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Abracadabra is a word used as an incantation.
HistoryThe term might be of Semitic origin.[Michael Quinion, World Wide Words]
The word is now commonly used as an incantation by stage magicians and their imitators. In ancient times, however, it was taken much more seriously as an incantation to be used as a cure for fevers and inflammations. The first known mention was in the 2nd century AD in a poem called De Medicina Praecepta by Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla, who prescribed that the sufferer from the disease wear an amulet containing the word written in the form of a triangle:[1]
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, he explained, diminishes the hold over the patient of the spirit of the disease. Other Roman emperors, including Geta and Alexander Severus, were followers of the medical teachings of Serenus Sammonicus and are likely to have used the incantation as well.
The late Amram Kehati [2][3]claims that the source is Hebrew and the ABRACADABRA has to be read from right to left as in Hebrew
. ABRACADABRA, when phonetically pronounced from right to left, reads in Hebrew ????-???-????. The Hebrew word ??? is the word ??? with rearrangement of the letters. This was done to confuse the daemon or for various witchery reasons. The evil, dark forces and the daemons kingdom in the Jewish Kabbalah are represented by the number 9 (the Hebrew word ????) or the Hebrew letter ("??? "?). Since the ABRACADABRA word has to diminish a letter a day for nine (9) days it has to have enough letters. The Hebrew word ???? is too short because it has only four letters. Therefore, the Hebrew word ????-???-???? was created. The Hebrew word ???? is the Hebrew word for the number 4 (four) and the Hebrew word ??? is the Hebrew word for the number 1 (one). Therefore, ????+???+???? equal 4+1+4=9 and it represents the dark forces and daemons kingdom. This explanation for ABRACADABRA succeeds where all other previous known explanations and sources did not explain why the patient has to wear the amulet for nine (9) days. In Hebrew the "ABRACADABRA" should read as "???????????" and the amulet should be as follows:
?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?
?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?
?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?
?-?-?-?-?-?-?-?
?-?-?-?-?-?-?
?-?-?-?-?-?
?-?-?-?-?
?-?-?-?
?-?-?
?-?
?
According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica it was used as a magical formula by the Gnostics of the sect of Basilides in invoking the aid of beneficent spirits against disease and misfortune. It is found on Abraxas stones which were worn as amulets. Subsequently its use spread beyond the Gnostics, and in modern times it is applied contemptuously (e.g. by the early opponents of the evolution theory) to a conception or hypothesis which purports to be a simple solution of apparently insoluble phenomena.
Copyright Citations
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