Sefer Raziel HaMalakh

Contributed by Rabbi Geoffrey W. Dennis

"Book of Raziel the Angel." An influential book of scholarly magic. Tradition credits it with be given to Adam by the angel Raziel. Heavily indebted to Greek magical papyri, the title itself is mentioned in another magical work of late antiquity, The Sword of Moses. Still, critical historians consider it a medieval work, probably having origins among the Chasidei Ashkenaz, for citations from it begin to appear only in the thirteenth century. Sections of it are no doubt older.

The likely compiler of the medieval version is Eliezer of Worms. It draws heavily on the Sefer Yetzirah and the Sefer Ha-Razim. There are multiple manuscript versions, containing up to seven tractates. The printed version of the Sefer Raziel HaMalakh, like the Torah, is divided into five books, some of it in the form of a mystical Midrash on Creation. It features an elaborate angelology, magical uses of the zodiac, gematria, the names of God, protective spells, and how to write amulets.

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