The Watchtower Hierarchy

On the Watchtower Hierarchy

by Dean Hildebrandt

The Tablets

For convenience, the four tablets will be referred to by their three-letter banner names. Dee received two versions of the Great Tablet which featured the tablets in the orders (clockwise from top left) ORO-MOR-MPH-OIP and ORO-MPH-OIP-MOR. These are sometimes referred to as the original and reformed versions respectively. I have been told that any arrangement of the tablets in the Great Tablet is allowed provided that the ORO and MOR tablets are adjacent. In order for the four tablets to be bound together, it is necessary to rotate three of them so that corresponding subquarters are in the center of the Great Tablet. The arrangement of the names on the Black Cross given to Dee is correct if the lower right subquarters are in the center; otherwise they need to be rotated one step for each counterclockwise rotation of the tablets. This gives the following names to be used with the various subquarters in forming kerubic god-names and cacodemon names:

The subtablets in the center have a root-like quality for each arrangement, whereas the rest are more manifesting. This gives a total of 32 possible arrangements, 2 places for ORO relative to the Black Cross * 2 places for MOR adjacent to ORO * 2 arrangements of MPH and OIP * 4 rotations. The tablets serve as an interface through which the angels and others may be contacted and may act. The subquarter angels seem to have a larger degree of direct involvement with the squares and crosses of their portions of the tablets than do the seniors and other names drawn from the great crosses.

The Squares

The squares of the tablet come in a variety of types: the Black Cross squares, the Spiritu Sancti line squares, the rest of the squares of the great crosses, the kerubic squares, the subquarter cross squares, and the serviant squares. The squares of each type seem to be homogeneous, so it is possible to assign whatever sort of attribution one likes to them, though something compatible with whatever attributions are assigned to the angels in probably desirable. The crosses seem to have a natural structure as crosses. This is discussed below for the subquarter crosses; I have not figured out much about the great or black crosses. There is a spirit associated with each of the serviant squares. I believe that these correspond to the final groups of 16 spirits seen in Kelley's vision of the watchtowers. The squares and crosses have a degree of solidity that makes them useful for building various types of structures. Benjamin Rowe's Enochian Temples is the best example of this. Enochian chess might be taken as a smaller scale example.

Directions and Elements

The tablets are not primarily elemental, and there are a number of elemental and directional attributions in use. The best characterization of the tablets that I have been able to come up with is ORO-celestial yang, OIP-earthly yang, MPH-celestial yin, MOR-earthly yin. The tablets also seem to have a natural order ORO-OIP-MPH-MOR. It seems natural to assign earth to the MOR tablet and whichever of fire and air is deemed more spiritual or less dense to ORO. One may then assign water to MPH and the other of fire and air to OIP on the other yin with other yin and other yang with other yang theory. Some people instead assign ORO-fire, OIP-water, MPH-air, MOR-earth, which perhaps makes sense if one's understanding of the elements is heavily influenced by the YHVH formula. In any event, the directional assignments of the tablets depend on which version of the Great Tablet one uses as well as whether one takes the tablets as facing up or down, or in other words having the writing on the top or bottom. Dee was told, in conjunction with the original tablet, that the ORO tablet is in the East, so this gives two natural directional assignments in conjunction with the original tablet. If it is facing up, we get Dee's assignment, ORO-East, OIP-North, MPH-West, MOR-South. If it is facing down, we get the GD's assignment, ORO-East, OIP-South, MPH-West, and MOR-North. If one assigns ORO-fire, OIP-air, MPH-water, MOR-earth, then the reformed tablet facing down will fit with a zodiacal directional attribution, with the actual directions depending on where one places the signs of the zodiac and whether one uses the cardinal, fixed, or mutable signs as one's reference. If one assigns ORO-air, OIP-fire, MPH-water, MOR-earth, then the reformed tablet facing up fits with a zodiacal attribution.

A few years after the main material was received, Kelley had a vision of a round-house that included fire in the East, air in the South, water in the West, and Earth in the North. The symbolism of this vision fits extremely well with the seals received in conjunction with the tablets, flames going with flames, smoke with smoke, and the earth attribution in each case going with a large number of angelic workers. This would support an attribution ORO-East-fire, OIP-South-air, MPH-West-water, MOR-North-earth. I tend to view this as a default assignment, though I also use the reformed tablet with either of the attributions given above or, often, do not bother with such attributions at all.

The tablets can also be fitted with the energies of the gems. In this case, each tablet fits with an element and a dark element, each pairing differing in the same quality. For example, with the roundhouse placement just discussed, one ends up with Fire/Steel in the East, Air/Glass in the South, Water/Fabric in the West, and Earth/Clay in the North. This is most easily visualized in terms of the elements and dark elements as the vertices of the cube.

The Banner-Names

The banner names are useful for tuning in to the general space of the watchtowers and summoning energy in an amorphous form. They fit quite well with the zodiac, though there are a variety of attributions. All such attributions I am aware of place ORO opposite OIP and MPH opposite MOR, as in the reformed tablet, perhaps because the ORO and OIP tablets have a yang nature and the MPH and MOR ones a yin nature. The two attributions I use are ORO IBAH AOZPI MPH ... HCTGA paired with the signs running from Aries to Pisces and from Pisces to Aries. In the former case, the tablets take elemental and directional attributions from the cardinal signs, in the latter from the fixed signs.

If the tablets are fitted with the gems, then the banner names fit with the faces of the rhombic dodecahedron. A direction around the tablets must be chosen, and then the 3-letter name in each direction fits with the dark element in that direction connecting to the element of the previous tablet, the 4-letter name with the dark element in that direction connecting to the element in that direction, and the 5-letter name with the dark element in that direction connecting to the element of the next tablet. For example, in the roundhouse attribution with clockwise movement, we have:

ORO-Steel/Earth, IBAH-Steel/Fire, AOZPI-Steel/Air, OIP-Glass/Fire, TEAA-Glass/Air, PDOCE-Glass/Water, MPH-Fabric/Air, ARSL-Fabric/Water, GAIOL-Fabric/Earth, MOR-Clay/Water, DIAL-Clay/Earth, HCTGA-Clay/Fire.

Note that no gem attribution can be made to fit with a Zodiacal attribution.

The Seniors

The seniors do not follow set formulas as the subquarter angels seem to but instead work as individuals or in groups as required in a given context. They are able to employ the energies of the planets, zodiac, etc., but are not properly identified with these. Each tablets' set of seniors has a structure: The ORO tablet seniors have a hierarchical structure, with HABIORO being chief, AAOZAIF and HTMORDA jointly second, AHAOZPI third, and HIPOTGA and AVTOTAR jointly fourth. The OIP tablet seniors are divided into two groups of three: AAETPIO, ALNDVOD, ARINNAQ and ADOEOET, AAPDOCE, ANODOIN, which seem to constitute opposite polarities. The MPH tablet seniors form a directed circle, running LSRAHPM, SAIINOV, LAOAXRP, SLGAIOL, LIGDISA, SONIZNT. The MOR tablet seniors form a set of axes given by rotating LZINOPO back and AHMLICV forward relative to their names' placements in the tablet. There are various structures that can be used in conjunction with the seniors. An astrological one that I have been given is as follows: The ORO tablet seniors are paired with the pairs of opposite signs. These joinings of opposite signs may be interpreted as follows:

1-Pisces/Virgo The beginning of the creative process.

2-Aquarius/Leo Interaction of the individual and the group.

3-Capricorn/Cancer Established structures and the need for creativity.

4-Sagittarius/Gemini Ordering processes.

5-Scorpio/Taurus Cycles of growth and decay, life and death.

6-Libra/Aries Completion of projects.

There are 24 ways these can be paired with the seniors, the listings running clockwise from HABIORO: 1-2/5-3-4/6,1-2/6-4-3/5,1-3/4-2-5/6,1-3/4-5-2/6,1-3/5-6-2/4,1-3/6-2-4/5 In each case pair 1 represents the beginning of things, one of 2 and 3 gives the character of the arrangement with 4, 5, or 6 as a supplement, and one of the remaining three directs the implementation through the other two. The OIP tablet seniors are paired with the planets, with Moon, Venus, and Jupiter going with one group of three and Mercury, Mars, and Saturn the other. The MPH tablet seniors are paired with the four intervals of the course of the planets through the sky and the visible and hidden portions of the sky in the order: sunrise-noon, visible sky, noon-sunset, sunset-nadir, hidden sky, nadir-sunrise. Any of the six ways of pairing the circles is allowed. The MOR tablet seniors are paired with the cardinal directions in any of the twenty-four ways consistent with the axes they form. This reflects a way the seniors work themselves, but may not be of much practical use to people. Another approach which is less natural but more often useful is to assign the seniors from the ORO and MPH tablets to the male and female signs respectively and those from the OIP and MOR tablets to the planets. They can then be called individually or in combinations, allowing various astrological relationships to be explored.

If the tablets are fitted with the gems, then the seniors fit with the faces of the 24-sided gem. The first three seniors of each tablet, reading clockwise from left, fit with the dark element in that direction as it fits with the quality shared with the preceding tablet, the quality in which it differs from the element in that direction, and the quality shared with the next tablet. The next three seniors fit with the element in that direction as it fits with the quality shared with the preceding tablet, the quality in which it differs from the dark element in that direction, and the quality shared with the next tablet. Taking the same example as above, we get:

HABIORO-Steel/Particular, AAOZAIF-Steel/Order, HTMORDA-Steel/Male,

AHAOZPI-Fire/Particular, HIPOTGA-Fire/Chaos, AVTOTAR-Fire/Male,

AAETIPO-Glass/Male, ADOEOET-Glass/Chaos, ALNDVOD-Glass/Abstract,

AAPDOCE-Air/Male, ARINNAQ-Air/Order, ANODOIN-Air/Abstract,

LSRAHPM-Fabric/Abstract, SAIINOV-Fabric/Order, LAOAXRP-Fabric/Female,

SLGAIOL-Water/Abstract, LIGDISA-Water/Chaos, SONIZNT-Water/Female

LAIDROM-Clay/Female, ACZINOR-Clay/Chaos, LZINOPO-Clay/Particular,

ALHCTGA-Earth/Female, LIIANSA-Earth/Order, AHMLICV-Earth/Particular

The Kings

The king-names have a strong focusing effect. In terms of their place in the hierarchy, they can be below and directed by the seniors, above the seniors feeding energy to them from the banner names, or running from the banner names through the space of the seniors who shape the energy they carry and down to more manifest levels, the last being what I have usually seen. The banner names, seniors, and kings of a given direction can form a sphere, with the banner names at top and king at the bottom, out of which sparks of energy emerge. Alternatively, all of the banner names can be used to form a circle or square with the seniors forming a cup or pyramid shape and the kings combining to give the stem of the cup or pillar down from the point of the pyramid.

The Subquarters

Dee was told that the squares from which the Kerubic names are drawn correspond to the letters of the formula INRI, and the Kerubic angels fit quite well with this formula, the first in each subquarter corresponding to the initial I, the next to the N, etc. In Christian terms, INRI can be read life-death-rebirth-life anew. It fits with the sequence of alchemical processes blackening-whitening-yellowing-reddening. Blackening consists of putrefying the material, though the corresponding kerubic angels have more of a gathering than putrefying quality. Whitening is a purifying process. Yellowing consists in introducing a higher light. Reddening consists in reengaging with the manifest. The kerubic angels of a subquarter can be called in sequence following this pattern.

The 6-letter names open the realm of the subquarter. It is possible to send energy down them. Benjamin Rowe gives a description of this as alternate squares sending down a seed to the next square and growing these seeds into elaborate networks of roots, with the three pairs of squares assigned to the divine, human, and elemental realms. I am unable to comment on this except to confirm that the squares do seem to be in pairs. The 5-letter names have an attractive quality, drawing things upward by means of the serviant angels.

Dee was told that the serviant angels of the lower right subquarter of each tablet relate to elemental creatures in the order (from top) air-water-earth-fire. The angels seem to fit quite well with the alchemical elements, with water in the above sequence corresponding to mercury, earth to salt, and fire to sulfur in its lower or hidden form. Air in this context corresponds to a mixture of mercury and pure sulfur, this being the means by which the higher influence enters. The 5-letter name and the action of the kerubic angels seem to correspond to the pure sulfur. It is interesting to note that the elemental attribution Benjamin Rowe got for the bottom three angels also fits with the alchemical elements given that he is using the GD's attribution sulfur-fire, salt-water, mercury-air. The angels are called from bottom to top and have a redemptive quality. The bottom angel ignites the sulfur, infusing energy into the object of the working. The next divides the salt, breaking up the fixities which prevent needed change. The next liberates the mercury, the mutable substance of which things are made. The next admits the light from above.

The most natural way for the angels of a subquarter to work starts with the kerubic angels defining a pattern to be implemented. They then plant the cross into the situation to be changed and send energy down the 6-letter name, activating the energies of the 16 serviant squares. This allows the serviant angels from bottom to top to act, implementing the desired transformation. If one wishes to use these angels for initiation, the method I have found effective is to identify with the cross, then call the serviant angels from bottom to top allowing them to act on one, the top serviant angel leading to the kerubic angels who are likewise called in order. It is important whenever using any of the material for initiation to have a clear idea what direction one wishes to go.