Archangel Metatron: the man who became an angel

Metatron is the only archangel who was once a man. He walked the earth under the name Enoch before being raised to the top of the celestial hierarchy, and that is where his reputation comes from: he understands our struggles because he lived them. Keeper of the celestial archives, he rules the first of the nine choirs. He is the first of the nine ruling archangels.

If you were born between 21 March and 30 April, Metatron is the archangel who watches over your guardian angel.

Who is Archangel Metatron?

Metatron rules the choir of the Seraphim, the first and highest of the nine choirs of the Kabbalah, under the Sephirah Kether — the Crown, the one that touches the origin of everything. He is the only one of the nine rulers to have had a human life, and the only one whose name resists translation: there is no shortage of hypotheses, and none of them settles it.

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From Enoch to Metatron

His whole story rests on a verse that never names him: “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24, King James Version). One line for a disappearance, and a whole tradition grew out of it. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, commenting on that exact verse, makes Enoch the great scribe of heaven; 3 Enoch — the Book of Palaces, 5th–6th century — tells the transformation: his veins become rivers of flame, his flesh a burning torch, and he becomes Metatron.

Everything else follows from that human origin. He sits beside God, keeps the records of mortal deeds and passes no judgement on them: he witnesses. He is pictured as a pure white light, a blinding column of fire — the only ruler whose appearance is not that of a body.

That closeness to God worried people. The Talmud tells how Elisha ben Abuyah, seeing him seated while every other angel stands, concluded there were two powers in heaven — and lost his faith over it (tractate Hagigah, 14a). Rabbinic literature then took care to play Metatron down: you do not raise an angel that high without risk.

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What are Metatron’s powers?

Four domains, held together by one idea: nothing you live through is lost.

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The 8 guardian angels of the choir of Seraphim

Metatron does not watch over you directly: he rules eight guardian angels who take over from one another five days at a time, from 21 March to 30 April. Yours is one of them if you were born inside that window — they are the first eight of the seventy-two.

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

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How to invoke Archangel Metatron?

Clear your mind, find a quiet place and make sure your request is clear before you speak. Then state your intention and say why you need his help: with him it is precision that counts, not solemnity.

Our records give him three favoured incenses — benzoin, chamomile, cedar — and a black tourmaline or a clear quartz held in the left hand to support the connection. Do not forget to thank him at the end.

Prayer taken from the previous version of this page; replace the ellipsis with your own request.

Metatron’s Cube

It is the symbol most attached to this archangel: thirteen circles joined by straight lines, a figure in which the five Platonic solids appear. It is credited with a very high vibrational rate, a protective function and help against negative energies; many people carry it for that reason.

One thing is worth saying: this cube is not a figure of medieval Kabbalah. The vocabulary of “sacred geometry” — Flower of Life, Metatron’s Cube — is recent and spread with the New Age movement. That takes nothing away from how it is used today, but it is better to know how old the thing in your hand really is.

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Frequently asked questions about Archangel Metatron

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Going further

Metatron rarely answers with a solution: he answers with an understanding, which takes longer and lasts longer.

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