Jophiel

Not to be confused with Zotiel (angel).
Jophiel
Sanctus Jophiel, stained-glass window at St Michael's Church, Brighton, England.
Archangel
Venerated inJudaism, Anglicanism
Feast29 September
AttributesFlaming sword
PatronageArt, artists

The angel Jophiel (Heb. יוֹפִיאֵל‎ Yōp̄īʾēl, "Beauty of God"),[1][2] also called Iophiel, Iofiel, Jofiel, Yofiel, Youfiel, Zophiel (צֹפִיאֵל‎ Ṣōp̄īʾēl, "God is my watchman")[3] and Zuriel (צוּרִיאֵל‎ Ṣūrīʾēl, "God is my rock"),[4] is an archangel in Christian and Jewish angelology. Jophiel is associated with beauty, art, and wisdom.

Beliefs in religions and ceremonial magic

According to Robert Means Lawrence,[5] Arthur de Bles, and R.L. Giles, Jophiel was said to be the Angel who cast Adam and Eve out of Paradise[6]

According to the pseudepigraphal Revelation of Moses, another name for Jophiel is Dina (Hebrew: דִּינָה Dīnā, "Judgement").[7] In the text, Jophiel/Dina is described as an angel of the seventh heaven, a Cabalistic guardian of the Torah (and wisdom itself), who taught 70 languages to souls at the dawn of creation.[8] The Zohar lists Jophiel as a Great Angel Chief in charge of 53 legions who superintend Torah-readings on the Sabbath.[9] Jophiel is said to be a companion to the angel Metatron.[6]

C. E. Clement, in her book Angels in Art, names Jophiel as the teacher of Ham, Japheth, and Shem.[6] Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa[10] and Thomas Rudd likewise name Jophiel as the teacher of Shem.[11]

In the Anglican tradition, Jophiel is recognized as an archangel. Jophiel is often depicted in iconography holding a flaming sword,[note 1] such as the stained glasses at St Michael's Church in Brighton, St Peter and St John's Church in Kirkley,[12] Holy Trinity Church in Coventry,[13] and a mural at St. John's Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee.[14]

Jophiel is an Archangel of the Kabbalah (although some systems put Raziel in Jophiel’s place) and in several listings, including that of the early medieval theologian Pseudo-Dionysus.[15] The Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum lists Jophiel as the angel of the Sephira Binah,[16] as do the Key of Solomon variant "The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon,"[17] and the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses,[18] both latter works derived from the Calendarium.[19] Agrippa attributes Jophiel to Saturn, while Paracelsus assigns Jophiel to Jupiter.[6] Rudd attributes the Zodiac to Jophiel[20] along with the Sephira Binah instead of Zaphkiel.[21] Athanasius Kircher names Jophiel as Angelus pulchritudinis, "angel of beauty".[22] According to Robert Ambelain, Jophiel is in charge of the Cherubim, particularly the Shemhamphorasch angels Haziel, Aladiah, Lauviah, Hahaiah, Iezalel, Mehahel, Hariel, and Hakamiah.[23]

In John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, the Archangel Jophiel is depicted as the “cherubim with the swiftest wings.”

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The flaming sword is also generally an attribute of the archangel Uriel, but he is more often depicted in Anglican iconography holding a book (scroll) or a solar disc.

2. Angels and ‘angelic entities’ are traditionally neither specifically male or female (note: when Jophiel/Zophiel is historically referenced, the gender is universally most often female, not male).

References

  1. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 3308. yophi".
  2. ^ "Inflection of יוֹפִי". Pealim.
  3. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 6822. ṣō·w·p̄eh".
  4. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 6697. ṣū·rî".
  5. ^ Lawrence, Robert M. (1898), The Magic of the Horse-Shoe, With Other Folk-Lore Notes, Chapter III: The Number Seven at sacred-texts.com
  6. ^ a b c d Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Entry: Iofiel, Free Press, p. 150, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, ISBN 9780029070505
  7. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 1783. Dinah".
  8. ^ Gaster, Moses (1893), "Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise," in the Journal of The Royal Asiatic Society, p. 579, at www.sacred-texts.com
  9. ^ Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Entry: Iofiel, Free Press, p. 320, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, ISBN 9780029070505
  10. ^ Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book III, Part 1, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives.
  11. ^ A Treatise on Angel Magic, by Thomas Rudd, ed. Adam McLean, p.25 & 204, (two editions):
    • Phanes Press, 1990
    • Red Wheel/Weiser, 2006
  12. ^ K, Simon (17 September 2009). "Kempe: Jophiel". flickr.com. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  13. ^ Glass Angel (2011). "Coventry - Holy Trinity Church". flickr.com. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Christ Triumphant (High Altar)". www.stjohnsmemphis.org. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  15. ^ Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Appendix, Free Press, p. 338, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, ISBN 9780029070505
  16. ^ The Magical Calendar, by Johann Baptist Grossschedel (two editions):
  17. ^ The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon, anonymous, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives
  18. ^ The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (part 2), anonymous, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives
  19. ^ The Magical Calendar, Peterson edition introduction
  20. ^ Rudd, McLean, pp.100 (2006 ed), p.101 (1990 ed)
  21. ^ Rudd, McLean, p.204 (1990, 2006)
  22. ^ "Cabala Hebraeorum" in Oedipus Aegyptiacus, by Athanasius Kircher, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives
  23. ^ The Complete Magician's Tables, by Stephen Skinner, Golden Hoard Press, 2006, p.41

Further reading

  • Fischer, Lynn (1996), Angels of Love and Light [with original paintings of the Seven Beloved Archangels and Their Archeiai by Marius Michael-George], Transformational Media Publications, South Yarmouth, MA
  • "Jophiel," Pearls of Wisdom, Volume 7 Number 43, 1994, The Summit Lighthouse, Copyright © 1997 Church Universal and Triumphant
  • "Seven Beloved Archangels Speak," 1954, The Bridge to Freedom