The 72 Angels (Shem HaMephorash): Origins, Sources, Limits

What are the 72 angels?

According to the Kabbalistic and esoteric tradition, seventy-two angels each rule over a portion of the year, of the day and of the zodiac. They are called the angels of the Shem HaMephorash, a Hebrew expression usually translated as “explicit name”: the divine name unfolded into seventy-two names. Each angel’s name ends in -el (“God”) or -iah (an abbreviation of the divine name): Vehuiah, Haziel, Nith-Haiah.

In this system, each angel rules for five days a year and twenty minutes a day. The list is used for two things: to associate with a date of birth a “birth angel”, often wrongly called a “guardian angel”, and to read in the names and their verses a support for meditation. It is a symbolic system, not an established fact. This whole guide is presented according to the Kabbalistic and esoteric tradition.

An origin in three verses of Exodus

The names come from a method of reading. Verses 19, 20 and 21 of chapter 14 of Exodus, which tell of the crossing of the Red Sea, each contain exactly seventy-two letters in Hebrew. Tradition writes them one below the other, the first from right to left, the second from left to right, the third from right to left, like an ox tracing furrows: this is called “boustrophedon” reading. Taking the letters one by one, from top to bottom, gives seventy-two groups of three letters.

The first group is Vav, He, Vav. Adding the ending -iah or -el gives Vehuiah. The 72 names are formed in the same way. The idea of a divine name of 72 letters drawn from these verses is ancient: it appears in medieval commentaries, such as that of Rashi on the tractate Sukkah (45a), and in the Sefer ha-Bahir (twelfth century). The angels’ names themselves are a later elaboration.

Historical sources

The complete list first appears in writing in the work of the German humanist Johannes Reuchlin, in his De arte cabalistica (1517), dedicated to Pope Leo X. Henry Cornelius Agrippa takes it up in De occulta philosophia (book III, chapter 25, published around 1531-1533). It then passed into European occult literature, and in France into Lazare Lenain’s La Science cabalistique (1823), and into nineteenth-century esotericism. The angels’ attributes (their “themes”) come mainly from these French editions and their successors.

A useful clarification: these authors are not religious texts. The names of the 72 angels do not appear in the Bible, and the lists of verses, attributes and dates vary from one author to another.

Nine choirs of eight angels

The 72 angels are divided into nine choirs, following the celestial hierarchy of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (around 500): three triads of three orders. The division of eight angels per choir is the one followed by most of the lists consulted.

One peculiarity: this list places the Powers before the Virtues, whereas Pseudo-Dionysius does the reverse. Classical sources do not agree on every detail.

Dates, hours and degrees: the conventions

Three divisions overlap. The first is annual: the first angel rules from 21 March (spring equinox) to 25 March, the second from 26 to 30 March, and so on, five days each. Seventy-two times five makes 360 days: five days remain at the end of the cycle, from 16 to 20 March, which our pages attach to Mumiah (No. 72). The second is daily: 24 hours divided into 72 periods of twenty minutes, the first angel beginning at midnight. The third is zodiacal: each angel covers 5° of the 360° of the zodiac, that is, two angels per decan.

These conventions are the most widespread, but not the only ones. Many French sites align the periods with the signs of the zodiac, with a few periods of six days, which shifts the dates by one to seven days. The nature of the hour (local solar time or legal time) also varies. No version is “the right one”: these are conventions, not facts.

What the Catholic Church says

The Catholic Church affirms the existence of angels (Catechism, § 328) and the protection they exercise around human life (§ 336). But it does not recognise the system of the 72 angels. It retains only three archangels named in Scripture: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. In 745, a synod gathered in Rome condemned the invocation of angels with names not attested in Scripture, in connection with Aldebert, a Frankish preacher; a capitulary of Charlemagne (789) renewed this caution. The Directory on Popular Piety (2001) still advises against naming angels other than Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

In Judaism, the name of 72 letters belongs to mysticism; the list of angels by date of birth is a later construction and is not part of the shared faith. Believers of all confessions may read the psalms cited in their own words.

What science says

No study shows that a date of birth connects a person to an angel. Character portraits by date often rely on what psychologists call the Barnum effect: descriptions broad enough that almost everyone recognises themselves in them. This does not take away the cultural and personal interest of these readings: a name, a verse or a theme can serve as a mirror for reflecting on one’s values.

How to use this guide

Start with how to calculate your guardian angel to find the angel of your date, then read their page: ruling period, psalm, symbolism. Also read the page of their choir. You can complement this with the guide to the archangels, the page on angel oracles, or the symbolic reading of mirror hours.

These pages do not replace medical advice, legal advice or psychological support. None contains any prediction or promise.

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.