Kabbalistic angel
The Kabbalistic angels, also known as the Angels of the Shem HaMephorash, are 72 celestial spirits whose names are derived from the 72-fold name of the Hebrew god as found in the Book of Exodus.
History of the angels
According to Valentina Izmirlieva, "The earliest extant text that documents a reconstruction of shem ha-mephorash on the basis of this passage (Exodus 14:19-21) is the classic Kabbalistic work Sepher ha-Bahir [Book of Bahir], first made known in manuscript form in Provence between 1150 and 1200. The complete reconstruction of the name is available in a number of sources in English; see, for example, the critical bilingual edition of Johannes Reuchlin's famous treatise On the Art of the Kabbalah (1517) in Reuchlin, Art of the Kabbalah, page 263."
Reuchlin describes the process of generating the names thusly:
"Take the three verses beginning vayisa, vayabo, and vayet, and write them out one by one in a vertical column in the Kabbalistic manner from right to left such that the letters of each word follow in one from another from top to bottom without a break. Then take the first letter of the first verse, which is called Vav (V); next working the other way take the last letter of the second verse, hay (H) and lastly go to the beginning of the third verse which you will find is Vav again. When you link up these three letters in this order the first angel's mnemonic V-H-V is obtained, the second angel is Y-H-Y, and the third is S-Y-T. So too with the rest, whenever they are set out three by three, with the three columns properly kept straight and tidy, some sort of sign that explains the Tetragrammaton will be produced."
He continues: "So to us, God is best because he is merciful, and greatest because he is strong, and this is represented by these two divine names, Yah and El. And if you join one of these to any of the seventy-two names you will make an impressive and striking word. You must always pronounce it with three syllables and the aspirate, written in Latin with the designation "h." It must come out from the bottom of the chest as if there were a double breathing of the Latin letter "h". In all cases Yah will be pronounced just by the consonantal "y." El is the same. Both are pronounced as monosyllables even when in a name composed of parts, and in both cases the accent falls in the same place. So there are seventy-two sacred names. They are (in one word) the Semhamaphores that explain the holy Tetragrammaton. They are to be spoken only by men dedicated to God and must be pronounced thus in fear and trembling through invocations of the angels."