The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-12

Abraxas.s
These gems are divided by Montfaucoa
the. celebrated classical scholar of Lam
guedoc, into seven classes-those with
the head of cock. usually Joined to a
human trunk with the legs ending in
two serpents; those with the head or
body of a liol. having often the in
scription "AIithras;" those having the in
scription or the figure Scraps; those hav-
| ing Anubis or scarabaei, serpents of
| sphinxes; those having human figures
with or without wings: those having in
scriptions without figures. and those hav-
| ing unusual or monstrous figures. The
| term Abraxas or Abrasax Is found only
upon a few gems and 1t generally ac-
companies the figure of the human trunk
with the cocks head and the two SER
pents as legs. 1t was for such an one
| that I was searching
| But what does all this mean? What
| Is the significance of the term Abrasax?
| 1t Is mystery that has puzzled con-
noiseGrs for centuries and still puzzles
the lapidaries of our day. Some have
| interpreted the word according to the
numerical force of the corresponding
| Greek letters which would signify 300,
| the number of days in the year. Others
claim that it was fabricated by Rasilides
who claimed that there are as many
| heavens as there as letters in the word.
| He maintained that he was an iiter-
4
possession the secret traditions of that
apostle. hence the cocks head on the
human body. He lived in the second CEN
| tury and wrote concentrates upon the
gospel in "a books. His followers were
much given to magical practices, fused
| the ancient sacerdotal religion OF Egypt
with the angelic and demoniac theory of
| Zoroaster and designed the Abrasax as
amulets or talismanS Others again ex-
plain that the word Is formed by cold
bining the initials OF the Hebrew words
| father son, spirit. one chat Is one God,
and the Greek words Christ, man,
| savior Just as the initials spelling the
Greek word fish became an early Chris
tian emblem. Still others profess to see
| in It correspondence to the Hebrew or
Jehovah The Basilidians were fond OF
mysticism and mysterious emblems and
| to them is accredited the coming of the
| magical word abracadabra, which was
employed as an amulet Such an amulet
was formed by writing the word In such
a way that its letters fashioned an IN
| verted cone or triangle with the wholc
word at the base and the letter a at
the apex. This was done by beginning
the word one place further to the right
IN each successive line and also cutting
off each time one letter from the end
of the word. when It was employed as
charm for the cure of fever. particularly
that of an intermittent character
The abracadraba appears for the first
time in literature in the famous poem
of Serenus Sammonicus. who was
tavorite of the Emperor Severus and
lived in the second or third century
| The poem treated of the remedies Tor
diseases and after describing the alb
racadabra, directs that 1t be worn on
the neck. 1t was much read and ire
ouently copied in the middle ages.
To such perfection was the art or
lythoglyphy brought by the ancients
and so much attention was accorded to
details and minutiae by them that 1t is
said a perfect literature is to be found
in gem reading.
Added to this perfection is the dur
ability of the workmanship so that
engraved stones surpass monuments
and coins and other plastic arts In the
study of ancient history and sacred
philology.
The greatest lithoglyph of antiquity
was Pyrgoteles. who lived in the time
of Alexander and while that great gen
eral would permit only Apelles to paint
his portrait and Lysippus alone to carve
his statue, Pyrgoteles was the only one
allowed to sketch his miniature on a
precious stone. In the grand ducal col
lection of gems at Florence Is to be
seen an engraved gem bearing the
name Pyrgotoles but there exists con-
siderable doubt as to the genuineness
of the inscription. I cannot omit men
tioning an exquisite gem of heliotrope
in the royal library of Paris repre-
senting the head of Christus scourged
1t Is so cut that the red spots of the
gem represent drops of blood upon the
divine visage.
But I have wandered from my Alb
rasax. ] found him in a lapidary's
shop at Brindisi. The very fellow | had
been searching for with his cocks head
and serpents legs. 1t must not be
supposed that he was a genuine an
tique, for had such been the case he
would have been beyond my financial
reach; he was an excellent copy, how
lever, and fashioned of real obsidian
which the old Romans termed lava
Iglass. The material comes from Ethi-
opia and the ancients made mirrors as
} we'll as gems therefrom. In his right
hand he bore round shield while his
left held the flagellum or scourge. The
, figure was accompanied by the inscrip-
tion 1 A w and the whole was set
, in a massive silver ring evidently be-
ing used at one time as signet.
| still have him in my cabinet, for
I was more fortunate with this gem
than I was with another known as
the Chandrakanta.
Chandra IS the Sanskrit word for
moon applied either to the planet or
: deity and Chandrakanta means "love-
ly as the moon" 1t is a fabulous gem
, called by some the moonstone, and said
} to be formed from the long gelation
} of the rays of the moon. 1t is said to
dissolve under the light of the lunar
rays. / bought such stone in Alden
and was quite proud of my possession.
But pride always goes before fall
In crossing the Arabian desert chose
to travel by night in order to escape
the excessive heat Of the day. 1t was
moonlight and l enjoyed the experience
immensely. That Is / enjoyed every
thing except my camel which was the
toughest gated beast / ever bestrode
think that my camel boy, who sport
ed the impressive title, Mohammed ADD
el-Gallie1, must have known this and
delighted in his knowledge. for he in
sisted that "Nourmahal.' the camel
should trot every mile Of the stretch.
Despite the fact that l was about to
!; lose every tooth in my head Mohammed
trotted afoot by my side. expressing
admiration for my Khaki suit, my trop-
ical helmet my lorgnettes and my
chandarkanta ring
! Better hide that" he said pointing
to the ring; '1t will melt in the moon
light" / smiled and shook my head
, but In the morning, to my grief
discovered that my stone was gone
, Mohammed insisted that his prophecy
} was correct, and that the moon had
done the work Of devastation but
always held that horrid trotting camel
as responsible for the loss of my chan
: drakanta.
An Unlucky Year