Mystics, Magic, and Mayhem – Halloween!
Halloween wouldn’t be our favorite scary and
amazing Holiday of the year, without a little magic.
We’ve heard this spooky Wordplay Wednesday’s mystical expression since childhood, to naively
open locked doors, conjure great magic, and create potent spells. None of which
ever really worked.
However, there was a time, many centuries ago,
when a wave of the hand with an ardent utterance invoked anticipation or hope,
if not fear.
With cauldron boiling and dark night clouds roiling,
three times I repeat loudly:
I write this spell
that all who read
shall join my mind
to plant a seed
That I may choose
with keen mind and most devout
big win lottery numbers
beyond a doubt
As I speak the final line for the third time, I
raise my arms to the sky and shout …
ABRACADABRA! (ab’rɘ kɘ dabʹrɘ) n. – 1) a word supposed to have magic
powers, and hence used in incantations, on amulets, etc.; 2) a magic spell or
formula; 3) foolish or meaningless talk, gibberish. (interj. used, as by a
magician, to signify, or seemingly command, a sudden change or occurrence.) [SPOOKY / WW #186]
From stage shows of unparalleled magic to campy witchy movies, we’ve exclaimed abracadabra in fun and frolic for at
least the past two centuries. But Wiki gives us an interesting etymology, “The
first known mention of the word was in the third century AD in a book called Liber
Medicinalis (sometimes known as De Medicina Praecepta Saluberrima)
by Serenus Sammonicus,
physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla, who in
chapter 51 prescribed that malaria sufferers wear an amulet containing the word
written in the form of a triangle.”
Though of serious beginnings for a health “cure,”
we know little about how abracadabra materialized into a word
of generalized magical powers, able to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
According to Phrases.org.uk, “Over time the belief in the power of 'abracadabra' receded and
in the 19th century it came to mean 'fake magic'. Terms like 'legal abracadabra'
were used to denote the flummoxing of juries by fast-talking lawyers. Stage
conjurers then adopted it into their inventory of the 'magic' words they used
to punctuate their acts and the first known usage of it in that context dates
from 1819.”*
*But again, there is no concrete example that
points to abracadabra’s stage performance origin. We can give it a
strange twist, though, as it’s reported that abracadabra’s letters in
Greek numerology, add up to 365—the number of days in a year. And while I haven’t
confirmed this with my Greek friend, one must wonder what that has to do with
anything, as the current span of a year didn’t pop up in history until creation
of the Gregorian Calendar in OCTOBER 1582.
A coincidence? I think not. After all, it IS a
magical word …
Word Challenge: ABRACADABRA. Ponder the
mysteries of the season as you fit abracadabra into your week of magical
writings.
Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening!
Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s
your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay
Wednesday comments below.
Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle)
LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by
trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of
three) in her Blast from Your Past
series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll
Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll
Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon, … The Psychedelic Seventies!
E-N-Dzzzzzzzz
