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Judaism and Hermeticism sit close together in the atlas without ever touching directly. No link runs straight from one to the other. What connects them instead turns out to be almost entirely one kind of thing.

Twenty One Neighbors, Fifteen of Them Angels

Judaism and Hermeticism share twenty one pages that both are linked to somewhere in the atlas, and fifteen of the twenty one are archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Metatron, Raziel and others, recorded in Jewish angelology and also drawn on by Hermetic ceremonial magic. The other six are Kabbalah, Numerology, Sacred Geometry, Ceremonial Magick, the Talisman as an object, and the city of Alexandria. None of the twenty one is a prophet, a scripture, a holy site, or a ritual. As the atlas currently records it, the connection between these two traditions is almost entirely angels, and the disciplines built around working with them.

Two Throne Angels, Borrowed Names

One detail cuts the other way. Metatron and Sandalphon are usually named as Judaism's two greatest throne angels, standing closest to God. Both are recorded here with names that trace to Ancient Greek rather than Hebrew, a reminder that even the material at the center of Jewish angelology was never sealed off from the world around it. Hermeticism, in a sense, borrowed the angels back.

Where To Read More

• JudaismAbrahamic (Monotheistic)One side of a bridge built almost entirely from angels
• HermeticismEsoteric / OccultThe other side, joined to Judaism through fifteen shared archangels
• MetatronSephirotic ArchangelsOne of Judaism's two throne angels, recorded with a name that traces to Greek
• SandalphonSephirotic ArchangelsThe other throne angel, also carrying a Greek-origin name