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Seven Archangels and Their Rays
There are numerous angels and archangels in sacred texts around the world. However, the archangels of the seven rays are the most commonly known. These archangels are associated with days of the week, specific qualities, colors, and their archaei (feminine counterparts).
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Invoking the Seven Archangels
Archangels can be invoked through prayers, songs and meditation. Chanting the names of the seven archangels is a practice akin to singing mantras to other aspects or personifications of God. Angels can be called upon for specific needs. Angels will surround you with light and uplifting energy.
Various Roles of Angels
There are angels for just about every conceivable situation: angels attend birth, angels guide us after death to the heavenly realms, angels protect us while we sleep, angels can intercede in health situations and they appear to protect in danger.
The Form of Angels
Some traditions teach there are specific angels for Christmas or other religious holidays. Other accounts indicate that angels can take embodiment in human form as needed. There are countless stories of angels appearing to help those in need and then disappearing again.
Descriptions of the Seven Archangels
The descriptions below include aspects for each of the archangels of the seven rays including their color, chakra, day of the week, archaea counterpart and the role that they play in assisting mankind. Quick visual summaries are also provided in the next section.
Michael: Archangel of the First Ray
Archangel Michael is a protector. He is associated with the color blue, the throat chakra and Tuesday. His feminine counterpart is the Archaea Faith. Michael is known as the captain or leader of the heavenly hosts of angels. He is a spiritual warrior.
Archangel Michael is usually depicted battling the devil. He is dressed in armor and carries a sword and shield. Ultimately, Archangel Michael is victorious. He is depicted standing over the devil in paintings and statues.
Jophiel: Archangel of the Second Ray
Archangel Jophiel is the angel of knowledge and wisdom. Jophiel is associated with the color yellow and Sunday as a day of the week. His counterpart is the Archaea Christine.
Archangel Jophiel is known for watching over the sons of Noah, although he is not a canonical archangel in modern texts. Jophiel is the Prince of the Cherubim, one of the nine choirs of angels.
Chamuel: Archangel of the Third Ray
Archangel Chamuel is known for the virtue of love and charity. The color associated with Chamuel is pink. He is also associated with a day of the week: Monday.
The archangels are masculine. Their feminine counterparts are called archaei (plural) or archaea (singular). The counterpart of Chamuel is the Archaea Charity. Chamuel is known as the angel of peaceful relationships.
Gabriel: Archangel of the Fourth Ray
The Archangel Gabriel exemplifies purity. Gabriel is present in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Gabriel is a deity meaning strength. He is a messenger, most famously the angel of the annunciation who informed Mary of the coming birth of Jesus.
Gabriel is one of the three archangels who remain in the modern Bible, along with Michael and Raphael. His color is white and his day is Friday. His feminine counterpart is the Archaea Hope.
Raphael: Archangel of the Fifth Ray
Archangel Raphael is known as a master of healing. His color is green and his day is Wednesday. His counterpart is Mary the mother of Jesus. Some traditions view Mary as an archangel sent to earth for the purpose of bearing the Son of God.
Raphael is said to guard pilgrims in their travels. He is often depicted holding a staff. Raphael may also be shown holding a fish, a pictorial reference to his healing of Tobit with the gall of a fish in the apocryphal Book of Tobit.
Raphael the Healing Angel
The Archangel Raphael is widely recognized as the angel of healing in the Christian, Islamic and Judaic traditions. The name Raphael means “God Heals” or “It is God Who Heals”. Of the seven widely recognized archangels, only Archangel Michael and Archangel Gabriel are present in standard biblical scriptures. Archangel Raphael, however, appears in The Book of Tobit, recognized as canonical by the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, The Book of Enoch and the Islamic Hadith.
Patron of Doctors and Healers
Archangel Raphael is the patron saint of doctors and medical practitioners. In the Book of Tobit, Raphael tells Tobit to catch a fish, from which he uses the gallbladder to heal a man of blindness. For this reason, Raphael is often pictured standing on a large fish or holding line with a captured fish.
Characteristics of Archangel Raphael
Raphael is often associated with judgment as well as healing. In the Book of Enoch, Raphael binds the demon Azazel until judgment day arrives. In the Islamic tradition, Raphael blows the horn that signals that Judgment Day has come. In occult lore, Raphael is associated with the colors gold and green. His gemstone is the emerald. Raphael is connected to the air element and appears in the mystical traditions of the Tarot and the Kabbalah.
Remembering Archangel Raphael
Archangel Raphael’s stronghold in the minds of believers is reflected in the many places named for him. Cities, mountains and even deserts named after Saint Raphael are found in France, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, Mexico, Peru, Chile, the Philippines and Venezuela.
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Uriel: Archangel of the Sixth Ray
Archangel Uriel exemplifies service, peace, tranquility and wisdom. His colors are purple and gold. Uriel is associated with Thursday as his day of the week. His counterpart is the Archaea Aurora. Uriel is well-known in the Russian Orthodox tradition. Uriel is sometimes identified as an angel of repentance. The apocryphal Book of Enoch mentions Uriel several times.
Zadkiel: Archangel of the Seventh Ray
Zadkiel is one of the seven archangels, a form of the deity meaning transformation and forgiveness. His color is violet and his day is Saturday. Zadkiel’s feminine counterpart is Holy Amethyst. The name Zadkiel means Righteousness of God or Grace of God.
In the Jewish tradition, Zadkiel is the Angel of the Lord who prevented the prophet Abraham from sacrificing his son. Thus Zadkiel is often depicted holding a dagger or knife. In astrology, Zadkiel rules the planet Jupiter and is linked with both Sagittarius and Pisces.
Seven Archangels Characteristics
Below is a short video and summary of the characteristics of each archangel and their counterparts. There is an archangel for every day of the week! And each has legions of angels at their command to assist those who call to them.
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My Favorite Angel Story
My favorite about angels is the story of a grandfather on his deathbed who suddenly sat up and announced, “I have to go! I have to be someone’s guardian angel!” Days later his family had gathered to be present at his funeral. Unfortunately, just before his funeral his great-granddaughter fell out of a third story window onto a cement porch below.
Saving a Child’s Life
She was rushed to the hospital and examined for hours. The only wound was abrasion marks under both of her arms. When asked about the fall, she insisted, “Grandpappy caught me!” He had saved his great-granddaughter’s life even before he was in his grave!
Letting Go of Earthly Responsibilities
When my father was dying, the hospice nurse said that men often hold on to life for fear that their loved ones will not be taken care of. I thought that was likely true of my own father. He was wonderful provider and caretaker for his extended family. I told him this story to reassure him that he could continue to care for his children and grandchildren from the other side.
Resource: The full story can be found in the book In the Arms of Angels by Joan Wester Anderson (2004), Loyola Press, Chicago, IL, USA.
Angel Wing Painting
I often call to the angels or spiritual beings to guide me when I paint. In one instance, the resulting painting looks remarkably like what I would think of as an angel wing. Artistic renditions of angels usually include wings, which may actually be shafts of light rather than bird-like feathers.
Light of God that Shines Within
Some angels are considered to be outer reflections of God’s light and love. However, this wing seems to glow from within. I like the idea that God is within every aspect of His creation and shines from within each form in the material universe.
Edgar Cayce's Angel
The story of Edgar Cayce was brought to the attention of the American public with the publication of Thomas Sugrue’s book There is A River in 1942. Edgar Cayce is America’s most famous psychic, best known for his medical cures given while in sleeping trances.
Vignettes from There Is a River
I had read Sugrue’s book as a teenager while living close to his organization’s headquarters in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I attended several conferences and lectures at the Association for Research and Enlightenment while I was in high school and college. I’ve recently read the book again, and a number of vignettes stand out.
Edgar Meets the Angel
When Edgar was ten years old, he decided to read the Bible once for every year of his life. He read the Bible multiple times each year for the next few years so that he could make up for the first few years of his life before he could read and before he had any interest in the Bible.
Edgar’s Bible Hideaway
He lived in rural Kentucky and had built a lean-to for himself out in the woods. This was where he read his Bible hour after hour. One day he looked up to see a woman standing before him in the bright sunshine. At first he thought it was his mother, but when she spoke, her voice was like music and he could see shadows shaped like wings on her back.
Conversation with an Angel
“Your prayers have been heard, ” she said. “Tell me what you would like most of all, so that I may give it to you.” He was frightened, but managed to reply: “Most of all I would like to be helpful to others, and especially to children when they are sick.”
Edgar Cayce’s Angels Helps with His Studies
The woman disappeared, but her influence in Edgar’s life at critical times was just beginning. For example, Edgar was a slow student. He preferred daydreaming to studying and was far behind in school. At the age of thirteen, he was still in the third-grade reader.
Learning in Sleep with the Angels
Edgar’s father was ashamed of him. Both his father and teachers used corporal punishment to try and force him to concentrate. One night after a particularly merciless study session with his father, he heard the voice of the angel tell him, “If you can sleep a little, we can help you.”
Edgar Learns Everything in His Books
Edgar begged his father for a few minutes of rest and fell asleep with his head on his spelling book. His father went to the kitchen for a few minutes and snatched the book away when he returned, demanding that Edgar recite his spelling list. Now Edgar knew every word in the book and could spell them all perfectly without fail.
Edgar Cayce Succeeds at School
Edgar began to sleep with his head on his other school books. Over time, he caught up with the other students and eventually became the best student in the school. This helped greatly to alleviate the strife between him and his father, who was now proud of his brilliant son.
Edgar Cayce Finds His Wife with Angel Guidance
The angel returned at another point in his life and guided him to move from the rural farm where he was then working to live in a nearby town. He took a job in town in a bookstore and met his future wife, Gertrude.
Edgar’s Request to the Angel is Fulfilled
Edgar’s ability to diagnose conditions and prescribe cures while in a sleeping state was confusing to him and there were years when he tried not to use this ability. However, his compassion for the suffering of others kept pulling him back to giving his “readings”. And through the readings his request to the angel to be helpful to others was fulfilled.
Notes About Angels
On a personal level, I grew up with an awareness of angels in the Catholic church. My mother is devoted to angels to the extent that she decorated her Christmas tree exclusively with angels one or more years. If it is true that angels take embodiment at times, my mother is surely one of them!
The Comfort of Angels
When one of my sons was recovering from a serious injury and the related PTSD, I read stories of angels to him on a nightly basis. I bought every book available that included angels, especially stories of angelic intervention in modern times. This was a great comfort for both of us.
Author Kathleen Karlsen
Kathleen Karlsen is a musician, artist, writer and speaker. She is the author of two books (Flower Symbols and Vocal Medicine) and over 200 articles. Kathleen, her husband Andrew, and their five children live in Bozeman, Montana. More about Kathleen Karlsen.
