These days, “abracadabra” is mostly just an incantation used in stage magic. But, historically, the word was believed to have healing powers when inscribed on an amulet in a very specific way.
The first known mention of the word was in the 2nd century CE in a book called Liber Medicinalis by the Roman physician Serenus Sammonicus, who believed in the power of abracadabra to make fatal illnesses go away. To cure malaria, Sammonicus prescribed the word to be written in a triangle on an amulet to be worn by the sick. The word is repeated on each line, with the final letter omitted. The process is repeated until there are no letters left.
Several Roman Emperors (Caracalla, Geta and Severus Alexander) followed Sammanicus’ teachings and are thought to have also used the incantation.
These ideas were disparaged in later years. In the 17th century Daniel Defoe wrote dismissively of the practice of posting the word on the doorway to ward off sickness during the Black Plague of London.
Eventually, people let go of the abracadabra superstition, and by the 19th century the practice of hanging an abracadabra charm around your neck to cure disease had died out. It is at this point that the word started to take on the meaning of “fake magic”, which is what we think of today.
The origin of the word is also in dispute. One theory is that it’s a combination of Aramaic and Hebrew words. “Abra” is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew “avra”, meaning “I will create”. And “cadabra” is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew “kedoobar”, meaning “as was spoken”. Together the phrase means: “I will create as has been spoken.”
Finally, and as if it isn’t already interesting enough, the word is one of a limited set of words that can be typed in its entirety using the left-handed side of a QWERTY keyboard.
Story idea: Shveitta Sethi Sharma
Episode 5: Abracadabra, Goodnight Moon, Anatomy of Cool, Paper Sizes
What does the incantation abracadabra have to do with malaria? Goodnight Moon is a highly acclaimed and much loved bedtime story, but why was it banned by the New York Public Library for 25 years? What's cool, what's daggy, and who decides? And finally for this episode … did you know that the foolscap paper size was actually named after a fool's cap?
REMORANDOM Book Chapter
