28/07/2025
THE MAGICAL NAMES ABRAXAS, ABRACADABRA AND ABRAHADABRA.
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In the following lines we will talk about the words Abraxas, Abracadabra and Abrahadabra, words of power, one coming from the Kabbalah, probably Christian, the second of Greek origin and the last, modern, coming from the Thelemite tradition .
Table of Contents
Abraxas
Abracadabra
ABRAHADABRA (Abrahadabrah)
418
Double Power
Mediator
According to Virya, in magical writings, as well as on talismans and amulets, we find words that sometimes have no apparent meaning. Some names are very well known and used, others much less widespread. These magical words are never taken lightly and all carry an occult meaning. Even the famous "Abracadabra", אברקאדברא, from the Middle Ages to is considered a magical sound: this name is made up of nine letters and structured by three Aleph (beginning, middle and end) separating the words "baraq", ברק, " lightning " and "dabar", דבר, " word ". This magical word gives the word the power of lightning by dazzling an assembly. This name is generally found written in a triangle and in Latin letters on talismans, its Hebrew writing is as follows:
Abracadabra and Abrahadabra
Abraxas
There is no trace of Abracadabra in the books of Kabbalistic mysteries, but the Sepher Raziel alludes to Abraxas, which is a name derived from Abracadabra. In its section 37b, Raziel replaces Abraxas with the name "Abragag," אבראגג, giving it the meaning of " divine " and thus naming the nose of the divine body. But it uses it in its normal form as a name to be invoked to make a light appear in the darkness, in this way: "Yeir Abraksas," יאיר אבראכשאס, which means " He divinely illuminates ."
Magical names are obtained by associations, denaturations, abbreviations or combinations, according to established rules (see the Ecstatic Kabbalah , chap. 8). In the writings of Tertullian and Saint Jerome, we learn that Basilides called the Supreme God of his Gnostic system by the name of Abraxas, marking, they add, by this word the three hundred and sixty-five days of the solar year, because the sum of the numerical value of the letters of this name – A is worth 1. β 2. ρ 100. α 1. σ 200. α 1. ξ 60 – is worth 365. Let us note that in addition this word is made up of 7 letters which refer to the 7 days of the week, but also to the 7 planets known at that time.
In September 1615, Godfrid Wendelin developed his own hypothesis on this term in a letter written to Jean Chifflet (1). He claims that Abrasax (or Abraxas) is composed of the initial letters of several words; each letter expressing a word: the first four, four Hebrew words; the last three, three Greek words:
A: Ab, אב, the father.
B: Well, בן, the son.
A: Ruach, רוח, the spirit.
A: Acadosch, the saint, the Saint.
S: Soteria, salvation.
A: Apo, par.
X: Xulou, the wood.
A very convenient way, in short, to justify the religious truths of the time since this word then becomes a symbol of Christianity by the presence at the same time of the Old Testament – expressed by the Hebrew terms – and of the Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) – expressed by the first 3 letters; and of the New Testament by the 3 letters expressing the Passion of Christ on the Cross. A different theory posits that the last four letters A, S, A, X, mean ἄντροπθς σόζων ἀγιῶ ξυλῶ, which means “ saving men by the holy wood ”.
In Macrobius. Saturnalia , book I, 17 we have this verse:
A text with Hades, For the beginning of the year,
And the sun is a priest, a metaphor for the dark sky, Iao.
That is, " Pluto presides over winter, Jupiter over spring, the Sun over summer, and the beautiful Jao over autumn ." In the last two words ἄβρου Ἰαό (Iao), we have a reference to Iao, who represents the god Dionysus presiding over autumn, the season of wines and fruits... The word Ἀβρὸς means beautiful, majestic, superb. The term ἀβρὸς, which is also an epithet of the Sun, would thus be the first part of the word Abrasax; while the second would be made up of the word Sao, σαω, which means "to save" or "to heal," or of Sa, σα, meaning "salvation," "health." The prophylactic function of the word is then justified by its meaning of " The majestic (Dionysus) who gives health or salvation ."
Abracadabra
According to MA Ouaknin, Abracadabra was born from the confusion between the two Hebrew terms for "word": dibour and la amira . Abracadabra literally means, according to him, " he created as he spoke " (hou bara kémo chedibère), and it is therefore the expression of the Christian Kabbalah which equates creation by word with the term dibour and not with the term amira . For, God creates by the amira as it is written "vayomer Elohim" ten times in Genesis . These are the 10 words by which God creates the Universe.
Abraxas Abracadabra and Abrahadabra
However, looking at this word more closely, one could, by spelling it differently, דברה הברכה, translate it as " the blessing (הברכה) has spoken (דברה)".
The first appearance of the word Abracadabra appears to date back to the 2nd century AD in the De Medicina Praecepta by Quintus Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Roman emperor Caracala, who prescribed that those suffering from fevers wear an amulet inscribed with the word Abracadabra in the form of an inverted cone. He explained that as the word shortened, the hold of the demon or evil spirit over the patient diminished proportionally:
“ Write ABRACADABRA on a piece of paper; then repeat this word as many times as there are letters in the word, but removing one letter each time, so that the whole has the shape of a cone. Once done, hang the piece of paper around the sick person's neck with a linen thread. It is said that lion's fat is also a good specific. Coral and saffron wrapped in a cat's skin have a no less marvelous virtue. If you deem it appropriate to hang coral around the sick person's neck, confidently add emeralds to it: this talisman will infallibly drive away the deadly fire of fever .”
(On the Precepts of Medicine, 52)
The very form of the word arranged in an inverted triangle, each line having one letter less to end with a single letter, is not original in Jewish mystical writings and more particularly in the Kabbalah. Thus, we have, in the Sepher Raziel , the word מאברית, Mabrith, which appears in the same form. According to this work, this incantation allows one to obtain an answer to a question: one writes the question on vellum which one places under one's head during sleep.
It is therefore likely that "Abracadabra" is only the expression of an occult interpretation of the Christian Kabbalah and not the expression of the true Kabbalah, even if it is practical. Its study is nonetheless useful in understanding the emergence of the word of the law of the Aeon of Horus, in the Thelemite Kabbalah this time, Abrahadabra .
ABRAHADABRA (Abrahadabrah)
This word, which is Crowley's new Aeon word, first appears in the Book of the Law , a major work by the magician Aleister Crowley : " Abrahadabra; the reward of Ra-Hoor-Khut " ( Liber AL , III, 1) and " The conclusion of the words is the Word Abrahadabra " ( Liber AL , III, 75). In Liber Samekh, Aleister Crowley describes this word as " the Word of the Aeon which signifies that the Great Work is accomplished ."
Abrahadabra would mean " I bless the dead ", one of the three words used by the Clavicles of Solomon to bless a sword, and which could derive from the Hebrew "ha brachah dabarah" or " Speak the blessing " (2).
As we saw with Virya, there is a relationship between Abracadabra and the Gnostic deity Abrasax, or unknown supreme god, source of the 365 emanations of Persian theology. In this context, Abrasax is the mediator between creation and divinity. This is consistent with the Thelemite understanding of the word.
Abrahadabra has a numerical value of 418 in classical gematria (1 + 2 + 200 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 200 + 1) or 22 (1 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 1) if using the Kabbalah of the Nine Chambers, Abrahadabrah then has the same value as the letter Heth spelled out in full (חית); Eth Iao (אתיאו), "Essence of IAO"; and Ra Hoor (ראהוור). 22 refers to the 22 Arcana of the Tarot of Thoth , the 22 Paths of the Tree of Life and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Crowleyan system of Tarot, the Chariot, Arcanum VII, is associated with the letter Heth and therefore with the word Abrahadabra through the play of gematria.
In the Commentaries on the Book of the Law , Crowley writes: " Abrahadabra is the glyph which unites the 5 and the 6, the Rose and the Cross. Thus the Great Work, the balance of the 5 and the 6, is demonstrated by this god: fivefold as Horus the Warrior, sixfold as the solar Ra " and " it is the key to rituals because it expresses the magic formula of the union of complementary ideas; and especially the 5 of the Microcosm with the 6 of the Macrocosm "; " it is a symbol of the establishment of the pillar or phallus of the Macrocosm in the Void of the Microcosm ." In his Book of Lies , he adds that it " represents the establishment of the pillar or phallus of the 5 Alephs. Aleph is a void or kteis, the Arcanum 0. "
“ See, my Son, the Economy of this Way, see how it accords with the Tao, fulfilling itself entirely in your own Sphere. And it is highly in Accordance with your own Will on all Planes, so that every Part of your Nature enjoys every other Part, lavishing Praise upon itself.
Now learn also how this Formula is that of the Word ABRAHADABRA. First, HAD is the Triangle erected on twin Squares. On Hadit I have no need to write because He has concealed Himself in the "Book of the Law." This Substance is the Father, the Instrument is the Son & the Metaphysical Ecstasy is the Holy Spirit whose Name is HRILIU. Then there is the Sun, Mercury & Venus whose sacred letters are ר, ב & ד. But the last of these Letters is ה which in the Tarot is the Star whose Eidolon is ד; & there is that Arcanum concerning the Tao about which I have already written.
I will not write on this subject more manifestly. But take note of this, that our Trinity is our Way within the Solar System & that ה, being of our Lady Nuit, the Starry, is an Anchor for that Magick which would otherwise be apt to deny our totality in Relation to the Outward as well as the Inward. My Son, ponder these Words & profit by them; for I have wrought cunningly to conceal or reveal according to your Intelligence, O my Son! (3).
418
We present very briefly some considerations on the number 418, associated with Abrahadabra, based on Crowley's Liber LVII .
418 חית, Heth, ABRAHADABRA, the Great Magic Word, the Word of the Aeon. Note the 11 letters, 5 identical א and 6 other letters. Thus, it intertwines the Pentagram and the Hexagram. בית הא, the House of He, the Pentagram; see Idra Zuta Qadisha , 694. “For ה forms כ, but ח formed יוד.”
Note that 4+1+8=13, the 4 reduced to 1 by the 8, the redemptive force; and 418 is equivalent to ח which is equivalent to 8.
It means by permutation "Abraha Deber", the Voice of the Chief Prophet (Abraha=Abraham). It resolves in the Pentagram and in the Hexagram as follows:
abrahadabra2_01
Separating the One (א) from the Multiple (the various letters):
abrahadabra 2_02
Taking each letter alternately :
abrahadabra 2_03
הדר by the Yetsirah gives Horus, Isis (Venus to whom we associate the letter ד), Osiris (Ra, the sun to whom we associate the letter ר), again Father, Mother, Son. This Hexagram is still the Human Triad.
By dividing into 3 and 8, we obtain a Triangle of Horus dominating the Curved Dragon with 8 Heads, the Supernals bursting the Head of Daath.
abracadabra 2_04
The five letters used in this word are א, the Crown; ב, the Wand; ד, the Cup; ה, the Sword; ר, the Rose+Cross; and they further refer to Amun the Father, Thoth His Messenger, and to Isis, Horus, Osiris, the divine triad.
Double Power
As a symbol of the dual power or unity of the Pentagram and the Hexagram, Abrahadabra symbolizes the "mystical marriage" of the microcosm and the macrocosm, the inner world and the outer world.
Abrahadabra can therefore be said to be the sacred word invoking the union of the lower and higher worlds within the student. Used correctly, this word therefore has the power to elevate the student to higher spheres of initiation. This idea is also found in the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, in which the forces of the elements and planets are combined and balanced.
Mediator
According to Stavish, " As a mediator, Abrahadabra suggests that since humanity is an incarnate Godhead, 'There is no God but man, and Man is the Son of God, God is Man,' we can experience this state in progressive stages or degrees of expansion of consciousness. We may be divine, but the gap between the mundane consciousness of the earthly world and the cosmic consciousness of Kether is radical. Therefore, we progress slowly and with the help of various mediators to assist us. "
Among these mediators we can find rituals, symbols, spiritual alchemy or even spiritual masters or invisible assistants coming from the other side of reality. Abrahadabra symbolizes the harmonization of the inner and outer worlds within Tiphereth . Through prayer and meditation, we gradually destroy this barrier until one day we reach the awareness and awakening of the union of opposites and dissimilarities.
To this end, we can use this word, Abrahadabra, as a mantra, by vibrating it as a sacred word charged with power, we can replace its energy in its original power, as a divine expression. When we vibrate this word, we must feel and imagine that the lower and higher worlds are united in us, that we are the center of the world and the universe, an expression of Tiphereth…
But let us listen again to Stavich: " In Homer's Golden Chain, we see the same message expounded according to almost identical symbolism. The essential symbolism of the text is centered around an Ouroboros . It consists of two dragons fighting, each biting the other's tail, one with wings and one without. Between them is a Star of David with planetary and elemental symbols at different points. Furthermore, placed in the center are the three principles of Alchemy—Sulfur, Salt, and Mercury.
“Whenever a Dragon encounters an enemy, they fight.”
The Volatile must become fixed, the V***r and the watery triangle must become the earth triangle, the fire triangle must become corporeal, or no life could enter the earth triangle. The Superior must become Inner and vice versa.
The Dragon with wings kills the Dragon without wings and destroys it. Thus are manifested the Quintessence and the Power.
The winged Dragon can be interpreted as our inner Master, or Holy Guardian Angel, and the wingless Dragon as our ego or 'little king.' They need each other in order to express the power of creation and its expression through the planetary and elemental forces. Only when the higher becomes the inner and the inner becomes the higher do we see the elements return to their primordial source. Ultimately, the two Dragons are slain by each other, and their combined death is a union of the most perfect expression of cosmic power .
More on the subject:
The Invocation to Horus
AGLA, ARARITA, IAO and other Words of Power
The Rite of the Children of the Earth
Anatomy of God's Body: Chapter 2
This article is the corrected and expanded version of the text " Abracadabra and Abrahadabra ", by Spartakus FreeMann...
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