Kabbalah's Secret Circles

Abaracadabara: "I create as I speak"

These pages are excerpts from the book, Kabbalah's Secret Circles by Robert Zucker. Download a free PDF sample compliments of the author.

One of the most well-known magical charms is the Abaracadabara chant. It has mistakenly been associated with Jewish mysticism, especially during the Middle Ages.

Many of the medieval magical formulas were often attributed to Jewish magic, although they may have been actually devised by non-Jews who practiced a corrupted form of magic.

In a 3rd century medical manuscript called LIBER MEDICINALIS, written by physician Quintus Serenus Sammonicus, the incantation was reportedly used among the Greeks to dispel malaria. Sufferers wear an amulet around the neck inscribed with the words in the form of a descending triangle. Sammonicus explained that the power of the amulet makes the disease dissolve away.

As the letters gradually disappear, so does the affliction. The phrase Abaracadabara originally may be Aramaic (meaning, “I create as I speak”). In Hebrew, it could translate as “it came to pass as it was spoken.”

The syllables of A bara cada bara contains the Hebrew word bara (??? which means to “create”) twice.

The letters of Abracadabara are written out in rows. The final letter is dropped with each line until only the first A remains.

A BA RA C A D A B A R A A BA R A C A D A B A R A BA RA C A D A B A A B A R A CA D A B A BA R A C A D A A B A RA C A A BA R A A BA R A BA AB A ????????? ???????? ??????? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ?

In another perspective, the letters DABRA (???) translates as “thing.” The phrase Abaraca- dabara could also mean “a created thing” in Hebrew.

The incantation was later used by 16th century English navigator Capt. Edward Fenton who described that one is healed of fever by “hanging Abaracadabara around the neck.”

It appeared again in a passage by Daniel Defoe in 1722 as he ridiculed the use of charms and amulets to ward off the plague.

Now, the phrase is only uttered by stage magicians to impress the audience as they attempt an illusionary feat and has no place in Jewish mysticism.

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