Abracadabra |
Abracadabra
also Abrahadbra
(unknown language)
1) a magical charm or talisman
2)
a form of gibberish, used to give the impression of arcane knowledge or
power.
3) a word said by magicians when performing a magic trick.
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Abracadabra is
a
word of unknown origin, used
in stage
magic tricks. Historically, it was believed to be an
incan-tation having healing powers when inscribed on an amulet.
Its first
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occurrence is in the second century.. Several folk
etymologies are
associated with the word from phrases in Hebrew that
mean "I will create as I speak", or to its
similarity to the first four letters of the Greek alphabet
(alpha-beta-gamma-delta or ΑΒΓΔ) According
to authorities, "no documentation has been found to support any
of the various conjectures.
The first known mention of the
word was in the second century AD in a book called Liber
Medicinalis (sometimes known as De
Medicina Praecepta Saluberrima) by Serenus
Sammonicus,
phys-ician to the Roman
emperor Caracalla,
who in chapter 51 pre-scribed that malaria sufferers
wear an amulet containing the word written in the form of a
triangle.
The power of the amulet, he
claimed, makes lethal diseases go away. Other Roman
emperors, including Geta and Severus
Alexander, were followers of the medical teachings of
Serenus Sammonicus and may have used the incantation as
well. It was used as a magical
formula by the Gnostics of
the sect
of Basil-ides 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.
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Abracadabra
written as a magical triangle |
The Puritan minister Increase
Mather dismissed the word as
bereft of power. Daniel
Defoe also wrote dismissively
about Londoners
who posted the word on their
doorways to ward off sickness during the Great
Plague of London.
The word is now more commonly
used as a magic
word in the performance of
stage magic. The word is one of a limited set of
words that can be typed in its entirety using the
left-handed side of a QWERTY keyboard.
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