Enochian Pronunciation Guide
Anton Szandor LaVey
from The Cloven Hoof, May V A.S. (1970 c.e.)
Of all the questions asked pertaining to the contents of The Satanic
Bible, the most frequent is concerning the pronunciation of the Enochian
Keys. I wish to stress the fact, before even dealing with the recommended
pronunciation, that the importance should be placed upon the rhythmic and
sequential delivery of the words, rather than a scholarly attempt to pronounce
them properly.
The original renditions of the Keys were written in much the same way
as Hebrew; i.e., the letters are only represented by consonants, with the
vowel sounds unwritten. Only one other translation of the Keys is available
— Israel Regardie’s inclusion in his monumental twenty-five dollar work called
The Golden Dawn [since 1970, other editions have appeared in print, and the
price of Regardie’s book is now a good deal more! ed.]. The Keys in Regardie’s
work are a “white light” translation and occupy a scant few pages at the end
of his two-volume compendium of the rituals of the Order of the Golden Dawn.
They are presented in their Enochian form with only consonants to read by, so
that “Zodoreje” would read “Zdrj.” As you can see, this makes it decidedly
tougher to pronounce!
There are various opinions as to the proper pronunciation, just as in
Latin there are sometimes several ways of pronouncing the same word, depending
on the regional and historical speech pattern. So it is with Enochian. The
word “Cahisa,” if one is to prefer a soft sound pattern, would be read
“SA-HEE-SHAH”—the most prevalent pronunciation, however, would be “KA-HEE-SAH,”
or just the way it looks like it would be said. Generally, all consonants
should be given a hard sound: C as in cake, S as in salt, G as in gold, J as
in just, etc.
The delivery of the words should be as deliberate and prolonged as possible,
with no attempt made to jabber them quickly to show how proficient in the
language you are! For those who saw Rosemary’s Baby [or The Devil’s Rain, for
which LaVey himself coached the extras] , you will recall the slow solemnity
of the chants, performed in almost a monotone. Each syllable should be spoken
with great deliberation, care being given not to skim over the sounds. A word
like “beliore” should result in “BAY-LEE-OAR-RAY.” “Busada” should come out
“BOO-SAH-DAH.” Where two identical vowels are shown together, as in “Ooa,”
the pronunciation would be “OH-OH-AH.”
I find most annoying the person who demands a word-for-word translation of
the Keys, not realizing they are virtually like Pigeon English in their lack of
grammatical nuance and literary style. If they were to be translated literally,
you may be assured that the chanter would sound most inarticulate! Because the
English language is a glorious display of words, it is criminal not to avail
oneself of the majestic vocal renditions made possible by such a language. In
the ceremonies which I have conducted, I have always spoken the key I have
chosen both in English and Enochian.
As a short example of pronunciation, here is
THE SIXTEENTH ENOCHIAN KEY
(written phonetically)
Ee-lah-sah vi-vee-ah-lah pay-ray-tah! Sah-lah-mah-noo bah-lah-tah, dahs
ah-cah-row oh-dah-zoe-dee boo-sah-dah, ode bay-lee-oh-rock-sah bah-lee-tah:
Dahs ee-noo-see kah-oh-sah-jee loo-sah-dah-noo ay-mow-dah: Dahs oh-may ode
tah-lee-oh-bay: dah-ree-lah-pah ee-ay-hay ee-lah-sah Mah-dah Zoe-dee-low-dah-ray-pay.
Zoe-dah-cah-ray ode Zoe-dah-may-rah-noo. Oh-doe kee-cah-lay Kwah-ah:
Zoe-doe-ray-jay, lah-pay zoe-dee-ray-doe Noe-coe Mah-dah, Hoe-ah-thah-hay
Sigh-tahn!
Suggested Enochian Keys
for Various Rituals and Ceremonies
Anton Szandor LaVey
from The Cloven Hoof, June V AS (1970 c.e.)
Vengeance & Destruction: Keys 12, 14, 17
Lust & Weddings: Keys 2, 7, 13
Funerals: Key 11
Compassion: Keys 16, 18,
Power: Keys 1, 3, 8
Traditional Black Mass: Keys 5, 15
Pride & Rejoicing: Key 18
Enochian Pronunciation Guide, originally appeared in The Cloven Hoof,
May issue, V AS, Suggested Enochian Keys for Various Rituals and Ceremonies
originally appeared in The Cloven Hoof, June issue, V AS, and both are
copyright © by The Church of Satan and may not be reprinted without permission.
http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/EnochianGuide.html
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