83, Dee had a table made of sweet wood two cubits square and high, its top painted with a border of Enochian letters around a central figure of lettered squares. A large wax Sigillum Dei Aemeth sat at its centre, and four smaller wax copies lay beneath the feet, protected by cases. Red silk covered the floor beneath and the seal above, with a changeable red-and-green silk over all. The shew-stone, set in a frame, rested on the uppermost silk over the principal seal. Dee prayed, Kelley gazed into the stone and described what he saw and heard, and Dee wrote it down. A gold lamen with lettered border was also made at the angels' direction.

Purpose

Dee and his scryer Edward Kelley used the Holy Table and a crystal to receive instruction from angels, including the Enochian language and its tables.

Timing

The diaries record sessions on many days and hours without an astrological rule; Dee opened with prayer. No planetary timing is prescribed for the table itself.

Materials

• sweet wood (e.g. cedar or cypress)
• pure beeswax for the seals
• red silk
• changeable red-and-green silk
• gold for the lamen

Tools

• Holy Table
• Sigillum Dei Aemeth
• shew-stone (crystal) in its frame
• lamen
• session diary