abracadabra

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Abracadabra in the shrinkage scheme

Abracadabra (also: Abracadabra) is a magic formula . It was used in Latin as early as late antiquity . However, their exact origin is controversial. The interjection is used in many Indo-European languages in a similar form (e.g. German, English and Russian). It was first verifiably mentioned between the second and fourth centuries by the physician Quintus Serenus in the book Liber medicinalis . In this he advised to carry the shrinkage scheme of the magic formula for protection against malaria in an amulet .

origin

The meaning or origin of the word is controversial, but an Aramaic origin of the word is most likely.

  • A-Bra-Ca-Dabra plays with the first four letters of the Latin alphabet and can be explained by letter magic and alphabet magic, which were widespread in late antiquity: The alphabet has magical power because all things of the Show the world.
  • They may be mocked forms of Hebrew words ברכה ( b'racha ) "blessing" and דבר ( dabar ) "word", "talk", but also "plague" act. Perhaps it is derived from the Hebrew הברכה דברה "ha-bracha dab'ra" (German for example: "Speak the blessing"). The liturgical consecration formula of the change from the Latin-speaking world "Hoc est (enim) corpus meum", in its corrupted version as the magic formula " Hocus pocus ", fits this .
  • There is probably a connection to Abraxas , a word that was a word for God in Gnosis and has also been the name of a powerful demon since Hellenism , which was often invoked in magic papyri.
  • Abracadabra can also be derived from the Arabic magic "abreq ad habra" , which supposedly conjures up "the thunder that kills" .
  • Another possible explanation is the Aramaic words אברא כדברא avrah k'davra , which means “I am created while I speak”. Abra from Aramaic 'bra' means "to create", Ka is translated as "while" and Dabra is the first person of the verb 'daber', "to speak".
  • Possibly the word goes back to 'Abra ka-Dabra in Aramaic, which means something like: "It passes like the word". Even 'Abda ka-Dabra ( "it perishes like the word") comes into question. By making a certain word “vibrate”, it was believed, for example, that pain could be alleviated.

In the symbolism of Gnosticism, the word was used to avert impending disaster, in particular to drive away diseases. As an inscription or engraving on amulets in the shrinking scheme, it indicated the gradual retreat of evil . The regulation required the word to be written down completely in the first line, then to shorten one letter or, in some instructions, two letters until only one letter remained. The inscription should be triangular. It was believed that just as the word loses a letter with every line, so does the disease.

Figurative meaning

In a figurative sense, mysterious-sounding senseless chatter is called abracadabra. This may be related to a Persian cult that prescribed the worship of 365 gods. One had to pronounce all their names flawlessly in order to get their help. If you made a mistake, you had to start over. To make the task easier, priests designed an amulet in the shape of a triangle, in which the names were replaced by Greek letters. To further simplify the rite , later generations used the first line of this magical triangle as a substitute for the whole, and in this way the word abracadabra, which is meaningless in itself, came into use.

Aleister Crowley , an English occultist , called Abra h adabra as the word of the Horus - or Aquarius - aeon that he preached .

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Abracadabra  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. a b Abracadabra. In: www.duden.de. Duden Verlag, accessed on July 13, 2016 .
  2. Lawrence Kushner: The Book of Words . Talking Spiritual Life, Living Spiritual Life. 2nd Edition. Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont, ISBN 978-1-58023-020-9 (135 pages).
  3. ^ A b William Isaacs: Dialogue as Art to Think Together 2002, p. 141.
  4. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica . Abracadabra. 11th edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (English, wikisource.org ).
  5. Abrakadabra - Russian - German. In: www.leo.org. LEO Dictionary Team, accessed July 13, 2016 .
  6. Quintus Serenus Sammonicus & Friedrich Vollmer: Liber medicinalis . In: Corpus medicorum Latinorum . (Latin).
  7. Karl Erich Grözinger : Jewish thinking. Theology - Philosophy - Mysticism. Volume 2: From Medieval Kabbalah to Hasidism , Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2005, p. 322.