Raguel, who is also known as Raguil, Suryan, Rasuil, Akrasiel, or Rufael, is one of the renown and widely celebrated seven archangels of the three Abrahamic religions. Raguel's name translated into English means friend of God, or God's good friend. The archangel Raguel is quite often said to be an angel of justice, harmony, good will, and fairness. Within the noncanonical Book of Enoch, he is said to be the archangel that God has commanded to punish and dish out vengeance upon the luminaries of the earth who have shunned or broken God's laws. It goes on to state that Raguel rains fire down upon these fallen men of God, and that his wrath is furious. Apart from his duties as the Lord's holy hitman, Raguel also happens to be the archangel who showed Enoch the Seven Mountains, which are thought to host not only the throne of God, but the tree of life as well. Raguel tells Enoch that from the highest peak God is able to watch over his kingdom.
It should be noted that the archangel Raguel is not named specifically within the canonical Bible, however some experts believe that he does however appear in the scripture, just not by name. For example in the Book of Revelation Chapter 3 verse 7, it mentions an angel of the Church in Philadelphia, which scholars believe is a direct reference to Raguel. Later in the same Book of Revelation Chapter 9 verse 14, it mentions a sixth angel, again another reference to Raguel. Outside of the Book of Revelation, it is also thought that Raguel appears in the Book of Matthew Chapter 18 verse 10, where it states that one angel is responsible for holding all the other angels and archangels to account for any of their transgressions or wrongdoings. It is not known exactly why these passages do not name Raguel specifically. Some scholars have stated that Raguel did appear in the passages by name in some earlier scripture, however as time went on his name was removed.
As is the case with many of the other seven holy archangels, Raguel has appeared in fictional works quite often. For example he appears in the 1990 literary work by Neil Gaiman entitled The Books of Magic. In this book the magician apprentice Timothy Hunter ventures into an occult realm, where he comes across a character known as Spectre. Later on in the book Spectre reveals his true identity to Neil, that being the mighty archangel Raguel, who in accordance with God's will punishes the wicked with a terrible fiery vengeance. Outside of literature, Raguel also appears quite often within Japanese anime and comic books. For those of you who are familiar with Japanese anime, you know that it's absolutely full of characters that have been inspired by Judaic and Christian scripture. In fact it's quite possible that archangels and other angels appear with greater frequency in Japanese fiction than in contemporary Christian or Jewish artworks.
Within the realm of Judeo-Christian occult and New Age movements, Raguel is considered to be the archangel of the underdog. It is said that he will help the weak and humble triumph over the strong and arrogant. Raguel is also known as the archangel that grants human beings the gift of respect, should they deserve it. Other New Age assigned attributes include the ability to resolve arguments, and to instill harmony and balance to tense or stressed situations. He is also the defender or spiritual shield of the oppressed or ill treated. As I've mentioned with other archangels, these occult attributes are not recognized by most mainstream Christian, Jewish, or Islamic groups. I can also state with a fair amount of confidence that most of these occult powers granted to Raguel are fairly new in origin, as there has been a heavy resurgence of angel-centric pagan hybrid movements over the last century. That concludes this very brief article.
