Abraxas
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- This article is about the Gnostic figure. For other uses of the term, see Abraxas (disambiguation).
The word Abraxas (or Abrasax or Abracax) was engraved on certain antique stones, called on that account Abraxas stones, which were used as amulets or charms by Gnostic sects. It was believed that Abraxas was the name of a god who incorporated both Good and Evil (God and Demiurge) in one entity, and therefore representing the monotheistic God, singular, but (unlike e. g. the Christian God) not omni-benevolent. Abraxas has been claimed to be both an Egyptian god and a demon. This is possibly the origin of the word abracadabra, although other explanations exist.
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Meaning
- "The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born first must destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas" - Herman Hesse, Demian
Abraxas was an Archon with a chimera-like appearance (somewhat resembling a basilisk): he had the head of a rooster (or sometimes a king), the body of a man, and legs fashioned like snakes. He is sometimes depicted with a whip in his hand. Abraxas was redeemed and rose above the seven spheres and now reigns beyond the worlds. There are references to Abraxas in several gnostic writings.
It is believed by some that the mystical word Abracadabra is also taken from Abraxas.
The letters of abraxas, in the Greek notation, make up the number 365, and the Basilideans gave the name to the 365 orders of spirits which, as they conceived, emanated in succession from the Supreme Being. These orders were supposed to occupy 365 heavens, each fashioned like, but inferior to that above it; and the lowest of the heavens was thought to be the abode of the spirits who formed Earth and its inhabitants, and to whom was committed the administration of its affairs.
In addition to the word Abraxas and other mystical characters, they have often cabalistic figures engraved on them. The commonest of these have the head of a fowl, and the arms and bust of a man, and terminate in the body and tail of a serpent.
Text from the Catholic Encyclopedia
The study of Abraxas is, at first sight, as discouraging as it is possible to imagine. The name has been given to a class of ancient stone articles, of small dimensions, inscribed with outlandish figures and formulas, sometimes wholly indecipherable, specimens of which are to be found in almost every museum and private collection. These, for the most part, have hitherto resisted all attempts at interpretation, though it would be rash to conclude that a fuller knowledge may not solve enigmas which remain closed to us. The true name, moreover, is Abrasax, and not, as incorrectly written, Abraxas, a reading due to the confusion made by the Latins between Sigma and Xi. Among the early Gnostics, Abrasax appears to have had various meanings. Basilides gave this title to Almighty God, and claimed that the numerical value of its letters gave the sum of 365, because the Abrasax is enclosed in the solar cycle. Sometimes the number 365 signifies the series of the heavens. In view of such imaginings, it is easy to guess at the course taken by an untrammelled Gnostic fancy, whereby its adherents strove to discover the meaning of the mysterious word. It is, however, an error to give the name Abrasax to all stones of Gnostic origin, as has been done up to the present day. It is not the name which applies to talismans, any more than the names of Jupiter and Venus apply to all ancient statues indiscriminately. Abrasax is the name given by the Gnostics to the Supreme Deity, and it is quite possible that we shall find a clue to its etymological meaning in the influences of numbers. The subject is one which has exercised the ingenuity of many savants, but it may be said that all the engraved stones to which the name is commonly given fall into three classes: (1) Abrasax, or stones of Basilidian origin; (2) Abrasaxtes, or stones originating in ancient forms of worship, and adapted by the Gnostics to their peculiar opinions; (3) Abraxoïdes, or stones absolutely unconnected with the doctrine of Basilides. Bellermann, following Montfaucon, made a tentative classification of Gnostic stones, which, however, is nowadays looked upon as wholly inadequate. His mistake consisted in wishing, as it were, to make a frontal attack on Gnosticism. Kopp, endowed with greater skill and patience, seems to have realized in some measure how wide the problem actually is. Ad. Franck and, quite lately, Moses Schwab have made diligent researches in the direction of the Cabbala. "The demonology devised by the Cabbalists"; according to the former writer, "was nothing more than a carefully thought out personification of the different degrees of life and intelligence which they perceived in external nature. All natural growths, forces, and phenomena are thus typified." The outline here furnished needs only to be extended indefinitely in order to take in quite easily the countless generations of Gnosticism. The whole moral and physical world, analyzed and classified with an inconceivable minuteness, will find place in it. Thence, also, will issue the bewildering catalogues of Gnostic personalities. The chief difficulty, however, arises from the nomenclature of Gnosticism, and here the "Sepher Raziel" supplies a first and valuable hint. "To succeed in the operations of divination", it says, "it is necessary to pronounce the mystic names of the planets or of the earth." In fact, stones of Gnostic origin often show designs made up out of the initial letters of the planets. Another parallel is still more suggestive. The Jews, as is well known, would never pronounce the Ineffable Name, Jehovah, but substituted either another name or a paraphrase; a rule which applied, not only to the Ineffable Name and its derivatives, but to others as well, ending, in order to evade the difficulty which arose, in a series of fantastic sounds which at first seem simply the outcome of a hopeless confusion. It became necessary to resort to permutations, to the use of other letters, to numerical and formal equivalents. The result was an outlandish vocabulary, only partially accounted for, yet one which nevertheless reveals in Gnosticism the existence of something more than mere incoherences. Very many secrets of Gnosticism remain unexplained, but it may be hoped that they will not always be shrouded in mystery.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia.
External links
- Occultopedia entry (http://www.occultopedia.com/a/abraxas.htm)
- Jewish encyclopedia entry (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=633&letter=A)
- Images of Abraxas (http://altreligion.about.com/library/graphics/bl_abraxas.htm)