Azrael

Azrael means “God has helped,” or “Help of God.”

He’s the canonical Angel of Death in Islam. He appears centuries earlier in the apocryphal text Apocalypse of Peter.

He acts as a psychopomp responsible for transporting souls of the dead after their passing. In Islam, he’s said to hold a scroll regarding the fate of humans/mortals, recording & erasing their names at birth & death. He doesn’t decide when someone dies. Instead, he watches a celestial tree beneath God’s throne. When a leaf bearing a person’s name falls from this tree, it signals their death is due in 40 days. This role is similar to the role of the malakh ha-mavet (Angel of Death) in Judaism. He’s known as the Malak al-Mawt in the Quran. He’s also a resident of the 3rd Heaven.

In Islam, Azrael is 1 of the 4 major archangels. Alongside Jibra’il (Gabriel), Mika’il (Michael), & Israfil (Raphael).

Tradition holds that Azrael was the only angel brave, or obedient, enough to go down to Earth & gather the different colored clays needed for God to create Adam. For this, he was given authority over the separation of souls from bodies.

Surah 6:61 of the Quran mentions a buttload of angels of death interpreted as assistants of Azrael. When unbelievers in Hell cry out for help, an angel (identified as Azrael) will appear on the horizon & tell them that they have to remain.

The 8th Umayyad Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz once reported the commentary regarded Azrael I the Quran chapter As-Sajdah verse 11 (Quran 32:11), that taking many lives is VERY easy for the angel.

Traditional & mystical descriptions of Azrael are crazy pants: He’s described as being covered in eyes & tongues – 1 for every person currently living on Earth. When a person passes away, the corresponding eye on his body closes forever. Some texts claim he’s so massive that his feet rest in the lower heavens while his head reaches the throne of God.

He’s frequently pictured with 4,000 wings. In some Islamic commentaries, these wings are divided into “wings of Mercy” for the righteous & “wings for punishment” for the unfaithful. The wings of punishment are made from iron rods, hooks, & scissors. His body has a shape resembling a blue-colored ram. He has 70,000 limbs of foot & has 4 faces.

It’s reported that the Angel of Death was so huge that he dwarfed the Bearers of the Throne (Bearers of the Throne are a group of angels in Islam tasked with carrying the Throne of Allah (‘Arsh).). A group of angels which are known as the biggest among the angels.

Death & Azrael started off as 2 separate entities. But when God created death, God ordered the angels to look upon it. They swooned for 1,000 years. After the angels recovered, Death recognized that it must submit to Azrael.

Death will take on the form of a ram (the blue ram mentioned above). Death the ram is then placed Paradise & Hell. The ram (Death) is finally slaughtered by God Himself, causing Death to cease to exist. This is followed by God to declare to both people of Paradise & Hell that eternity has begun & their stated will never end.

A common belief holds that lesser angels are for us common folks. While saints, prophets, other important religious figures meet the archangel of death himself. Great prophets (like Moses & Muhammad) are invited politely by him. But saints are also said to meet Azrael in beautiful forms.

It’s said that when Rumi (a Sufi mystic) was about to die, he laid in his bed & met Azrael in human form. The belief that Azrael appears to saints before they die to prepare them for death is attested to buy the testament of Nasir Khusraw. In this testament he claims to have met Azrael during his sleep, informing him about his impending death.

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Archangel Uriel

Uriel means “God is my flame.” His name could be spelled Auriel or Oriel. He’s one of the archangels who’s mentioned in Rabbinic tradition & in certain Christian traditions.

He’s well known in the Russian Orthodox tradition & in folk Catholicism (in both he’s considered to be 1 of the 7 major archangels). In Anglicanism, he’s also well known in European esoteric medieval literature.

Uriel is also known as a master of knowledge & archangel of wisdom. He’s associated with the truth.

In apocryphal, kabbalistic, & occult works, Uriel has been equated (or confused) with Urial, Nuriel, Uryan, Jeremiel, Vretil, Sariel, Puruel, Phanuel, Azrael, & Raphael.

In the Secret Book of John (an early Gnostic work), Uriel is placed in control of the demons who help Yaldabaoth create Adam.

Of the 7 Archangels in the angelology of Judaism, only 2 of them (Gabriel & Michael) are mentioned by name in the canonized Jewish scripture. Where a 4th archangel is added to the named 3 (to represent the 4 cardinal points), Uriel is generally the 4th. Uriel is listed as the 4th angel by Christian Gnostics, under the name of Phanuel.

Uriel appears in the 2nd Book of Esdras, which is found in the Biblical apocrypha (called Esdras IV in the Vulgate). In this, the prophet Ezra asks God a series of questions, & God sends Uriel to instruct him. According to the Revelation of Esdras, the angels who will rule at the end of the world are Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabuthelon, Beburos, Zebuleion, Aker, & Arphugitonos. The final 5 listed appear only in the book & nowhere else in apocryphal or apocalyptics works.

In Christian apocryphal Gospels, Uriel plays a role (differing between the sources) in the rescue of Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, from the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod. He carries John & his mom, St. Elizabeth, to join the Holy Family after their flight into Egypt. Their reunion is pictured in da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks (a.k.a. Madonna of the Rocks).

Uriel is often identified as a cherub & the angel of repentance. He stood at the Garden of Eden with a fiery sword, or as the angel who’s over the world & over Tartarus. In the Apocalypse of Peter, he appears as the angel of repentance, who is graphically represented as being as pitiless as any demon.

In the Life of Adam & Eve, Uriel is regarded as the spirit (1 of the cherubs) of the 3rd chapter of Genesis. He’s also identified as 1 of the angels who helped bury Adam & Abel in Eden. He checked the doors of Egypt for lamb’s blood during the plague. He held the key to the pit during the end times, & led Abraham to the west.

In modern angelology, Uriel is identified variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the sun, flame of God, angel of the divine presence, presider over Tartarus/Hell, archangel of salvation, & in later scriptures, identified with Phanuel (“God has turned”). He’s often pictured carrying a book or a papyrus scroll representing wisdom. Uriel is a patron of the arts.

In the Eastern Orthodox churches, Uriel is commemorated together with the other archangels & angels with a feast day of the “Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the Other Bodiless Powers” on November 8 of the liturgical calendar. For those churches which follow the Julian calendar, November 8 & falls on November 21 on the modern Gregorian calendar.

He’s regarded as the patron saint of the arts & sciences. In addition, every Monday throughout the year is dedicated to the angels.

The Anglicans & Coptic Christians of Ethiopia & Eritrea venerate archangel Uriel. According to the latter, July 11 is his feast day. In the Ethiopian Homily on the Archangel Uriel, he’s pictured as 1 of the great archangels & as the angelus interpres who has interpreted prophecies to Enoch & Ezra, & the helper of both of them.

According to the Homily, at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, Uriel dipped his wing in the blood & water flowing from Christ’s flank & Filled a cup with it. Carrying the cup, he & the archangel Michael rushed into the world & sprinkled it all over Ethiopia.

In every place where a drop of blood fell, a church was built. Thus, Uriel is often pictured carrying a chalice filled with the blood of Christ in Ethiopian Orthodox iconography. Uriel is honored in the Lutheran Churches as well, with churches including statuary of the archangels Gabriel, Uriel, Michael, & Raphael.

At the Council of Rome of 745, Pope Zachary (intending to clarify the church’s teaching on angels & curbs a tendency toward angel worship) condemned obsession with angelic intervention & angelology. But reaffirmed the approval of the practice of the reverence of angels.

This Synod struck many angels’ names from the list of those eligible for veneration in the church of Rome, including Uriel. Only the reverence of the archangels is mentioned in the recognized Catholic canon of scriptures, namely, Michael, Gabriel, & Raphael, remained acceptable.

In the 16th century, Archangel Uriel appeared before the Sicilian friar Antonio Lo Duca & told him to build a church in the Termini area. Lo Duca told Pope Pius IV about the apparition, and the pope then asked Michelangelo to design the church, which became the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels & of the Martyrs located at the Esedra Plaza.

In the 1st half of the 11th century, Bulgarian followers of the duelist heresy called Bogomilism, who lived in the dukedom of Ahtum in present-day Banat, invoked Uriel in rituals. This was witnessed by Gerard of Csanad, the Catholic bishop of the area after 1028. Uriel was also named in a small exorcism in the 15th century.

The Book of Enoch (which presents itself as written by Enoch) mentions Uriel in many of its component books. In chapter IX, part of “The Book of the Watchers” (2nd century BC), only 4 angels are named. Those angels are Michael, Uriel, Raphael, & Gabriel. Though some versions have a 5th angel: Suryal or Suriel.

However, chapter XX later lists 7 angels’ names & functions. Those angels are “Uriel, 1 of the holy angels, who’s over the world & over Tartarus,” Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, & Remiel.

The Book of the Watchers tells us that Uriel, Raphael, & Gabriel were present before God to testify on behalf of humankind. They ask for divine intervention during the reign of the fallen Grigori (fallen watchers). These fallen ones took human wives & had half-“angel,” half-human offspring called the Nephilim.

Uriel was responsible for warning our boy Noah about the upcoming deluge. After judgment has been brought up on the Nephilim & the Fallen Ones, including the 2 main leaders, Samyaza & Azazel. Uriel then acts as a guide for Enoch for the rest of the Book of Watchers.

In the traditions & hagiography of the Episcopal & other Anglican churches, Uriel is mentioned as an archangel. He’s recognized as the patron saint of the sacrament of confirmation. In some Episcopal churches, Uriel is also regarded as the keeper of beauty & light, & regent of the sun & constellations.

In iconography, he’s shown holding in his right hand a Greek Ionic column, which symbolizes perfection in aesthetics & man-made beauty, and in his left hand is a staff topped with the sun. He is celebrated in the Anglican liturgical calendars of the Feast of the Archangels. The Church of St. Uriel the Archangel at Sea Girt, New Jersey, is a testimony to Anglicans’ devotion to Uriel.

In Hermetic Kabbalah, Uriel’s name is commonly spelled Auriel. He’s regarded as the archangel of the North, & of the element of Earth. According to the teaching of the modern Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Uriel is the archangel of North & East, & is associated with the vegetation of the Earth. In iconography, he’s depicted holding stems of ripened wheat & wearing robes of citrine (a medium deep shade of golden yellow), russet (dark brown with a reddish-orange tinge), olive (like green olives), & black.

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