Archangel Gabriel: the messenger and the word

Gabriel is the messenger archangel, the one who carries the word. He is the one who tells Mary she will bear Jesus; he is also the one who, in Islam, brings the revelation to the Prophet. His name means “the strength of God”. People pray to him for speech, for creativity and for fertility. He is one of the nine ruling archangels.

If you were born between 10 February and 20 March, Gabriel is the archangel who watches over your guardian angel.

Who is Archangel Gabriel?

Gabriel rules the choir of the Angels, the ninth and last of the nine choirs of the Kabbalah, under the Sephirah Yesod. It is the choir closest to us — the one whose angels walk through ordinary days with us — and Gabriel is its lord. Islam knows him as Jibril and gives him exactly the same office.

✦ ✦ ✦

The annunciation, the lily and the word

Gabriel is the angel who speaks, and that is how he introduces himself: “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19, King James Version). He says it to Zechariah, in the Gospel of Luke, a few verses before telling Mary she will bear Jesus — the Annunciation, the most painted scene in all of Western art.

Islam gives him the same office: under the name Jibril, the revelation reaches the Prophet through him, and the Qur’an names him outright (sura al-Baqara 2:97). Few figures cross traditions like that without changing job.

Painters put a white lily in his hand for purity and an olive branch for peace; he is also shown holding a sceptre, the attribute of a herald carrying words that are not his own. His colour, silver white, comes from that lily.

✦ ✦ ✦

What are Gabriel’s powers?

Four domains, held together by one idea: letting through what needs to get through.

✦ ✦ ✦

The 8 guardian angels of the choir of Angels

Gabriel does not watch over you directly: he rules eight guardian angels who take over from one another five days at a time, from 10 February to 20 March. Yours is one of them if you were born inside that window.

Not sure which one is yours? Your date of birth is all it takes.

✦ ✦ ✦

How to invoke Archangel Gabriel?

Think your request through, then state it clearly. This page has given that advice since its earliest versions, and it is not filler here: Gabriel is the archangel of speech, and a vague request is not a request.

A white lily set in front of you is enough to hold the intention, and a white candle suits this energy well. Do not forget to thank him at the end: tradition cares about that more than about the wording itself.

Prayer taken from the previous version of this page.

The lily, the olive branch and the sceptre

Three attributes, three functions: the lily says the purity of the word he carries, the olive branch the peace it brings, the sceptre the authority of the one who sends him. Gabriel never speaks in his own name — that is what sets him apart from the other rulers.

His stone is citrine, which our older records already gave him, often paired with blue topaz, the stone of truthful speech. Worth noting: he is also credited with the moonstone, Yesod being the Sephirah of the Moon — we reserve it for Haniel, for whom a source names it explicitly.

✦

Frequently asked questions about Archangel Gabriel

✦ ✦

Going further

Gabriel often answers with a sentence heard somewhere else: in a conversation, a book opened at random, a song.

Gabriel rules the Angels; the Virtues answer to Raphael and the Archangels to Michael. A feather found on your path or your angel number are other ways of hearing what they have to say.