Archangel Ariel: Meaning, Signs and Nature Prayer

Who is Archangel Ariel?

Search for Archangel Ariel today and you will find almost the same picture everywhere: a female angel with the strength of a lion, who watches over plants and animals, helps injured birds, makes gardens thrive, and stands by people who want to give something back to the earth. This picture is warm and lovely, and it is young. At its core it comes from the angel literature of the last thirty years.

That does not mean Ariel was invented. The name is old, and it turns up in a surprising number of places: in the Hebrew Bible, in a Gnostic text from the sands of Egypt, in the most important magical book of the Renaissance, in Shakespeare, in Milton, and even in the sky, as a moon of Uranus. Most Americans first met the name through Disney's 1989 film The Little Mermaid, whose heroine has nothing to do with the angel. Whoever calls on Ariel calls on a name with a long history, just not the history usually told. We find the real one more exciting.

The name: lion of God and hearth of God

Ari'el is made of ari, lion, and El, God. The word appears several times in the Hebrew Bible, but never as an angel:

• Isaiah 29:1–7 calls Jerusalem "Ariel": "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt!" The city itself bears the name.
• Ezekiel 43:15–16 uses the word for the altar hearth of the Temple, which gives the second reading, "hearth of God," the place where the fire burns.
• 2 Samuel 23:20 tells how Benaiah struck down "two lionlike men of Moab" (in the Hebrew, two ariel), probably two champions, two lions among the warriors.
• Ezra 8:16 names an Ariel among the leading men whom Ezra summoned.

Lion and hearth: these two images carry Ariel to this day. Courage, wildness and strength on one side; fireplace, center and home on the other. The modern lion-angel grew out of the first image. The second is almost always forgotten, even though it suits an angel of the earth well: the hearth is the place where the outside world becomes home.

Ariel in the old sources of magic

As a spirit being, Ariel first appears in writings at the edge of the great traditions. In the Gnostic text On the Origin of the World, from the Nag Hammadi library (Codex II), the creator of the material world, Yaldabaoth, is said to be called "Ariael" by the perfect ones, because he looked like a lion. Here the name is not a friendly angel at all but the lion-shaped power that rules the world of matter.

What decided Ariel's later role, however, is another book: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim's De occulta philosophia, printed in 1533 and known in English as the Three Books of Occult Philosophy since the 1651 translation. In the second book, chapter 7, Agrippa lays out his tables of the number four. Next to the four angels of the directions stand the four rulers of the elements: Seraph for fire, Cherub for air, Tharsis for water, and Ariel for earth. This is the oldest source that explicitly connects Ariel with the element of earth. Anyone who calls on Ariel today as guardian of soil, garden and plants is standing, probably without knowing it, on Agrippa's table. You can read more about the book in our guide to Agrippa.

Shakespeare, Milton, Pope: the air spirit and the fallen angel

Poetry then pulled Ariel in a completely different direction. In Shakespeare's The Tempest (around 1611), Ariel is an air spirit whom the witch Sycorax imprisoned for twelve years in a cloven pine, and whom the magician Prospero sets free. Ariel serves him, raises storms, makes music sound, and wants only one thing: to be as free as the mountain winds. This figure is still the most famous Ariel of all.

In Paradise Lost (1667, Book VI), John Milton makes Ariel one of the rebel angels, struck down by the faithful Abdiel in the war in heaven. Alexander Pope, in turn, lets an Ariel lead the sylphs, the little air spirits, and watch over a young woman in The Rape of the Lock (1712/1714). And in 1851 the astronomer William Lassell discovered a moon of Uranus that was named Ariel after Pope's and Shakespeare's figures.

Air in Shakespeare and Pope, earth in Agrippa, rebellion in Milton: Ariel is not a fixed character but a name that every age has filled anew. That is not a weakness. It shows how alive the name has stayed.

Ariel today: guardian of nature and animals

The present-day figure, female, gentle and lion-strong, responsible for animals, plants, water and environmental protection, took shape mainly in English-language angel literature around the turn of the millennium. Especially influential was the author Doreen Virtue, with books and oracle decks on the archangels published by Hay House from the late 1990s on. That is where the associations come from that you read everywhere today: the color soft pink, rose quartz, help with injured animals and with gardening, and help with "manifestation," meaning abundance that grows out of your own effort.

In fairness it should be said that Virtue publicly renounced her own angel teachings in 2017, after a religious conversion. The practice she helped shape lives on anyway, in card decks, courses and prayers. We regard it as a lived practice that can be taken seriously without giving it an age it does not have.

What we like about this modern Ariel is something simple: she brings the angels back down from heaven into the garden. She is an angel best met with dirt under your fingernails.

Archangel Ariel and the hour angel Ariel: don't confuse them

In the modern list of the 72 angels, formed from the letters of Exodus 14:19–21, there is also an Ariel: number 46, assigned to the minutes from 3:00 to 3:20 p.m. and to the verse of Psalm 145:9, "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works." This Ariel is a separate angel from a different system. We introduce him in our article on the mirror hour 15:15. The verse, though, fits the nature guardian surprisingly well: "all his works" includes every beetle.

Signs associated with Ariel

In today's practice, certain experiences are read as hints of Ariel's nearness. They are not proof, but invitations to look closer:

• Unexpected animal encounters: a fox in broad daylight, a bird that will not be shooed away, a deer at the edge of the yard.
• Lion images that keep piling up: on posters, in books, in dreams.
• Wind that picks up at just the right moment, an echo of Shakespeare's air spirit.
• The urge to be outside, to put your hands in soil, to plant something or clean something up.
• Soft pink in nature: a dawn sky, wild roses, a piece of rose quartz you find.

The strongest sign is probably the least conspicuous one: that you suddenly look. An angel of nature shows up in a person who notices again what is alive all around.

Calling on Ariel: a nature prayer in four steps

For Ariel you need neither an altar nor incense. What you need is a patch of earth and a little time. This is how we do it ourselves:

1. Go outside. Backyard, park, the edge of a trail, it does not matter. If you really cannot, an open window and a potted plant will do.
2. Touch the earth. Hands on the ground or on a tree trunk. Three calm breaths.
3. Say your request in one sentence. For example: "Ariel, lion of God, give me the courage to stand up for what is alive." Or for an animal: "Ariel, stand by this animal and by me, so that I do the right thing."
4. Give something back. This is the part that sets Ariel apart from other invocations: a dish of water for the birds, a handful of litter picked up from the trail, a seed pressed into the soil. The offering is the real prayer.

If you like, add a piece of rose quartz or light a pink candle. Both belong to modern practice, not to the old tradition. If you like to draw, you can use the lion as your own sign; our guide to archangel symbols and sigils explains where such signs come from.

Ariel among the archangels

Archangel	Element or domain	Difference from Ariel
Michael	Protection, fire, struggle	Michael defends; Ariel guards and tends
Raphael	Healing, travel	Raphael watches over people on the road; Ariel over animals and plants
Uriel	Wisdom; in Agrippa, earth (as an angel)	In Agrippa, Uriel is the angel of the earth, Ariel its ruler
Sandalphon	Grounding, prayer, music	Sandalphon grounds the prayer; Ariel grounds the hands

You will find an overview of all the names in the seven archangels explained, and if you are looking for the nature beings behind the angel, read on in nature spirits and elementals.

Voices from practice

From the Desire Diaries reader mailbox, shortened and without names, because we do not invent any:

• Ariel is mentioned to us most often in connection with pets: during an illness, at a farewell, or while searching for an animal that ran away. The invocation is described as something to hold on to, not as a substitute for the vet.
• Many write that with Ariel they "started being outside": one walk a day, a balcony full of herbs.
• A reply we especially like: "I asked Ariel for courage, and the next morning I picked up the trash along the creek. That was the answer."

What we don't promise

• No healing. Neither for people nor for animals does an invocation replace medical or veterinary treatment.
• No age that isn't there. The nature guardian Ariel is a modern figure; the Bible does not know an angel of that name.
• No abundance on demand. That an invocation brings money, success or prosperity is not proven.
• No guaranteed signs. A lion picture or a fox is not proof of Ariel's nearness, but it is a good reason to look.

How to handle it in practice

• Start outside. Ariel is the angel of the earth. Five minutes in the open say more than an hour of prayer indoors.
• Give before you ask. A dish of water, a planted seed: the offering opens the door.
• Keep a record. Note animal encounters and the weather. After a few weeks you see patterns where before there was only chance.
• Keep old and new apart. Agrippa's ruler of earth and the modern animal guardian can stand side by side without being blended.
• Act concretely for animals. An injured wild animal needs a licensed wildlife rehabilitator (your state wildlife agency keeps a list), a sick pet needs the vet. Ariel accompanies; she does not replace.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Ariel mean?

Ariel comes from Hebrew and is usually translated as "lion of God." A second reading is "hearth of God" or "altar hearth of God," because Ezekiel 43 uses the word for the altar hearth of the Temple. Isaiah 29 uses Ariel as a name for Jerusalem.

Is Archangel Ariel in the Bible?

No. The Bible knows Ariel as the name of a city, of an altar hearth and of people, but not as an angel. As a spirit, Ariel appears in Gnostic and magical writings, most clearly in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1533), as the ruler of the element of earth.

What is Archangel Ariel the angel of?

In today's angel practice, Ariel is seen as the guardian of nature, animals, plants and water, and as a helper with courage and with abundance that comes from your own effort. This picture comes mostly from English-language angel books published since the late 1990s.

What color and crystal are associated with Archangel Ariel?

In modern practice, a soft pale pink and rose quartz. Both are recent associations without an older source, but many people like them as a focus.

Is Archangel Ariel the same as Ariel in The Tempest?

No, they only share the name. Shakespeare's Ariel in The Tempest is an air spirit freed by Prospero. The modern archangel is a guardian of the earth. And the Ariel of Disney's The Little Mermaid is a third figure again.

How do I call on Archangel Ariel?

Go outside, touch the earth or a tree, say your request in one sentence, and give something back, such as water for birds or a handful of litter picked up. The offering is the real prayer. A rose quartz or a pink candle belongs to modern practice and is optional.

Sources and further reading

• Bible: Isaiah 29:1–7; Ezekiel 43:15–16; 2 Samuel 23:20; Ezra 8:16.
• Nag Hammadi library: On the Origin of the World (NHC II,5), the name “Ariael” for the lion-shaped creator.
• Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, De occulta philosophia (1533), Book II, chapter 7, the four rulers of the elements: Seraph, Cherub, Tharsis, Ariel; English translation Three Books of Occult Philosophy, London 1651.
• Poetry: Shakespeare, The Tempest (c. 1611); Milton, Paradise Lost (1667), Book VI; Pope, The Rape of the Lock (1712/1714).
• Astronomy: Ariel, moon of Uranus, discovered in 1851 by William Lassell.
• 72 angels: Ariel no. 46, 3:00–3:20 p.m., Psalm 145:9, a modern, non-canonical list.
• Modern angel literature: Doreen Virtue, archangel books and oracle decks (Hay House, from the late 1990s); her public renunciation of these teachings in 2017.
• More in the magazine: Archangel Sandalphon · Archangel Uriel · Archangel Raphael · 15:15

The spiritual readings in this piece are tradition and lived practice, not scientific findings. Nothing here replaces medical or veterinary care. Questions about an order: 28@templeofdesire.com.