Ab (Semitic magical month). Crossing a river on the 20th of that month was supposed to bring sickness. In ancient texts it states that if a man should eat the flesh of swine on the 30th of Ab, he will be plagued with boils. Abaddon : (The Destroyer). Chief of the demons of the seventh hierarchy. Abaddon is the name given by St. John in the Apocalypse to the king of the grasshoppers. He is sometimes regarded as the destroying angel. Abadie (Jeannette): A young sorceress of the village of Sibourre, in Gascony. She was sleeping one day in her father's house while high mass was being said. A demon, profiting by the opportunity, carried her off to the Devil's Sabbath, where she soon awoke to find herself in the midst of a large company. She observed that the principal demon had on his head two faces, like Janus. She did not participate in the revelry, and was transported to her home by the same means as she had been conveyed thence. On the threshold she found her amulet, which the demon had taken the precaution to remove from her bosom before carrying her off. She made a confession of all that had happened, renounced her sorcery, and thus saved herself from the common fate of witches and sorcerers-the stake. Abaris: A Scythian, high priest of Apollo, and renowned magician. In so flattering a manner did he chant the praises of Apollo, his master, that the god gave him a golden arrow, on which he could ride through the air like a bird, so that the Greeks called him the Aerobate. Pythagoras, his pupil, stole this arrow from him, and accomplished many wonderful feats by its aid. Abaris foretold the future, pacified storms, banished disease, and lived without eating or drinking. He made with the bones of Pelops, a statue of Minerva, which he sold to the Trojans as a talisman descended from heaven. This was the famous Palladium, which protected and rendered impregnable the town wherein it was lodged. Abdelazys: An Arabian astrologer of the tenth century, generally known in Europe by his Latin name of Alchabitius. His treatise on astrology was so much prized that it was translated into Latin and printed in 1473. Other editions have since appeared, the best being that of Venice (1503) entitled Alchabitius cum commento. Translated by John of Seville. (Hispalensis.)

Aben-Ragel: An Arabian astrologer, born at Cordova, at the beginning of the fifth century. He was the author of a book of horoscopes according to the inspection of the stars, a Latin translation of which was published at Venice, 1485, under the title of De Judiciis seu fatis stellarum. It was said that his predictions were fulfilled in a remarkable

manner.

Abigor: According to Wierius (q.v.), Grand Duke of Hades. He is shown in the form of a handsome knight, bearing lance, standard, or sceptre. He. is a demon of the superior order, and responds readily to questions concerning war. He can foretell the future, and instructs the leaders how to make themselves respected by the soldiers. Sixty of the infernal regions are at his command. Abishai: (See Devil.)

Abou-Ryhan: An Arabian astrologer whose real name was Mohammed-ben-Ahmed, to whom is ascribed the introduction of Judicial Astrology (q.v.) Many stories were told

of him in the East, to show that he possessed in an extraordinary degree the power to read the future.

Abra Melin: (See Abraham the Jew.)
Abracadabra : A magical word said to be formed from the
letters of the abraxas, and written thus:
A

A B

A BR
ABRA

A BRAC

ABRACA

ABRACAD

ABRACADA

ABRACADAB

ABRACADABR ABRACADABRA

or the reverse way. The pronunciation of this word, according to Julius Africanus, was equally efficacious either way. By Serenus Sammonicus it was used as a spell to cure asthma. Abracalan or aracalan is another form of the word, and is said to have been regarded as the name of a god in Syria and as a magical symbol by the Jews. But it seems doubtful whether the abracadabra, or its synonyms, was really the name of a deity or not. (See Abraxas.) Abraham, The Jew: (Alchemist and magician, circa, 1400). Comparatively few biographical facts are forthcoming concerning this German Jew, who was at once alchemist, magician and philosopher; and these few facts are mostly derived from a very curious manuscript, now domiciled in the Archives of the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, Paris, an institution rich in occult documents. This manuscript is couched throughout in French, but purports to be literally translated from Hebrew, and the style of the handwriting indicates that the scribe lived at the beginning of the eighteenth century, or possibly somewhat earlier. A distinct illiteracy characterises the French script, the punctuation being inaccurate, indeed frequently conspicuous by its absence, but an actual description of the document must be waived till later. Abraham was probably a native of Mayence, and appears to have been born in 1362. We find that his father, Simon by name, was something of a seer and magician, and that the boy accordingly commenced his occult studies under the parental guidance, while at a later date he studied under one, Moses, whom he himself describes as "indeed a good man, but entirely ignorant of The True Mystery, and of The Veritable Magic." Leaving this preceptor, Abraham decided to glean knowledge by_travelling, and along with a friend called Samuel, a Bohemian by birth, he wandered through Austria and Hungary into Greece, and thence penetrated to Constantinople, where he remained fully two years. He is found next in Arabia, in those days a veritable centre of mystic learning; and from Arabia he went to Palestine, whence betimes he proceeded to Egypt. Here he had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of AbraMelin, the famous Egyptian philosopher, who, besides entrusting to him certain documents, confided in him by word of mouth a number of invaluable secrets; and armed thus, Abraham left Egypt for Europe, where eventu

B

Abraham

ally he settled at Wurzburg in Germany. Soon he was deep in alchemistic researches, but these did not prevent him from espousing a wife, who appears to have been his cousin; and by her he had three daughters and also two sons, the elder named Joseph and the younger Lamech. He took great pains to instruct both of them in occult affairs, while, on each of his three daughters, he settled a dowry of a hundred thousand golden florins. This considerable sum, together with other vast wealth, he claims to have gained by travelling as an alchemist; and whatever the truth of this statement, he certainly won great fame, being summoned to perform acts of magic before many rich and influential people, notably the Emperor Sigismund of Germany, the Bishop of Wurzburg, King Henry VI. of England, the Duke of Bavaria, and Pope John XXIII. The remainder of Abraham's career is shrouded in mystery, while even the date of his death is uncertain, but it is commonly supposed to have occurred about 1460.

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The curious manuscript cited above, and from which the foregoing facts have been culled, is entitled The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin, as delivered by Abraham the Jew unto his son Lamech. This title, however, is rather misleading, and not strictly accurate, for Abra-Melin had absolutely no hand in the opening part of the work, this consisting of some account of Abraham's own youth and early travels in search of wisdom, along with advice to the young man aspiring to become skilled in occult arts. The second part, on the other hand, is based on the documents which the Egyptian sage handed to the Jew, or at least on the confidences wherewith the former favoured the latter; and it may be fairly accurately defined as dealing with the first principles of magic in general, the titles of some of the more important chapters being as follows: How Many, and what are the Classes of Veritable Magic? "What we Ought to Take into Consideration before the Undertaking of the Operation," Concerning the Convocation of the Spirits," and what Manner we ought to Carry out the Operations." Passing to the third and last part, this likewise is mostly derived straight from Abra-Melin; and here the author, eschewing theoretical matter as far as possible, gives information about the actual practice of magic. In the first place he tells how "To procure divers Visions," How one may retain the Familiar Spirits, bound or free, in whatsoever form," and how "To excite Tempests,' while in one chapter he treats of raising the dead, another he devotes to the topic of transforming oneself into "divers shapes and forms," and in further pages he descants on flying in the air, on demolishing buildings, on discovering thefts, and on walking under the water. Then he dilates on the Thaumaturgic healing of leprosy, dropsy, paralysis, and various more common ailments such as fever and seasickness, while he offers intelligence on How to be beloved by a Woman," and this he supplements by directions for commanding the favour of popes, emperors, and other influential people. Finally, he reverts to the question of summoning visions, and his penultimate chapter is entitled, "How to cause Armed Men to Appear," while his concluding pages treat of evoking Comedies, Operas,

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and all kinds of Music and Dances."

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It is by employing Kabalistic squares of letters that all these things are to be achieved, or at least, almost all of them, and lack of space makes it impossible to deal with the many different signs of this sort, whose use the seer counsels. But it behoves to ask what manner of personality exhales from these curious pages? What kind of temperament? And the answer is that Abraham is shown as a man of singularly narrow mind, heaping scorn on most other magicians, and speaking with great derision of nearly all mystical writings save his own and those of his

hero, Abra-Melin. Morcover, he inveighs fiercely against

all those who recant the religion in which they were bred, and contends that no one guilty of this will ever attain skill in magic; yet it should be said, in justice to the seer, that he manifests little selfishness, and seems to have striven after success in his craft with a view to using it for the benefit of mankind in general. His writings reflect besides, a firm belief in that higher self existing in every man, and a keen desire to develop it. (See Flamel.) Abraxas: (or Abracax). The Basilidian (q.v.,) sect of Gnostics, of the second century, claimed Abraxas as their supreme god, and said that Jesus Christ was only a phantom sent to earth by him. They believed that his name contained great mysteries, as it was composed of the seven Greek letters which form the number 365, which is also the number of days in a year. Abraxas, they thought, had under his command 365 gods, to whom they attributed 365 virtues, one for each day. The older Mythologists placed him among the number of Egyptian gods, and demonologists have described him as a demon, with the head of a king and with serpents forming his feet. He is represented on ancient amulets, with a whip in his hand. It is from his name that the mystic word, Abracadabra (q.v.) is taken. Many stones and gems cut in various symbolic forms, such as the head of a fowl, a serpent, and so forth, were worn by the Basilidians as amulets. Abred: The innermost of three concentric circles representing the totality of being in the British Celtic cosmogony. (See Celts.) The stage of struggle and evolution against Cythrawl, the power of evil. (See also Barddas.) Absolute (Theosophist) : Of the Absolute, the Logos, the Word of God, Theosophists profess to know nothing further than that it exists. The universes with their solar systems are but the manifestations of this Being, which man is capable of perceiving, and all of them are instinct with him, but what man can perceive is not the loftier manifestations but the lower. Man himself is an emanation from the Absolute with which he will ultimately be re-united. Abyssum: A herb used in the ceremony of exorcising a haunted house. It is signed with the sign of the cross, and hung up at the four corners of the house. Acherat : (See Cagliostro.) Achmet: An Arabian soothsayer of the ninth century. He wrote a book on The Interpretation of Dreams, following the doctrines of the East. The original is lost, but the Greek and Latin translations were printed at Paris, in 1603. Aconce (Jacques): Curate of the diocese of Trent, who became a Calvinist in 1557, and came to England, While there he dedicated to Qucen Elizabeth his famous work, on The Stratagems of Satan. This book, however, is not, as its title might indicate, a dissertation on demonology, but a spirited attack on intolerance. Adalbert: A French pseudo-mystic of the eighth century. He boasted that an angel had brought him relics of extraordinary sanctity from all parts of the earth. He claimed

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to be able to foretell the future, and to read thoughts. "I know what you have done," he would say to the people, "there is no need for confession. Go in peace, your sins are forgiven." His so-called miracles gained for him the awe of the multitude, and he was in the habit of giving away parings of his nails and locks of his hair as powerful amulets. He is even said to have set up an altar in his own name. In his history of his life, of which only a fragment remains, he tells us of miraculous powers bestowed by an angel at his birth. He showed to his disciples a letter which he declared had been brought to him from Jesus Christ by the hand of St. Michael. These, and similar blasphemies were put an end to by his being cast into prison, where he died.

Adam, Book of the Penitence of : A manuscript in the Library