I love this headcanon so much and just HAD to look more into St. Ariel because I had never heard of them.
So, as @pin-and-paper states, the angel known as Ariel is found in Jewish and Christian apocrypha. The texts that are referenced are The Book of Enoch and the Pistis Sophia. I’ve already mentioned The Book of Enoch several times before, but if you didn’t know, it’s a text that details The Fall, Nephilim, and the Hierarchy of Angels. It’s an extraordinary text and I high recommend it. I hadn’t heard of the Pistis Sophia before, but here’s a summary:
The Pistis Sophia is a translation and commentary of a special collection of 2,000 year old Gnostic Coptic manuscripts, derived from ancient Egyptian-Coptic Christian Codexes. In the historic period after the early Church became established as the “official religion” of the Roman Empire (325 C.E.), the Pistis Sophia literature was withdrawn. It remains an inner teaching of the Coptic and African communities. (Academy of Future Science)
So knowing this, let’s look at how St. Ariel is mentioned in the Pistis Sophia. The context is that this is at the beginning of the second book of the text. This takes place between Jesus rising from the dead and ascending into Heaven. The angel Ariel seems to be referenced as an angel of wrath or judgement.
“Say unto them,‘Renounce all spells, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of light, and escape the torments of Ariel’ […]rivers of fire of the dog-faced one’ Renounce boasting and pride, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of light, and escape the pits of fire of Ariel.’ […] ’ Renounce robbery, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of light, and escape the rivers of fire of Ariel.’ […] ‘Renounce wickedness, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of light, and saved from the seas of fire of Ariel.’ […]
I looked through a ton of translations of the Book of Enoch and I couldn’t actually find Ariel referenced by name. The knowledge of Ariel in the Book of Enoch comes from a 20th century academic by the name of Harris Fletcher. He was a professor at the University of Illinois and is considered to have been the leading academic in John Milton. Supposedly, he found Ariel (who is a minor character in Paradise Lost) mentioned in fragments by Syncellus, a theologian from 8th century Constantinople. Syncellus obviously would have had greater access to early Christian texts and was able to make a commentary about them. His works are extensive, so I didn’t go through them myself but just read the summaries. ((Here’s more about Syncellus if you’re interested)) I couldn’t find anything further relevant to this post.
Going from there, Ariel is known well within occult and mystic circles- a trend started by Cornelius Agrippa in his work “Of Occult Philosophy”
Ariel is the name of an angel, and is the same as the Lion of God; sometimes also it is the name of an evil Demon, and of a City which is thence called Ariopolis, where the Idol Ariel was worshipped.
So already we have a connection to Ariel as a fallen angel beginning to form, while also being one to carry out divine judgement within Hell. However, I want to note that these last two sources are very far off the beaten path of “normal” apocrypha.
Now, let’s turn to my favorite source: A Dictionary of Angels and Fallen Angels . This is easy to read and, honestly, really fun. This is what it says about Ariel:
Ariel (Arael, Ariael, meaning "lion of God”)- the name of an angel in the apocryphal Ezra; also in Mathcrs, The Greater Key of Solomon, the Grand Grimoire, and other tracts of magic, where he is pictured as lion-headed. Cornelius Agrippa says: Ariel is the name of an angel, sometimes also of a demon, and of a city, whence called Ariopolis, where the idol is worshipped.“ In Heywood, The Hierarchy of the Blessed Angels, Ariel ranks as one of 7 princes who rule the waters and is "Earth’s great Lord.” Jewish mystics used Ariel as a poetic name for Jerusalem. In the Bible the name denotes, variously, a man, a city (Isaiah 29), and an altar. In occult writings Ariel is the “3rd archon of the winds.” Mention is also made of Ariel as an angel who assists Raphael in the cure of disease. In the Coptic Pistis Sophia, Ariel is in charge of punishment in the lower world, corresponding with Ur of the Mandaeans. In The Testament of Solomon, he controls demons. In gnostic lore generally he is a ruler of winds and equated with Ialdabaoth as an older name for this god. In practical cabala he is regarded as originally of the order of virtues. According to John Dee, astrologer royal in Queen Elizabeth’s day, Ariel is a conglomerate of Anael and Uriel. In The Tempest, Shakespeare casts Ariel as a sprite. To Milton he is a rebel angel, overcome by the seraph Abdiel in the first day of fighting in Heaven.
So we have Agrippa, Pistis Sophia, and other apocrypha referenced along with Milton and Shakespeare.
So overall, there are several connections between Ariel and Crowley.
“an angel, sometimes also of a demon”- Crowley is closer to Heaven than most of Hel, but he is still considered a demon
“Ariel ranks as one of the seven princes who rule the waters and is Earth’s great Lord”- Crowley states that he aided in the creation of the universe, and within the Biblical canon, the Holy Spirit hovered above the waters before creation began. This ties into @pin-and-paper ‘s hc of Ariel being seen as a “Mother Earth” figure and loving plants so much. He could also be considered “Earth’s great Lord” because he fosters the first sin in the Garden of Eden.
“Ariel as an angel who assists Raphael in the cure of disease”- Already mentioned by @pin-and-paper
“he is a rebel angel, overcome by the seraph Abdiel in the first day of fighting in Heaven” - Crowley states that he just ‘hung around the wrong people’ and asked questions which lead to his Fall. If he fell during the first day of fighting, then the sides wouldn’t be as clear and there wouldn’t be the opportunity to change sides or really consider the ramifications of Falling. Crowley Fell before he was given a chance to understand everything, it just happened.
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