ABRAXAS16:46 Jun 16 2009
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Abracadabra is an incantation from the Kabbalah, a mystical system of Judaism. It is considered a magical term used to ward off bad luck, ill health and demons. The most universal view for derivation of this word is that it comes from the Gnostic deity, Abraxas or Abrasax, whose name means “hurt me not”.
"Abracadabra is thought to mean, I create as I speak. A possible source is Aramaic: אברא כדברא avra kehdabra which means "I will create as I speak". Abracadabra - The curse and the pestilence. There is the view that Abracadabra derives from the Hebrew, ha-brachah, meaning "the blessing" (used in this sense as a euphemism for "the curse") and dabra, an Aramaic form of the Hebrew word dever, meaning "pestilence." (Oneness Commitment)
Therefore there are four major views of the etymology of the word:
* Abracadabra - The curse and the pestilence
* Abracadabra - Father, Son, Holy Spirit
* Abracadabra - Disappear like this word
* Abracadabra - Abraxas (Encyclopedia)
This is an example of how it would be written. It can be written this way or in the reverse. Either way is correct.
A
A B
A B R
A B R A
A B R A C
A B R A C A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B R A
(For Invoking)
Or
A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A
(For Banishing)
In Judaism the word was used to invoke benevolent spirits to assist in warding off disease. Abracadabra was not spoken though it was written as above and worn as an amulet around the neck. The letters form a pyramid or triangle and as the letters of each line disappeared so did the likelihood of disease.
Abraxas is considered a name of divinity and it goes back as far as Basilides of Alexandria who lived in 90 AD. Basilides viewed Abraxas as the Supreme of Seven with 365 virtues.
"A term used by the Basilideans, a Gnostic sect of the second century, designating the Supreme Being or god whom they worshipped. They believed that Jesus Christ emanated from Abraxas and was a phantom while here on earth. They believed the name contained great mysteries because it contained the seven Greek letters when computed numerically equaled the number 365, which is the number of days in the year. It was further believed that Abraxas commanded 365 gods, each possessing a virtue, so there was a virtue for each day of the year." (The Skeptics Dictionary)
The Greeks used it in numerology with a=1, b=2, r=100, a=1, x=60, a=1, s=200 which totals 365. This was the total of a year, a solar year. It was considered a cycle of divine action. Some have compared this with the Hebrew word, Shemhamphorasch, which is considered a holy word, being the extended name of God. Therefore since it takes 365 days for the Earth to revolve around the sun it was believed that Abraxas was the culmination of all families of entities that compose a hierarchy.
Abraxas is the “unreachable, unknowable and unmanifested "God" beyond existence and non-existence, beyond good and evil, beyond all dualities, "he" may be considered the ultimate synthesis.”(Mysticism Magick Dictionary) In Judaism God was a monad and must have an opposite, such as Satan. Like Zoroastrianism, Christianity became a religion of opposites; dualities. Abraxas on the other hand had no opposites at all. Some say Abraxas is above the labeled Gods as he does not require manifestation within nature’s processes and is outside the bounds of reality.
Abraxas was the supreme deity of the Gnostics he was the manifestation of the Christos in the human body. Basically Abraxas was viewed as the divine “Cosmic Oversoul”. He is considered the third Logos or Brahma.
The Gnostics had amulets referred to as Abraxas gems with what is assumed the image of Abraxas. Shown as a “pantheos,” meaning “all-god”, he had the head of a rooster, legs of two serpents or sacred asps and holding a whip in one hand and a shield in the other with the word “IAO” inscribed upon it. “IAO” is a word of power and considered the true name of Abraxas.
"This pantheos is invariably inscribed with his proper name IAO and his epithets Abraxas and Sabaoth, and often accompanied with invocations such as SEMES EILAM, the eternal sun (Gnostics and Their Remains 246), which Blavatsky equates with "the central spiritual sun" of the Qabbalists (SD 2:214). Though written in Greek characters, the words SEMES EILAM ABRASAX are probably Semitic in origin: shemesh sun; `olam secret, occult, hid, eternity, world; Abrasax Abraxas. Hence in combination the phrase may be rendered 'the eternal sun Abraxax'." (Theosophy Dictionary)
He is occasionally shown driving a chariot. Accordingly he was believed to be the source of 365 emanations of the Divine Pleuroma. Above the creator Gods in stature who were considered not much more than the Dimiurge, superior in Greek letters to 365 Gods also called “aeons” or “Archons”.
Nowadays Abracadabra is viewed as a nonsensical word used by stage magicians. The ancient meaning and usage of the word has been lost in antiquity to modern man. Even J.K. Rowling borrowed from one of the etymological sources for a curse in her books, Avada Kedavra.
Encycopedia, Abracadabra
http://www.experiencefestival.com/avada_kedavra_a_harry_potter_reference
Mysticism Magick Dictionary, ABRAXAS, Abrasax
http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/ABRAXAS_Abrasax/id/191968
Oneness Commitment, Abracadabra
http://www.experiencefestival.com/abracadabra_-_etymology
The Skeptics Dictionary, Abracadabra
http://skepdic.com/abracadabra.html
Theosophy Dictionary, Abraxas, Abrasax
http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Abraxas_Abrasax/id/97855
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