Enochian — the language of the angels — appears throughout Supernatural in warding sigils, spells, angel communication, and the mystical tablets of the Word of God. The show treats it as a real, functional language with genuine power. But Enochian as presented in Supernatural is adapted from a real (though controversial) historical source, and the differences between the original and the show's version are worth understanding.
The Historical Enochian
The Enochian language was recorded in the private journals of John Dee (1527-1608) and Edward Kelley (1555-1597) during the late 16th century. Dee was a mathematician, astronomer, and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I who also pursued occult knowledge. Kelley was a self-described spirit medium who served as Dee's scryer (a person who perceives visions in a crystal or mirror). Between 1582 and 1589, Kelley claimed to receive communications from angels during scrying sessions, and these communications included an entire language — complete with its own alphabet, grammar, and vocabulary — which Dee recorded meticulously.
The Enochian alphabet consists of 21 characters, each with a name and a phonetic value. The language has its own syntax that differs from English, and Dee recorded numerous "Calls" or "Keys" — invocations in Enochian meant to open communication with angelic beings of various ranks. Dee named it "Enochian" after the biblical patriarch Enoch, who was said to have been taken to Heaven and shown its secrets.
Is It Real?
The authenticity of Enochian is hotly debated. Skeptics point out that: Kelley had a documented history of fraud and deception; the language shares structural features with English (Dee's native language) that would not be expected in a truly alien linguistic system; and the "angelic" communications often served suspiciously convenient purposes (at one point, the "angels" told Kelley that he and Dee should share wives). Supporters argue that the language has consistent internal grammar, that some of its features are unlike any European language Dee would have known, and that the system is too elaborate to be a simple hoax.
Regardless of its origin, Enochian was adopted by later occult traditions — most notably the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the late 19th century and Aleister Crowley in the early 20th century — as a genuine magical language used in ritual practice. It remains in active use in some ceremonial magic traditions today.
Supernatural's Enochian
The show uses Enochian in several ways. Angel-warding sigils — symbols that hide a person or location from angelic detection — are described as being in Enochian. The angel banishing sigil, while not explicitly labeled Enochian, fits within the same tradition. Metatron, as the Scribe of God, is the acknowledged master of the language. The Word of God tablets are presumably written in Enochian or a related divine script.
The show does not use actual Enochian vocabulary or grammar in any systematic way — the sigils and symbols shown on screen are original designs created by the production team, not reproductions of Dee's alphabet. When characters speak "Enochian," it sounds like a constructed language but does not correspond to the phonetic system recorded in Dee's journals. This is a creative rather than scholarly adaptation, and it works within the show's internal logic even if it would not satisfy an occult historian.
The Broader Significance
Supernatural's use of Enochian connects the show to a real tradition of angel mysticism that extends from late antiquity through the Renaissance and into modern occultism. By naming the angelic language Enochian, the show signals that its angel mythology draws from a specific historical tradition — one that took the existence of angels and their language entirely seriously. Whether Dee and Kelley actually received angelic communications or simply created an elaborate system of their own, the tradition they established has been influencing how Western culture imagines angels for over 400 years. Supernatural is the latest — and one of the most visible — inheritors of that tradition.