0 MAGIC WORDS you can say 'abracadabra' many of us discover we're the dumb bunnies pulled from a top hat and blinking blindly into the lights only to again dis appear as wondrously as we first appeared. We are no sooner here than we disappear." -- Noah benShea, "Life is a Contradiction in Terms: (200 ) • Key to unlock or open "Tibetans have been reported to lift stones through the use of certain combinations of sound frequencies. Perhaps the Arab word 'Abracadabra' pronounced correctly really did cause something to open." -- Paul Von Ward, Gods, Genes, and Consciousness (2004) "Abracadabra, a door opened and there was Claudia." -- Kathy Kaehler, Kathy Kaehler's Celebrity Workouts (2004) "He thought 'CIA' was a kind of abracadabra that would magically open all the important doors in Washington." -- Robert Baer, See No Evil (200 ) "The safe hummed once, then clicked. 'Abracadabra,' Roarke stated, and opened it." -- J.D. Robb, Purity in Death (2002) "No amount of intellectual authority, arrogant confidence, name dropping, or ego and ambition pounding on the door demanding to be admitted will allow us passage. Beyond a certain point, faith is the magic lamp and humility the abracadabra." -- Gregg Michael Levoy, Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life (1998) • Keyword or buzzword "The abracadabras of a champion job search." -- Jay A. Block, 2500 Keywords to Get You Hired (2002) • Lingo "He was certain that if he sailed a hundred years on the Caine he would understand such abracadabra no better than he did at that moment." -- Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny (1951) "[T]he abracadabra of the philosophers." -- Christa Wolf and Jan Van Heurch, Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays (1988) • Magic "Change is magical, like . . . Abracadabra." -- Angeles Arrien, The Tarot Handbook: Practical Applications of Ancient Visual Symbols (1997) "There were abracadabra spells for protection on journeys." -- Paul M. Johnson, A History of the Jews (1988) "[T]here's no abracadabra magic involved in change." -- Joseph P. Luciani, The Power of Self-Coaching (2004) "Lacking an abracadabra wand, you're stuck with people." -- Rose Rosetree, The Power of Face Reading (2001) "[I]t worked like abracadabra." -- Lynn Hightower, The Debt Collector (2001) "One word from me and, abracadabra!, reality was transformed." -- Eva Luna, quoted in Conversations with Isabel Allende by Isabel Allende (1999) • Magician "That mausoleum right there [is] the permanent home of the Great Abra Cadabra -- one of the greatest magicians that ever lived." -- Deborah Gregory, The Cheetah Girls: Growl Power (2000)