MAGIC WORDS ars claim the word is a corruption of the name Abu Abdullah abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, a ninth century Arabian mathematician who pioneered algebraic formulae.47 In 1822, Samson Arnold Mackey suggested that abracadabra is actu ally a sentence formulated by ancient astronomers to describe the constel lation of the bull, meaning literally "the Bull, the only Bull": "The ancient sentence split into its component parts stands thus: Ab'r-achad-ab'ra, i.e., Ab'r, the Bull; achad, the only -- Achad is one of the names of the Sun, given him in consequence of his Shining alone, -- and he is the only Star to be seen when he is seen -- the remaining ab'ra, makes the whole to be, The Bull, the only Bull."48 More popularly, abracadabra is associated with a Hebrew-Aramaic expression, variously transliterated: ibra k'dibra ("I create through my speech"49), abhadda kedkabhra ("disappear like this word" 0), Abra kadavra ("I will create with words"51), ha brachah dabarah ("speak the blessing" ), abreq ad habra ("hurl your thunderbolt even unto death" ), abraq ad habra ("I will create as I speak"54), Avra c'dabrah ("it came to pass as it was spoken" ), and Ab, Ben, Ruch a cadasch (the words for father, son, and holy spirit ). Scholar William Isaacs explains it this way: "Abra comes from the Aramaic verb bra meaning to create. Ca translates to 'as.' Dabra is the first person of the verb daber, 'to speak.' In other words, abracadabra literally means 'I create as I speak.' Magic!"57 Ultimately, the meaning of abracadabra doesn't matter: "The true magic 'word' or spell is untranslatable, because its power resides only partially in that outward sense which is apprehended by the reason, but chiefly in the rhythm, which is addressed to the subliminal mind."58 Facts: Scholar Joshua Trachtenberg notes that certain words take on occult virtues through the tradition that has developed around them "or because of their fancied descent from potent charms of ancient times or foreign peoples." He notes that magic is the most conservative of disciplines: "like the law it clings to archaic forms long after they have lost currency." (Many 47 Daniel Hillis, Pattern on the Stone (1999) 48 'Mythological' Astronomy of the Ancients Demonstrated, quoted in The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly Palmer Hall (1928) 49 Estelle Frankel, Sacred Therapy: Jewish Spiritual Teachings on Emotional Healing and Inner Wholeness (2004) 50 David Colbert, The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts (2004) 51 David Aaron, Endless Light: The Ancient Path of Kabbalah (1998) 52 Gustav Davidson, Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels (1994) 5 J.E. Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols (2002) 54 Susan G. Woolridge, Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words (1997) 55 Alan Lew, This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared (200 ) Llewellyn Encyclopedia (2002) 57 Dialogue: The Art Of Thinking Together (1999) 58 Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism (1911)