Abraxas

This one gets a little convoluted folks. Abraxas was a Gnostic god and gnosticism was a religious movement of late antiquity which can be traced back to the 1st and 2nd centuries. To some he was a favorite deity, to others he was a demon. The Greek letters of his name--abraxas--each had a numerical equivalent and when these numerical equivalents were added up, they totaled 365...which...obviously...also equaled the amount of days in the solar year.

Abraxas was also the name given to the spirits which emanated from the supreme being. Each of these spirits inhabited its own heaven and each heaven followed a hierarchal series wherein the heaven beneath the one above it was also slightly inferior in quality to the one more highly ranked. You all following this? You all wondering what this has to do with jewelry? Hmmm? Ahh... patience my friends. It'll all make sense in a minute.

Now then...here we have a most unorthodox god--his followers were considered heretics--who had within the very structure of his name, enormous significance. How is this guy best used? Aw heck folks...an amulet would be a great idea. Great magical powers were attributed to Abraxas, and so symbols of his image were engraved upon amulets and worn to protect against untold evils.

Abraxas was etched upon various semi-precious stones, enhancing the magical quality of those stones and giving the wearer an extra level of protection against diseases, and evil spirits, and probably also evil thoughts and wishes slung in their direction by untold enemies. They didn't have guns yet in them thar days...nor did they have nerve gases or atom bombs...but by Jove...they had amulets and they had Abraxas...and when you've got that you need little else.

Abraxas and the amulets upon which he was etched lasted well into the Roman Empire. So widespread was his popularity folks, that a whole enterprise was devoted to the manufacturing of the amulets the populace clearly needed. It's even quite possible that an elder of the Roman Empire existed by the name of Benjaminus Markus, clearly and ancestral forerunner to "moi", who probably ran a factory called Tylerus-Adamus, which made the very amulets which protected the citizenry of the day from untold misfortunes. Who's to say it ain't so? Huh?

Of course, amulets with engravings of Abraxas were not the only amulets around. At one end of the spectrum was Isis, who had her own amulets...and on the other end of the spectrum were owners of racehorses...who had their own amulets which assured success at the track. Now then...for you folks who like to frequent Belmont, and Saratoga, and other famous tracks...for you folks who'd like a bit more control over chance...why not give your favorite jeweler a call...and see if he's got anything on hand that you could wear around your neck, or on your finger... something...anything...that would ensure that horse came in first instead of last. If you can't find a jeweler that has resources for magical amulets...well...as a pure act of altruism...let me know and I'll see if I can help.

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