Apart from Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, who are explicitly named in the Bible, the other archangels and angels seem to fall into a state of anonymity sanctioned by a Church that appears to openly condemn the piety they inspire. This is without taking into account Christian Kabbalah, which will rename them after the 72 ‘breaths’ of Jewish Kabbalah.

Gradually, the names became genies and then angels, endowed with particular qualities influencing the nature of humans born under their ‘sphere of influence’. What is more, they are distinguished because the ending of their names has gradually become a reliable indicator for distinguishing ‘female’ angels from ‘male’ angels. The latter are said to have names ending in ‘-el’ (Jeliel, Aniel, Lecabel), whilst the former share names ending in ‘-iah’ (Pahaliah, Seheiah, Mumiah). However, apart from the fact that these endings signify the word ‘God’, they do not specifically belong to any gender, male or female.

Thus, it is amusing to note that, in a way, the 72 angels as we know them today are a construct of the Kabbalists for various reasons.

Finally, let us add that the major archangels – whose relatively masculine appearance is undeniable – have names ending in ‘-el’. It therefore seems commonly accepted that this suffix is decidedly masculine!

This extract is taken from the book Practical Angelology, available here.