Abrahadabra is a word that first publicly appeared in ''

The Book of the Law ''Liber AL vel Legis'' (), commonly known as ''The Book of the Law'', is the central sacred text of Thelema. Aleister Crowley said that it was dictated to him by a beyond-human being who called himself ' Aiwass'. Rose Edith Kelly, Crowley's ...

'' (1904), the central sacred text of

Thelema Thelema () is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. The word ' ...

. Its author,

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

, described it as "the Word of the

Aeon The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...

, which signifieth The Great Work accomplished." This is in reference to his belief that the writing of ''Liber Legis'' (another name for "The Book of the Law") heralded a new Aeon for mankind that was ruled by the god Ra-Hoor-Khuit (a form of

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the ...

). Abrahadabra is, therefore, the "

magical formula In ceremonial magic, a magical formula or a word of power is a word that is believed to have specific supernatural effects. They are words whose meaning illustrates principles and degrees of understanding that are often difficult to relay using ...

" of this new age. It is not to be confused with the Word of the Law of the Aeon, which is ''Thelema'', meaning "

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...

Description

Crowley replaced the 'C' in "

Abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. Etymology ''Abracadabra'' is of unknown origin, but according to the '' Oxford English Dictionary'', its first known occurrence ...

" with an 'H', which the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ...

in their Neophyte ritual linked with Breath and Life as well as with the god Horus. Aleister Crowley had taken the place of Horus or the Hierus officer in the Golden Dawn's Neophyte ritual, which means that he personally gave the response explaining the meaning of the letter 'H'. Crowley explains in his essay "Gematria" that he changed the magick word to include 'H' because of qabalistic methods. He appears to say that this happened before his January 1901 meeting with Oscar Eckenstein, one of his teachers. At this meeting, Eckenstein ordered Crowley to put aside magick for the moment, and to practice meditation or concentration. In "Gematria", Crowley says he took great interest in Abrahadabra, and its qabalistic number 418, at the time someone ordered him to "abandon the study of magic and the Qabalah". In the Book of Thoth, Crowley refers to Abrahadabra as a 'cypher' of the Great Work. The word "Abrahadabra" appears repeatedly in the 1904 invocation of Horus that preceded the writing of ''Liber Legis'' and led to the founding of

. It also appears in a May 1901 diary that Crowley published in ''

The Equinox ''The Equinox'' (subtitle: ''The Review of Scientific Illuminism'') was a periodical that served as the official organ of the A∴A∴, a magical order founded by Aleister Crowley (although material is often of import to its sister organization, ...

''."THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING. IV" in ''The Equinox'' I(4), 1910 The essay "Gematria" gives

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

, and "Unsectarian" versions of the problem that Crowley intended this magick word to answer. He also gives a qabalistic equivalent for each phrasing, and a brief symbolic answer for each. The unsectarian version reads, "I am the finite square; I wish to be one with the infinite circle." Its equivalent refers to "the Cross of Extension" and "the infinite Rose." Crowley's numerological explanation of "ABRAHADABRA" focuses mainly on this last formulation and the answer to it. "Abrahadabra" is also referred to as the "Word of Double Power". More specifically, it represents the uniting of the

Microcosm Microcosm or macrocosm, also spelled mikrokosmos or makrokosmos, may refer to: Philosophy * Microcosm–macrocosm analogy, the view according to which there is a structural similarity between the human being and the cosmos Music * Macrocosm (al ...

with the Macrocosm—represented by the

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle arou ...

and the

hexagram , can be seen as a compound composed of an upwards (blue here) and downwards (pink) facing equilateral triangle, with their intersection as a regular hexagon (in green). A hexagram ( Greek language, Greek) or sexagram ( Latin) is a six-pointe ...

, the rose and the cross, the circle and the square, the 5 and the 6 (etc.), as also called the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of one's Holy Guardian Angel. In "Commentaries" (1996), Crowley says that the word is a symbol of the "establishment of the pillar or

phallus A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precise ...

of the Macrocosm...in the void of the Microcosm."

Mystical interpretations

Gematria

As with most things found in the mystical works of

, the word "Abrahadabra" can be examined using the qabalistic method of

gematria Gematria (; he, גמטריא or gimatria , plural or , ''gimatriot'') is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase according to an alphanumerical cipher. A single word can yield several values depending on the cipher ...

, which is a form of numerology, whereby correspondences are made based on numerical values. *ABRAHADABRA = 418 *ABRAHADABRA has 11 letters *ABRAHADABRA = 1+2+2+1+5+1+4+1+2+2+1 = 22 *The five letters in the word are: A, the Crown; B, the Wand; D, the Cup; H, the Sword; R, the Rosy Cross; and refer further to Amoun the Father, Thoth His messenger, and Isis, Horus, Osiris, the divine-human triad. *Also 418 = ATh IAV, the Essence of IAO, translated from Hebrew as “Thou art IAO” *418 = BVLShKIN, or Boleskine *418 = RA HVVR, or Ra Hoor *418 = , a Hebrew spelling of ''

Heru-Ra-Ha Heru-ra-ha () is a composite deity within Thelema, a religion that began in 1904 with Aleister Crowley and his ''Book of the Law''. Heru-ra-ha is composed of Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Hoor-paar-kraat. He is associated with the other two major Thelemic d ...

'' *418 = , a Greek spelling of ''

Aiwass Aiwass is the name given to a voice that the English occultist and ceremonial magician Aleister Crowley reported to have heard on April 8, 9, and 10 in 1904. Crowley reported that this voice, which he considered originated with a non-corporeal b ...

'' *418 = The sum of all integers between 13 and 31 inclusive. *Abrahadabra is from

Abraxas Abraxas ( grc-x-biblical, ἀβραξάς, abraxas, variant form romanized: ) is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the "Great Archon" (), the princeps of the 365 spheres (). The word is foun ...

, Father Sun, which = 365 * 418 = 22 x 19 Manifestation

Other

Where AbraCadabra means “I create as I speak” in Aramaic, abraHaDabra, roughly speaking, means “I create the speech”, in Hebrew. *''Had'' is the keyword of Abrahadabra. Had is another name for

Hadit Hadit (sometimes Had) refers to a Thelemic deity. Hadit is the principal speaker of the second chapter of ''The Book of the Law'' (written or received by Aleister Crowley in 1904). Descriptions Hadit identifies himself as the point in the ...

, the second Speaker in ''Liber Legis'' ("The Book of the Law"). *"ABRAHADABRA is "The key of the rituals" because it expresses the Magical Formulae of uniting various complementary ideas; especially the Five of the Microcosm with the Six of the Macrocosm." * "Abrahadabra is the glyph of the blending of the 5 and the 6, the Rose and the Cross."

Description

Mystical interpretations

Gematria

Other

References

Notes

Citations

Works cited

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Other sources

Further reading