Thread:All fictions/@comment-5275759-20170606104243/@comment-25431873-20181017183155

That's the thing, the LBRP's formulation was adapting something in Judaism called B'shem Hashem, also called the angel song, a bedtime prayer invoking the four angels watching over the believer as they sleep. It goes:

בשם ה' אלוהי ישראל

מימיני מיכאל

ושמאלי גבריאל

מלפני אוריאל

ומאחורי רפאל

ועל ראשי ומעל תחתי שכינת אל

B'shem Hashem, elohei Yisrael / B'ymini Michael u-smoli Gavriel / Milfanai Uriel, u-me'acharai Raphael / V'al roshi, u-m'al tachtai, Shechinat-El

In the name of God, the God of Israel / May Michael be at my right hand, Gabriel at my left / Uriel before me, Raphael behind me / And above my head, the presence of God.

Outside of B'shem Hashem and the LBRP, there seem to be a lot of association of the four archangels with the four cardinal directions. The archangels stay the same, but the directions vary wildly depending on the sources (as this blog helpfully points out, Kabbalists can't seem to agree on what's the correct alignment).

The Bible frequently mentions "the four corners of the earth" or "the four winds" to indicate all directions, but a specific association with angels is in Revelation 7:1: I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.