Angel of the secret regions, chief of the
THRONES
, and
chief of the Supreme Mysteries, who is charged with
guarding the secrets of the universe. The name
“Raziel” means “secret of God” or “angel of mysteries.”
Raziel is important in Kabbalistic and rabbinic lore,
and in apocryphal writings, especially the book of
ENOCH
.
Raziel is best known as the keeper of the
SEFER
RAZIEL
, or the Book of the Angel Raziel, a text of angel
MAGIC
and
MERKABAH
mysticism said to hold all the
secrets of the cosmos—even things unknown to other
angels.
In the
KABBALAH
, Raziel is an archangel assigned to
guard the second sephirah, Chokmah (Wisdom) on the
TREE OF LIFE
. He is one of the archangels in the world of
Briah, the second of the four worlds of creation.
MAIMONIDES
names Raziel as chief of the
ERELIM
, the
herald of God and the preceptor of
ADAM.
