Raguel (angel)

This article is about the archangel Raguel. For other uses, see Reuel (name).
Look up Raguel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Raguel (also Raguil, Rasuil, Rufael, Raquel, Reuel, and Akrasiel) is an angel mainly of the Judaic traditions. His name's meaning is considered to be "Friend of God".

Raguel is referred to as the archangel of justice, fairness, harmony, vengeance and redemption. In the Book of Enoch, cap. XXIII, Raguel is one of the seven angels who watch, and his function is to take vengeance on the world of the luminaries who have transgressed God's laws.[1]

Raguel's duties have remained the same across Jewish and Christian mythologies. Much like a sheriff or constable Raguel's purpose has always been to keep fallen angels and demons in check, delivering heinous judgment upon any that over-steps their Elohim-prescribed boundaries. He has been known to destroy wicked spirits, and cast fallen angels into Tartarus/Gehenna.

Raguel is not mentioned in the canonical writings of the Bible. In 2 Enoch, when the patriarch Enoch visited heaven as a mortal, it was Raguel who carried him to and from the mortal world, along with the angel Sariel or Samuil.

In the Council of Rome of 745, pope St. Zachary condemned the worship of non-Biblical angels, among them Raguel.[2]

Possible historical references to a similar figure from other cultures can be found in Babylonian culture as "Rag" (some translations say Ragumu), and in Sumerian as "Rig" which means to talk or speech. Thus, these similar characters represented balance in those cultures as well.

In 1990, Raguel has a cameo in The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman. During his travels through the occult side of the DC Universe, magician-in-training Timothy Hunter meets the Spectre. It is later implied that the Spectre is actually Raguel, an archangel who metes out punishments for God as the Spirit of Vengeance.

Raguel also features prominently in the Neil Gaiman short story "Murder Mysteries" which appears in his collection Smoke and Mirrors. In the audio drama adaptation, Two Plays for Voices, Raguel is voiced by Brian Dennehy.

Raguel appears in Issue 7 of Crimson as one of the seven archangels who come to earth to decide the fate of young vampire Alex Elder.

Raguel also appears in the anime Fairy Tail where a character named Angel can use Angel Magic summoning forth Raguel. It is a white angel that possesses a giant pair of wings, four long arms and seven heads, each holding a horn. Raguel blows its horns to damage its opponents with a powerful soundwave.

Raguel is also one of the collectible cards in a trading card game notorious for its use of Divine entities called Legend of Minerva.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/boe026.htm
  2. ↑ Cesare Baronio, Annales ecclesiastici, p. 517 (paragraphs 35-36)
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