Abraxas, also spelled Abrasax, is a mystical name found in late antique Gnostic teaching, Greek magical papyri and engraved gemstone amulets. Its seven Greek letters add up to 365, the days of the year, which made it a symbol of cosmic totality. Early Christian writers linked it to the Gnostic teacher Basilides, and modern writers such as Carl Jung and Hermann Hesse revived it.
Abraxas at a glance
| Also spelled | Abrasax (Greek ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ) |
|---|---|
| Tradition | Gnosticism, Greco-Egyptian magic |
| Period | 2nd to 4th centuries AD (main evidence) |
| Numerical value | 365 by Greek isopsephy |
| Associated teacher | Basilides of Alexandria (active c. 117-161 AD) |
| Typical image | Cock or lion head, human body, serpent legs |
| Modern revival | Jung, Seven Sermons to the Dead (1916); Hesse, Demian (1919) |
Name and numerology
The name appears in Greek sources as Abrasax; the form Abraxas arose later, probably through a Latin misreading of the Greek letter sigma. Its origin is unknown. Scholars have proposed Hebrew, Egyptian and Persian etymologies, but none has won general agreement, and it may simply be a constructed magical word.
What made the name famous in antiquity was its numerical value. In Greek isopsephy each letter also stands for a number, and the letters of ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ (1 + 2 + 100 + 1 + 200 + 1 + 60) total 365. For writers who saw the heavens as a series of ordered spheres, a name equal to the days of the solar year suggested a power that governed time and the whole cosmos.
Abraxas in Gnostic teaching
Most of what is known about Abraxas in Gnostic thought comes from opponents of Gnosticism. Irenaeus of Lyon, writing around 180 AD in Against Heresies, described the system of Basilides, an Alexandrian teacher active in the early second century. According to Irenaeus, Basilides taught that angels had produced 365 heavens, one after another, and that the ruler of these heavens bore a name whose number was 365. Later writers, including Hippolytus of Rome and Pseudo-Tertullian, identify that name as Abrasax.
These accounts are hostile summaries, and they do not always agree with one another or with other reports of Basilides. Texts from the Nag Hammadi library, discovered in 1945, mention Abrasax as well, but there the figure appears lower in the heavenly hierarchy than the church fathers suggested. Scholars therefore treat the image of Abraxas as a supreme Gnostic god with caution. See also the Gnostic currents discussed under Ophites and dualism.
Magical papyri and amulets
Outside Christian polemic, the name was widely used in practical magic. The Greek Magical Papyri from Roman Egypt include Abrasax among the powerful names invoked in spells, often alongside Jewish, Egyptian and Greek divine names. Hundreds of engraved gemstones, usually called Abraxas stones, survive from roughly the second to fourth centuries.
The most common image on these gems is an anguipede: a figure with the head of a cock (sometimes a lion), a human torso in armor, and legs formed by two serpents. It often holds a whip and a shield. Whether every such figure was meant to represent Abraxas is debated, since the image also appears with other names such as Iao. The gems functioned as protective amulets, and their owners were not necessarily Gnostics at all.
Later reception
Renaissance antiquarians collected and published Abraxas gems, and the name passed into the vocabulary of European occultism. Nineteenth-century demonologies, notably Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, recast Abraxas as a demon, a reversal of its ancient role as a protective power. Some writers have connected the name with the charm word abracadabra, but this link is speculative.
In the twentieth century the psychologist Carl Jung wrote the privately printed Seven Sermons to the Dead (1916), in which Abraxas is a god who unites opposites such as good and evil. Hermann Hesse's novel Demian (1919) used the same idea, describing Abraxas as a god who is both divine and demonic. Through these works the name reached rock music, fiction and modern esoteric groups.
How scholars read the evidence
Modern historians stress three limits in the sources. First, the patristic reports were written to refute Gnostic teachers, so they simplify and sometimes caricature. Second, the magical papyri and amulets show that Abrasax was a name used across religious boundaries, by people who combined Egyptian, Jewish, Greek and Christian elements without belonging to any one sect. Third, the gems rarely carry any explanation, so identifying a figure as Abraxas often depends on an inscription that may name several powers at once.
The resulting picture is of a name with strong numerical and cosmic associations, used both in speculative theology and in everyday protective magic. Claims that Abraxas headed a coherent ancient cult, or that it secretly represents a specific older god, go beyond what the evidence shows.
Related concepts
- Manichaeism, another late antique system built on the struggle of light and darkness.
- Ahriman, the Zoroastrian adversary often compared with Gnostic rulers of the lower world.
- Simon Magus, whom the church fathers named as the first Gnostic.
- Amulets and protective emblems, surveyed on our protection symbols page.
Related entries
On The Mystica today: Protection symbols
Frequently asked questions
Is Abraxas a god or a demon?
In ancient sources Abraxas is a divine or cosmic power, invoked for protection on amulets and described by church fathers as the ruler of the 365 heavens in Basilidian teaching. Its portrayal as a demon comes much later, mainly from nineteenth-century demonologies such as Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal.
Why is Abraxas linked to the number 365?
In Greek, letters double as numbers. The seven letters of Abrasax add up to 365, the number of days in a solar year. Ancient writers saw this as a sign that the name governed the heavens and the cycle of time, which is why Basilides reportedly connected it with 365 heavens.
What does Abraxas mean in Demian?
In Hermann Hesse's 1919 novel Demian, Abraxas is described as a god who combines the divine and the demonic. It symbolizes the young narrator's need to accept both light and dark sides of life instead of a strict moral split, an idea Hesse shared with Carl Jung's writings of the same period.
Sources and further reading
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.