Its mystic meaning has been
the subject of much ingenious investigation, but even its derivation has not
been agreed upon.
The first mention of the
term is found in the poem “De Medicina Praecepta Saluberrima,” by Quintus
Serenus Samonicus.
Samonicus was a noted
physician in Rome in the second and third centuries.
He was a favourite with the
Emperor Severus, and accompanied him in his expedition to Britain A.D. 208.
Severus died at York in A.D.
211, and in the following year his son Caracalla had his brother Geta, and
20,000 other people supposed to be favourable to Geta’s claims, assassinated.
Among the victims was Serenus
Samonicus.
The poem, which is the only
existing work of Serenus, consists of 1,115 hexameter lines which illustrate
the medical practice and superstitions of the period when it was written.
The lines in which the word “Abracadabra,” and the way to employ it are introduced are these:
Inscribis chartae, quod dicitur Abracadabra,Saepius: et subter repetas, sed detrahe summae,
Et magis atque magis desint elementa figuris
Singula, quae semper rapies et coetera figes,
Donec in angustam redigatur litera conum.
His lino nexis collum redimire memento.
In a paper on Serenus
Samonicus by Dr. Barnes of Carlisle, contributed to the St. Louis Medical
Review, the following translation of the above passage is given.
A semitertian fever of a
particular character is the disease under discussion.
“Write several times on a
piece of paper the word „Abracadabra,“ and repeat the word in the lines below,
but take away letters from the complete word and let the letters fall away one
at a time in each succeeding line.
Take these away ever, but
keep the rest until the writing is reduced to a narrow cone. Remember to tie
these papers with flax and bind them round the neck.”
The charm was written in
several ways all in conformity with the instructions. Dr. Barnes gives these
specimens:
A B R A C A D A B R AA B R A C A D A B RA B R A C A D A BA B R A C A D AA B R A C A DA B R A C AA B R A CA B R AA B RA BA
After wearing the charm for
nine days it had to be thrown over the shoulder into a stream running
eastwards.
In cases which resisted this
talisman Serenus recommended the application of lion’s fat, or yellow coral
with green emeralds tied to the skin of a cat and worn round the neck.
Serenus Samonicus is
believed to have been a disciple of a notorious Christian heretic named
Basilides, who lived in the early part of the second century, and was himself
the founder of a sect branching out of the gnostics.
Basilides had added to their
beliefs some fanciful notions based on the teachings of Pythagoras and
Apollonius of Tyre, especially in regard to names and numbers.
To him is attributed the
invention of the mystic word “abraxas,” which in Greek numeration represents
the total 365, thus:—a—1, b—2, r—100, a—1, x—60, a—1, s—200.
This word is supposed to
have been a numeric representation of the Persian sungod, or if it was invented
by Basilides, more likely indicated the 365 emanations of the infinite Deity.
It has been generally
supposed that abracadabra was derived from abraxas.
There are, however, other
interpretations.
Littré associates it with
the Hebrew words, Ab, Ruach, Dabar; Father, Holy Ghost, Word.
Dr. King, an authority on
the curious gnostic gems well-known to antiquarians, regards this explanation
as purely fanciful and suggests that Abracadabra is a modification of the term
Ablathanabla, a word frequently met with on the gems alluded to, and meaning
Our Father, Thou art Our Father.
Others hold that
Ablathanabla is a corruption of Abracadabra.
An ingenious correspondent
of Notes and Queries thinks that a more likely Hebrew origin of the term than
the one favoured by Littré would be Abrai seda brai, which would signify Out,
bad spirit, out.
It is agreed that the word
should be pronounced Abrasadabra. Another likely origin, suggested by Colonel
C. R. Conder in “The Rise of Man” (1908), p. 314, is Abrak-ha-dabra, a Hebrew
phrase meaning “I bless the deed.”
The triangular form of the
charm was no doubt significant of the Trinity in Unity.
A. C Wootton, Chronicles ofPharmacy, Vol. I-II, Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin’s Street, London, 1910.
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