Enc of dem in wor rel and cul 20

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Abrasax

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demon of burning cities and castles. He has three
heads, one of a cat, one of a man, and one of a
snake.

Sources: France, On Life and Letters, 220; Rudwin,
Devil in Legend and Literature, 28, 86.

Abracadabra
Variations: Abrakadabra, Abrasadabra
The word abracadabra was first recorded by the
Roman physician Quintus Serenus Sammonicus
in the second century A.D. in a Latin medical
poem. Prior to this there is no written evidence
that the word ever before existed. It is likely that
it was a misinterpretation of some other word or
phrase, and there are several likely candidates.
Abracadabra is tied to demonology with the hypothesis that its origins lie in Hebrew. There the
words ha-brachah (“the blessing”) and and dabra
(“pestilence”) when used together may be a form
of delimitative magic preformed when curing an
illness that caused blindness believed to be sent
by the female demon SHABRIRI. This Cabbalistic
cure calls for her name to be written in an
inverted cone.
A second possible origin of the word that also
has medical roots comes from the ancient
Chaldean phrase abbada ke dabra, which means

“perish like the word.” Again, the phrase would
be written in an inverted cone and chanted as an
incantation to cure an illness.
Not connected to any medical practice, abracadabra may have been a misinterpretation of the
Aramaic phrase avra kehdabra, which means “I
will create as I speak,” a reference to how God
created the universe. It may also have been a simple mistranslation of the Hebrew phrase avar k’davar, which loosely translates as “it will be according to what is spoken.” It is hard not to
notice that abracadabra is similar to the Hebrew
words ab (“father”), ben (“son”), and RUACH hacadosch (“holy spirit”). A final suggestion as to where
the word may have come from lies with a Gnostic sect
from Alexandria known as the Basilidians. There
the demon ABRASAX was the name of their supreme
deity.
As an ancient medical word, abracadabra is a
powerful invocation with mystical powers. To use
it, when a person was sick they would wear an
amulet around their neck that was made up of a
piece of parchment inscribed with a triangular
formula derived from the word. It was believed
that when it was written out this way that it acted
like a funnel and drove the sickness out of the
body.
ABRACADABRA
ABRACADABR

ABRACADAB
ABRACADA
ABRACAD
ABRACA
ABRAC

ABRA
ABR
AB
A

Sources: Belanger, Dictionary of Demons, 15; Cavendish, Man, Myth and Magic, 16; Collin de Plancy, Dictionary of Witchcraft, 13; Houghton, Word Histories and
Mysteries, 1; Prioreschi, Plinio. Roman Medicine, 508–
9.

Abracax
Variations: ABRASAX, Abraxas
It is likely that Abracax was originally a
Basilidean god that was later demonized. He appears in Greek magical papyri and in Gnostic
texts, such as the Gospel of the Egyptian. The
name Abracax has been found engraved on stones
that were worn as magical amulets or charms and
depict him as a short man with snakes for feet.
After his demonization, he was associated with
the dual nature of SATAN and the word ABRACADABRA.

Sources: Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 5;
Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 2; Collin de Plancy, Dictionary of Witchcraft, 13–4; Dunglison, Medical Lexicon,
21; Hyatt, Book of Demons, 72.

Abrasax
Variations: Abracad, Abraxas, the Lord of the
365 Virtues, the Supreme Being
Abrasax (“Supreme Being”) was the title for
the god worshipped by the second-century Gnostic Basilides of Alexandria. It is possible that he
was a deity borrowed from Persian mythology

where he had numerous descriptions such as
looking like a cloud of light, a human torso with
the head of a rooster and snakes for legs; a hydralike creature, a king with clawed dragonlike
feet; a man with the crowned head of a king and
snakes for feet; a man with the head of a lion and
scorpions for feet; a white and red horse; and a
wyvern with the head of a rooster, a protruding
belly, and a knotted tail. Very often he is also depicted using a shield and a chariot whip.
As a demon he commands three hundred
sixty-five different heavens and is the lord of
three hundred sixty-five different virtues, one for
each day of the year. He is the symbol of virtue,
his holy number is three hundred sixty-five, and
his holy symbol is that of the sun.
Abrasax was then known for his bad temper
and struggles with his duality; however, in mod-