This is a wonderful post detailing the etymological usage of Abraxas in the past. We recently posted Symbolism in Jupiter Ascending : The Olympians 2.0 – Abraxas, which has a great deal of symbolism in it relating to this archetype. The following can help provide the back knowledge necessary for decoding these allegories.
– Justin
The God Abraxas (Abrasax, Abraxis and Latin-Afipacrdl) comes to us from ancient Egypt and is associated with the early beginnings of Gnosticism, which would later influence many of the first Gnostics who had went on to form the various Abrahamic religions such as Judaism and Christianity.
The meaning of Abraxas in the languages of Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Old Irish/Celtic can be found in the secrets of occult numerology. The first form of the word comes to us from the second century with the words Abrac, or Abracar, a name whichBasilides, an early Gnostic religious teacher in Alexandria, Egypt had given to God; who he said was the author of three hundred and sixty-five. This word would later be imported around the world from Greece, Egypt and Rome by these original Gnostics to the Druids in the West.
The original letters of Abraxas are a Greek name, spelled ABΣPΞ that add up to 365:
A = 1, B = 2, Σ = 200, P = 100, Ξ = 60 = 365
The early Fathers of the Catholic Church, Irenaeus and Epiphanius had said ; that 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,’ and according to Jerome (c.347–September 30, 420) who is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin, ‘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).
In studying the etymology of the word Ab-Rax-As, I have found that it means;
* Ab – is derived from the Aramic and Latin abba meaning – Father
* Rax or Rex- Latin for King or a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
* As – Used to refer to the function or character that someone or something has: “Jupiter rules as father of the heavens.”
The word Abraxas is just another code name for true Lord of the Thrones. For example, a similar code name for the supreme god, like that of Abraxas we can find in the horned goat idol known to the world as Baphomet who was made famous by the Knights Templar. In my previous article, The Meaning of Baphomet, I had detailed that the name Baphomet is derived from the phrase, TEM OHP AB (Temple omnium hominum pads abba), which is simply Latin for “father of the temple, universal peace of men.”TEM OHP AB spelled backwards is where we get the word “Baphomet.”
Both of these idols of Abraxas and Baphomet are later symbols for the same ancient idols found in Egypt at the Temple of Karnak (Amon-Ra) where you will find Rows of sphinx’s line the entrance to the temple, both inside and out. These ram-headed sphinx’s of Egypt, the Gnostic God Abraxas, and the Templar’s Baphomet all symbolize the original Gnostic God of Amon Ra.
IMAGES OF ABRAXAS –
The images that are often depicted along with Abraxas come to us in the form of ancient Talismans usually symbolized as a creature like man with the body of a human being, the head of a rooster, and with each of his legs ending in a serpent that are curved upwards. This same symbolgy is found on the horns of both, the ram sphinx and Baphomet.
Many of these Talismans have various images and words on them, with the most common images and words depicting the God Jupiter Serpais- who is often shown with the sun, crescent, eagle, with’ Ammon’s horns, Isis’s head ;
The word Serapis comes from the third century BC on the orders of Greco-Egyptian PharaohPtolemy I of Egypt in an attempt to unify the Greeks and Egyptians. The goal of Ptolemy was to unite both kingdoms by combining the God Osiris of Egypt with Zeus of Greece to create a single god. The word is a corruption of osor’apis (dead apis, or rather “osirified apis”). The name Serapis (like Abraxas and Mithras) contains seven letters. This event is signified in the bible with the story of the idol Golden Calf of the Israelites who acccording to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf (עֵגֶּל הַזָהָב ‘ēggel hazâhâḇ) was an idol (a cult image) made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses‘ absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai.
Please note that just like we can find these horns on the ram-headed sphinxes of Egypt, images of Abraxas and that of Baphomet, the golden calf also has these same type of horns.
Godfrey Higgins notes that Soros was the name given by the Egyptians to a stone coffin, and Apis was Osiris incarnated in the sacred bull. These two words combined result in Soros-Apis or Sor-Apis, “the tomb of the bull.” Among other meanings suggested for the word Serapis are: “The Sacred Bull,” “The Sun in Taurus,” “The Soul of Osiris,” “The Sacred Serpent,” and “The Retiring of the Bull.” The last appellation has reference to the ceremony of drowning the sacred Apis in the waters of the Nile every twenty-five years.
WORSHIP OF JUPITER-AMON WHO BECOMES ABRAXAS –
Since the most ancient times, the planet Jupiter has been worshipped as a god and there is not one planet or star on earth that has garnished as much adoration and worship as this one planet. Neither Saturn, nor the ball of fire in the sky known as the sun, has come close. The seven letters of the name Abraxas reference to 365 is the number of days which the planet Jupiter rules the heavens as the Father and King of planets, and the seven letters correspond to the seven rays of the planetary spheres in which the name Jupiter also has seven letters.
The ancient image to the left is of Jupiter Hammon, with both the words Jupiter and Hammon. Other names that represent the planet Jupiter come to us from all around the world in various languages, such as in Greek where the planet is depicted as the God Zeus, or in Egypt as the God Osiris. The Balylonians had called Jupiter by the God Marduk and the Sumerians, Niribru. The Syrians knew Jupiter as Adon or Aten and the Israelites had referred to Jupiter as Yahweh, Jehova, and in more recent times as Adonai. The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings had named it Odin (Woden). Notice the image below of Odin is very similar to the picture of Jupiter Amon above, and also images of Baphomet with similar symbology, but instead of horns, Odin had wings on his head. All these similarities of horns and other symbols adorning the heads of these gods are not done by coincidence.
The original Gnostic religion of Abraxas has its roots in the ancient Egyptian New Kingdon located at Thebes. There they had proclaimed Jupiter to be the supreme ruler of both the AS ABOVE and SO BELOW, in which they had subscribed to him seven subordinate angels (planets). The meaning of Thebes is from the word Theba that signifies ‘Ark.’
The capital of the religion the City of Light, or what we know of as Luxor where they had worshipped god Amon-Ra (Amun-Ra, Amen-Ra or Jupiter-Amon). The cult of Amon-Ra was introduced by the Egyptians under the XVIIIth Dynasty, a fact which is proved by the testimony of the Tell el-‘Amarna tablets. A temple was built here by Ramses III who had set up two obelisks in front of it, of which one now sits in Paris. Legend says he made it for his father Amun-Ra, and that he had erected these two great obelisks in hard stone before the Ramsesseion of the city of Amun.”
Amon (Amun) is the hidden god and lord of thrones. Abraxas represents this god with his serpent like legs ending in a serpent curled upwards like horns.
In the hieroglyph of Baphomet, the Amon is depicted as the horns of a Goat. Notice the same symbolgy as the image above.
Lying in the middle of the brain is part of the temporal lobe called the Ammon’s horn (Amuns Horn) or the hippocampus. In neuroanatomy, Ammon’s horn is a metaphor that relates to the gods and the brain.
The Ammons Horn is the magical hippocampus and the serpent-god of the sea.
Scylla the sea monster or Jonah the Great Fish. It appears with the head and body of a horse and large fishlike sea serpent hindquarters. Hippius, a name of Neptune and the Hippocampus was Neptune’s favorite horse.
Neptune (Latin: Neptunus) was the Roman god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion, a brother of Jupiter and Pluto. He is the counterpart of the Greek Poseidon and one of the ancient gods of Phoenicia. Neptune or Poseidon, is often riding a hippocampus or has his chariot drawn by two of them, and his babies are called tadfoals.
Just like the church fathers Irenaeus and Epiphanius had said, that Christ was not sent by the Maker of the world, but created 
in honor of Abraxas, and that this God is “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.” These same exact terms are used for the planet Jupiter and the god Amon long before they were applied to Abraxas. In fact, if you research ancient history before the god Abraxas had come onto the Gnostic scene around the turn of the millennium, you will find that the largest planet in the sky was Jupiter, in which they had worshiped it as the greatest of all Gods, lord of the lords, and the highest god along with the hidden creator god in our minds they called Amon, and that which we call today, the hippocampus.
in honor of Abraxas, and that this God is “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.” These same exact terms are used for the planet Jupiter and the god Amon long before they were applied to Abraxas. In fact, if you research ancient history before the god Abraxas had come onto the Gnostic scene around the turn of the millennium, you will find that the largest planet in the sky was Jupiter, in which they had worshiped it as the greatest of all Gods, lord of the lords, and the highest god along with the hidden creator god in our minds they called Amon, and that which we call today, the hippocampus.
This is not a scientific coincidence, but just the evolution of the occult and secret mysteries as the Brotherhood conceals their teachings in allegories so the uninitiated and profane would not understand them. This fact we still can witness to this very day, but since this is the Apocalypse and some of you will “get the light” of exactly what I AM teaching you, SO MOTE IT BE. Let’s torch the veil together and bring light to the profane who are left in the dark with no torches or light to speak of.
MORE RESEARCH –
In the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, it refers to Abraxas as an Aeon dwelling withSophia (wisdom) and other Neons of the Pleroma in the light of the illuminary Elleleth.Epiphanius (Haer. 69, 73 f.) appears to follow partly Irenaeus, partly the lost Compendium of Hippolytus. He designates Abrasax more distinctly as “the power above all, and First Principle,” “the cause and first archetype” of all things; and mentions that the Basilidians referred to 365 as the number of parts (mele) in the human body, as well as of days in the year.
Godfrey Higgins, in his book the Celtic Druids, had said that the word may have come from the Druids and he had also shown that the numerical equivalent of the spelling of the name Abraxas, which has seven letters that equal to three hundred and sixty-five in both the Greek and Hebrew (Phoenician) language. However, as I stated above, the word came from Greco-Egypt in the 2nd century AD.
In more modern times, Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist had wrote extensively on Abraxas as a polymorphous world spirit which permeates — or even encompass — the very fabric of existence:
“[Abraxas] is… a thousand-armed ployp, coiled knot of winged serpents… the hermaphrodite of the earliest beginning… the lord of toads and frogs, which live in the water… abundance that seeketh union with emptiness.” (Carl Jung, quoted in The Gnostic Jung, Ed. Robert Segal, pp. 187-88, pub. 1992)
And in a modern gnostic sermon by Jung called “Seven Sermons to the Dead,” he wrote:
“Abraxas is the god whom it is difficult to know. His power is the very greatest, because man does not perceive it. Man sees the summum bonuum (supreme good) of the sun, and also the infinum malum (endless evil) of the devil, but Abraxas he does not see, for he is indefinable life itself, which is the mother of good and evil.
C. W. King, in his Gnostics and Their Remains, in describing Abraxas, King says:
“Bellermann considers the composite image, inscribed with the actual name Abraxas, to be a Gnostic Pantheos, representing the Supreme Being, with the Five Emanations marked out by appropriate symbols. From the human body, the usual form assigned to the Deity, spring the two supporters, Nous and Logos, expressed in the serpents, symbols of the inner senses, and the quickening understanding; on which account the Greeks had made the serpent the attribute of Pallas. His head–that of a cock–represents Phronesis, that bird being the emblem of foresight and of vigilance. His two arms hold the symbols of Sophia and Dynamis: the shield of Wisdom and the whip of Power.”
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The Movie "the water horse" comes to mind. obviously being the seahorse (hippocampus) which is where the hippopotamus gets its name…. the water horse, and of course the brain is 75% water ;)