Abrac, Obscure Latin in Goetia Options

At the end of the Address to the Spirit, there is an obscure and enigmatic phrase:

Name of the Lord BATHAL, rushing upon ABRAC, ABEOR, coming upon BEROR. (Waite)

name of the Lord Vathat rushing upon a brack Abeor coming upon a Boror (Long)

name of the Lord: Bathal or Vathat rushing upon Abrac! Abeor coming upon Aberer! (Crowley)

name of ye Lord Bathat rushing upon Abrac Abeor coming upon Aberer. (Peterson)

Bathal vel Vathat super Abrac ruens! Abeor veniens super Aberer! (Sloane)


Isn't it strange how none of the standard reference editions agree with each other on this phrase?

Crowley takes care in his personal copy to note a change in the Latin form to "venientis" and "ruentis," though this is his innovation, as is the colon after "name of the Lord."

Take into account that all known manuscript copies of the Lemegeton date from the 17th century (at the earliest) and are written in English. Why, then, do they include this one single phrase in Latin?

I would like to explore the significance of these words with some speculation. Bear with me as my linguistic knowledge is mediocre at best. I have made several attempts at this task and all have left me wanting something more precise or at least something comprehensible.

We can be relatively certain that Bathal is "Bath Al" or "The House of God." This is a common term used for synagogues and is in appropriate context here.

Since "vel Vathat" simply means "or Vathat" I assume the copyist was uncertain of how to transcribe House of God into Latin characters, and it is redundant. In Hebrew, the V and B are often represented by the same letter, and the scribe probably wrote "vel Vathat" just to make sure he didn't make a mistake.

The words super, ruens, abeor, veniens, and aberro are all actual Latin words. Super means "upon." Ruens means "collapsing" or putting to ruin and is the present participle form of Ruo. Abeor is passive-indicative form of "depart." Aberer is to deviate or go astray, first person subjunctive. I am very uncertain about how exactly these would be arranged according to the rules of Latin grammar, and equally unsure about their person, number, and tense; but it is at least evident that they are real words and not merely names.

One word that could not be conclusively ascribed to Latin is ABRAC. The 2731 manuscript, which appears to have been scrawled by a monkey with Parkinson's disease and then run through the laundry a few times, has a word that could be "abrack" or "abrage." For some time I assumed this was a mistranscription of abrogo, which is the defendant in a legal accusation. This does not produce a compelling final product when the words are put together.

About the time of the Lemegeton's writing, there was some interest in the word Abrac among Freemasons. I am not a Mason and know next to nothing about Freemasonry, but apparently this was quite a stir at the time. Abrac was being used to refer to the ability to conjure spirits with magical circles, sigils, and incantations. It is my assumption that the masonic Abrac is thematically identical to the same word used in Goetia, and that the two have a close relationship. I can only speculate whether the masons derive the term from Goetia or vice versa, or whether it was simply included to implicate Freemasons in demon-conjuring.

If these two are related directly, it would appear that the Latin phrase means something like "The House of the Lord upon Abrac collapses, you may depart if I go astray." If this is correct, it gives some quarter to the spirit in that it permits the spirit to depart, relieving it of obligation, if the magician goes astray. I assume this refers to ceremonial protocols, advising that the House of the Lord is superior to one's magical practices. I am not entirely certain that it was even meant to be spoken! It may only be a footnote provided by the scribe of the source for the manuscript copies.

In any case it is a mystery of the Goetia that has never been properly explored from a scholarly point of view, and I do not feel qualified to do it. Perhaps some of you have something else to share on the subject.

Greetings!
I am also somewhat bemused by this term, having ignorred it in the past. My original thought was that it had something to do with the gnostic amulet inscription of Abraxis/Abracadabra. So this has prompted me to do alittle Googling and I have discovered a fair amount of info concerning this 'word'... Here are the links (at least a few) that appear to be pertinent!

[url=http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:NsczHm3xs6oJ:www.mastermason.com/masonicmoroni/Philalethes/facultie_of_abrac.htm+abrac&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us]

http://www.oldandsold.com/articles31n/popu...itions-61.shtml
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Masonic-Proce...y/dp/142530978X
http://www.luciferlink.org/mwarlock.htm

Please note that there is an entire BOOK written about this in the 3rd (Amazon) link!
Now I just have to purchase it and read for myself just what the hullaball is all about. *grin*
The pig Latin used in that final statement is a red herring (IMHO) but...it never hurt to find out! Thanks for the 'Heads Up!'
and Keep us posted! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/egypt1.gif)
PS I'd go with the Sloane, btw...

Its interesting to note that these phrases are also in the Heptameron, which I believe predates the Goetia. The references are varied and unclear as to when this was first written. Agrippa apparently lent heavily on this work, (room for debate), from the works of Albertus Magnus (1220-1280).

Loki