Aniel is the thirty-seventh name in the series of the seventy-two angels of the Shem ha-Mephorash in collections of Christian Kabbalah and Western angelology. Its place is particularly interesting in Lenain's La Science cabalistique, published in Amiens in 1823: the author associates it with the sciences, the arts, and the discovery of the laws of nature, as well as with the theme of victory in a siege situation. This diversity reveals how ancient angelic catalogs worked, with the same name receiving intellectual, moral, and planetary qualities. To understand Aniel, one must recover the system of the seventy-two names before examining the characteristics assigned to it in the 19th century.
| Order of the name | 37th among the 72 names in this tradition |
|---|---|
| Major source | Lenain, La Science cabalistique, 1823, p. 69 |
| Choir in this classification | Powers, fifth group of eight |
| Correspondences in Lenain | 181st to 185th degrees; nineteenth decan |
| Attributed themes | Sciences, arts, knowledge of nature, and victory |
| Origin of the system | Exodus 14, 19–21, reread through a Kabbalistic method |
How Aniel fits into the seventy-two names
The series of the seventy-two names, called Shem ha-Mephorash in a body of traditions, is connected to three verses from Exodus. Verses 19 to 21 of chapter 14 each consist of seventy-two letters in the traditional Hebrew text. Exegetes developed a combinatorial reading that superimposes the verses while alternating the direction of the lines in order to obtain seventy-two groups of three letters.
From these groups, authors constructed angelic names ending in divine forms such as -el and -iah. The history of the transition from combinations of letters to individualized angel names runs through the Christian Kabbalah of the Renaissance. Johann Reuchlin helped spread it through his De arte cabalistica, published in 1517, and later occultist works organized these names into series of functions and correspondences.
Aniel belongs to this second stage. It is not personally named in the biblical account of the crossing of the sea. Exodus provides the scriptural material on which a method of interpretation developed several centuries after the events described is based.
The thirty-seventh genius according to Lenain
Lazare Lenain published La Science cabalistique, ou l'art de connaître les bons génies in Amiens in 1823. The work brings together the seventy-two names according to a classification linking the degrees of the celestial sphere, the decans, divine names, and psalms. The text bears witness to a period when French occultist culture drew on ancient sources to compose systematic repertories.
Aniel appears in the thirty-seventh position. Lenain translates its attribute as “God of virtues” and associates it with a divine name that he transcribes as Abda. He assigns it degrees 181 to 185 of the sphere and the nineteenth decan, in a correspondence where he mentions the influence of the Moon. These elements should be read as components of an old table, not as information from a contemporary astronomical calendar.
The Hebrew manuscript transmitted through the printed edition also requires attention. The points and the form of certain letters have led to different readings in modern reproductions. The classification and precise edition therefore remain essential for identifying the name.
The sciences, the arts, and the secrets of nature
The most remarkable part of Lenain's entry concerns the intellectual qualities attributed to Aniel. The author places it in relation to the sciences and the arts, the search for natural secrets, and the inspiration of philosophers. He associates the figure with the reputation acquired through knowledge and talent. This attribution belongs to a world in which knowledge of nature is understood in relation to a spiritual order.
The notion of “secrets of nature” has a long history in occultist works. It does not refer solely to hidden facts that need only to be revealed: it points to the ambition to understand the relationships between the phenomena, forms, and qualities of the world. In the 19th century, these categories intersected with the vocabulary of science and philosophy.
Reading Lenain reveals an angel associated with study and discovery, quite different from a mere figure of everyday protection. Knowledge and intelligence are presented there as goods whose proper use should serve human elevation.
Victory and the account of a lifted siege
The same entry attributes a more surprising function to Aniel: obtaining victory and causing the siege of a city to be lifted. This connection to a military context contrasts with the sciences and arts. It is nevertheless consistent within Lenain's system, which brings together spiritual qualities and particular human situations under the same name.
In correspondence repertories, victory may designate a favorable outcome in the face of adversity, while a siege represents a situation of confinement or conflict. Nevertheless, the literal meaning used by Lenain must be retained: his work expressly speaks of a besieged city, not of a simple metaphor for personal difficulties.
This precision distinguishes ancient sources from modern paraphrases that erase their historical language. Occultist classifications borrow images from political life, warfare, and government that must be situated within the concerns of their authors.
The choir of the Powers and Christian classifications
Lenain distributes the seventy-two names into nine groups of eight, borrowing the titles of the angelic choirs known in Christian theology. Aniel belongs to the group of the Powers, a rank that brings together names 33 to 40 in this arrangement. This classification is specific to the author's system and to the traditions that adopted it.
The hierarchy of the nine choirs comes from a different theological history, linked in particular to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. It does not directly provide Lenain's list of the seventy-two names. The association of the two sets is a construction of Christian Kabbalah and Western esotericism.
The presentation of the choir of the Powers helps explain its theological meaning, distinct from the detailed functions that an author in 1823 assigns to each of the eight names in his group.
The use of psalms and later traditions
Lenain associates each name with a passage from the Psalms. For Aniel, he cites a Latin formula asking for God's return and the manifestation of his face so that the people may be saved. This biblical borrowing belongs to his system of correspondences, in which scriptural words are linked to angelic names and divisions of time.
In Catholic devotion, prayer to one's guardian angel does not require knowing that angel's name. The Directory on Popular Piety recalls a reservation concerning the attribution of names other than those attested in the received biblical books. Aniel therefore belongs above all to the history of the seventy-two genii and occultist collections.
Calendars and characteristics associated with its name continue to circulate in contemporary works, but their provenance must be identified. Lenain's classification, its place among the Powers, and the qualities he describes provide a clear documentary basis for understanding the reception of Aniel.
Sources and references
Lenain, La Science cabalistique, Amiens, 1823, Aniel entry, p. 69, transcription of the old edition with variants.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, bibliographic record for Lenain's La Science cabalistique.
Exodus, chapter 14, verses 19–21, the text underlying the method of the seventy-two names.
Holy See, Directory on Popular Piety, no. 217.
Illustration: Albrecht Dürer, an angel playing the viol, 1519, a historical work in the public domain. Symbolic image of the theme of angels, not an old portrait of the figure named in this article.
