A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A-B-RA

Indranil Sarkar
A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A-B-R-A
A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A-B-R
A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A-B
A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A
A-B-R-A-C-A-D
A-B-R-A-C-A
A-B-R-A-C
A-B-R-A
A-B-R
A-B
A
A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A-B-R-A is a medical term in ancient Roman language. It

originated in Roman times as part of a prayer to the Roman god of

medicine and healing Abraxas. It was first detected in a medical work by
Quintus Serenus Sammonicus around 250 A.D. Sammonicus was a medical
practitioner and writer of tracts on Medicine and Surgery. He used to write
in rhyming verse like Indian Charaka. In this regard it is to be remembered
that the Romans believed in the power of words i, e Mantra/Tantra Sakti.
Magic, Hypnotism and even Witchcraft was used for curing diseases.
ABRACADABRA was also a ritualistic magic word used by the magicians in

stage magic tricks. Historically, it was believed that the word

ABRACADABRA produced healing powers when inscribed on an amulet.

Quintus Serenus Sammonicus

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was a

physician to the Roman emperor

Caracalla. He mentioned the word first in a book called Liber

Medicinalis or De Medicinalis Praecepta Saluberrima in the 3rd century

A.D. The word was a supposed cure for malaria. In

Chapter 51 of

Liber Medicinalis, Quintus Serenus Sammonicus prescribed

malaria sufferers to wear an amulet containing the word
ABRACADABRA written in the form of a reverse-pyramid shaped

triangle as shown below:

A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A-B-R-A
A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A-B-R
A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A-B
A-B-R-A-C-A-D-A
A-B-R-A-C-A-D
A-B-R-A-C-A
A-B-R-A-C
A-B-R-A
A-B-R
A-B
A
Sukumar Roy, the noted Bengali writer of children literature translated the
term in Bengali as Ha Ja Ba Ra La meaning Do or Write what you like.
Abracadabra =

. (Aung Bang Chang)

**

i.s/09-11-2014

NB. Resources are extracted from www.wikipedia.org.Creative Commons attributes

respected.
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