ABRAHADABRA & ABRACADABRA
By Shade Oroboros 817
“And Abrahadabra. It shall be his
child & that strangely."
(AL III: 47)
A B R A H A D A B R A
A B R A H A D A B R
A B R A H A D A B
A B R A H A D A
A B R A H A D
A B R A H A
A B R A H
A B R A
A B R
A B
A
Abrahadabra is the famous magical Word of the Aeon or
Word of Double Power transmitted in Liber AL vel Legis: The Book of the
Law by Aleister Crowley, which is the founding revelation of Thelema.
It centers upon the name Had, the core syllable of the allegedly
Egyptian god-form Hadit or Hadith who is, according to many, Behdet or
Horus of Behedet, a city in ancient Egypt. This entity is usually
depicted as a winged solar orb, globe or sun disk, a design also common
in Babylonian civilizations as well, which often appeared as a symbol
of divine protection above temple doors and at the top of stelae. In
terms of Liber AL (and its magical template, the ancient artifact known
as the Stele of Revealing) this deity is thus identified with the Horus
of solar fire who is portrayed as the falcon-winged Heru-Behutet. This
image may also be related to the powerful (and destructive) Sole Eye of
Ra, often circled by a serpent and appearing as a crown, which is a
form of the primal goddess.
In Thelema Hadit is each individual spark of consciousness, the soul or
star that is the center of its own universe of experience. For me this
Word expresses that image, the central light of Self as HAD, and the
wings as twin ABRAs representing the twin aspects of the Younger and
Elder Horus: Hoor-par-Kraat, the silent child born from a lotus, and
the avenging warrior-king, the hawk-headed Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Crowley in
his essay Gematria expressed the word as "I am the finite square; I
wish to be one with the infinite circle."
We may note that Abrahadabra has eleven letters, said to link the
symbol of humanity (the soul or Microcosm as pentagram, formed of five
identical vowel A’s) with that of God or the universe (the vast
Macrocosm as hexagram, as the six diverse consonants B, R, H, D, B, R).
These symbols represent the alchemical Great Work of wholeness and
perfection, of uniting the physical with the spiritual, the personal
with the cosmic. Crowley also claimed 11 as the number of Thelemic
magick, the ‘One Beyond Ten’, stepping beyond the 10 spheres of the
traditional Hebrew Tree of Life. 10 was considered a perfect number
(count your fingers!) and so for many this implied the additional
non-sphere of Knowledge or Daath, seen as a gateway to (and through)
the chaotic and qlipothic realms underlying (and preceding) the
Creation, to reach the place of timeless beginning that Austin Spare
termed KIA and qabalists might regard as Ain Soph Aur, the Limitless
Light. For those addicted to conventional morality 11 thus implied
black magic, homosexuality, and a hideous disregard for the metric
system.
For some further context I will begin by quoting Mr.
Crowley’s Old Comment to the Book of the Law:
“AL III, 1: "Abrahadabra! the reward
of Ra Hoor Khut."
1. Abrahadabra --- the Reward
of Ra-Hoor-Khuit. We have already seen that Abrahadabra is the glyph of
the blending of the 5 and the 6, the Rose and the Cross. So also the
Great Work, the equilibration of the 5 and the 6, is shown in this God;
fivefold as a Warrior Horus, sixfold as the solar Ra. Khuit is a name
of Khem the Ram-Phallus-two-plume god Amoun; so that the whole god
represents in qabalistic symbolism the Second Triad ("whom all nations
of men call the first").
It is the Red descending triangle, -- the whole thing visible, for
Hadit and Nuit are far beyond.
Note that Ra-Hoor Resh-Aleph-He-Vau-Vau-Resh = 418.”
Crowley also produced this numerological analysis:
“ABRAHADABRA = 418
ABRAHADABRA has 11 letters
ABRAHADABRA = 1+2+2+1+5+1+4+1+2+2+1 =
22
The five letters in the word are: A,
the Crown; B, the Wand; D, the Cup; H, the Sword; R, the Rosy Cross;
and refer further to Amoun the Father, Thoth His messenger, and Isis,
Horus, Osiris, the divine-human triad.
Also 418 = ATh IAV, the Essence of
IAO
418= BVLShKIN, or Boleskine
418= RA HVVR, or Ra Hoor
418= ∑(13-31)
Abrahadabra is from Abraxas, Father
Sun, which = 365
418 = 22 x 19 Manifestation”
It is notable that Crowley was using this word prior to reception of
the Book of the Law, as it appears in the ritual he devised to invoke
Aiwass, the entity that transmitted it. It seems that the Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn used the more traditional spelling of
Abracadabra, and that this was changed by Crowley for qabalistic
reasons, as the number 418 presented much better (or “more convenient”)
correspondences.
My purpose here, however, is to explore a bit more deeply into the
actual roots of the word. In ancient times it was long used for a very
different purpose: as an incantation to cure sickness, fevers and
inflammations. The sufferer from disease would wear an amulet
containing the word written in the form of an inverted triangle:
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
This was believed to diminish the hold of the spirit of the disease
over the patient; as the name decreased, the power of the evil spirit
causing the illness would disappear. According to Wikipedia the first
known mention was in the 2nd century A.D. in a poem called De Medicina
Praecepta by Serenus Sammonicus, who was a physician to the roman
emperor Caracalla. There is a very similar qabalistic cure for
blindness in which the name of a demon called Shabriri, who caused loss
of sight, is similarly diminished. This rather clever means of
banishing the power of spirits was not uncommon in the ancient world,
and some maintained that Abracadabra was simply the name of one such
demon. As a general healing talisman this spell was used throughout
medieval times and survives up until today, attested in the same form
in a manual of American hoodoo:
“The most celebrated arrangement of
letters by which cures are effected is ABRACADABRA… still popularly
used by those who believe in and practice Voodoo in America today. Each
letter is to be written in the blood of the user, or with Dove’s blood
Ink. It must be inscribed on a piece of parchment (or plain white
paper) in the form of an inverted pyramid, or it may be engraved on an
amulet. The talisman is simply to be hung around the neck of any sick
person… Carried in the pocket of one who is well it is said to ward off
diseases. Such a talisman is claimed to cure everything from a bad
toothache or bruises to epilepsy and insanity.”
From Voodoo Charms & Talismans by Robert Pelton (Original
Publications 1997).
I have also found some inspiration in the following quotes:
"By arranging the letters in a
reverse triangle, the celestial energies which the charm claims to
entrap are directed downwards. Accordingly, the figure should be seen
three-dimensionally as a funnel. The magic letters slanting down from
the wide mouth to the narrow spout comprise the lines of force of a
mighty whirlwind. Woe betide the powers of evil which it strikes since
they will vanish forever from the world above into the abyss from which
there is no return."
From The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols by Jean Chevalier and Alain
Gheerbrant, translated by John Buchanan-Brown (Penguin Books, 1996).
“ABRACADABRA - One of the few words
entirely without meaning, this confusing term is still used in a joking
way by those making 'magic.' It was first mentioned in a poem by
Quintus Severus Sammonicus in the second century. A cabalistic word
intended to suggest infinity, 'abracadabra' was believed to be a charm
with the power to cure toothaches, fevers, and other ills, especially
if written on parchment in a triangular arrangement and suspended from
the neck by a linen thread. Abracadabra is of unknown origin, though
tradition says it is composed of the initials of the Hebrew words 'Ab'
(Father), 'Ben' (Son), and Ruach Acadsch (Holy Spirit). When toothache
strikes, inscribe the parchment amulet
in the following triangular form."
From The Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson
(Facts on File, New York, 1997).
"The word derives from the Hebrew
'abreg ad habra' meaning 'strike dead with thy lightning.' In Hebrew it
comprises nine letters. 'Placing aleph on the left side of the triangle
- and its ninefold repetition - is the magical element'.”
From Amulettes, talismans et pentacles dans les traditions orientales
et occidentals by Jean Marques-Riviére, with a preface by Paul
Masson-Oursel (Paris, 1938).
In fact, there have been many attempts to discover a
more ancient Middle Eastern source for a truer meaning of Abracadabra.
Most often attested is the Aramaic “avra kedabra” or “avrah k’davarah”,
meaning "I will create as I speak," possibly a reference to the Lord
creating the universe by the power of the Word. Another suggestion
derives from the Hebrew, “ha-brachah” which means "the blessing" and
“dabra”, an Aramaic form of the Hebrew “dever”, meaning "pestilence" or
“curse”. Other Hebrew phrases that have been suggested as possible
origins include a corruption of “avar k'davar” which roughly means "it
will be according to what is spoken"; and the “abreq ad habra” quoted
above, alternatively translated as "hurl your thunderbolt even unto
death."
Others argued that the term might come from “abhadda kedhabhra”, and
Aramaic phrase meaning “disappear like this word”, or the Arabic
variation “Abra Kadabra”, meaning “let the things be destroyed”,
referring to the use as a means of treating illness. All of these
possibilities have been culled from competing online dictionaries.
My preferred belief is that the word derives from Abraxas (sometimes
spelled Abrasax), a powerful name of the Lord, or of the Devil, or both
as one being. His origins have been theorized as either Egyptian or as
a Persian sun god. He is sometimes seen as the Gnostic demiurge or
creator of the physical universe, or as an Angel, a Demon, or an Aeon;
and he is frequently invoked in Greco-Egyptian magical texts. The
gnostic heresiarch Basilides considered Abraxas to be the Highest
Being, presiding over legions of spirits and the cycles of the Aeons of
time: “the Ineffable Name as a master-key with which the powers of all
the upper and the nether world are locked or unlocked, bound or
loosened.”
The early church father Tertullian provides this more detailed account:
“Afterwards broke out the heretic Basilides. He affirms that there is a
supreme Deity, by name Abraxas, by whom was created Mind, which in
Greek he calls Nous; that thence sprang the Word; that of Him issued
Providence, Virtue, and Wisdom; that out of these subsequently were
made Principalities, powers, and Angels; that there ensued infinite
issues and processions of angels; that by these angels 365 heavens were
formed, and the world, in honor of Abraxas, whose name, if computed,
has in itself this number. Now, among the last of the angels, those who
made this world, he places the God of the Jews latest, that is, the God
of the Law and of the Prophets, whom he denies to be a God, but affirms
to be an angel. To him, he says, was allotted the seed of Abraham, and
accordingly he it was who transferred the sons of Israel from the land
of Egypt into the land of Canaan; affirming him to be turbulent above
the other angels, and accordingly given to the frequent arousing of
seditions and wars, yes, and the shedding of human blood. Christ,
moreover, he affirms to have been sent, not by this maker of the world,
but by the above-named Abraxas; and to have come in a phantasm, and
been destitute of the substance of flesh: that it was not He who
suffered among the Jews, but that Simon was crucified in His stead:
whence, again, there must be no believing on him who was crucified,
lest one confess to having believed on Simon. Martyrdoms, he says, are
not to be endured. The resurrection of the flesh he strenuously
impugns, affirming that salvation has not been promised to bodies.'
A scholar named Bellermann attempts to derive this name from the
Coptic, claiming it is a compound of “Abrck” and “sax” and meaning "the
holy Word" or "the blessed Name." Another suggested etymology is Ab
Raza, "Father of the Secret" or "Master Secret," but in general
scholars do not believe this mysterious appellation comes from Hebrew
roots. Yet another suggestion derives Abraxas from a god in Syria
called Abracalan. However, the Qabala provides an interesting
connection: in both Greek and Hebrew Abraxas totals 365, the number of
days in the year, and this numerology also links him to Mithras or
Meithras, the savior (and soldier) god of a Roman mystery cult (from
which Christianity later appropriated a great deal of symbolism). The
numeration of 365 suggests solar roots, as the yearlong cycle of the
sun’s journey.
This mysterious deity is perhaps best known through the Abraxas-gems,
engraved talismanic stones of varying material on which this word
appears either alone or with other mysterious names of God (such as
Iao, Adonai, Sabaoth, or Eloai) along with various mystic figures and
cryptic groups of letters. The usual form of Abraxas is a human body
with the head of a rooster (sacred to Hermes or Apollo) or occasionally
of a hawk (Horus) or a king, and legs made of serpents; the head of a
bird and the serpentine limbs might imply the union of heaven and
earth, with the human as the center. He often carries in one hand a
shield (sometimes marked with the divine name IAO) and in the other a
whip or sword. He may also appear as a chimera or basilisk, and
sometimes rides in a chariot like the Greek sun gods Helios or Apollo.
He may be linked to the Mithraic Aion or Persian Zurvan.
"Abraxas represented the 365 Aeons or
emanations from the First Cause, and as a Pantheus, i.e. All-God, he
appears on the amulets with the head of a cock (Phoebus) or of a lion
(Ra or Mithras), the body of a man, and his legs are serpents which
terminate in scorpions, types of the Agathodaimon. In his right hand he
grasps a club, or a flail, and in his left is a round or oval shield.”
From Amulets & Talismans by E.A. Wallis Budge (various editions).
I should note that as a parallel to Abrahadabra, the magical word
Ablanathanalba also occurs in these amulets as well as in the magical
papyri. These are both more or less palindromes, reading the same
backwards and forwards, and such verbal formulas are not uncommon.
Abraxas is one of my deepest core deities, my link to the concept of
Hadit, and is also a name used by Crowley in both Liber Samekh and the
Gnostic Mass. Other sources, notably Kenneth Grant, have also
identified Hadit as the Egyptian god Set, lord of chaos and storms, who
is quite prominent in Greco-Egyptian magical texts and usually (in the
late period) depicted with the head of an ass. The Greeks identified
Set with Typhon, whose description as a Titan has some similarities to
that of Abraxas:
“Typhon… was the largest monster ever
born. From the thighs downward he was nothing but coiled serpents, and
his arms which, when he spread them out, reached a hundred leagues in
either direction, had countless serpents’ heads instead of hands. His
brutish ass-head touched the stars, his vast wings darkened the sun,
fire flashed from his eyes, and flaming rocks hurtled from his mouth.
When he came rushing toward Olympus, the gods fled in terror to Egypt,
where they disguised themselves as animals.”
From The Greek Myths by Robert Graves (various editions).
C.G. Jung also shared my link with Abraxas through his own interests in
alchemy, hermetics and gnosticism, and his personal transmission the
Seven Sermons to the Dead can be found online or in his wonderful
autobiography Memories, Dreams, Reflections. As Jung said: “Abraxas
speaketh that hallowed and accursed word which is life and death at the
same time. Abraxas begetteth truth and lying, good and evil, light and
darkness in the same word and in the same act. Wherefore is Abraxas
terrible." This work is extensively analyzed in Stephen Hoeller’s The
Gnostic Jung & the Seven Sermons to the Dead. I might also suggest
my own Liber
Ipsemet in Silver Star 5, page 26; and for more qabalistic
speculation see The
Abrahadabra Key by Ibisis in Silver Star 2, page 28, both just a
few clicks away…
“The bird fights its way out of the
egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must destroy a world. The
bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas."
From the novel Demian by Hermann Hesse.
The word abracadabra is still used to create an
impression by many stage magicians to this day, and remains the mystic
phrase most familiar to the general public, which truly must show some
considerable power by virtue of surviving over so many centuries. The
only other such candidate I can think of is Hocus Pocus, which has been
explained away as a corruption of the words of consecration in the
Christian mass: “Hoc est meum corpus”, “this is my body”.
‘Alakazam!’ and ‘presto-change-o!’ scarcely qualify…
"The ending of the
words is the Word Abrahadabra."
(AL III: 75)
