Alchemy. Symbols and meanings

An interesting, mysterious-sounding word that reads the same from either end. Does it mean something or is it an empty set of sounds? I'll try to find out.

ABRACADABRA is a magic word used in ancient times and in the Middle Ages as a spell against various diseases. This word was written out in a column on a tablet 11 times, successively decreasing it by one letter; the result was a triangle. Such a gradual shortening of this word seemed to gradually destroy the power of the evil spirit. A. was first mentioned at the end of the 2nd century. Christ era.

A magic spell consisting of one word; it was popular in the Middle Ages and served to get rid of illnesses, misfortunes or demons. The word abracadabra was written on amulets or on paper in the form of a magic triangle, in which the last one letter was removed in each subsequent line, and so on until the letters ran out. It is believed that after this the evil spirit gradually disappears. The technique of weakening evil spells with the help of special words is used in many other spells. In the Middle Ages, they believed that the word abracadabra protected against the plague.

The magic triangle was written on a piece of paper that had been wrapped in linen nine days before, and then thrown over the shoulder into a stream of water flowing to the east. There are many different theories about the origin of this word. Some claim it is around 208 AD. introduced into circulation by Quintus Serenus Sammonius, physician of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (193 - 211); this is the word he used in the treatment of fever. Others believe that Sammonius only used an older formula. Aleister Crowley said that this magical word has enormous power and that its true form is abrahadabra.

The no less famous occultist Papus in his book “ Practical magic" writes the following:
Abracadabra is a term of Persian origin. It was a mystical or magical word, which, when written on virgin parchment, formed an amulet worn around the neck for the healing of various diseases and mainly fever.

Rach de Bayif, according to Serenus of Samos, says that this word, written in the form of a cone with its apex facing downwards, provided that one last letter is taken away, has a healing effect against diseases for the person wearing it. The magic triangle of Christian Theosophists is the famous “abracadabra”, to which they attributed extraordinary properties. This combination of letters is the key of the pentagram. The initial “a” is repeated here 5 times, for a total of 30 times, giving the elements and numbers of the following two figures:

gobbledygook
abracad
abraka
abrak
abra
abr
ab
A

And the separate represents the unity of the first principle, that is, the intelligent or active agent. A in conjunction with B - fertilization of the biner by a unit. P is a Turner sign, since it represents hieroglyphically the outflow that comes from the union of two principles. 11 (the number of letters of this word) adds the initiate unit to the Pythagorean ten, and the number 66 - the sum of all the letters added together, forms Kabbalistically the number 12 - Turner's square and, therefore, is mystically the squaring of the circle.

Let us note in passing that the author of the Apocalypse, that key of the Christian Kabala, composes the number of the beast, that is, of idolatry, by adding 6 to the double sener abracadabra, which Kabbalistically gives 18, the number corresponding in the Tarot to the hieroglyphic sign of “night” and “prozhans.” “Moon, dogs, wolf and cancer” is a mysterious and dark number, of which the Kabbalistic key 9 is the number of initiation.

English explorer Old Testament John Allegro believes that the word abracadabra comes from the Mesopotamian expression AB-BA-TAB-BA-RI. This proverb was pronounced during religious ceremonies among the ancient Sumerians. Allegro believes that this combination is consonant with the Aramaic word, equivalent to the name of God and found in the New Testament in the prayer “Our Father.” According to G. Higgins, the word Abracadabra comes from the Celtic language and is formed from the words “Abra” or “Abar” - “god” and “cad” - “saint”.

E. Blavatsky considers the word Abracadabra to be a later distortion of the sacred Gnostic term “Abraxas,” as the Basilidians called the supreme deity. H. E. Kerlot points out that Abracadabra comes from the Hebrew phrase “abreg ad habra”, which means “swords with their lightning even to death.” S. A. McKee in his book “The Mythological Astronomy of the Ancients” gives a theory according to which Abracadabra is one of the names of the deity associated with the Bull or Taurus. IN Ancient Egypt during the period when the vernal equinox was in the sign of Taurus, the Bull, Apis was dedicated to the sun god.

Having decomposed the formula “Abracadabra” into its constituent roots, S. McKee receives the sentence: “Ab’r - achad - ab’ra.” Ab'r means "Bull"; achad - “the only one”; in addition, Achad is one of the names of the Sun, and the divine Taurus was associated with the solar cult. Thus, the researcher comes to the conclusion that the formula “Abracadabra”, consisting of eleven letters, symbolizes the sign of Taurus and, at the same time, includes the other 11 signs of the Zodiac. English researcher Harold Bailey points out that in fact Abracadabra is one of the names of the Sun god Mithras. Some see in Abracadabra the Jewish spell “avrakadavra,” which means “hide, father of evil.”

According to E. Blavatsky, the concept of Abracadabra first appears in a poetic medical treatise written around 208 AD. Quintus Merenus Sammonik, physician to the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. The poem Sammonika provides rules for using this spell. The word had to be written on a small piece of paper, tied around the neck and not removed for nine days. Then the piece of paper had to be thrown over the shoulder into a stream that flows to the east. The magic word was written in such a way that in each subsequent line one letter was discarded until only the last “A” remained. Usually Abracadabra fit into an inverted triangle or was lined up so that a triangle was formed as follows:

A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A

Just as the word gradually disappeared, the disease had to disappear. According to Sammonik, an amulet with the word Abracadabra cures fevers. The word Abracadabra and in modern times found in amulets.

The pronunciation of this word was also considered a conspiracy. Among Russian sorcerers, according to whom each sound when pronouncing this word summons one spirit from hell, it is written mainly in the form of a 4-gon formed from the two triangles described above, folded with their bases, and in one of the triangles the last line (base) is thrown out . The witches sing Abracajabra when they converge on Bald Mountain.

Now the word abracadabra refers to unclear speech and incomprehensible words. It is a symbol of nonsense because no one knows what the word really means. Although, taking into account all of the above, you and I can already be excluded from this number.

Abracadabra. This strange word originates from a Jewish magical protective formula of the phrase " Abreg as habra ". Translated this means " Swords your lightning even into death". This peculiar magic formula which was constantly repeated and written one under the other with a cross-section of one letter in an inverted triangle, it was written like this exactly until the word began to converge on the letter A .

It was believed that this protective formula could ward off any evil spirits. Now in many esoteric stores you can find bronze or brass talismans with this mystical phrase. People believed that with the slow gradual disappearance of this word, all troubles and illnesses would go away.

This word was considered the strongest conspiracy. Many masters could pull out devils from the very underworld with this word.

There is an opinion that this formula came from a Jewish spell against fever, as it has a similar effect on illnesses, fevers, and temperature.

This word was correlated with the early Gnostic deity, whose name was Abraxas (Abraxus). Abraxas was considered one of the names ancient god Sun of Mithra.

Abraxas was usually depicted with the head of a rooster and legs that were two living snakes. Dressed in light armor, right hand Abraxas holds a whip, his left hand is equipped with a shield.

After the Christianization of the world, the ancient powerful Gnostic god of the Sun and Time was included in the list of demons. This is how the understanding of the true meaning of the formula of Abracadabra and its guardian god Mithra, who also had the name Abraxus, slipped.
It has reached the level of being a demon of time, a bad character in the minds of ordinary people among the simple unenlightened population.

Subtle symbolism shows that the rooster is the herald of the coming of the morning, an imminent radiant victory. Since ancient times, Mithra was revered as a victorious god. Alchemists respected this deity and it was believed that Mithra could defeat any dragon.

In the next blog we will continue to explore the world of symbols and signs together.

Alchemy (late lat. alchemia, alchimia, alchymia), a peculiar cultural phenomenon, especially widespread in Western Europe in the late Middle Ages. Alchemists considered their main task to be the transformation (“transmutation”) of base metals into noble ones with the help of an imaginary substance - the “philosopher’s stone”. The emergence and attempts to implement this task go back to antiquity.
Alchemical symbols and their mysterious meanings arose out of the need for protection and camouflage from the powerful European church. At the height of its practice, alchemy was considered a heretical craft and was punishable by death or worse, torture. The Church saw alchemy as a way for practitioners to ascend to salvation beyond "traditional" methodology. Although the ancient alchemical symbols were born out of this need, the basis of alchemical practice is based on inner transformation and its achievement. As a means of this transmutation, alchemists used the changing properties of substances in addition to the philosophical meanings of the symbols themselves.

Abracadabra:
Magical Gnostic formula (c. 1st century AD). It originates in the tradition of chanting sounds, which with their vibrations carry you into elevated states of spirit (trances) and purify. Abracadabra, written and pronounced “in the system of disappearance” - from the full name to one letter - removes illness, evil fate, poverty and all evil energies.
When wearing an amulet, this is facilitated by the shape of the pendulum and the engraving on it.
There are many versions of the origin of this word, the most common is that the term comes from the name of the Greco-Egyptian god Abraxas - the supreme head of the heavens and aeons. In this sense, Abraxas expresses the creative will of the Absolute, the world’s desire for existence.
One version of the origin of the word is based on its consonance with phrases in Jewish Aramaic: עַבְדָא כְּדַברָא , avda kedavra, "what is said must be done", and עברא כדברא , avra kedavra with a rough translation of “what is said must be done.” In Aramaic, b and v could be used interchangeably, hence the variant "abra kedabra" and further "abracadabra".
The word (spell against various diseases) was prescribed to be used as follows. It was written out in a column on a tablet 11 times, with the last letter being cut off each time. The result was a triangle. Such a gradual shortening of this word was supposed to destroy the power of the evil spirit, and the patient, putting on the amulet, was supposed to gradually recover.

Aleph:
This ancient symbol alchemy is derived from the "Secret Tradition" or Kabbalah. Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the spiritual root of all harmonies.

Caduceus:
The wings of the caduceus symbolize the ability to cross any boundaries, airiness; rod - power; double snake - opposite sides in dualism, which must ultimately unite. The two snakes, healing and poisonous (disease and health), have a hermetic and homeopathic meaning: nature can overcome nature. The Caduceus is a symbol of the complementary nature of these two forces operating in the universe and the union of the two sexes. They represent the forces of connection and separation, good and evil, fire and water, ascension and descent, as well as balance, wisdom and fertility. In alchemy it is the male sulfur and the female mercury, the power of transformation, sleep and awakening, the dissolution and coagulation (solve et coagula) of great Experience, the synthesis of opposites and the penetrating function of meditation between the higher and lower levels of reality. The messenger's wand or staff is the axis of the world, down and up along which, between Heaven and Earth, all the messenger gods and intermediaries move.

The cube represents the earth in the Pythagorean, Native American and Platonic traditions. In Egypt, the pharaoh is often depicted sitting on a cubic throne. In India, many statues of deities are shown standing on a cube - one under each foot.
According to Plato, elements that are different manifestations primary matter, are capable of mutual transformations. Plato used the geometry of polyhedra to explain such properties of matter as hardness, fusibility, airiness, and fireiness. In this case, earth was associated with a cube, water with an icosahedron, air with an octahedron, and fire with a tetrahedron. The fifth possible regular polyhedron, the dodecahedron, according to Plato, corresponded to the fifth element, which God the Creator used to create celestial bodies.

According to Aristotle, each element represents one of the states of a single primary matter - a certain combination of basic qualities - heat, cold, moisture and dryness:

Hot + Dry = Fire
Hot + Humid = Air
Cold + Wet = Water
Cold + Dry = Earth

Ergon:
This is a spiritual ancient symbol of alchemy for the right eye of the soul in which it looks into the eternal. This symbol allows you to focus on higher, subtler, spiritual vibrations. He also states the infinite nature of our soul, and our capabilities to enjoy the infinite universe.

Fire:
The ancient symbol of alchemy represents divine energy, purification, revelation, and transformation. One of the main elements, a symbol of the Spirit and G-d, the triumph of light and life over darkness and death, universal purification.

Moon:
The moon represents the dark side of nature, its invisible aspect; the spiritual aspect of light in darkness; inner knowledge, intuitive, irrational and subjective; human mind in the form of reflected light of the divine Sun.
It is a symbol of the eye of the night, and the Sun is the eye of the day. The moon also symbolizes the periodic renewal of creation, time and measure. Previously, time was measured by the phases of the moon, so it was considered the bearer of change, suffering and decline, the condition of human life on earth. Changing in its phases, it symbolizes the area of ​​formation.

Peacock tail:
The peacock's tail, which includes all the colors of the rainbow, was perceived as a universal symbol. Towards the end of alchemical work this symbol always appears. Its multi-colored feathers look like molten metal, which foreshadows intimacy in the final stage of transformation. The peacock's tail is a symbol of a smooth transition from one stage to another. Also in Islam, the tail of a peacock, revealed in all its beauty, meant either the universe or full moon or the sun at its zenith. The peacock's tail appears in the 84th emblem of Bosch's Symbolic Art as the idea of ​​the whole and a sign of the union of all colors.

Pentacle:
A pentacle is a magical object with the image of a five-pointed star (pentagram) inscribed in a circle. Each of its rays represents one of the five elements - Water, Air, Fire, Earth and Spirit. And if in upright position it symbolizes the divine principle, then inverted it is already a sign of Satan.
Sometimes pentacles are also called pentagram, pentalpha, pentageron; as well as the “star of Solomon” or the “seal of Solomon” - once famous king wore a ring with a five-pointed star, which later “decorated” his tomb.
The pentacle is a symbol of harmony, health and mystical powers. The Pythagoreans accepted it as a sign of health and marriage of heaven and earth. The Pentacle has great power as a sign of heaven, earth, and also the human body and mind. No wonder it was used as a protective emblem among alchemists and magicians.

Quincunx:
Initially, this symbol was present on a Roman coin whose denomination was equal to 5/12 (which in Latin sounds like quincunx) of ace.
Yours symbolic meaning The quincunx found among the followers of the Pythagorean School, which, as is known, specialized in mysticism and mathematics. According to Pythagoras, the components of the quincunx - the four primary elements of earth, air, fire and water, are permeated by the monad, ether. It is a symbol of permeability and vitality. The quincunx is located at the base of the Pythagorean Tetraxis - ten points, a symbol that revealed the secret of universal nature.

IN modern world this symbol is widely used by astrologers. Having the shape of a cross, it represents the cosmic center: four points corresponding to the cardinal directions meet at the fifth, central point where Heaven meets Earth.

Since ancient times, this word has meant a spell against diseases. You just had to write this word several times, subtracting one letter at a time, thinking about your problem. It was believed that in this way diseases and all problems were expelled.

Abracadabra
marriagedabra
rakadabra
okadabra
kadabra
adabra
dabra
abra
sconce
ra
A

Abracadabra - This ancient word our ancestors wrote on clothes or burned them on bark and wore them on themselves, usually tying them around their necks. Its main function is to protect the wearer from evil spirits and the evil eye and to bring good luck.

ABRACADABRA

BRACKADABR

Written in this way, this word can be read in three ways: from left to right, from top to bottom (on the left side) and from bottom to top (on the right.)

The spell word "abracadabra" was borrowed from the Sumerian-Babylonian civilization and comes from the ancient Chaldean expression "Abrada ke dabra", which translated means "Disappear like a word."
Subsequently, this phrase was shortened to the word “abracadabra”, and it was written in the form of a triangle in a certain way: each subsequent word was written lower than the previous one and shortened by one letter, so that only “A” remained at the end.
ABRACADABRA
BRACADABRA
RAKADABRA
ACADABRA
KADABRA
ADABRA
DABRA
ABRA
BRA
RA
A
Previously, this spell word was often used by doctors during the plague. Nowadays, it continues to be actively used in Central Europe, and it is not for nothing that there is still such a belief that if certain number people simultaneously utter this phrase, they will “disappear like a word,” that is, they will end up in some kind of parallel world.
So, looking at the original phrase from which this word came, one involuntarily wonders about the nature of the origin of “Avadakedavra”. Isn’t this one and the same thing: in both cases everyone disappears without a trace??

Abracadabra, perhaps ancient spell in the world. English Old Testament scholar John Allegro believes that it comes from the Mesopotamian expression ABBATABBARI. This proverb was pronounced during religious ceremonies among the ancient Sumerians. Al Legro believes that this combination is consonant with the Aramaic word, equivalent to the name of God and found in the New Testament in the prayer “Our Father.” An ancient Hebrew curse against fever was worn around the neck:

Ab Abr Abra Abrak Abraka Abrakal Abrakal Abrakal Abraka Abrak Abra Abr Ab

The word "abracadabra" may also be associated with the god Abraxas. In a poem written around 208 AD. Quintus Serenus Sammonicus, physician of the Roman Emperor Septilius Severus, gives the rules for using this spell. The word had to be written on a small piece of paper, tied around the neck and not removed for nine days. Then the piece of paper had to be thrown over the shoulder into a stream that flows to the east. The magic word was written in such a way that in each subsequent line one letter was discarded until only the last “a” remained. Just as the word gradually disappeared, the disease had to disappear. Abraxas on amulets is a demon with snakes instead of a hundred legs.

Wow... that's cool, I've already sent it to everyone (mostly to the women in the department) and they all seem to really like it. I’ve never heard of this before - super information. thankful. I'll try to use it.