The 49 Good Angels

The 49 Good Angels are the first "worldly" angelic powers presented in this system. Those listed on the Sigil of Ameth are apparently in some way above the worlds in which men live, as are the Ensigns. Having presented the Ensigns, the archangel Michael introduces the 49 angels by saying: "Now you touch the world, and the doings upon the earth. Now we show you the lower world: The Governors that work and rule under God."

Dee and Kelly were presented with seven 7-by-7 tables. Each square of each table contained a letter and a number from 1 to 49. By gathering the letters with the same number in a certain sequence, the names of the angels were produced. The list of names, divided into groups of seven, were called the Tabula Collecta. Dee arranged these names into a circular table (called the Tabulum Bonorum), dividing the angels into groups of seven, with a King and a Prince heading each group.

Each of these original seven tables was associated with power over a particular aspect of existence; it follows that each angel’s name controls some part of each of those aspects. The powers ascribed to each table or letter are:

Wit and wisdom
The exaltation and government of Princes
Prevailing in counsel, and over the nobility
The gain and trade of merchandise. (Later changed to Water by Dee, for no clear reason.)
The qualities of Earth, and of Water
Knowledge of the Air and those that move in it
The government of fire.
From this list of powers it would seem that, along at least one dimension, the Heptarchic magick is not entirely planetary in nature. The powers would fit more with the conception of a fourfold elemental world ruled by a threefold manifest spirit, as in the lowest seven sephiroth of the cabala.

Dee retroactively assigned a planetary attribute to each group of seven angels, based on the connections between the Kings and the days of the week. Later students have interpolated a system of dual attributes, based on the fact that the Prince of a given day is in a different group from the day’s King.


The arrangement of the Seven Tables


The First Table
Letters in this table give "Wit and Wisdom"


The Second Table
Letters in this table are "Powerful in the Exaltation of Princes"


The Third Table
Letters in this table give power in counseling, and in
influencing the nobility.


The Fourth Table
Letters from this table give power in works of Trade,
or in things relating to Water.


The Fifth Table
Letters from this table give power over things of Earth


The Sixth Table
Letter from this table give power over things of the Air


The Seventh Table
Letters from this table give power over things of Fire.