Appendix 11: Names and Idolatry

Names supporters object to being accused of idolatry and it is not our purpose to condemn anyone. Earlier in this article we explained how one can make an idol of the "sacred names" doctrines. Because the worship of names is commonly found in pagan religions, it is understandable why idolatry would, and should, be an issue in a discussion of the Hebrew names.

The following is from a non-names web site:

Names are often used as words of power. In theology, the general use is for purposes of invocation. They are used to give the person doing a mantra control over the deity summoned and to force the one or ones called to grant their demands. This use is generally associated with the occult, the numbers and symbols of Kabbalah, the various forms of mysticism, including primitive witchcraft and shamanism. Its present use remains akin to its use in the early Mystery Religions and Secret Societies.

Abracadabra: The Meaning of Names

When we hear the word Abracadabra, what do we conjure up? This is a name used by magicians and illusionists to make objects or animals and people: appear, disappear or change shape and colour. "Presto Changeo" sleight of hand.

It is, however, a word of Kabbalistic (Cabbalistic) significance that was, and still may be, used for incantations. It was declared that when written as below, folded so as to conceal the writing, sewn with white thread and worn around the neck, your ailments would subside. Sometimes you were required to remove letters and this would further cause the illness to diminish.
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ABRA has a supposed significance as it is composed of the first letters of the Hebrew words for:
Father = Abba, and Spirit = Rauch Acadosh. However, J E Cirlot in A Dictionary of Symbols, Dorset, page 2, considers the whole word a Hebrew phrase.

Abracadabra: This word was in frequent use during the Middle Ages as a magic formula. It is derived from the Hebrew phrase abreq ad habra, meaning "hurl your thunderbolt even unto death".

The earliest written record available of the word is in a second century poem Praecepta de Medicina by Serenus Sammonicus a celebrated Gnostic physician. He gave instructions for using the letters of this magical triangle which he used for curing agues and fevers. It was to be written on paper, folded into the shape of a cross, worn for nine days suspended from the neck and, before sunrise, cast behind the patient into a stream running eastward.

It was also a most popular charm in the Middle Ages. During the Great Plague of 1665, great numbers of these amulets were worn as supposed safeguards against infection. It is one of the most famous of all talismans, and was used as a magical formula by the Gnostics in Rome for invoking the aid of beneficent spirits against disease, misfortune and death.
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These sacred invocations are part of a mystical discipline that used the repetition of the name of a deity or a combination of letters and names to help in meditation. An unveiling of a divine `Name'.
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(Source: Christian Churches of God, Copyright a 1997 James Dailley, http://www.logon.org, http://english.logon.org/english/s/p240.html)

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