ABRAXAS (Greek ) the name of a good in the system of the gnostic

Basilides; a magical spell inscribed on late Hellenistic amulets and talismans.

The etymology of the name has not been completely explained. J.B. Passerius regards the
words as originating from the Hebrew ha-berak-hah, "blessing" (one of the oldest magical
spells is close in meaning abracadabra or "to bless' from ha braka dabara). A. Geiger
also looks for its roots in Hebrew: it is composed of the two expressions abh, bara, and a
negative, which means "Uncreated Father". C. Salmasius and S. Sharpe support an
Egyptian etymology, as does J.J. Bellermann who thinks that "Abraxas" arose from the
joining of two Coptic words: abrak and sax a holy, revered and blessed name. It is likely
that in ancient pagan times this name was associated with some particular god. G. Davidson
thinks that it was the name of one of the demiurges in early Christian Egypt, which would
confirm the theory that the name is of Egyptian origin.
Abraxas became part of the history of religion thanks to the early Christian heresiologists,
St. Irenaeus (Adversus haereses I 24, 7), St. Hippolytus (Refutatio, VII 14), and St. Jerome
(In Amos, 3). They discussed the views of Basilides and considered him the "creator" of
Abraxas. In Basilides' theogony, Abraxas occurs as the "Great Archon of the Ether", a
"prince" who rules over 365 spiritual beings ( [ouranoi]) who were created by
Wisdon and Power, two elements that come from the "Pre-eternal and Unknowable Bineg".
Each ourans () manifests a different aspect of the god, while Abraxas shows the
god's fullness as his representative (hypostasis). The "Unimaginable" is also described by
the term "Omnipotent (Supreme) God". Irenaeus notes the connect between the name
Abraxas and the number of the 365 ourani. A. Neander and K.L. Gieseler follow Irenaeus
and use the method of gematria to establish that this is the numeric value of the letters that
compose the name Abraxas (A 1, B 2, R 100, A 1, S 200, A 1, X 60 = 365).
This number symbolizes the 365 daily revolutions of the Sun around the Earth in the course
of the year in a geocentric system. One day and one revolution corresponds to one ourans,
while 365 days, in the course of which all the spiritual beings reveal themselves,
correspond to Abraxas. Abraxas thus represents a type of solar god similar to the Iranian
Mithra (Meithras) and the Egyptian god Nile Neilos-Hapi. The numeric value of their
names also equals 365, and the Greek Helios, whose number is 365, and when connected
with the 5 planets it also gives the sum of 365.
At the beginning of the third century, Basilides' disciples began to make talismans and
amulets that were called abraxases, and these were still used in the middle ages. One one
side the name "Abraxas" would be inscribed (later the names "Sabaoth", "Sabao", "Jao" and
"Adonaios" appeared these were archons occurring in Orphic gnosis). On the other side
there were various figures representing a god; most often there was a rooster with the body
and hands of a man and snakes instead of legs. The figure held a shield, a scepter, a sword
or a crown or wreath with a cross. His head, hands and the serpents ("5") symbolized the
principle theological virtues (Bellermann). The particular elements of the figure referred to
solar and gnostic symbolism the rooster among the Egyptians, Persians and Greeks
designated the sun, fire, and the victory of light over darkness; the serpent (Uraeus) had a
similar meaning which in Egyptian mythology was the representative of the goddess "eye
of the sun" who destroys the enemies of Ammon-Re. The forms of an ass and lion also
appear on gems. The lion, like the rooster, had a solar reference. The lion symbolized the
Sun, sunlight, and the power of light. The ass (a beast with often extremely different
meanings) could mean patience, endurance and wisdom.
C. Salmasius, De armis climastericis, Lei 1648, 572; J. B. Passerius, De gemmis
basilidianis diatriba in: Gori,Thesaurus gemmerum antiquarum astriferarum, Florentiae
1750, II 221-286; J.J. Bellermann, Versuch ber die Gemmen der Alten mit dem Abraxas
Bilde, B 1818-1819; A. Neander, Genetische Entwicklung der gnostischen Systeme, B
1818, 138-152; J.K.L. Giesler, Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte, Bo 1844, I 123-124; S.
Sharpe, Egyptian Mythology, Lo 1863, 252 (nota); A. Geoger, Abraxas und Elxai,
Zietschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft 18 (1864), 824-825; H. Leclercq,
in: Dictionairee d'archologie chrtienne et de liturgie, P 1907, I 1127-1155; W. Drexter
in: The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, R 1957, I 16-17; G.
Davidson, in : A Dictionary of Angels, Lo 1967, 5 (ownik aniow, Pz 1998).
Anna Z. Zmorzanka
Abraxas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Abraxas (disambiguation).
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Abraxas (Gk. , variant form Abrasax, ) was a word of mystic meaning in
the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the Great Archon (Gk., megas
archn), the princeps of the 365 spheres (Gk.,ouranoi).
[1]
The seven letters spelling its name
may represent each of the seven classic planetsSun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn.
[2]

The word is found in Gnostic texts such as the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, and also
appears in the Greek Magical Papyri. It was engraved on certainantique gemstones, called on
that account Abraxas stones, which were used as amulets or charms. As the initial spelling on
stones was 'Abrasax' (), the spelling of 'Abraxas' seen today probably originates in the
confusion made between the Greek letters Sigma and Xi in the Latin transliteration. The word
may be related to Abracadabra, although other explanations exist.
There are similarities and differences between such figures in reports about Basilides's
teaching, ancient Gnostic texts, the larger Greco-Roman magical traditions, and modern
magical and esoteric writings. Opinions abound on Abraxas, who in recent centuries has been
claimed to be both an Egyptian god and a demon.
[3]
The Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung wrote a
short Gnostic treatise in 1916 called The Seven Sermons to the Dead, which called Abraxas a
god higher than the Christian God and devil that combines all opposites into one being.
Contents
[hide]
1 Sources
o 1.1 As an Archon
o 1.2 As a god
o 1.3 As an Aeon
2 Abrasax stones
o 2.1 Gallery
o 2.2 Anguipede
o 2.3 Origin
o 2.4 Magical papyri
3 Etymology
o 3.1 Egyptian
o 3.2 Hebrew
o 3.3 Greek
4 In literature
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Sources[edit]
It is uncertain what the actual role and function of Abraxas was in the Basilidian system, as our
authorities (see below) often show no direct acquaintance with the doctrines
of Basilides himself.
As an Archon[edit]


Gemstone carved with Abraxas, obverse and reverse.
In the system described by Irenaeus, "the Unbegotten Father" is the progenitor ofNous, and
from Nous Logos, from Logos Phronesis, from Phronesis Sophia andDynamis,
from Sophia and Dynamis principalities, powers, and angels, the last of whom create "the first
heaven." They in turn originate a second series, who create a second heaven. The process
continues in like manner until 365 heavens are in existence, the angels of the last or visible
heaven being the authors of our world. "The ruler" [principem, i.e., probably ton archonta] of
the 365 heavens "is Abraxas, and for this reason he contains within himself 365 numbers."
The name occurs in the Refutation of all Heresies (vii. 26) by Hippolytus, who appears in these
chapters to have followed the Exegetica of Basilides. After describing the manifestation of the
Gospel in the Ogdoad and Hebdomad, he adds that the Basilidians have a long account of the
innumerable creations and powers in the several 'stages' of the upper world (diastemata), in
which they speak of 365 heavens and say that "their great archon" is Abrasax, because his
name contains the number 365, the number of the days in the year; i.e. the sum of the
numbers denoted by the Greek letters in according to the rules of isopsephy is 365:
= 1, = 2, = 100, = 1, = 200, = 1, = 60
As a god[edit]
Epiphanius (Haer. 69, 73 f.) appears to follow partly Irenaeus, partly the lost Compendium
of Hippolytus.
[4]
He designates Abrasax more distinctly as "the power above all, and First
Principle," "the cause and first archetype" of all things; and mentions that the Basilidians
referred to 365 as the number of parts (mele) in the human body, as well as of days in the
year.
The author of the appendix to Tertullian De Praescr. Haer. (c. 4), who likewise follows
Hippolytus's Compendium,
[5]
adds some further particulars; that 'Abraxas' gave birth to
Mind (nous), the first in the series of primary powers enumerated likewise by Irenaeus and
Epiphanius; that the world, as well as the 365 heavens, was created in honour of 'Abraxas;'
and that Christ was sent not by the Maker of the world but by 'Abraxas.'
Nothing can be built on the vague allusions of Jerome, according to whom 'Abraxas' meant
for Basilides "the greatest God" (De vir. ill. 21), "the highest God" (Dial. adv. Lucif. 23), "the
Almighty God" (Comm. in Amos iii. 9), and "the Lord the Creator" (Comm. in Nah. i. 11).
The notices in Theodoret (Haer. fab. i. 4), Augustine (Haer. 4), and 'Praedestinatus' (i. 3),
have no independent value.
It is evident from these particulars that Abrasax was the name of the first of the 365
Archons, and accordingly stood below Sophia and Dynamis and their progenitors; but his
position is not expressly stated, so that the writer of the supplement to Tertullian had some
excuse for confusing him with "the Supreme God."
As an Aeon[edit]
With the availability of primary sources, such as the those in Nag Hammadi library, the
identity of Abrasax remains unclear. The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, for
instance, refers to Abrasax as an Aeon dwelling with Sophia and other Aeons of
the Pleroma in the light of the luminary Eleleth. In several texts, the luminary Eleleth is the
last of the luminaries (Spiritual Lights) that come forward, and it is the Aeon Sophia,
associated with Eleleth, who encounters darkness and becomes involved in the chain of
events that leads to the Demiurge's rule of this world, and the salvage effort that ensues.
As such, the role of Aeons of Eleleth, including Abrasax, Sophia, and others, pertains to
this outer border of the Pleroma that encounters the ignorance of the world of Lack and
interacts to rectify the error of ignorance in the world of materiality.
Abrasax stones[edit]
A vast number of engraved stones are in existence, to which the name "Abrasax-stones"
has long been given. One particularly fine example was included as part of the Thetford
treasure from fourth century Norfolk, UK. The subjects are mythological, and chiefly
grotesque, with various inscriptions, in which often occurs, alone or with other
words. Sometimes the whole space is taken up with the inscription. In certain obscure
magical writings of Egyptian origin or is found associated with other
names which frequently accompany it on gems;
[6]
it is also found on the Greek
metaltesser among other mystic words. The meaning of the legends is seldom
intelligible: but some of the gems are amulets; and the same may be the case with nearly
all.


A print from Bernard de Montfaucon's L'antiquit explique et reprsente en figures (Band 2,2 page
358 ff plaque 144) with different images of Abraxas.
The Abrasax-image alone, without external Iconisms, and either without, or but a
simple, inscription. The Abrasax-imago proper is usually found with a shield, a
sphere or wreath and whip, a sword or sceptre, a cock's head, the body clad with
armor, and a serpent's tail. There are, however, innumerable modifications of these
figures: Lions', hawks', and eagles' skins, with or without mottos, with or without a
trident and star, and with or without reverses.
Abrasax combined with other Gnostic Powers. If, in a single instance, this supreme
being was represented in connection with powers of subordinate rank, nothing could
have been more natural than to represent it also in combination with its emanations,
the seven superior spirits, the thirty Aeons, and the three hundred and sixty-five
cosmical Genii; and yet this occurs upon none of the relics as yet discovered, whilst
those with Powers not belonging to the Gnostic system are frequently met with.
Abrasax with Jewish symbols. This combination predominates, not indeed with
symbolical figures, but in the form of inscriptions, such as: Iao, Eloai, Adonai,Sabaoth,
Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Onoel, Ananoel, Raphael, Japlael, and many others. The name
, to which is sometimes added, is found with this figure even more
frequently than , and they are often combined. Beside an Abrasax figure the
following, for instance, is found: IA ABPAA AN , "Iao Abrasax, thou art the
Lord".
[7]
With the Abrasax-shield are also found the divine names Sabaoth Iao, Iao
Abrasax, Adonai Abrasax, etc.
[8]

Abrasax with Persian deities. Chiefly, perhaps exclusively, in combination
withMithras, and possibly a few specimens with the mystical gradations of mithriaca,
upon Gnostic relics.
Abrasax with Egyptian deities. It is represented as a figure, with the sun-god Phre
leading his chariot, or standing upon a lion borne by a crocodile; also as a name, in
connection with Isis, Phtha, Neith, Athor, Thot, Anubis, Horus, andHarpocrates in a
Lotus-leaf; also with a representation of the Nile, the symbol of prolificacy,
with Agathodaemon(Chnuphis), or with scarabs, the symbols of the revivifying
energies of nature.
Abrasax with Grecian deities, sometimes as a figure, and again with the simple
name, in connection with the planets, especially Venus, Hecate, and Jupiter, richly
engraved.
Simple or ornamental representations of the journey of departed spirits through
the starry world to Amenti, borrowed, as those above-named, from the Egyptian
religion. The spirit wafted from the earth, either with or without the corpse, and
transformed at times into Osiris or Helios, is depicted as riding upon the back of a
crocodile, or lion, guided in some instances by Anubis, and other genii, and
surrounded by stars; and thus attended hastening to judgment and a higher life.
Representations of the judgment, which, like the preceding, are either ornamental or
plain, and imitations of Egyptian art, with slight modifications and prominent symbols,
as the vessel in which Anubis weighs the human heart, as comprehending the entire
life of man, with all its errors.
Worship and consecrating services were, according to the testimony of Origen in his
description of tho ophitic diagram, conducted with figurative representations in the
secret assemblies of the Gnostics unless indeed the statement on which this opinion
rests designates, as it readily may, a statue of glyptic workmanship. It is uncertain if
any of the discovered specimens actually represent the Gnostic cultus and religious
ceremonies, although upon some may be seen an Abrasax-figure laying its hand upon
a person kneeling, as though for baptism or benediction.
Astrological groups. The Gnostics referred everything to astrology. Even the
Bardesenists located the inferior powers, the seven, twelve and thirty-six, among the
planets, in the zodiac and starry region, as rulers of the celestial phenomena which
influence the earth and its inhabitants. Birth and health, wealth and allotment, are
considered to be mainly under their control. Other sects betray still stronger partiality
for astrological conceits. Many of these specimens also are improperly ascribed to
Gnosticism, but the Gnostic origin of others is too manifest to allow of contradiction.
Inscriptions, of which there are three kinds:
Those destitute of symbols or iconisms, engraved upon stone, iron, lead and silver
plates, in Greek, Latin, Coptic or other languages, of arauletio import, and in the
form of prayers for health and protection.
Those with some symbol, as a serpent in an oval form.
Those with iconisms, at times very small, but often made the prominent object, so
that the legend is limited to a single word or name. Sometimes the legends are as
important as the images. It is remarkable, however, that thus far none of the plates
or medals found seem to have any of the forms or prayers reported by Origen. It is
necessary to distinguish those specimens that belong to the proper Gnostic period
from such as are indisputably of later origin, especially since there is a strong
temptation to place those of more recent date among the older class.
Gallery[edit]
Prints from Bernard de Montfaucon's ''L'antiquit explique et reprsente en
figures'' (Band 2,2) page 358 ff.

Plaque 144

Plaque 145

Plaque 146

Plaque 147

Plaque 148

Plaque 149
Anguipede[edit]


Engraving from an Abrasax stone.
In a great majority of instances the name Abrasax is associated with a singular composite
figure, having a Chimera-like appearance somewhat resembling a basiliskor the Greek
primordial god Chronos (not to be confused with the Greek titanCronus). According to E. A.
Wallis Budge, "as a Pantheus, i.e. All-God, he appears on the amulets with the head of
a cock (Phbus) or of a lion (Ra or Mithras), the body of a man, and his legs are serpents
which terminate in scorpions, types of theAgathodaimon. In his right hand he grasps a
club, or a flail, and in his left is a round or oval shield." This form was also referred to as
the Anguipede. Budge surmised that Abrasax was "a form of the Adam Kadmon of
the Kabbalists and the Primal Man whom God made in His own image."
[9]

Some parts at least of the figure mentioned above are solar symbols, and the Basilidian
Abrasax is manifestly connected with the sun. J. J. Bellermann has speculated that "the
whole represents the Supreme Being, with his Five great Emanations, each one pointed
out by means of an expressive emblem. Thus, from the human body, the usual form
assigned to the Deity, forasmuch as it is written that God created man in his own image,
issue the two supporters, Nous and Logos, symbols of the inner sense and the quickening
understanding, as typified by the serpents, for the same reason that had induced the old
Greeks to assign this reptile for an attribute to Pallas. His heada cock's
represents Phronesis, the fowl being emblematical of foresight and vigilance. His two
hands bear the badges of Sophia andDynamis, the shield of Wisdom, and the scourge of
Power."
[10]

Origin[edit]
In the absence of other evidence to show the origin of these curious relics of antiquity the
occurrence of a name known as Basilidian on patristic authority has not unnaturally been
taken as a sufficient mark of origin, and the early collectors and critics assumed this whole
group to be the work of Gnostics. During the last three centuries attempts have been made
to sift away successively those gems that had no claim to be considered in any sense
Gnostic, or specially Basilidian, or connected with Abrasax. The subject is one which has
exercised the ingenuity of many savants, but it may be said that all the engraved stones
fall into three classes:
Abrasax, or stones of Basilidian origin
Abrasaxtes, or stones originating in ancient forms of worship and adapted by the
Gnostics
Abraxodes, or stones absolutely unconnected with the doctrine of Basilides
While it would be rash to assert positively that no existing gems were the work of Gnostics,
there is no valid reason for attributing all of them to such an origin. The fact that the name
occurs on these gems in connection with representations of figures with the head of a
cock, a lion, or an ass, and the tail of a serpent was formerly taken in the light of what
Irenaeus says about the followers of Basilides:
These men, moreover, practise magic, and use images, incantations, invocations,
and every other kind of curious art. Coining also certain names as if they were
those of the angels, they proclaim some of these as belonging to the first, and
others to the second heaven; and then they strive to set forth the names,
principles, angels, and powers of the 365 imagined heavens.
Adversus hreses, I. xxiv. 5; cf. Epiph. Haer. 69 D; Philastr. Suer. 32
Incantations by mystic names were characteristic of the hybrid Gnosticism planted
in Spain and southern Gaul at the end of the fourth century and at the beginning of the
fifth, which Jerome connects with Basilides and which (according to his Epist., lxxv.) used
the name Abrasax.
It is therefore not unlikely that some Gnostics used amulets, though the confident
assertions of modern writers to this effect rest on no authority. Isaac de
Beausobre properly calls attention to the significant silence of Clement in the two passages
in which he instructs the Christians of Alexandria on the right use of rings and gems, and
the figures which may legitimately be engraved on them (Paed. 241 ff.; 287 ff.). But no
attempt to identify the figures on existing gems with the personages of Gnostic mythology
has had any success, and Abrasax is the only Gnostic term found in the accompanying
legends that is not known to belong to other religions or mythologies. The present state of
the evidence therefore suggests that their engravers and the Basilidians received the
mystic name from a common source now unknown.
Magical papyri[edit]
Having due regard to the magic papyri, in which many of the unintelligible names of the
Abrasax-stones reappear, besides directions for making and using gems with similar
figures and formulas for magical purposes, it can scarcely be doubted that many of these
stones are pagan amulets and instruments of magic.
The magic papyri reflect the same ideas as the Abrasax-gems and often bear Hebraic
names of God. The following example will suffice: "Iao Sabaoth, Adonai . . .
Abrasax".
[11]
The patriarchs are sometimes addressed as deities; for which fact many
instances may be adduced. In the group "Iakoubia, Iaosabaoth Adonai Abrasax,"
[12]
the
first name seems to be composed ofJacob and Ya.
The Leyden papyrus recommends that this invocation be pronounced to the moon:
[24] Ho! Sax, Amun, Sax, Abrasax; for thou art the moon, (25) the chief of the
stars, he that did form them, listen to the things that I have(?) said, follow the
(words) of my mouth, reveal thyself to me, Than, (26) Thana, Thanatha, otherwise
Thei, this is my correct name.
[13]

The magic word "Ablanathanalba," which reads in Greek the same backward as forward,
also occurs in the Abrasax-stones as well as in the magic papyri. This word is usually
conceded to be derived from the Hebrew (Aramaic), meaning "Thou art our father" (
a nopu dnuof si noitpircsni gniwollof eht ;xasarbA htiw noitcennoc ni srucco osla dna ,(
metal plate in the Carlsruhe Museum:




Etymology[edit]
Gaius Julius Hyginus (Fab. 183) gives Abrax Aslo Therbeeo as names of horses of the sun
mentioned by 'Homerus.' The passage is miserably corrupt: but it may not be accidental
that the first three syllables make Abraxas.
The proper form of the name is evidently Abrasax, as with the Greek writers, Hippolytus,
Epiphanias, Didymus (De Trin. iii. 42), and Theodoret; also Augustine and 'Praedestinatus';
and in nearly all the legends on gems. By a probably euphonic inversion the translator of
Irenaeus and the other Latin authors have Abraxas, which is found in the magical papyri,
and even, though most sparingly, on engraved stones.
The attempts to discover a derivation for the name, Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, or other, have
not been entirely successful:
Egyptian[edit]
Claudius Salmasius thought it Egyptian, but never gave the proofs which he promised.
J. J. Bellermann thinks it a compound of the Egyptian words abrak and sax, meaning
the honorable and hallowed word, or the word is adorable.
Samuel Sharpe finds in it an Egyptian invocation to the Godhead, meaning hurt me
not.
Hebrew[edit]
Abraham Geiger sees in it a Grecized form of ha-berakhah, the blessing, a meaning
which C.W. King declares philologically untenable.
J. B. Passerius derives it from abh, father, bara, to create, and a- negativethe
uncreated Father.
Giuseppe Barzilai goes back for explanation to the first verse of the prayer attributed to
Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKanah, the literal rendering of which is O [God], with thy
mighty right hand deliver the unhappy [people], forming from the initial and final letters
of the words the word Abrakd (pronounced Abrakad), with the meaning the host of the
winged ones, i.e., angels. But this extremely ingenious theory would at most explain
only the mystic word Abracadabra, whose connection with Abrasax is by no means
certain.
Greek[edit]
Wendelin discovers a compound of the initial letters, amounting to 365 in numerical
value, of four Hebrew and three Greek words, all written with Greek characters: ab,
ben, rouach, hakads; stria apo xylou (Father, Son, Spirit, holy; salvation from the
cross).
According to a note of Isaac de Beausobres, Jean Hardouin accepted the first three of
these, taking the four others for the initials of the Greek anthrpousszn hagii xyli,
saving mankind by the holy cross.
Isaac de Beausobre derives Abrasax from the Greek habros and sa, the beautiful,
the glorious Savior.
Perhaps the word may be included among those mysterious expressions discussed
by Adolf von Harnack,
[14]
which belong to no known speech, and by their singular
collocation of vowels and consonants give evidence that they belong to some mystic
dialect, or take their origin from some supposed divine inspiration.
Yet we may with better reason suppose that it came originally from a foreign mythology,
and that the accident of its numerical value in Greek merely caused it to be singled out at
Alexandria for religious use. It is worth notice that and have the same
value. The Egyptian author of the book De Mysteriis in reply to Porphyry (vii. 4) admits a
preference of 'barbarous' to vernacular names in sacred things, urging a peculiar sanctity
in the languages of certain nations, as the Egyptians and Assyrians; and Origen (Contra
Cels. i. 24) refers to the 'potent names' used by Egyptian sages, Persian Magi, and
Indian Brahmins, signifying deities in the several languages.
In literature[edit]

Medieval Seal representing Abraxas.
[15]

Thomas More, Utopia
In the 1516 novel Utopia by Thomas More, the island called Utopia once had the name
"Abraxa", which scholars have suggested is a related use.
[16]

Aleister Crowley, "The Gnostic Mass"
Abrasax is invoked in Aleister Crowley's 1913 work, "The Gnostic Mass" of Ecclesia
Gnostica Catholica:
IO IO IO IAO SABAO KURIE ABRASAX KURIE MEITHRAS KURIE PHALLE. IO
PAN, IO PAN PAN IO ISCHUROS, IO ATHANATOS IO ABROTOS IO IAO. KAIRE
PHALLE KAIRE PAMPHAGE KAIRE PANGENETOR. HAGIOS, HAGIOS,
HAGIOS IAO.
[17]

As a piece of mystical and religious syncretism, the work reflects more the personal
preferences of the modern magician than it holds historical veracity.
Carl Jung, Seven Sermons to the Dead
Abraxas is an important figure in Carl Jung's 1916 book Seven Sermons to the Dead, a
representation of the driving force of individuation (synthesis, maturity, oneness), referred
with the figures for the driving forces of differentiation (emergence of consciousness and
opposites), Helios God-the-Sun, and the Devil.
[18]

There is a God about whom you know nothing, because men have forgotten him.
We call him by his name: Abraxas. He is less definite than God or Devil.... Abraxas
is activity: nothing can resist him but the unreal ... Abraxas stands above the sun[-
god] and above the devil If the Pleroma were capable of having a being, Abraxas
would be its manifestation.
2nd Sermon
That which is spoken by God-the-Sun is life; that which is spoken by the Devil is
death; Abraxas speaketh that hallowed and accursed word, which is life and death
at the same time. Abraxas begetteth truth and lying, good and evil, light and
darkness in the same word and in the same act. Wherefore is Abraxas terrible.
3rd Sermon
Herman Hesse, Demian
Several references to the god Abraxas appear in Hermann Hesse's 1919 novel Demian,
such as:
The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born
must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas.
Max Demian
... it appears that Abraxas has much deeper significance. We may conceive of the
name as that of the godhead whose symbolic task is the uniting of godly and
devilish elements.
Dr. Follens
Abraxas doesn't take exception to any of your thoughts or any of your dreams.
Never forget that. But he will leave you once you become blameless and normal.
Pistorius
Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children (1981) contains a reference to Abraxas in the
chapter "Abracadabra":
Abracadabra: not an Indian word at all, a cabbalistic formula derived from the
name of the supreme god of the Basilidan gnostics, containing the number 365, the
number of the days of the year, and of the heavens, and of the spirits emanating
from the god Abraxas.
Saleem Sinai
References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Cf. Hippolytus, Refutatio, vii. 14; Irenaeus, Adversus hreses, I. xxiv. 7
2. Jump up^ He who has His seat within the Seven Poles, in the Magical
Papyri. Mead, G.R.S. (1906). "XI. Concerning the on-Doctrine". Thrice-Greatest
Hermes 1. London and Benares: The Theosophical Publishing Society. p. 402.
3. Jump up^ "Demonographers have made him a demon, who has the head of a king
and serpents for feet." Collin de Plancy, Jacques Auguste Simon (1818). "Abracax or
Abraxas". Dictionnaire Infernal.
4. Jump up^ Lipsius, R. A., Zur Quellenkritik d. Epiphanios 99 f.
5. Jump up^ Lipsius 33 f. &c.
6. Jump up^ Reuvens (1830). Lett, M. Letronne s. I. Pap. bilingues, etc., Leyden
7. Jump up^ Bellermann, Versuch, iii., No. 10.
8. Jump up^ Baudissin, Studien zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte, i. 189 et seq.
9. Jump up^ Budge, E. A. Wallis (1930). Amulets and Superstitions. pp. 209210.
10. Jump up^ Paraphrased by King, Charles William (1887). The Gnostics and Their
Remains. p. 246.
11. Jump up^ Wessely, Neue Zauberpapyri, p. 27, No. 229.
12. Jump up^ Ibid. p. 44, No. 715
13. Jump up^ Griffith, F. Ll. and Thompson, Herbert (1904). "Col. XXIII". The Demotic
Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden (The Leyden Papyrus).
14. Jump up^ Harnack, Adolf von (1891). "ber das gnostische Buch Pistis-Sophia". TU.
vii. 2: 8689.
15. Jump up^ Ralls, Karen (2007). Knights Templar Encyclopedia: The Essential Guide to
the People, Places, Events, and Symbols of the Order of the Temple. Career Press.
pp. 1845. ISBN 9781564149268.
16. Jump up^ [1]
17. Jump up^ Gnostic Mass, Liber XV, Ecclesi Gnostic Catholic Canon Miss,
hosted by the Scarlet Woman Lodge of Ordo Templi Orientis in Austin, Texas.
18. Jump up^ Hoeller S. A., The Gnostic Jung and The Seven Sermons to the Dead,
Quest Books, Wheaton, 2006, ISBN 978-0-8356-0568-7
Bibliography[edit]
Salmasius, C. (1648). De armis climactericis. Leyden. p. 572.
Wendelin, in a letter in J. Macarii Abraxas . . . accedit Abraxas Proteus, seu multiformis
gemm Basilidain portentosa varietas, exhibita . . . a J. Chifletio. Antwerp. 1657.
pp. 112115.
Beausobre, I. de (1739). Histoire critique de Maniche et du Manichisme ii.
Amsterdam. pp. 5069.
Passerius, J. B. (1750). De gemmis Basilidianis diatriba, in Gori, Thesaurus
gemmarum antiquarum astriferarum, ii. Florence. pp. 221286.
Tubires de Grimvard, Count de Caylus (1764). Recueil dantiquits, vi. Paris. pp. 65
66.
Mnter, F. (1790). Versuch ber die kirchlichen Alterthmer der Gnostiker. Anspach.
pp. 203214.
Bellermann, J. J. (181819). Versuch ber die Gemmen der Alten mit dem Abraxas-
Bilde, 3 parts. Berlin.
Matter, J. (1828). Histoire critique du Gnosticisme i. Paris.
Idem, Abraxas in Herzog, RE, 2d ed., 1877.
Sharpe, S. (1863). Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity. London. p. 252, note.
Geiger (1864). "Abraxas und Elxai". ZDMG. xviii: 824825.
Barzilai, G. (1873). Gli Abraxas, studio archeologico. Triest.
Idem, Appendice alla dissertazione sugli Abraxas, ib. 1874.
Renan, E. (1879). Histoire des origines du Christianisme vi. Paris. p. 160.
King, C. W. (1887). The Gnostics and their Remains. London.
Harnack, Geschichte, i. 161. The older material is listed by Matter, ut sup., and
Wessely, Ephesia grammata, vol. ii., Vienna, 1886.
Monfaucon, B. de (171924). LAntiquit explique ii. Paris. p. 356. Eng. transl., 10
vols., London, 1721-25.
Raspe, R. E. (1791). Descriptive catalogue of . . . engraved Gems . . . cast . . . by J.
Tassie. 2 vols. London.
Chabouillet, J. M. A. (1858). Catalogue gnral et raisonn des cames et pierres
graves de la Bibliothque Impriale. Paris.
Budge, E. A. Wallis (1930). Amulets and Superstitions. pp. 209210.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herzog,
Johann Jakob (1860). "Abraxas".Protestant Theological and Ecclesiastical
Encyclopedia, Volume I. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston. pp. 2829.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith,
William; Wace, Henry. A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and
Doctrines, Being a Continuation of "The Dictionary of the Bible".
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public
domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abrasax".Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert
Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Drexler, W.
(1908). "Abraxas". In Jackson, Samuel Macauley. New SchaffHerzog Encyclopedia
of Religious Knowledge 1 (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.
pp. 16,17.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm,
Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abrasax".Encyclopdia Britannica 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press. p. 72.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jewish
Encyclopedia. 19011906.
External links[edit]
Jewish encyclopedia entry
The complete texts of Carl Jung's "The Seven Sermons To The Dead"