Abracadabra!

How important are the words that you use while in ritual? magic? everyday life? Aleister Crowley seemed to think that words are very important. Important enough to change the spelling of the word "abracadabra" to "abrahadabra." I was reading up on Aleister Crowley and noticed a word that he had "created" and thought it would be interesting to learn a little more about it.

Of course, I noticed the spelling right away, thinking that it was a mistake. I soon realized that it was not a mistake and looked into this a little further. My first question was why the change in the spelling of the word? According to About.com, "Crowley "corrected" the spelling to Abrahadabra, in order to achieve a particular gematric value."

So what is the history behind the word abracadabra? We have all heard it being in the use of stage magicians when they are trying to create that moment of suspense by using it as an incantation. However, the use of this word goes back to ancient times when it was used as a cure for fever and inflammations according to the Wikipedia article. There are many possible origins of the words as outlined by the above article.

Then what is the history behind the word abrahadabra? The Wikipedia article on abrahadabra mentions the story about how Crowley came up with it. And here is more information on the word Abrahadabra that I found interesting.

In any case, it seems that the spelling, and the words themselves, are important.