the angel of secrets

The Book of Raziel is the first ‘Sigil’* in my quartet, The Angel of Secrets. I’ve been working on this project on and off for ten years. During that time I have finished a Master’s degree, written two other books about angels, and moved house. But allowing the project to brew slowly has an advantage I find. Ideas come up that would have been missed and characters develop a life of their own.

I discovered the old legend about Archangel Raziel’s book while I was researching for my Master’s dissertation, reading Jewish mystical stories about angels. The ‘book’ was given to Adam after the infamous eating of the Tree of Life fruit – perhaps an apple, though more likely a fig.

Adam and Eve were turned out of Eden sharpish! They found themselves in a bleak landscape and Adam turned on the tears, begging the Lord’s forgiveness. But their fate was sealed, there was no going back. In a conciliatory gesture, the furious Lord sent Archangel Raziel with a gift: a book made of sapphire, containing all the herbal lore, practical and cosmological wisdom that would support the suffering humans – as long as they continued to worship their stern Lord. This book could only be handed on to someone who was ‘righteous’ – and a man!

Many generations further down the line, Jewish kabbalists were still talking about this ‘book’. They claimed to have manuscripts copied from it, and actually printed a version in 1701. But what happened to the original sapphire tablets?

Could it be that such an asset, a practical manual giving us unlimited power to create an abundant life, really existed? If so, where might it be now? Who might be searching for it? Could a woman claim it? And who or what are ‘angels’?

The Angel of Secrets, Sigil 1: The Book of Raziel will be ready for you to read later in 2018. In the meantime, I will be sharing lots of behind-the-scenes content to stir your excitement!

Use the form on the left to make sure you’re on my mailing list and I’ll let you know when there’s something for you to see.

*I use the word ‘sigil’ rather than ‘volume’, as it seems more suitable for an esoteric adventure like this.

• Sample poem 1
• Sample poem 2
• Sample poem 3