kabbalistic Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

angelology In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

, Sachiel (Ge'ez ሳቁኤል) is an

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

of the order of

cherubim A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...

. The name 'Sachiel' originally occurs in the late 1500s

grimoire A grimoire ( ) (also known as a "book of spells" or a "spellbook") is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and ...

called ''The Heptameron''. In the early mentions of that angel, its name is spelled in various ways:
Two mid-12th century

birch bark manuscript Birch bark manuscripts are documents written on pieces of the inner layer of birch bark, which was commonly used for writing before the advent of mass production of paper. Evidence of birch bark for writing goes back many centuries and in various ...

s were found apparently containing the archangel's name, spelled as 'сихаїлъ' or 'сихаилъ' (Sikhael/Sixael), repeated thrice to serve as talismans against disease. In the late-1200s grimoire '' The Oathbound Book of Honorius'', its name is spelled 'Satquiel'. That spelling was taken from the early-1200s Jewish occult book ''

Sefer Raziel HaMalakh ''Sefer Raziel HaMalakh'', (Hebrew:, "the book of Raziel the angel''"''), is a grimoire of Practical Kabbalah from the Middle Ages written primarily in Hebrew and Aramaic. ''Liber Razielis Archangeli'', its 13th-century Latin translation produc ...

'' ("book of Raziel the angel"). The Sefer Raziel is highly inconsistent in its spelling of the angel's name, which is therein spelled twice as 'Satquel', three times as 'Satquiel', twice as 'Saquiel', and once as 'Sachquiel'. It is that last spelling from which derives the later spelling 'Sachiel' from The Heptameron. The wide variation of spellings of the name in the Sefer Raziel is in large part the result of the fact that the author created the angel by conflating together two different angels from the 400s CE Jewish book 3 Enoch. The Sefer Raziel spellings 'Satquel' and 'Satquiel' are derived from the 3 Enoch angel

Zadkiel Zadkiel ( he, צִדְקִיאֵל , 'God is my Righteousness'), also known as Hasdiel, is the archangel of freedom, benevolence, kindness and mercy, and the patron angel of all who forgive. Names Zadkiel is also known by a variety of ot ...

, which is also spelled 'Shatqiel' and 'Shataqiel'. The Sefer Raziel spelling 'Sachquiel' is derived from the 3 Enoch angel Sahaquiel, which is also spelled 'Shachaqiel' and 'Shahaqiel'. Those 2 angels were first discussed in 3 Enoch. Sachiel is associated with the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

al sign Sagittarius, the weekday Thursday, wealth, and charity. While in most sources Sachiel presides over Thursday, others do assign him to Monday or Friday. All associate him with the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

; as such, in

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

angel lore he can be invoked for matters involving money, finance, law, politics, and religion.Archangel Sachiel
/ref> His

sigil A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner ...

appears in Francis Barrett's '' The Magus'', an early nineteenth century compendium of

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

lore. It also appears in the 16th century treatise, ''The Complete Book of Magic Science''.

In popular culture

In the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

franchise ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion' ...

'', a monster belonging to the race known as the angels named Sachiel appears in the first two episodes of the anime series.

In popular culture

References

Further reading