Raphael, Archangel of Mercury

Most people know Raphael as a healer. Few realize he's also the angel of travelers, tricksters, and the magical art of language itself.

The Archangel Raphael is a fitting choice for the Archangel of Mercury — and ancient scholars such as Averroës and books like the Heptameron agreed. Much of what we know about Raphael comes from the Book of Tobit, where he is identified as "one of the seven angels who stand before the Lord" — a number that almost certainly refers to the seven visible planets, the seven governors of the world.

In the story, Raphael travels in disguise as Azariah, a human relative of Tobit, guiding Tobit's son Tobias on a journey to retrieve his father's money from a distant town. In doing so, he became the patron of travelers of all kinds, as well as of young people — both associations Mercury has carried since antiquity as the fleet-footed messenger of the gods.

Along the way, Raphael uses his knowledge to create curative elixirs to heal Tobit and Sarah. This reminds us that Mercury has a long association with healing and transformation that modern astrologers often overlook. The caduceus — the snake-entwined staff that became the symbol of the medical community — was in ancient times called the Staff of Hermes (Mercury). Mercury also stood at the heart of alchemy, the aim of which was healing at the deepest levels, from which apothecaries and pharmacists are direct descendants. Physicians, nurses, healers of all kinds, and the sick themselves fall under Raphael's patronage, as do studies and learning, especially the medical arts, alchemy and theology.

Raphael also arranged the marriage between Tobias and Sarah, linking him to matchmaking and negotiation — both Mercury's domain, as the planet of trade and the one who brings different parties to the table for mutual benefit.

And all of this happened while Raphael was in disguise. The world-savvy Raphael evokes the trickster, and Hermes (Mercury) was the most notorious trickster among the gods — quick-witted, shape-shifting, forcing enlightenment through a change of perspective.

On the Tree of Life, Raphael is associated with the sephiroth Hod — Splendor. Hod is the sphere of the analytical mind, of language, of magical correspondences: the organizing principle that takes raw energy and gives it a precise address in reality. It is no coincidence that the god of magic is also the god of language. Words of power, sigils, the entire system of planetary correspondences — all of it lives in Hod, all of it under Mercury's rulership, all of it Raphael's domain.

Raphael is your ally in travel, negotiation, study, healing, and any work that requires the right word at the right moment. Requests for his assistance are especially fortuitous on Wednesdays, Mercury's day, or in the Mercury hour.

Looking for another Archangel? Return to Introducing the Planetary Archangels.