The Anguiped ( Latin : angui , 'snake'; ped- , 'foot') is a kind of divinity that is often found on magical amulets from the Greco-Roman period, and is characterized by having serpents for legs.
61-621: Abraxas , the most common kind of Anguiped, is depicted as a creature with the head of a rooster and snakes for legs, symbolism thought to be of Persian origin. Sometimes inscribed below is Iao , a form of the Tetragrammaton – the four letters used to represent the name of the God of Judaism . Such amulets, as well as the repeated usage of the name Iao in magical papyri, curse tablets, gems, and other amulets, provide evidence of syncretic cults combining elements of Judaism with paganism. In
122-513: A demon . Gaius Julius Hyginus ( Fab . 183 ) gives Abrax Aslo Therbeeo as names of horses of the sun mentioned by ' Homerus '. The passage is miserably corrupt, but it may not be accidental that the first three syllables make Abraxas. The proper form of the name is evidently Abrasax , as with the Greek writers, Hippolytus , Epiphanius , Didymus ( De Trin . iii. 42), and Theodoret ; also Augustine and Praedestinatus ; and in nearly all
183-476: A "benevolent ghost sent on Earth by Abraxas". A vast number of engraved stones are in existence, to which the name "Abraxas-stones" has long been given. One particularly fine example was included as part of the Thetford treasure from fourth century Norfolk, England. The subjects are mythological, and chiefly grotesque, with various inscriptions, in which ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ often occurs, alone or with other words. Sometimes
244-445: A cock, a lion, or an ass, and the tail of a serpent was formerly taken in the light of what Irenaeus says about the followers of Basilides: These men, moreover, practise magic, and use images, incantations, invocations, and every other kind of curious art. Coining also certain names as if they were those of the angels, they proclaim some of these as belonging to the first, and others to the second heaven; and then they strive to set forth
305-463: A demon as documented in J. Collin de Plancy's Infernal Dictionary , Abraxas (or Abracax) is labeled the "supreme God" of the Basilidians, whom he describes as "heretics of the second century". He further indicated the Basilidians attributed to Abraxas the rule over "365 skies" and "365 virtues". In a final statement on Basilidians, de Plancy states that their view was that Jesus Christ was merely
366-414: A great majority of instances the name Abraxas is associated with a singular composite figure, having a Chimera -like appearance somewhat resembling a basilisk or the Greek primordial god Chronos (not to be confused with the Greek titan Cronus ). According to E. A. Wallis Budge , "as a Pantheus, i.e. All-God, he appears on the amulets with the head of a cock ( Phœbus ) or of a lion ( Ra or Mithras ),
427-489: A history of early Christian literature down to Eusebius of Caesarea , Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur bis Eusebius (part 2 of vol. 5., 1897); and in his popular lectures, Das Wesen des Christentums appeared in 1900 (5th ed., 1901; English translation, What is Christianity? 1901). One of his later historical works, Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten (1902; English translation, The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in
488-611: A major impetus for his rejection of liberal theology. Harnack was one of the moving spirits in the foundation, in 1911, of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft (KWG), and became its first President. The Society's activities were much constrained by the First World War, but in the Weimar Republic period Harnack guided it to be a major vehicle for overcoming the isolation of German academics felt as
549-569: A rejection of this dogma and a return to the pure faith that characterized the original church. An abridgment of this appeared in 1889 with the title Grundriss der Dogmengeschichte (3rd ed., 1898). In 1886 Harnack was called to the University of Marburg and in 1888, in spite of violent opposition from the conservative church authorities, to Berlin. In 1890 he became a member of the Academy of Sciences. In Berlin, somewhat against his will, he
610-729: A result of the war and its aftermath. The society's flagship conference centre in Berlin, the Harnack House , which opened in 1929, was named in his honour. After a long period in U.S. Army hands after World War II it has now resumed the role Harnack envisaged, as a centre for international intellectual life in the German capital, under the management of the KWG's successor organisation, the Max Planck Gesellschaft . Among
671-487: A work on monasticism , Das Mönchtum – seine Ideale und seine Geschichte (5th ed., 1900; English translation, 1901), and became joint editor with Emil Schürer of the Theologische Literaturzeitung . In 1885 he published the first volume of his Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte (3rd ed. in three volumes, 1894–1898; English translation in seven volumes, 1894–1899). In this work Harnack traced
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#1732787587991732-468: Is Abrasax, because his name contains the number 365, the number of the days in the year; i.e. the sum of the numbers denoted by the Greek letters in ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ according to the rules of isopsephy is 365: Epiphanius ( Haer . 69, 73 f.) appears to follow partly Irenaeus, partly the lost Compendium of Hippolytus. He designates Abraxas more distinctly as "the power above all, and First Principle", "the cause and first archetype" of all things; and mentions that
793-422: Is Abraxas. ... it appears that Abraxas has much deeper significance. We may conceive of the name as that of the godhead whose symbolic task is the uniting of godly and devilish elements. Abraxas doesn't take exception to any of your thoughts or any of your dreams. Never forget that. But he will leave you once you become blameless and normal. Abracadabra: not an Indian word at all, a cabbalistic formula derived from
854-466: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Abraxas Abraxas ( Biblical Greek : ἀβραξάς , romanized: abraxas , variant form ἀβράναξ romanized: abranax ) is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides , being there applied to the "Great Archon " ( megas archōn ), the princeps of the 365 spheres ( ouranoi ). The word
915-455: Is a God about whom you know nothing, because men have forgotten him. We call him by his name: Abraxas. He is less definite than God or Devil. ... Abraxas is activity: nothing can resist him but the unreal ... Abraxas stands above the sun[-god] and above the devil If the Pleroma were capable of having a being, Abraxas would be its manifestation. That which is spoken by God-the-Sun
976-520: Is evident from these particulars that Abrasax was the name of the first of the 365 Archons, and accordingly stood below Sophia and Dynamis and their progenitors; but his position is not expressly stated, so that the writer of the supplement to Tertullian had some excuse for confusing him with "the Supreme God". With the availability of primary sources, such as those in the Nag Hammadi library ,
1037-671: Is found in Gnostic texts such as the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit , and also appears in the Greek Magical Papyri . It was engraved on certain antique gemstones , called on that account Abraxas stones , which were used as amulets or charms. As the initial spelling on stones was Abrasax ( Αβρασαξ ), the spelling of Abraxas seen today probably originates in the confusion made between
1098-482: Is life; that which is spoken by the Devil is death; Abraxas speaketh that hallowed and accursed word, which is life and death at the same time. Abraxas begetteth truth and lying, good and evil, light and darkness in the same word and in the same act. Wherefore is Abraxas terrible. The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name
1159-405: Is one which has exercised the ingenuity of many savants, but it may be said that all the engraved stones fall into three classes: While it would be rash to assert positively that no existing gems were the work of Gnostics, there is no valid reason for attributing all of them to such an origin. The fact that the name occurs on these gems in connection with representations of figures with the head of
1220-523: Is sometimes credited as Adolf Harnack ). He was ennobled (with the addition of von to his name) in 1914. Harnack traced the influence of Hellenistic philosophy on early Christian writings and called on Christians to question the authenticity of doctrines that arose in the early Christian church . He rejected the historicity of the Gospel of John in favor of the Synoptic Gospels , criticized
1281-421: Is there up to now that has set any sure bounds to the province of the possible and the actual? No one. Who can say how far the influence of soul upon soul and of soul upon body reaches ? No one. Who can still maintain that any extraordinary phenomenon that may appear in this domain is entifely based on error and delusion ? Miracles, it is true, do not happen; but of the marvellous and the inexplicable there
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#17327875879911342-630: Is uncertain what the actual role and function of Abraxas was in the Basilidian system , as our authorities (see below) often show no direct acquaintance with the doctrines of Basilides himself. In the system described by Irenaeus , "the Unbegotten Father" is the progenitor of Nous "Discerning Mind"; Nous produced Logos "Word, Reason"; Logos produced Phronesis "Mindfulness"; Phronesis produced Sophia "Wisdom" and Dynamis "Potentiality"; Sophia and Dynamis produced
1403-654: The Refutation of All Heresies (vii. 26) by Hippolytus , who appears in these chapters to have followed the Exegetica of Basilides. After describing the manifestation of the Gospel in the Ogdoad and Hebdomad , he adds that the Basilidians have a long account of the innumerable creations and powers in the several 'stages' of the upper world ( diastemata ), in which they speak of 365 heavens and say that "their great archon"
1464-654: The Apostles' Creed , and promoted the Social Gospel . In the 19th century, higher criticism flourished in Germany, establishing the historical-critical method as an academic standard for interpreting the Bible and understanding the historical Jesus (see Tübingen school ) . Harnack's work is part of a reaction to Tübingen, and represents a reappraisal of tradition. Besides his theological activities, Harnack
1525-581: The Talmud , people who turned away from Judaism to such cults are referred to as minim – often translated as " heretics " or " apostates ". In Graeco-Roman art, both Typhon and the giants (after around 380 BCE) are often conventionally depicted as anguipeds. A common religious motif in Roman Germany and eastern Gaul depicts an equestrian Jupiter riding down an anguipedal giant. This article relating to an Ancient Roman myth or legend
1586-521: The Women's movement . Harnack studied at the local Imperial University of Dorpat (1869–72) and at the University of Leipzig , where he took his degree; soon afterwards, in 1874, he began lecturing as a Privatdozent . These lectures, which dealt with such special subjects as Gnosticism and the Apocalypse , attracted considerable attention, and in 1876 he was appointed professor extraordinarius . In
1647-402: The Basilidians referred to 365 as the number of parts ( mele ) in the human body, as well as of days in the year. The author of the appendix to Tertullian De Praescr. Haer . (c. 4), who likewise follows Hippolytus's Compendium, adds some further particulars; that 'Abraxas' gave birth to Mind ( nous ), the first in the series of primary powers enumerated likewise by Irenaeus and Epiphanius; that
1708-567: The First Three Centuries , in two volumes, 1904–1905), was followed by some important New Testament studies ( Beitrage zur Einleitung in das neue Testament , 1906 sqq.; Engl. trans.: Luke the Physician , 1907; The Sayings of Jesus , 1908). Harnack was one of the most prolific and stimulating of modern critical scholars, and brought up in his "Seminar" a whole generation of teachers who carried his ideas and methods throughout
1769-625: The Greek letters sigma (Σ) and xi (Ξ) in the Latin transliteration . The seven letters spelling its name may represent each of the seven classic planets . The word may be related to Abracadabra , although other explanations exist. There are similarities and differences between such figures in reports about Basilides's teaching, ancient Gnostic texts, the larger Greco-Roman magical traditions , and modern magical and esoteric writings. Speculations have proliferated on Abraxas in recent centuries, which has been claimed to be both an Egyptian god and
1830-574: The Perfect Being". Another identification with Osiris is made in PGM VII. 643-51: "you are not wine, but the guts of Osiris, the guts of ... Ablanathanalba Akrammachamarei Eee, who has been stationed over necessity, Iakoub Ia Iaō Sabaōth Adōnai Abrasax." PGM VIII. 1-63, on the other hand, identifies Abraxas as a name of " Hermes " (i.e. Thoth ). Here the numerological properties of the name are invoked, with its seven letters corresponding to
1891-746: The body of a man, and his legs are serpents which terminate in scorpions, types of the Agathodaimon . In his right hand he grasps a club, or a flail, and in his left is a round or oval shield." This form was also referred to as the Anguipede . Budge surmised that Abrasax was "a form of the Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalists and the Primal Man whom God made in His own image". Some parts at least of
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1952-464: The book De Mysteriis in reply to Porphyry (vii. 4) admits a preference of 'barbarous' to vernacular names in sacred things, urging a peculiar sanctity in the languages of certain nations, as the Egyptians and Assyrians ; and Origen ( Contra Cels . i. 24) refers to the 'potent names' used by Egyptian sages, Persian Magi , and Indian Brahmins , signifying deities in the several languages. It
2013-494: The chain of events that leads to the Demiurge's rule of this world, and the salvage effort that ensues. As such, the role of Aeons of Eleleth, including Abraxas, Sophia, and others, pertains to this outer border of the Pleroma that encounters the ignorance of the world of Lack and interacts to rectify the error of ignorance in the world of materiality. The Catholic church later deemed Abraxas a pagan god, and ultimately branded him
2074-481: The confident assertions of modern writers to this effect rest on no authority. Isaac de Beausobre properly calls attention to the significant silence of Clement in the two passages in which he instructs the Christians of Alexandria on the right use of rings and gems, and the figures which may legitimately be engraved on them ( Paed . 241 ff.; 287 ff.). But no attempt to identify the figures on existing gems with
2135-514: The distinctive characteristics of Harnack's work were his insistence on absolute freedom in the study of church history and the New Testament (i.e. there were no taboo areas of research that could not be critically examined); his distrust of speculative theology, whether orthodox or liberal ; and his interest in practical Christianity as a religious life and not a system of theology. Some of his addresses on social matters were published under
2196-598: The figure mentioned above are solar symbols , and the Basilidian Abrasax is manifestly connected with the sun. J. J. Bellermann has speculated that "the whole represents the Supreme Being, with his Five great Emanations, each one pointed out by means of an expressive emblem. Thus, from the human body, the usual form assigned to the Deity, forasmuch as it is written that God created man in his own image, issue
2257-489: The god Raphaēl , by the god Abrasax Ablathanalba Akrammachari ...". In text PGM V. 96–172, Abraxas is identified as part of the "true name which has been transmitted to the prophets of Israel" of the "Headless One, who created heaven and earth, who created night and day ... Osoronnophris whom none has ever seen ... awesome and invisible god with an empty spirit"; the name also includes Iaō and Adōnai. "Osoronnophris" represents Egyptian Wsir Wn-nfr , " Osiris
2318-472: The great god, Iaeō ". The patriarchs are sometimes addressed as deities; for which fact many instances may be adduced. In the group "Iakoubia, Iaōsabaōth Adōnai Abrasax", the first name seems to be composed of Jacob and Ya. Similarly, entities considered angels in Judaism are invoked as gods alongside Abrasax: thus "I conjure you ... by the god Michaēl , by the god Souriēl , by the god Gabriēl , by
2379-496: The heading "Essays on the Social Gospel" (1907). Harnack regarded all four gospels to be "not altogether useless as sources of history", but still, "not written with the simple object of giving the facts as they were; they are books composed for the work of evangelisation." Harnack's suggested view on Biblical miracles was nuanced, and distinguished between certain types thusly: "In the fourth place, and lastly, although
2440-549: The identity of Abraxas remains unclear. The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit , for instance, refers to Abraxas as an Aeon dwelling with Sophia and other Aeons of the Pleroma in the light of the luminary Eleleth . In several texts, the luminary Eleleth is the last of the luminaries (Spiritual Lights) that come forward, and it is the Aeon Sophia, associated with Eleleth, who encounters darkness and becomes involved in
2501-676: The legends on gems. By a probably euphonic inversion the translator of Irenaeus and the other Latin authors have Abraxas , which is found in the magical papyri, and even, though most sparingly, on engraved stones. The attempts to discover a derivation for the name, Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, or other, have not been entirely successful: Perhaps the word may be included among those mysterious expressions discussed by Adolf von Harnack , "which belong to no known speech, and by their singular collocation of vowels and consonants give evidence that they belong to some mystic dialect, or take their origin from some supposed divine inspiration". The Egyptian author of
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2562-613: The magic papyri. This word is usually conceded to be derived from the Hebrew (Aramaic), meaning "Thou art our father" (אב לן את), and also occurs in connection with Abraxas; the following inscription is found upon a metal plate in the Karlsruhe Museum: АВРАΣАΞ ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘ ΑΝΑΛΒΑ IO IO IO IAO SABAO KURIE ABRASAX KURIE MEITHRAS KURIE PHALLE. IO PAN, IO PAN PAN IO ISCHUROS, IO ATHANATOS IO ABROTOS IO IAO. KAIRE PHALLE KAIRE PAMPHAGE KAIRE PANGENETOR. HAGIOS, HAGIOS, HAGIOS IAO. There
2623-487: The moon: [24] Ho! Sax, Amun , Sax, Abraxas; for thou art the moon, (25) the chief of the stars, he that did form them, listen to the things that I have(?) said, follow the (words) of my mouth, reveal thyself to me, Than, (26) Thana, Thanatha, otherwise Thei, this is my correct name. The magic word "Ablanathanalba", which reads in Greek the same backward as forward , also occurs in the Abraxas-stones as well as in
2684-507: The name of the supreme god of the Basilidan gnostics, containing the number 365, the number of the days of the year, and of the heavens, and of the spirits emanating from the god Abraxas. Adolf von Harnack Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack ; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian . He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he
2745-435: The name of this God in the language of the baboons. The papyrus goes on to describe a cosmogonic myth about Abraxas, describing how he created the Ogdoad by laughing. His first laughter created light; his second divided the primordial waters ; his third created the mind; his fourth created fertility and procreation; his fifth created fate; his sixth created time (as the sun and moon); and his seventh and final laughter created
2806-481: The names, principles, angels, and powers of the 365 imagined heavens. Incantations by mystic names were characteristic of the hybrid Gnosticism planted in Spain and southern Gaul at the end of the fourth century and at the beginning of the fifth, which Jerome connects with Basilides and which (according to his Epist ., lxxv.) used the name Abraxas. It is therefore not unlikely that some Gnostics used amulets, though
2867-453: The order of Nature be inviolable, we are not yet by any means acquainted with all the forces working in it and acting reciprocally with other forces. Our acquaintance even with the forces inherent in matter, and with the field of their action, is incomplete; while of psychic forces we know very much less. We see that a strong will and a firm faith exert an influence upon the life of the body, and produce phenomena which strike us as marvellous. Who
2928-405: The personages of Gnostic mythology has had any success, and Abraxas is the only Gnostic term found in the accompanying legends that is not known to belong to other religions or mythologies. The present state of the evidence therefore suggests that their engravers and the Basilidians received the mystic name from a common source now unknown. Having due regard to the magic papyri , in which many of
2989-473: The principalities, powers, and angels, the last of whom create "the first heaven". They, in turn, originate a second series, who create a second heaven. The process continues in like manner until 365 heavens are in existence, the angels of the last or visible heaven being the authors of our world. "The ruler" [ principem , i.e., probably ton archonta ] of the 365 heavens "is Abraxas, and for this reason he contains within himself 365 numbers". The name occurs in
3050-569: The rise of dogma , which he understood as the authoritative doctrinal system of the church and its development from the 4th century down to the Protestant Reformation . He considered that from its earliest origins, Christian faith and Greek philosophy were so closely intermingled that the resultant system included many beliefs and practices that were not authentically Christian. Therefore, Protestants are not only free, but bound, to criticize it; Protestantism could be understood as
3111-760: The same year he began the publication, in conjunction with Oscar Leopold von Gebhardt and Theodor Zahn , of an edition of the works of the Apostolic Fathers , Patrum apostolicorum opera , a smaller edition of which appeared in 1877. In 1879 he was called to the University of Giessen as professor ordinarius of church history . There he collaborated with Gebhardt in Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur (1882 sqq.), an irregular periodical , containing only essays in New Testament and patristic fields. In 1881 he published
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#17327875879913172-549: The scourge of Power." In the absence of other evidence to show the origin of these curious relics of antiquity the occurrence of a name known as Basilidian on patristic authority has not unnaturally been taken as a sufficient mark of origin, and the early collectors and critics assumed this whole group to be the work of Gnostics. During the last three centuries attempts have been made to sift away successively those gems that had no claim to be considered in any sense Gnostic, or specially Basilidian, or connected with Abrasax. The subject
3233-466: The seven planets and its isopsephic value of 365 corresponding to the days of the year. Thoth is also identified with Abrasax in PGM LXXIX. 1-7: "I am the soul of darkness, Abrasax, the eternal one, Michaēl, but my true name is Thōouth, Thōouth." One papyrus titled the "Monad" or the "Eighth Book of Moses " (PGM XIII. 1–343) contains an invocation to a supreme creator God; Abraxas is given as being
3294-483: The soul. Then, from various sounds made by Abrasax, there arose the serpent Python who "foreknew all things", the first man (or Fear ), and the god Iaō , "who is lord of all". The man fought with Iaō, and Abrasax declared that Iaō's power would derive from both of the others, and that Iaō would take precedence over all the other gods. This text also describes Helios as an archangel of God/Abrasax. The Leyden Papyrus recommends that this invocation be pronounced to
3355-413: The two supporters, Nous and Logos , symbols of the inner sense and the quickening understanding, as typified by the serpents, for the same reason that had induced the old Greeks to assign this reptile for an attribute to Pallas. His head—a cock's—represents Phronesis , the fowl being emblematical of foresight and vigilance. His two hands bear the badges of Sophia and Dynamis , the shield of Wisdom, and
3416-577: The unintelligible names of the Abrasax-stones reappear, besides directions for making and using gems with similar figures and formulas for magical purposes, it can scarcely be doubted that many of these stones are pagan amulets and instruments of magic. The magic papyri reflect the same ideas as the Abrasax-gems and often bear Hebraic names of God. The following example is illustrative: "I conjure you by Iaō Sabaōth Adōnai Abrasax, and by
3477-764: The whole of Germany and beyond. From 1905 to 1921, Harnack was the General Director of the Royal Library at Berlin (from 1918 called the Prussian State Library). Like many liberal professors in Germany, Harnack welcomed World War I in 1914, and signed a public statement endorsing Germany's war-aims (the Manifesto of the Ninety-Three ). It was this statement, with his teacher Harnack's signature on it, that Karl Barth cited as
3538-408: The whole space is taken up with the inscription. In certain obscure magical writings of Egyptian origin ἀβραξάς or ἀβρασάξ is found associated with other names which frequently accompany it on gems; it is also found on the Greek metal tesseræ among other mystic words. The meaning of the legends is seldom intelligible: but some of the gems are amulets; and the same may be the case with nearly all. In
3599-944: The world, as well as the 365 heavens, was created in honour of 'Abraxas'; and that Christ was sent not by the Maker of the world but by 'Abraxas'. Nothing can be built on the vague allusions of Jerome , according to whom 'Abraxas' meant for Basilides "the greatest God" ( De vir. ill . 21), "the highest God" ( Dial. adv. Lucif . 23), "the Almighty God" ( Comm. in Amos iii. 9), and "the Lord the Creator" ( Comm. in Nah . i. 11). The notices in Theodoret ( Haer. fab . i. 4), Augustine ( Haer . 4), and 'Praedestinatus' (i. 3), have no independent value. It
3660-644: Was a distinguished organizer of sciences. He played an important role in the foundation of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft and became its first president. He was born at Dorpat (today Tartu) in Livonia (then a province of Russia , now in Estonia ) where his father, Theodosius Harnack , held a professorship of pastoral theology . He married Amalie Thiersch on 27 December 1879. Their daughter Agnes von Zahn-Harnack became an activist in
3721-607: Was drawn into a controversy on the Apostles' Creed , in which the partisan antagonisms within the Prussian Church had found expression. Harnack's view was that the creed contains both too much and too little to be a satisfactory test for candidates for ordination ; he preferred a briefer declaration of faith which could be rigorously applied to all (cf. his Das Apostolische Glaubensbekenntnis. Ein geschichtlicher Bericht nebst einer Einleitung und einem Nachwort , 1892). In Berlin, Harnack continued writing. In 1893 he published
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