A barbarous name (Latin: nomen barbarum; pl. nomina barbara) is a meaningless (or seemingly meaningless) word used in magic rituals. The term barbarous comes from the Greek barbaroi (Ancient Greek: βάρβαροι), meaning one to whom a pure Greek dialect is not native; one who is not a proper Greek, (barbarians). Often these names were derived from foreign sources and acquired their "barbarous" nature from the magician's lack of understanding of that language.[1][2]
Many ancient barbarous names were of Egyptian origin,[1][2] though there were plenty of Hebrew and Persian names that were corrupted by transcription into Greek.[1] They appear throughout the Greek Magical Papyri,[1][2] a notable example being "ablanathanalba".[1]
Iamblichus discusses barbarous names, warning magicians not to translate them even if their original meaning is discovered, due to the belief that the power of the names resided in their sound, not their meaning.[1] The term also appears in the Chaldean Oracles.[3][4]
By the medieval period most were from Greek and Hebrew sources, such as "anexhexeton".[1] Gemistus Pletho censored references to barbarous names (as well as Christianity) in Michael Psellos's copy of the Chaldean Oracles.[4]
The Enochian language of John Dee and Edward Kelley introduced a variety of barbarous names to modern magical practice.[1][2]
In the modern era, Aleister Crowley, like Iamblichus before him, argued that the supposed effectiveness of barbarous names rested in their utterance, not their meaning.[2][5]
^ abcdefghThe New Encyclopedia of the Occult, by John Michael Greer, Llewellyn, 2005, p. 58-59
^ abcdeThe Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy, by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Facts on File (Infobase Publishing), 2006, p.31
^Magical and Philosophical Precepts, in The Chaldæan Oracles of Zoroaster, trans. Thomas Taylor and I.P. Cory, ed. W. Wynn Westcott, Theosophical publishing society, 1895.
^ ab"Plethon, Georgios Gemistos" by Brigette Tambrun, in Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Occultism, ed. Wouter Hanegraaff, Brill publishers, 2006, p.961
^Chapter IX: Of Silence and Secrecy: And of the Barbarous Names of Evocation from Aleister Crowley's Magick in Theory and Practice, hosted at the Internet Sacred Text Archive
barbarousname (Latin: nomen barbarum; pl. nomina barbara) is a meaningless (or seemingly meaningless) word used in magic rituals. The term barbarous...
Look up barbarism, barbarity, or barbarous in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Barbarism, barbarity, or barbarous may refer to: Barbarism (linguistics)...
Konstantinos "Kosta" Barbarouses (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μπαρμπαρούσης; born 19 February 1990) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays...
culmination of a trick. Avada kedavra — Spell from the Harry Potter series Barbarousname – Meaningless word used in magic rituals Hocus-pocus – Magic phrase...
what they have in common is "language as an instrument of creation". Barbarousname – Meaningless word used in magic rituals Eight Magic Words, magic words...
form barbarousnames, which are corrupted names of deities particularly used in magical evocations. According to Rosemary Guiley barbarousnames are used...
motif element D1552.2, "Mountain opens to magic formula". Abracadabra Barbarousnames Hocus pocus "Les mille et une nuits : contes arabes / traduits par...
Barbarousnames are magical formulas often taken from foreign languages, but corrupted or meaningless to the magician. Iamblichus discusses barbarous...
ecstasy. YHShVH, also known as the Pentagrammaton.[citation needed] Barbarousname – Meaningless word used in magic rituals Ceremonial magic – Variety...
Barbarous radiates are imitations of the antoninianus, a type of coin issued during the Roman Empire, which are so named due to their crude style and prominent...
The Barbarous Coast is a 1956 detective novel by Canadian-American author Ross Macdonald, the sixth to feature private investigator Lew Archer and his...
invented prophets for himself named Barcabbas and Barcoph, and others that had no existence, and that he gave them barbarousnames in order to amaze those who...
Barbary Coast.] Obs. †b. Barbary pirates & A Barbary horse. Obs. The OED barbarous entry summarizes the semantic history. "The sense-development in ancient...
of the "barbarousnames" into English ones. The king made many such changes, but only four survive today. One was Cape Ann, which Charles named in honor...
he suggested that the Prince should feel free to change any of the "barbarousnames" for "English" ones. The Prince made many such changes, but only four...
with aboriginal place names, to Prince Charles, "...humbly entreating his Highnesse hee would please to change their barbarousnames for such English, as...
18th century, conceptions of Siberia or Tartary and its inhabitants as "barbarous" by Enlightenment-era writers tied into contemporary concepts of civilization...
31, 1948) was an American publisher, journalist, and author. His book Barbarous Mexico helped discredit Mexican President Porfirio Díaz's regime in the...
area: "We were at first inclined to stigmatise this language as harsh and barbarous in its sounds. Their combinations of words in the manner they utter them...
mountains, or even more generally, anything seen as foreign, strange, or even barbarous. In Spain the wind is called the tramuntana [tɾəmunˈtanə] or [tɾamunˈtana]...
The Ivory Grin (aka Marked for Murder) – 1952 Find a Victim – 1954 The Barbarous Coast – 1956 The Doomsters – 1958 The Galton Case – 1959 The Wycherly...
men of wit so fine and polished as are these Indians: they have nothing barbarous or savage about them, as we are apt to suppose. They are unwilling indeed...
and those in the streets bullied and called Gandhi a "parasite", "semi-barbarous", "canker", "squalid coolie", "yellow man", and other epithets. People...
Texas: Wandering Savage Indians Southwest of Hudson Bay: The long and BarbarousNames lately given to some of these Northern Parts of Canada and the Lakes...
interpretation, writing, "The horseman on the white horse was clad in a showy and barbarous attire. . . . While his horse continued galloping, he was bending his...
Global Information