v=. ... NB. J Incantation...
v'ABRACADABRA'
A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A
v'I create as I speak'
I c r e a t e a s I s p e a k
I c r e a t e a s I s p e a
I c r e a t e a s I s p e
I c r e a t e a s I s p
I c r e a t e a s I s
I c r e a t e a s I
I c r e a t e a s I
I c r e a t e a s
I c r e a t e a s
I c r e a t e a
I c r e a t e
I c r e a t e
I c r e a t
I c r e a
I c r e
I c r
I c
I
I
David Darling
The Universal Book of Mathematics: From Abracadabra to Zeno's Paradoxes
http://www.amazon.com/The-Universal-Book-Mathematics-Abracadabra/dp/0471270474
abracadabra
A word famously used by magicians but which started
out as a cabalistic or mystical charm for curing various
ailments, including toothache and fever. It was first mentioned
in a poem called Praecepta de Medicina by the
Gnostic physician Quintus Severus Sammonicus in the
second century A.D. Sammonicus instructed that the letters
be written on parchment in the form of a triangle:
A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A
This was to be folded into the shape of a cross, worn for
nine days suspended from the neck, and, before sunrise,
cast behind the patient into a stream running eastward. It
was also a popular remedy in the Middle Ages. During
the Great Plague, around 1665, large numbers of these
amulets were worn as safeguards against infection. The
origin of the word itself is uncertain. One theory is that it
is based on Abrasax, the name of an Egyptian deity.
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