In late‑antique heresiological summaries (notably reports of Basilidian teaching preserved by orthodox critics), Abraxas is presented as a supreme intermediary figure associated with a layered cosmos: the name is said to 'contain within himself 365 numbers' and to be 'the ruler' of 365 heavens. The exact doctrinal role in Basilidian systems remains uncertain because surviving heresiologies report the association secondhand; independently, the name appears in Gnostic texts (e.g., the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit; Apocalypse of Adam) and in the Greek Magical Papyri, reflecting its parallel life as a theological figure and as a potent magical name engraved on gemstones.
Abraxas is principally known from engraved gemstones (Abraxas stones) used as amulets. Surviving gematic iconography commonly combines mixed attributes—examples in published catalogues and summaries include composite figures such as a human torso with animal heads (often bird/rooster), serpentine legs, and attributes like a whip, shield, staff, or the radiate solar disc—together with the name written in Greek letters. Primary Gnostic scriptures in the supplied material do not provide a consistent anthropomorphic textual description; the archaeological record of engraved gems supplies the typical visual vocabulary associated with the name.
Sources attribute to Abraxas two linked registers of efficacy. Doctrinally (in heresiological summaries) Abraxas is associated with cosmic rulership—specifically linked to the number 365 and presented as a ruling power over many heavens—placing the name at archon/planetary scale within some Gnostic cosmologies. Practically, the name functions as a 'potent name' in the Greco‑Roman magical milieu: it occurs in the Greek Magical Papyri and was engraved on amulets, indicating historical use as an invoked or worn formula for protection, empowerment, or other magical ends. The supplied sources do not record narrative actions or individualized behaviors performed by Abraxas in the manner of a mythic agent; efficacy is attested via textual and material invocation rather than detailed behavioral accounts.
Weaknesses
None recorded.
Wards
- ritualamuletic inscription (Abraxas stone)
57 Mnemosyne
57 Mnemosyne is a large main-belt asteroid (S-type) discovered in 1859 and named after the Greek Titaness Mnemosyne. It is a non-sentient astronomical body studied for its orbital and rotational properties and has been used in dynamical measurements related to Jupiter.
Aamon
Aamon (also Amon) is a named spirit in early modern Western grimoire tradition (Pseudomonarchia Daemonum; the Ars Goetia / Lesser Key of Solomon). He is presented as a high-ranking infernal officer (Marquis/Prince) who governs forty legions and is credited with knowledge of past and future and with affecting human relationships (reconciling or procuring feuds and favor).
Abrahel
Abrahel is a demonological entity attested in early modern sources (notably Nicholas Rémy's Demonolatria as summarized in modern reference) portrayed as a female sexual spirit who seduced a man in 1581, induced him to kill his son, then restored the child to life in exchange for worship; the revival produced a diminished, foul-smelling corpse that later died again.
Achamōth
Achamōth is a feminine emanational figure in certain Gnostic systems, attested as a daughter or subordinate aspect of the divine Wisdom, Sophia. She appears in ophitic/Naassene mythic genealogies where she is named as motherly/filial to lower, problematic figures such as Ilda‑Baoth; beyond this genealogical role the supplied sources record little concrete description or ritual material specific to her.
Adam Kadmon
Adam Kadmon (Hebrew: אָדָם קַדְמוֹן) is the Kabbalistic Primordial Man: a supra‑human, archetypal pattern or persona projected at the first stage of creation after God's contraction (tzimtzum). It is a metaphysical template corresponding to the highest aspect of divine intention and the sefirotic structure rather than a historical, corporeal individual.
Aedesia
Aedesia is a proper name attested in the supplied sources with three distinct referents: a fifth‑century Neoplatonic woman philosopher of Alexandria, a modern botanical genus (Aedesia O.Hoffm.) native to parts of West and Central Tropical Africa, and a reused toponym/moon name in a speculative fiction setting. None of the provided materials portray Aedesia as a supernatural being or attribute spiritlike powers to the name.
Aeon (Gnosticism)
In Gnostic religious systems an Aeon is a divine emanation or hypostasis that issues from the supreme divine source and together with other Aeons composes the Pleroma, the realm or fullness of divine reality. Aeons function as personified principles or powers (e.g., Nous, Sophia) that mediate between the ultimate One and lower levels of existence; their names, numbers, and relationships vary across Gnostic schools (Valentinian, Basilidian, Sethian, etc.).
Agaliarept
A named high-ranking spirit from post-medieval grimoire tradition, presented in the Grimoirium Verum and the Grand Grimoire as a commanding officer in a hierarchical host of spirits; credited with revealing secrets and commanding a legion, and cited in later printed occult imprints and modern fiction.
Agares
Agares is a named, ranked spirit in the European grimoire tradition. Frequently presented as an elderly man associated with the eastern quarter, he is credited in multiple grimoires with teaching languages, stopping or retrieving runaway persons, causing earthquakes, and granting noble titles, and is invoked in evocations and object-binding experiments.
Agathos Daimon (Agathodaemon)
A beneficent household and civic daemon attested in classical Greek and Graeco‑Egyptian religion. In domestic Greece it is a household spirit honored with post‑meal libations; in Ptolemaic Alexandria it appears prominently in serpentine civic and household forms and is syncretised with various Egyptian protective and fate deities in late antiquity.
Agrippa
Agrippa is a polyvalent Latin personal name attested across Roman myth (a legendary king of Alba Longa), multiple historical figures (e.g., Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Agrippa Postumus, Herod Agrippa I & II), and a Renaissance occult author (Heinrich/Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa). The supplied sources treat Agrippa primarily as an onomastic label rather than a single, consistent supernatural entity.
Aiwass
Aiwass is the name given by Aleister Crowley to a discarnate intelligence that he reported as audibly dictating Liber AL vel Legis during three days in Cairo in April 1904. Crowley presents Aiwass as an objectively separate revelatory being, variously called the minister of Hoor‑paar‑kraat and later identified by Crowley with his Holy Guardian Angel.
Community Record
- [1]Abraxas (Wikipedia). Wikipedia: Abraxaswiki
- [2]Abraxas (Wikidata). Wikidata: Q2056201other
- [3]Abraxas — Biblical Cyclopedia. Biblical Cyclopedia entry on Abraxasliterary
- [4]Selected archive and cultural reuse references (indexed in research notes). Archive and cultural references listed in research notes (music, modern uses, taxonomy)other