Angel Vasiariah (No. 32): Reign, Psalm, Symbolism and Reading

Who is Vasiariah, angel no. 32?

Vasiariah is the thirty-second angel of the classical table, the last of the Dominions choir. His name is also found in the form Vasariah. He closes the group of angels of order and regulation, and it is only natural that tradition links him to justice.

In French editions, he is the symbolic patron of magistrates and of all who dispense justice, with one particularity: he is said to lean towards clemency as much as towards strictness.

Vasiariah bears number 32 in the list of the 72 angels of the Shem HaMephorash, which Kabbalistic tradition derives from three verses of Exodus (14:19 to 21). Everything that follows is presented according to the Kabbalistic and esoteric tradition. For the origin of the system, read our introduction to the 72 angels.

Reference points of the tradition

The dates follow the most common calendar (angel no. 1 reigns 21 to 25 March, then five days per angel over 365 days). Sources sometimes shift by a few days, and leap years are handled differently: see how the guardian angel is calculated. According to many authors, the hour is counted in local solar time.

The verse and the name

The verse retained belongs to Psalm 33, which Haheuiah shares at verse 18. It affirms that the word of God is upright and that his work is accomplished in faithfulness. It is a praise of consistency: what is said is what is done, and what is done holds.

For the tradition, justice rests precisely on this agreement between word and deed. Hence the attribution to Vasiariah of loyalty, the memory of commitments, and balanced judgment.

According to tradition, the name is formed from the triplet of Hebrew letters ושר (Vav, Shin, Resh), followed by the ending Yod and He (Yah, a name of God). French spellings vary (Vasariah) depending on transliteration. Psalm 33, which has no title, is Psalm 32 in the Vulgate; verse 4 bears the same number in all Bibles. Lists of verses also differ slightly from one author to another.

What tradition associates with Vasiariah

Among the most frequent attributions of Vasiariah:

• Fair justice, understood as uprightness of mind rather than as punishment.
• Clemency: the ability to nuance, not to confine someone to their fault.
• Memory and faithfulness to one’s word.
• Nobility of character, an expression found in old descriptions of people born in his period.

“Character portraits” linked to the date of birth belong to popular esotericism. They describe tendencies so general that they fit almost everyone, which psychologists call the Barnum effect.

A reading for today

Justice is first played out in small situations: sharing a task, grading an assignment, settling a quarrel between children. A simple practice is to ask, before deciding, what would be fair if the roles were reversed.

Vasiariah can serve as a reminder of this old rule, which philosophers have reformulated in many ways.

His period of the year and his sign

Vasiariah’s period, from 23 to 27 August, falls in summer (northern hemisphere, original calendar frame). It roughly covers the sign of Virgo. In the table of the 36 decans, each ten-day span receives two angels: Vasiariah shares his with Lecabel (no. 31).

In the Dominions choir

In the “Celestial Hierarchy” attributed to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (around 500), the Dominions open the second triad: they are credited with a role of government and of regulating the order of the world. The term appears in the Letter to the Colossians (1:16) and in the Letter to the Ephesians (1:21). In the list of 72, this choir groups angels 25 to 32.

Vasiariah is the eighth and last angel of the Dominions. After him opens the choir of the Powers, with Yehuiah: the passage from the order that rules to the force that upholds it.

To place Vasiariah in the sequence of angels, here are his immediate neighbours: Lecabel (no. 31) before him and Yehuiah (no. 33) after him. The choir is presented in detail on the page Choir of the Dominions.

A gentle practice with Vasiariah

A ten-minute reflection exercise:

1. Think of a decision to make, or of a judgment you have passed on someone.
2. Write down how the situation would look if you were in the other person’s place.
3. Read verse 4 of Psalm 33; ask yourself whether your decision is consistent with what you say you value.
4. Note one possible adjustment, however small.

You can do this exercise without any materials.

What to keep in mind

Take this page as an honest account of a tradition, with its sources and its disagreements: no diagnosis, no horoscope, no prediction. If an idea speaks to you, so much the better; if not, the tradition itself asks nothing of you.

The Catholic Church does not recognise this system: it retains only the three archangels named in Scripture, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Believers of all faiths nevertheless find in the psalms a text for prayer.

See also the guide to the 72 angels and the guide to the archangels.

Frequently asked questions

Also read

The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to Guide to the 72 guardian angels.