DEFINITIONs:
1. A traditional word of power, used by Western magicians from classical times to the present. Written in the falling way, it was used in talismans to cure fevers and asthma:
ABRACADABRA
ABRACADABR
ABRACADAB
ABRACADA
ABRACAD
ABRACA
ABRAC
ABRA
ABR
AB
A
In recent times, Abracadabra has mostly been used by stage magicians. English mage Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) altered the spelling to make it fit his new magical religion of Thelema, and in this new form the word has been much used in the Thelemite community. See also Abrahadabra.
2. The spelling of the word was changed by Aleister Crowley to “Abrahadabra” to place the name Had, the second person of Crowley’s Thelemite trinity, at the center. Abracadabra is traditional outside the Thelemite community.
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