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''Raphael'' ( Standard Hebrew רפאל, "God has healed") is the name of an Archangel of Judaism and Christianity , who performs all manner of healing. The Hebrew word for a Doctor of Medicine is ''Rophe'' connected to the same root word as ''Raphael''. The angels mentioned in the older books of the Hebrew Bible are without names. Indeed, Rabbi Simeon Ben Lakish of Tiberias (230-270 CE), asserted that all the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, and modern commentators would tend to agree. Of seven archangels in the , Raguel , Sariel , and Jarahmeel . RAPHAEL IN CHRISTIANITY The name of the archangel Raphael appears only in the ''Book of Tobit (Tobias)''. There he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". During the adventurous course of the journey the archangel's protective influence is shown in many ways including the binding of the demon in the desert of upper Egypt. After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (''Tobit'', xii, 15). Compare the unnamed angels in John's '' Apocalypse '' viii, 2. Regarding the healing powers attributed to Raphael, we have little more than his declaration to Tobit (''Tobit'', 12) that he was sent by the Lord to heal him of his blindness and to deliver Sarah, his daughter-in-law, from the devil that was the serial killer of her husbands. He is the main character in the '' Book Of Tobit '', which is included in the Septuagint but assigned an Apocrypha l status by Protestant churches. Raphael is not often the patron of Christian churches. Notable exceptions are and Saint Raphaël, Quebec , Canada ; San Rafaels in Argentina , Bolivia , Colombia , Chile , Mexico , Peru , and in Venezuela as San Rafael de Mohán and San Rafael de Orituco. In the United States, San Rafaels inherited from Mexico survive in California (where besides the city there are San Rafael Mountains ), in New Mexico , and in Utah , where the San Rafael River flows seasonally in the San Rafael Desert . In the , where the multitude of the infirm lay awaiting the moving of the water, for "an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under". RAPHAEL IN ISLAM In Islam, the Angel Raphael is believed to be the one who will announce the Day Of Judgement by blowing a kind of a trumphet known by the Muslims as the ''Soor''. RAPHAEL IN ANGELOLOGY AND THE OCCULT According to the occultist, Johannes Trithemius (1462–1516), Raphael is one of the 7 angels of the ''Apocalypse'' and numbered among the 10 holy Sefiroth . Furthermore, Raphael is also denoted as one of the 7 Archangels who stand in the presence of God, as well as a ruler of the Cherubim and Archangel classes in the heavenly hierarchy. The Archangel, alongside Zarachiel, also holds dominion over Raquia, the Second Heaven. Modern Occult ists sometimes associate Raphael with the color Yellow, the direction East (or West ), the element Air , and the Suit of Swords of the Tarot in traditions loosely derived from reports of Kabbalism . According to Francis Barret (''The Magus'', vol. II, 1801), Raphael has also been denoted as the angel of science and knowledge, as well as the preceptor angel of Isaac. Other titles attributed to Raphael include the angel of prayer, love, joy, light, as well as the guardian of both The Tree of Life and humanity. In Stregheria , Raphael's Grigori counterpart is Aldebaran . SEE ALSO
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