The Seven Overseers of the Heptameron

“These are the names of the seven overseers who sit upon (the) seven thrones: the name of the first is ‘WRPNY’L, and the name of the second is TYGRH, and the name of the third is DNHL, and the name of the fourth is KLMYY’, the name of the fifth is ‘SYMWR, the name of the sixth is PSKR, the name of the seventh is BW’L. And all of them were created from fire and their appearance is like fire, and their fire is blazing, for from fire they emerged. And without permission, (the angels who serve them) do not go out to engage in magical actions.“

Sepher haRazim

So about the Overseers in the Heptameron:  These are the rulers of the seven heavens mentioned in the Conjurations of the Days of the Week.  (Such as Orphaniel, Salamia, etc.)  I’ve wanted to know more about these guys for years, but information on them was difficult to find.  We’ve even brought them up in my Solomonic group on Facebook, but the discussions didn’t go very far.

My own interpretation was fairly Gnostic.  I assumed (incorrectly!) these guys were in positions of authority over even the Archangels that rule the heavens.  Jewish lore mentions Eight Mighty Archangels who overrule even Metatron himself, and I’m pretty sure this descends from Merkavah (aka Jewish Gnosticism) where they had adopted the concept of the Aeons.  I thought, when we finally learned the provenance of Orphaniel and his pals, we would find links to this concept.

Now, however, I know how wrong that was.  As Alexander Eth made clear in his most recent Patreon release (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ69kEC1C4I), these guys come to us via the Book of Raziel – which I admit has been a bit of a blind spot in my own studies.  However, if you follow this link, you’ll find the origin of the seven Overseers mentioned in the Heptameron.

Liber Razielis tells us the Overseers are terrifying beings of fire who live below Shamayim (the Lunar Sphere) – that is to say, they live here in the Terrestrial plane with us.  They are not said to rule over the “heavens” as the Heptameron says, but over “encampments” (which is very Merkavah terminology) of angels and spirits associated with the Planets.  I suspect all of this means they actually rule the seven physical Planets we see in the night sky; which makes them rather similar to the Planetary Intelligences (Agiel, Iophiel, and their pals) as well as to the Heptarchic Royal Angels recorded in Dee’s Enochian journals.

Any magick you accomplish, says the Book of Raziel, only happens when these Overseers consent to your request and send out the angels and spirits who do the work.  With all of this in mind, we might call these guys the principle gatekeepers to the Planets.

Upon a review of the Heptameron’s Conjurations, I see it was merely my own mis-interpretation of the passages about the Overseers that led me to think they overruled the Archangels.  As Alexander aptly points out, the Conjurations are broken into three primary parts:  the first part invokes the Archangel, the second part invokes all the angels and spirits within that Archangel’s heaven, and the third is the actual petition/charge.  The Overseer is mentioned in the second part of this formula, where he is said to govern all of the angels and spirits who “rule within” that heaven. It was my assumption this should include the Archangel – who certainly rules within the heaven. However, if we replace the word “heaven” used here in the Heptameron, with the word “encampment” as it originally appears in the Book of Raziel, the passage makes much more sense. The Archangel – invoked first and foremost in the conjuration – governs the entire heaven, the Day of Creation as described in Genesis, the associated Planet, as well as the Overseers and all of the angels and spirits governed by that Planet.

Meanwhile, the Overseer – invoked next after the Archangel in the conjuration – is in charge of the encampments of angels who live in that sphere of heaven. If the Archangel accepts the petition, the order to carry it out goes first to the Overseer and from there to the planetary angels and spirits. As they exist beneath Shamayim, and are specifically said to be terrifying (even vengeful) beings composed of Fire – this leads me to see a much more likely connection between the Overseers and the Arabic Jinn Kings than with the Gnostic Aeons. (This might be supported by the Sepher haRazim mentioning the name of the seventh Overseer as “BW’L” – likely a form of Baal – which classes them with goetic forces rather than celestial. Even the name WRPNY’L – Orphaniel – strikes me as similar to Oriens, the name of the Demon King of the East.)

This may also suggest the Overseers are the (Demon) Kings of the seven Planetary Winds – which were mentioned only cryptically in the Heptameron and Liber Juratis. In those latter texts, we are simply given the compass directions associated with each of these Winds. Perhaps this relationship between them and the Overseers, if it exists, will lead us to further insight on that topic.

In any case, I think this gives us a view into the true position these Overseers hold in the celestial hierarchy.  Not to mention why they are important to our magick. As for me, it has revolutionized how I view the Conjurations of the Days of the Week that I’ve been using to open my Planetary Altars for years!

Thanks, Alex!