Abraxas (or Abrasax or Abracax)

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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. The name is found in the Greek Magical Papyri, and the word may be related to the word abracadabra, although other explanations exist. The name is also found in Gnostic texts such as the Gospel of the Egyptians. Abraxas has also been variously claimed throughout the centuries to be an Egyptian god, a demon, and to represent God and Satan in one entity and the dual nature of its essence.

The initial spelling of the word as seen on stones was "Abrasax" (?ß?asa?). The spelling seen today probably originates in the confusion made between the Greek letters Sigma and Xi in the Latin transliteration.In Gnostic cosmology, the 7 letters spelling its name represents each of the 7 classic “planets” (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn).

Appearance and meaning


According to Irenaeus, Basilides taught that Nous (Mind) was the first to be born from the Unborn Father; from Nous was born Logos (Reason); from Logos, Phronesis (Prudence); from Phronesis, Sophia (Wisdom) and Dynamis (Strength) and from Phronesis and Dynamis the Virtues, Principalities, and Archangels.

The letters of Abraxas (aß?a?a?), in the Greek system of alphabetic numerology, sum to the number 365, and the Basilideans gave this name to the 365 orders of heavens which emanated in succession from the Unborn Father, each fashioned by the angelic hosts 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, the Abraxas stones often had a symbolic figure engraved on them; the figure had a Chimera-like appearance somewhat resembling a basilisk. According to E. A. Wallis Budge, "as a Pantheus, i.e. All-God, he appears on the amulets with the head of a cock (Phoebus) or of a lion (Ra or Mithras), the body of a man, and his legs are serpents which terminate in scorpions, types of the Agathodaimon. 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.

C.W. King, citing J.J. Bellermann, has suggested 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 head—a cock's—represents Phronesis, the fowl being emblematical of foresight and vigilance. His two hands bear the badges of Sophia and Dynamis, the shield of Wisdom, and the scourge of Power."

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:
Abrasax, or stones of Basilidean origin
Abrasaxtes, or stones originating in ancient forms of worship, and adapted by the Gnostics
Abraxoïdes, or stones absolutely unconnected with the doctrine of Basilides


Quotations

It is uncertain what the actual role and function of Abraxas was in the Basilidean system, as the accounts of the Church Fathers are vague and often contradictory. Irenaeus gives out that Abraxas is the "chief" of 365 heavens:
They make out the local position of the three hundred and sixty-five heavens in the same way as do mathematicians. For, accepting the theorems of these latter, they have transferred them to their own type of doctrine. They hold that their chief is Abraxas; and, on this account, that word contains in itself the numbers amounting to three hundred and sixty-five.


Hippolytus likewise makes Abraxas (or, in this case, "Abrasax") out to be an Archon:
In these regions of the universe there exist, according to these heretics, creatures infinite (in number), viz., Principalities and Powers and Rulers, in regard of which there is extant among the (Basilidians) a very prolix and verbose treatise, where they allege that there are three hundred and sixty-five heavens, and that the great Archon of these is Abrasax, from the fact that his name comprises the computed number 365, so that, of course, the calculation of the title includes all (existing) things, and that for these reasons the year consists of so many days.


Tertullian, however, who seems to be largely working off of Irenaeus' writings, designates Abraxas as the supreme deity:
Afterwards broke out the heretic Basilides. He affirms that there is a supreme Deity, by name Abraxas, by whom was created Mind, which in Greek he calls Nous; that thence sprang the Word; that of Him issued Providence, Virtue, and Wisdom; that out of these subsequently were made Principalities, powers, and Angels; that there ensued infinite issues and processions of angels; that by these angels 365 heavens were formed, and the world, in honor of Abraxas, whose name, if computed, has in itself this number. Now, among the last of the angels, those who made this world, he places the God of the Jews latest, that is, the God of the Law and of the Prophets, whom he denies to be a God, but affirms to be an angel. To him, he says, was allotted the seed of Abraham, and accordingly he it was who transferred the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt into the land of Canaan; affirming him to be turbulent above the other angels, and accordingly given to the frequent arousing of seditions and wars, yes, and the shedding of human blood. Christ, moreover, he affirms to have been sent, not by this maker of the world, but by the above-named Abraxas; and to have come in a phantasm, and been destitute of the substance of flesh: that it was not He who suffered among the Jews, but that Simon was crucified in His stead: whence, again, there must be no believing on him who was crucified, lest one confess to having believed on Simon.


With the availability of primary sources, such as the Nag Hammadi Library, the identity of Abraxas 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 the Valentinian system, Horos, the "limit," functioned as a boundary between the Supermundane and the Mundane, equivalent to what Basilides termed the Methorion Pneuma. It is possible that Abrasax held a similar role. Valentinus held that Horos contained within itself the totality of the 30 Æons, much as Abrasax contained within itself 365 heavens. It can also be noted that the name of the Persian god Mithras, another solar deity, was known in antiquity to contain the numerical value of 365.

Abraxas in modern culture


Carl Jung (The Seven Sermons to the Dead)


"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."

Aleister CrowleyAbrasax is invoked in the The Gnostic Mass of the 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."

This mass is mainly taken from Epiphanius' account of a Phibionite mass, from which Crowley borrowed liberally in writing this rite. Crowley's "Gnostic Mass" contains highly sexual material, as well as references to the author's modern religion of Thelema. The highly biased polemics of the heresiologists often deliberately mischaracterized Gnostic rituals as orgiastic; many scholars nowadays only peripherally utilize the church fathers' accounts of the Gnostics as materials for the study of Gnosticism, as primary sources such as the Nag Hammadi Library have been available for years.

Books

In the novel Utopia by Thomas More, the island with the same name of the novel once had the name "Abraxas".

A reference to the god Abraxas appears in the following passage of Hermann Hesse's novel, Demian:
"The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas."


In Hugo Pratt's story Favola di Venezia - Sirat Al-Bunduqiyyah (Fable of Venice), Corto Maltese encounters several Abraxas in Venice.

In the German book "Die kleine Hexe" ("The Little Witch") by Otfried Preußler the witche's raven is called "Abraxas".

In Small Gods by Terry Pratchett 'Charcoal' Abraxas is a lightning-singed philosopher who claimed that 'The Gods like an atheist - it gives them something to aim at'

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince it is revealed that Draco Malfoy's grandfather is named Abraxas.

A Jewish view of "satan"

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A Jewish view of "satan"

by Gretchen S.

Here is a bit about the Jewish view of Satan, as opposed to the Christian devil. Again, Judaism has no devil, there is no embodiment of evil who tempts us, as in Christianity. The Jewish view is very different than that portrayed by Christains. I hope this will be clear by the end of this post.

First of all, the Hebrew word satan (sin-tet-nun sofit) means an adversary or accuser. It is used this way in Numbers 22:22. "And G-d´s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the L-rd stood in the way as an *adversary* against him...." The word marked with *'s and translated as adversary is satan (actually l'satan, l' being a prefix that in the context gives the meaning "as"). Likewise in Numbers 22:32, part of the same story about Bilaam.

In I Samuel 29:4. "And the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make this fellow return, that he may go back to his place which you have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an *adversary* to us; for how should he reconcile himself to his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?" Agian, the word translated as an adversary is satan. Later, in II Samuel 19:23. "And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be *adversaries* to me?..." Again the word is satan and is translated as adversary. I could contiue through the Tanach with this. In each case, the word satan is translated as adversary.

Now, there is the term ha'satan, meaning the adversary. It is used to indicate a definite adversary. It is used in this way in the book of Zecharaih. Zecharia 3:1-2, for example, is sometimes translated as "And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the L-RD, and *Satan* standing at his right hand to thwart him. And the L-RD said to Satan, The L-RD rebukes you, O *Satan;* the L-RD that has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" The word translated here as Satan is ha'satan. In other translations, this is translated as the adversary. In the historical context of the prophet, it is used to avoid using the name of the true adversary who was trying to keep the Jews from rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. The adversary was the Samaritans and a highly placed official in the Persian government. In order to avoid reprisals, Zechariah uses the term "the adversary" or "the accusor" (as the Jews were accused of building the Temple in order to rebell). Now, later in Jewish history, this was interpreted in another, somewhat metaphorical level, as if a prosecuting angel of the heavenly court were accusing Joshua ha-Kohen (the priest), and not the Samaritains that the highly placed Persian official.

The only other occurance of ha'satan is in the book of Job. The book, first of all, is one of the Writtings. It is one inspired Jews attempt to understand why bad things happen to good people. He writes a story about Job's suffering in order to explore the suffering of righteous people in general. The conculusion of his book, the moral of the story, is that only G-d knows why good people sometimes suffer. Satan in this book is a literary tool. That being said, out of this book arose the aggadic (kind of like legendary--there are many legends written in the Talmud to teach a lesson of one kind or another, but are not literally true) idea of Satan as the prosecuting attorney of G-d. Satan here is completely obedient to G-d and he NEVER rebells against G-d. He has a roll just as does the angel of death, in G-d's plan. His job is to act in the heavenly court as the prosecutor of those who recently died. He is in no way evil, he just has a job that some might find distasteful. That is the aggadic idea of Satan, which no Jew is obligated to take litterally, but we are supposed to learn the lesson that all of our actions will be known to G-d and that we will be judged.

The adversary in Zechariah was a very real, very human one, the adversary in Job is a teaching tool, as is the Satan of the aggadah. Humans have within them a yetzer hara and a yetzer hatov, a bad impulse and a good impulse. We need no outside, powerful, ultimate evil force to tempt us, the impulse lies within ourselves. By following G-d's will, we can overcome this temptation. There is no power to rival G-d. All angels in Judaism are obedient servants of G-d.

This is in contrast to the Christian idea of the "devil" and their "satan". In Christianity, "satan, aka the devil" is viewed as the "god of this world". He has enormous power and he opposes G-d. He is seen as a "fallen angel".

This brings me to the explaination of "Lucifer". Some say that Isaiah 14:12. "How are you fallen from heaven, O bright star [or shining one], son of the morning [or son of dawn]! how are you cut down to the ground, you who ruled the nations!" is about the "devil". Part of this is due to the fact that the term bright star or shining one is translated in Latin to lucifer, which means shining one. Now, the context of the verse and a bit of knowledge of history reviels that this is about the Babylonian empire. One of the main dieties of Babylon was "Ishtar", who was the "god" who was the morning star. Shining one, son of dawn is the morning star. The prophet was avoiding the use of the name of the not-god Ishtar. Reading verse 4, "That you shall take up this proverb against the **king of Babylon,** and say, How has the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!", it becomes clear that this is the king of Babylon and his nation that is being spoken of here. There is no Lucifer, no devil in the Tanach, but there are many, many adversaries and accusers of the Jewish people.

Josef Dvorak -Satanismus-

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Das alte religiöse Motiv des Satanismus feiert seit einigen Jahren eine seltsame Renaissance. Millionen hängen "schwarzen Kulten" an, der Teufelsglaube hält Einzug in die Popkultur und führt zur Inszenierung skandalöser Happenings.
 
Josef Dvorak, katholischer Theologe, Tiefenpsychologe und Mitbegründer des Wiener Aktionismus hat mit diesem Werk die erste deutsche Gesamtdarstellung von Geschichte und Gegenwart des Satanismus geschrieben.
 
In diesem einzigartigen Sachbuch finden die unterschiedlichsten Satanskulte, sexualmagische Rituale und poltisch-revolutionären Bewegungen der Neuzeit genauso ihren Platz wie die geschichtlichen Erscheinungsformen des Teufelsglaubens und der jahrtausendelange antisatanische Kampf der christlichen Kirchen.
 
"Es ist nur das definierbar, was keine Geschichte hat." - Friedrich Nietzsche
 
 
Inhalte:
 
1. Teil - Schwarze Rituale
 
Teuflische Musik, Aleister Crowleys "Missa Phoenix", Die Lurianische Kabbala, Abrahadabra, Das Henochische - Sprache der Engel, Ein skandalöses Happening, "The Dry Halleys" - reine akustische Angst, Der "Satanist" persönlich, Gottes Totenwürmer, Das Blut Christi: Der Gral, Blut und Samen, Der Tod und die Lust, Geheimnisse des Tarot, Satan - das "wüste Scheusal", Teufel und Titanen, Die Yezidi, Eine Botschaft Satans, Empörte Katholiken, Wiener Aktionismus
 
2. Teil - Erscheinungen einer "Subreligion"
 
Hunde -Wölfe - Schakale, Kalifornische Kulte, Magische Verwandlungen, Lust und Drogen, Das perverse Psychodrama, Satanofaschismus, Okkultistischer Rassismus, Satanische Nazis?, Teufelsstaat und Menschenrechte, Gnostischer Hedonismus, Charles Manson, Satanologie nach Alfred Adler, Crowleys Zeugungsversuche und die Folgen, Die Scientologen, Das "Mondkind", die gnostischen Wurzeln, Eine magische "Feldtheorie", Mysteriöse Todesfälle
 
3. Reil - Der Kampf gegen die Hölle
 
Kirchliche Exorzismen, Päpstliche Unfehlbarkeit, Verschwörungstheorien, Herz-Jesu- und Marienkult, Der Taxil-Schwwindel, Häretischer Antisatanismus, Boullan und das "Marienwerk", Sex mit Engeln und Tieren, Prophetinnen und Priesterinnen, Regression ins Paradies, Die moderne antisatanische Theologie, Antisatanistische Interpretation der Bibel, Antisatanistische Interpretation des christlichen Evangeliums, Antifaschismus oder Antijudaismus, Adolf Hitler und der Teufel
 
Die Augen der dämonischen Mutter, Hitlers "Borderline-Syndrom", War Hitler schizophren?, Besessenheit heute: Der Fall Klingenberg, Der Exorzismus wirkt nicht mehr, Die Teufelspredigt Pauls VI., Pseudoepilepsie, Satan entmischt die Triebe, Teuflisch Affekte, Der "Kain-Komplex", Das Dämonische ist das Plötzliche, Die Hölle liegt im Hirn
 
4. Teil - Die Wurzeln des modernen Satanismus
 
Aleister Crowley - Das "Große Tier" kreuzigt Jesus, Freimaurer und Bolschewiken, Mittelalterliche Ketzereien, Calvins Gott - ein grausamer Tyrann, Satan-Luzifer - Anwalt der Freiheit, Miltons Satan, Absolutismus und Aufklärungsoptimismus, Die romantische Erlösung Luzifers, Staatsräson - Klostersatanismus - Sexualmystik, De Sade contra Rousseau - Triumph der bösen Natur, Psychologie des Sadismus
 
Der Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), Die Symbolisten der Jahrtausendwende, Rudolf Steiners Fehltritt, Ordensgeheimnis Sexualmagie, Der Teufel als literarisches Motiv von Moderne und Postmoderne, Satan - Reaktionär oder Revolutionär?, William Blake: Befreiung der Begierde, Baudelaire: Unbewusst im Bösen, Lautreamont: Der beherrschte Albtraum, Tel Quel: Vom Phallus verfolgt, Rimbaud und die "Grübler der Wollust", Satans Absage an die Macht
 
5. Teil - Der Teufel in der Psychoanalyse
 
Frühe psychoanalytische Annäherung an eine Theorie des Teufelsglaubens, Eine Teufelsneurose, Der erotische Dualismus, Narzissmus, Popkultur und Adoleszenz, Theodor Reik: Der Teufel als Perversion des verdrängten Trieblebens, C. G. Jung: Der Schatten, Otto Groß und der Kampf gegen das Patriarchat, Willhelm Reich und die "Orgasmusangst"
 
 
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Ein katholischer Theologe zelebriert "Schwarze Messen" und will das Phänomen Satanismus seriös verstehbar machen: Diesem Anspruch wird Josef Dvorak weitgehend gerecht. Trotz seiner eigenen Verflochtenheit in die Okkult-Szene hat sich Dvorak geistige Unabhängigkeit und Kritikfähigkeit bewahrt. Sein bereits 1989 erschienenes Buch gilt als Standardwerk für all jene, die hinter die sensationsheischenden Schlagzeilen blicken wollen.

In den Achtzigerjahren stand Dvorak selbst im Rampenlicht der Öffentlichkeit: Im österreichischen Burgenland und in Bremen zelebrierte er "Schwarze Messen", die im Fernsehen übertragen wurden und für einigen Wirbel sorgten. Dabei rezitierte er auch den Altmeister der Okkult-Szene Aleister Crowley und dessen satanisches Motto: "Es gibt keine Gnade, es gibt keine Schuld -- 'Tu was du willst' ist das Gesetz!" Ob Dvorak solche "Schwarzen Messen" als religiösen Akt oder "nur" als provozierende Aktions-Kunst verstand, bleibt auch nach der Lektüre seines Buches offen.

Leidenschaftlich sucht er nach Erklärungen für die Faszination des Satanismus. Verständlich führt er seine Leser durch das spannende Labyrinth verschiedener Satans-Kirchen und sexualmagischer Kultpraktiken, erklärt unvermutete Verbindungen -- zum Beispiel die Einflüsse satanistischen Gedankenguts auf die Nazi-Führungsclique. Auch schildert er den Kontakt des späteren Scientology-Gründers L. Ron Hubbard zum Zirkel um den Satanisten-Guru Crowley. Überzeugend lässt er die Stellung der römisch-katholischen Kirche zum Teufelsglauben seit der frühen Christenheit Revue passieren.

Die Botschaft Dvoraks komprimiert: Weil die Kirche dem Teufel den Stempel des Bösen und der Sünde aufgedrückt hat, wurde den Menschen eine wichtige Möglichkeit zur psychischen Verarbeitung ihrer Lebenswirklichkeit genommen. Die Verdrängung des Teufels habe letztendlich zu geschichtlichen Katastrophen wie dem Nationalsozialismus geführt. Kriminelle Auswüchse der heutigen Satanisten-Szene -- etwa rituelle Kindesopfer -- seien Verirrungen, der ein verantwortlicher Satanismus, wie ihn Dvorak selbst praktiziert, entgegen steuern könne. Natürlich sind diese Thesen streitbar -- bedenkenswert sind sie allemal. Durch die Fülle von Material gibt Dvorak seinen Lesern wichtige Argumente an die Hand und ermöglicht ihnen ein eigenes Urteil. --Uwe Birnstein

Amazon.de
Ob man nun unter Luzifer, Teufel oder Beelzebub im Lexikon nachschlägt, man landet jedes Mal bei der Gestalt Satans, die im christlichen Glauben den dunklen Gegenpol zu Gott repräsentiert -- und die immer schon einen dämonischen Reiz auf die Menschen ausübte. Entsprechend gibt es denn auch eine ansehnliche Zahl von Formen des Teufelskultes, über die Josef Dvorak eine Übersicht zu vermitteln sucht.

Dvoraks Zeigefinger ist dabei nicht permanent zur Warnung vor dem Bösen erhoben, sondern er beschreibt die ganz unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen des Satanismus. Beinahe hätte hier "er beschreibt einfach" gestanden, doch sowohl inhaltlich als auch im Stil ist Dvoraks Buch alles andere als einfach. Die satanistischen Spielarten sind ohnehin schwer zu fassen und Dvoraks Drang, dabei vieles mit der Psychoanalyse (seinem Berufsfeld) in Verbindung zu setzen, verkompliziert die Materie zusätzlich. Über die Rituale der Teufelsanbetung nähert sich Dvorak den verschiedenen Ansätzen des modernen Satanismus. Beginnend mit dessen Urvater, Aleister Crowley, geleitet Dvorak seine Leser durch eine Subkultur, deren bekannteste Vertreter A.S. LaVey, Charles Manson oder der "Ordo Templi Orientis" sind.

Doch angesichts vieler Namen und Formen muss man dem Buch neben der überaus komplexen Darstellung einen weiteren technischen Schwachpunkt ankreiden: das völlige Fehlen von Glossar und Register. Außer einem zwar ausführlichen, aber eher verwirrenden Inhaltsverzeichnis gibt es nichts, das es dem Leser ermöglichen würde, bestimmte Aspekte gezielt anzugehen. Fragen nach einzelnen Personen oder Ritualen hätte ein kleines A-Z sicherlich erleichtert. Denn die Fülle an Informationen in Dvoraks Band ist einfach zu groß, um sie beim ersten Lesen sofort zu erfassen -- das dürfte nur dem örtlichen Sektenbeauftragten gelingen. --Joachim Hohwieler 

Kurzbeschreibung
Der Teufelskult übt eine ungebrochene Faszination auf Menschen in aller Welt aus und ruft, wo immer er auch praktiziert wird, erbitterte Gegner auf den Plan. Doch was steckt wirklich hinter den schwarzen Ritualen und skandalösen Happenings der Satanisten? Josef Dvorak legt hier eine ebenso wissenschaftlich fundierte wie auch spannende Gesamtdarstellung des Satanismus in all seinen Erscheinungsformen vor.Josef Dvorak ist katholischer Theologe, Psychoanalytiker und Mitbegründer des Wiener Aktionismus.