Gnostic God Abraxas – The Great Archon – The God Above All Gods
Abracadabra! Circe, an enchantress in Greek mythology, renowned for her vast knowledge of potions and herbs. John William Waterhouse
The magic word, abracadabra, often spoken with great gusto and the wave of a magic wand, just before a rabbit is pulled out of a hat, may have Greek origins, in the name of a Gnostic god, Abraxas.
(By the way, magic wands also have Greek origins, they were first mentioned by the ancient Greek writer, Homer, in his works; “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”!)
Abracadabra,” The Supreme Being”, a magical word, representing absolute power
Some may say Abracadabra is of Hebrew origin, however, the exact origins of many magical words from ancient times is not known, as they were classed as barbarous name.
Barbarous comes from the Greek barbaroi, meaning those who do not speak the Greek Language (i.e; barbarians).
Meaningless or fictitious words, usually deriving from foreign sources, are not known, maybe because magicians were cautioned not to translate them.
Even if their meaning was known, owing to the belief that the power of the names was in their sound, not their meaning.
Abracadabra,” The Supreme Being”, a magical word, representing absolute power, was used by the Gnostics of the sect of Basilides, the early Gnostic teacher of Alexandria, Egypt, who taught from 117 to 138 AD, to conjure up the help of benevolent spirits against adversity.
Basilides
2nd-century Christian Gnostic teacher
Basilides was a major 2nd-century Christian Gnostic teacher in Greco – Egyptian Alexandria who founded a school and established a Gnostic sect known as the Basilideans.
He developed a complex cosmology involving a supreme “Unborn Father” (called Abraxas), and angelic hierarchies.
His teachings influenced later Gnostic thought and were recorded by his rivals, including Hippolytus of Rome and Clement of Alexandria.
His beliefs were the subject of a lost 24-book commentary on the New Testament Gospels, known as the Exegetica.
Gnosticism
Gnosticism – A fundamental contrast between a purely spiritual, good realm and a material world that is flawed, corrupt, or evil.
Gnosticism, from the Greek word gnōsis (meaning “knowledge”), was a religious movement which appeared in the first and second centuries A.D.
It emphasized esoteric knowledge as the means to salvation.
This “hidden knowledge” was believed to be available only to a select few who were spiritually enlightened.
Gnosticism included elements of Greek philosophy, Eastern mysticism and sometimes aspects of Christianity, however, its main beliefs were basically against to biblical teaching.
Abraxas
The Great Archon
Abraxas – The Great Archon – “The God Above All Gods”
Abraxas resonates with “The Great Archon”.
In Gnosticism, the “archons” (Greek ἄρχων – ruler), were evil, sadistic demons who controlled the Earth and the thoughts, feelings and actions of humans and helped their master, the “demiurge“, with the creation of the world.
Abraxas is found in Gnostic texts such as “The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit” .
Abraxas also appears in “The Greek Magical Papyri” which contain a number of magical spells, formulae, hymns and rituals, used from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD all around the Greco-Roman world.
Greek magical papyri containing two spells; the first, ‘binding spell of Astrampsychus’, a magician and wise man, the second, a request for a dream oracle of Besas (Bes), an Egyptian
In the 2nd century AD, some Gnostic sects, who thought of matter as evil and the spirit as good, believed that salvation came through esoteric knowledge, or gnosis, personified by Abraxas, initiated the cult OF Abraxas.
Basilides, the early Gnostic religious teacher of Greco – Egyptian Alexandria, gave God the name, “Abraxas; The Great Archon“, whom he regarded as the supreme deity and ruler of all the 365 heavens, or spheres of creation; one for each day of the year.
The number 365 corresponds to the numerical value of the seven Greek letters that form the name Abraxas.
The original letters of Abraxas, spelled ABΣPΞ that add up to 365 are:
A = 1, B = 2, Σ = 200, P = 100, Ξ = 60 = 365
In recent centuries Abraxas, has been claimed to be both an Egyptian god and a demon.
Symbols of Abraxas by Moe Bedard
Abraxas
The symbol of the universal creative force
Abraxas, the symbol of the universal creative force, is depicted as cockerel-headed god
Abraxas, the symbol of the universal creative force, is depicted as cockerel-headed god with serpents for legs and is often shown with armor, a shield, and a whip.
The cockerel, an ancient symbol of the powerful solar force, represents strength, fertility, perseverance, and protection.
The serpent also symbolises universal power, in the form of spiraling creative force, that crosses the universe bringing light and life but also acts of chaos and destruction.
The serpent’s legs symbolise personal movement and development, as opposed to the constriction and suffocation caused by inactivity and also the spiraling, creative energy, which prevents stagnation.
Abraxas
A mystic word
In 1916, Dr. Carl Jung wrote his most mystifying work: The Seven Sermons to the Dead.
Abraxas (ἀβραξάς), also spelled Abrasax, is an arrangement of seven Greek letters, considered as a word, or name, most likely used in a mystic or divine sense.
The seven letters are thought to represent each the seven planets in the sky visible to the naked eye the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Abraxas, a mystic word, has been found engraved on ancient amulets and gems called Abraxas stones, in the belief that it possessed magical qualities.
Gemstone carved with Abraxas. (obverse and reverse.)
The original spelling on the stones was “Abrasax” (Αβρασαξ), the spelling of Abraxas (ἀβραξάς), seen today, could originate from the confusion made between the Greek letters Sigma (Σ) and Xi (Ξ) in Latin.
The magic word “Ablanathanalba”, in Greek, ΑΒΛAΘANAΛBA, meaning “You are our father” and which in Greek, reads the same backward as forward, was also used by Gnostics, to protect against the forces of evil.
“Ablanathanalba“ also occurs on the Abraxas stones as well as in the Greek magic papyri.
3rd century Roman crystal ball with the Greek word ΑΒΛAΘANAΛBA, sounding the same, read from left to right and from right to left.National Museum of Denmark.
Abraxas is also said to be another name for one of Helios’ four immortal horses (Pyrois; the Fiery one, Aeos; he who turns the sky, Aethon; blazing and Phlegon, meaning burning), who pulled the Greek sun god’s chariot through the heavens each night.
Helios, Greek sun God on his chariot. Dome of the entrance hall of the Széchenyi Bath, Budapest, Northern Hungary. Photo by Zairon
Abraxas in literature
In the 1516 novel ‘Utopia’ by Thomas More, the island called Utopia once had the name ‘Abraxa’.
Abraxas is invoked in Aleister Crowley’s 1913 work, ‘The Gnostic Mass’ of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica.
Abraxas, is an important figure in Carl Jung’s 1916 book ‘Seven Sermons to the Dead’.
Salman Rushdie’s novel ‘Midnight’s Children’ (1981) contains a reference to Abraxas in the chapter ‘Abracadabra’.
Related links:
Interesting ‘untranslatable’ Greek words
