Gnostic Amulets and the Abrasax Gems

In the second century the Gnostic heresy gave a new impulse to the fabrication of amulets. This strange eclecticism, resulting from an interweaving of pagan and Christian ideas, with its complicated symbolism, much of which is almost incomprehensible, found expression in the creation of the most bizarre types of amulets, and the magic virtues of the curious designs was enhanced by inscriptions purposely obscure. The incomprehensible always seems to have a mysterious charm for those devoted to the magic arts, and the adepts willingly catered to this taste, so that we can often only guess at the signification of the words and names engraved upon the Gnostic or Basilidian gems. So widespread was their use throughout the Roman Empire, that there were factories entirely devoted to the production of these objects. (Krause, "Pyrgoteles," Halle, 1856.)

Regarding the sacred name Abrasax, which was inscribed on so many Gnostic gems, we read in St. Augustine's treatise De haeres., vi, "Basilides asserted that there were 365 heavens; it was for this season that he regarded the name Abrasax as sacred and venerable." According to the Greek notation the letters comprising this name give that number:

alpha=	1
beta=	2
rho=	100
alpha=	1
sigma=	200
alpha=	1
xi=	60
Totaling-	365

It is, however, not unlikely that the 365 days in the solar year are signified; and this enigmatical name might thus be brought into connection with Mithra, the solar divinity, who was worshipped throughout the Persian and Roman empires in the first and second centuries of our era.

A very recondite but ingenious explanation of the Gnostic name Abrasax is given by Harduin in his notes to Pliny's "Natural History." (Caii Plinii Secundi, Naturalis Historia, ed. Harduin, Parisiis, 1741.) He sees in the first three letters the initials of the three Hebrew words signifying father, son, and spirit (ab, ben, ruah), the Triune God; the last four letters are the initials of the Greek words "he saves men by the sacred wood" (the cross). This seems rather farfetched, it must be confessed, and yet to any one familiar with the vagaries of Alexandrine eclecticism, and with the tendency of the time and place to make strange and uncouth combinations of Greek and Hebrew forms, there is nothing inherently improbable in the explanation. Indeed, the Hebrew and Greek words in this composite sentence might have been regarded as typifying the union of the Old and New Testaments, and such an acrostic would certainly have been looked upon as possessing a mystic and supernatural power.

Many explanations have been offered as to the origin and significance of the characteristic figure of the Abrasax god engraved on a number of Gnostic amulets. There seems to be no doubt that this figure was invented by Basilides, chief of the Gnostic sect bearing his name, and who flourished in the early part of the second century A.D. While the details of the type as perfected were undoubtedly borrowed from the eclectic symbolism of the Egyptian and western Asiatic world it is almost impossible to conjecture the reasons determining the selection of this particular form.

A jasper engraved with the famous Gnostic symbol was set in the ring worn by Seffrid, Bishop of Chichester (A.D. 1159). This ring was found on the skeleton of the bishop and is now preserved in the treasury of the Cathedral of Chichester. Undoubtedly the curious symbolic figure was given a perfectly orthodox meaning, and, indeed, it was not really a pagan symbol, as the Gnostics were "indifferent Christians," although their system was a fanciful elaboration of the doctrines of the late Alexandrian school of Greek Philosophy and an adaptation of this to the teachings of Christian tradition. In many cases, however, gems with purely pagan designs were worn by Christians, designs such as Isis with the child Horus, which was taken to be the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus.

A curious amulet, apparently belonging to the Gnostic variety, and intended to bring success to the owner of a racehorse, is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. The material is green jasper with red spots. On the obverse the horse is figured with the victor's palm and the name Tiberis; on the reverse appears the vulture-headed figure of the Abraxas god and the characters, "ZACTA LAW BAPIA," which have been translated, "Iao the Destroyer and Creator." (King, Catalogue of Engraved Gems, Metropolitan Museum of Art, No. 302, 1885.) Possibly this amulet may have been attached to the horse during his races to insure victory, as we know that amulets of this kind were used in this way.