Barbiel or Zetachiel: Which Angel Do the Old Tables Give October?
Agrippa and a modern guide name Barbiel, Lansdowne MS 1203 writes Zetachiel, and a Barchiel that Peterson reports in Agrippa's Book III helps explain why some pages give Barbiel February too
Lansdowne MS 1203 writes Zetachiel in its Scorpio and October row, while Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy and the modern Angels of the Months guide name Barbiel. The manuscript also labels a later Scorpio pentacle BARBIEL, so the disagreement runs through a single book.
Many October pages go further and give Barbiel February and Pisces as well. That double claim comes from merging him with Barchiel, February's angel, while both old tables keep the two in separate rows.
Neither table was written to name anyone's personal guardian; each assigns an angel to one of the twelve signs.
Quick Facts
- Agrippa's eighth sign angel
- Barbiel: Scorpio, October and the genitals (Book II, chapter 14)
- Lansdowne MS 1203 reading
- Zetachiel on page 52 and in the list of characters on pages 59-60, with Walking as the row's capacity
- Peterson's bracket
- “Zetachiel [*Barbiel]” in his English list of angelic characters
- February's separate row
- Barchiel with Pisces, in both Agrippa and the manuscript
- October 1 to 23
- Tropical Libra, before Scorpio begins about October 24; both tables give Libra to Zuriel
Which tables say Barbiel, and which say Zetachiel?
Lansdowne MS 1203 and Agrippa disagree over the October row. The manuscript's sign table on page 52 writes Zetachiel beside Scorpio and October, with the capacity “La Promenade,” which Peterson translates as Walking.
Agrippa's Book II, chapter 14 lists Barbiel instead, eighth of the twelve angels over the signs, beside Scorpio, October and the genitals as the sign's part of the body.
The manuscript's list of angelic characters on pages 59-60 writes Zetachiel again. Peterson's English keeps that name and adds “[Barbiel]” after it, with an asterisk, which in the same list marks readings he corrects, such as Varchiel to Verchiel.
The modern Angels of the Months guide on Archangels and Angels sides with Agrippa. Its October entry opens “Your personal harvest is here” and says Barbiel brings clarity, honesty and objectivity to a review of what you have accomplished.
The same manuscript uses Barbiel elsewhere. A later pentacle, Peterson's Figure 32, is labelled BARBIEL, and the French text says it takes its power from the spirits of Jupiter and of Scorpio.
Peterson's note at that figure compares the Magical Calendar, which names Barbiel as the angel of Scorpio, and points back to the table and the list.
So one manuscript gives Scorpio's angel two names, Zetachiel in its table and list, Barbiel on its pentacle.
Nothing in the edition explains where Zetachiel came from. Peterson's introduction says the copyist made “occasional errors and especially dislocations,” so a copying slip is possible, but these sources cannot rule out a separate tradition behind the name.
If you want one name for the October row, Barbiel has the wider support: Agrippa, the Magical Calendar as Peterson reports it, the manuscript's own pentacle and the modern guide. If you are quoting Lansdowne MS 1203's table, the name it gives is Zetachiel.
Why do some pages give Barbiel both October and February?
Current profiles of Barbiel often say he rules October and February, Scorpio and Pisces. In the old tables those are two separate rows: Scorpio and October go to Barbiel, while Pisces and February go to Barchiel in both Agrippa and Lansdowne MS 1203.
Barbiel and Barchiel differ only in their middle consonant, and three later layers have run them together:
| Layer | What it does | Where it is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Agrippa, Book III, chapter 24 | Names Barchiel, the February name, as the angel of Scorpio | Peterson's note in his Lansdowne MS 1203 edition, which calls it “possibly by mistake” |
| Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels (1967), page 69 | Files Barbiel and Barchiel under one name, Barakiel, and gives that figure February, Jupiter, Scorpio and Pisces | Davidson's Barakiel entry |
| Modern angel profiles | Repeat Davidson's combined roles under the name Barbiel | Current birthday and angel-profile websites, without sources |
The first layer matters most because it sits inside Agrippa's own work. His Book II scale keeps Barbiel with Scorpio and Barchiel with Pisces, so the Barchiel that Peterson reports for Scorpio in Book III, chapter 24, departs from that list, and Peterson calls it “possibly by mistake”.
Davidson's heading then gives the merged group one meaning, “lightning of God,” and current pages attach that gloss to Barbiel along with the second month.
Checked against the two historical tables, the double-month claim does not hold, because each table gives October one angel and February another.
An October birthday and a February birthday look up different rows, and Barchiel's Pisces row, with sleep as its capacity in the manuscript, says nothing about Scorpio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barbiel the angel of the seas?
Not in the sources cited here. Agrippa, Lansdowne MS 1203 and the modern monthly guide give Barbiel no connection with the sea, and the profile pages that make the claim name no source for it.
Does Barbiel rule Saturday or the planet Jupiter?
Davidson's Barakiel entry, which also covers Barbiel, makes the combined figure ruler of Jupiter, Scorpio and Pisces. Agrippa's sign scale and Lansdowne MS 1203 give Barbiel no planet, and none of these sources gives him a weekday or a lunar mansion.
The manuscript's Barbiel pentacle draws on the spirits of Jupiter and of Scorpio. That describes where one pentacle takes its power and gives Barbiel no rule over the planet.
Is Barbiel my guardian angel if I was born in October?
The tables assign Barbiel to the sign Scorpio, with October as that sign's month, and they make no claim about personal guardians. Lansdowne MS 1203 does not even use his name for the row.
Sources
- (1533; English 1651). Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book II, chapter 14: the scale of the number twelve. Esoteric Archives. Link
- (2001; updated 2021). The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon: Lansdowne MS 1203, pages 52 and 59-60, and the note to Figure 32. Esoteric Archives; table of signs, months and angels, and list of the characters of the angels of the signs. Link
- (Undated). Angels of the Months. Modern practitioner interpretation; no references supplied. Link
- (Accessed October 6, 2026). Astrological sign. Wikipedia; approximate start dates of the tropical signs. Link
About Our Editorial Process
Every KnowTheAngels guide separates calculation method, tradition context, and personal reflection. We cite where interpretations come from, present more than one view, and never present symbolic reading as prediction.
Read our editorial policy