text:
Talk:Abracadabra

Interesting But How True?
This is an interesting article but I am not convinced of the research.

Of the old languages, Hebrew is the youngest and, I believe the phrase is older than anything written in a relatively recent (and here the word "recent" is not to be taken too literally) language. Gingermint (talk) 00:18, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Suggestion: Go back to the Beginning, the very Beginning. Instead of trying to make a word fit languages that did not exist when the word was first used, find the word in the earliest written language. (There has been much discussion about Phoenician being the earliest, however Hebrew may well be the earliest - IMO. User jscott is some what close with Aramaic but this language is only 2000+ years old, and it was a combination of Hebrew and other languages.)  I am suggesting that if you read Genesis (called Beresheet in Hebrew), the 2nd word is bara (masc. past tense "created") When this verb is conjugated to future 1st person, it becomes "ebra". The word is prefixes with an alef, the middle root letter is dropped, and the suffix maintains the masculine definition. Now do the same with "dbra". The root is DBR (or daber). Remember Hebrew is almost all consonants, and is very phonetic. The letters would be dalet, bet, resh pronounced daber. The middle word, 'ki' is chaf + yud (pronounted roughly KE or KA). When you put together the words it becomes: "ebra ki dbra" I will create (that which) I speak). And the magician says "I will pull a rabbit out of a hat - abra-ki-dbra! Which of course, has been verbalized in many languages since its creation, and therefore accounts for all the different spellings and variations in pronunciationWikimaxxuser (talk) 01:39, 3 November 2009 (UTC)wikimaxxuser

????!!! Gingermint (talk) 00:20, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

abhadda kedhabhra -> abhadda kehadabhra (or kehadhabra) ? My Aramaic is a bit rough, but I'm fair certain about this. — jScott j² = -1

 * What I would like to see here, is a sound bite of the proper Aramaic pronounciation, or at the very least a phonetic spelling. Zuiram 19:43, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Please ignore my last few edits - testing to see if a vandal-patrol bot is awake. Shimgray | talk | 00:31, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

"Arabic"?
I removed the following from the article:
 * the Arabic Abra Kadabra, meaning 'Blessing' as saying ( Baraka...Baraka )

A friend who is a native speaker of Arabic assures me that this certainly isn't the case. -- Hex 00:00, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

Ancient Aramaic is not the same as modern Arabic in the same way as Chaucer's English is not the same as Modern English. Aramaic is the language of Christ - a language still spoken in parts of Syria. The Aramaic alphabet is the ancestor of many Arabic and Hebrew words. Aramaic and Arabic are two different languages. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.79.42.185 (talk) 01:05, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

OtherUses template
Please change the article to use Template:OtherUses instead of Template:otheruses it currently uses. The OtherUses template has information about the contents of the article.

For a sample use of this template refer to the articles Alabama or Algiers-- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DuKot (talk • contribs).

 * Note that that functionality is now at otheruses1. OtherUses redirects to otheruses, and is deprecated.--Srleffler 18:41, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

No such thing: Aberah KeDaber
It is written:

"Another possible source is the Hebrew Aberah KeDaber which also means I will create as I speak"

There is no such thing in Hebrew. The phrase Aberah KeDaber in Hebrew means "Abera (gibbrish) while someone told me". The only possible proxminate phrase is "Evrah Kedabri" (אברא כדברי), I will create as I speak or "Evrah Kidvari" (אברא כדברי), I will create as I have said I will. 192.115.133.141 00:58, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

 * You are mistaking modern Hebrew for more ancient forms. 75.3.236.39 (talk) 04:08, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Additional note: Abracadabra is a derivation that has been contorted over time and does originate from "Evrah Kedabri" (אברא כדברי), I will create as I speak. This does come from the Kaballah and is also used Hermetics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.0.202.62 (talk) 18:48, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

What are the standards for sources cited? Why would anyone use John Allegro as an expert source? The man's career and reputation do not warrant a reasonable level of trust for his "translation" of anything. Let's do some fact-checking before we post any old thing, eh?Infinityseed (talk) 15:09, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

Avada Kedavra is one letter away from avra kehdabra
It seems obvious that it's two letter sounds different. R becomes D, in avra/avada and V becomes B in Kehdabra/kedavra. Unless B and V are the same sound in aramaic, but since the word has both B and V that suggest that this isn't the case. So I'm going to say that it's two letters different, since the H in kehdabra just alters the vowel.

 * B and V are the same letter in Hebrew, and the Hs that are put in the phrase rarely refer to actual Aramaic spelling. 75.3.236.39 (talk) 04:10, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

 * I believe that a vandal changed three lines: "abracadabra" into "abracadavre", "abracadabr" into "abracadavr" and "abracadab" into "abracadav"
 * probably taking a cue from the paragraphs above: "V becomes B" and "B and V are the same letter in Hebrew"
 * However when that person also changed the A into an E, that IMO shows devious intent. William vroman (talk) 08:59, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

 * The version I heard was that it comes from "Abra k'dabrah", or "I create as I speak", originating from kaballah. I can't find anything confirming this, neither as truth nor myth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.59.200.96 (talk) 08:25, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

alphabet origin
I'm moving this addition to the talk page unless someone can cite a reliable source for it. It would seem plausible, given the power people place on alphabets, except that leaving out the first "r" is not "much more common" in my experience (I've never heard of it), and it's a completely different explanation from the others, which all involve corruption of foreign words. --Allen 22:52, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

"The alphabet"
A much more common form of the incantation is abacadabra, leaving out the first "r". In that case it's just the first four letters of the alphabet a-b-c-d, linked together with a's to make it pronouncable. The final syllable bra is then added for a ryming and rythmical effect. Because the alphabet was initially believed (by illiterates) to be magical, the first letters of the alphabet developed into a magical spell.

Thelemic Colonization?
The article on the magical formula of Abra-c-adabra contains the Thelemic 93 template, shown at right, while at the same time the Thelemic Abra-h-adabra page has been suggested for merging into the Abra-c-adabra page. Something should be done to rectify this, because right now the appearance is one of Themites colonizing and Borging non-Thelemic pages.

I suggest that either the Cadabra page should make a bare mention of Thelema, refer to the main Hadabra page, and lose the 93 template -- or that the whole Hadabra page, with its 93 template, be moved over to Cadabra, where it can become one subsection of many. Comments welcomed. Catherineyronwode 22:42, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

 * I agree with the 1st suggestion. Here should be a brief synopsis, and refer to the main Hadabra article. I'll remove the template, someone else can shorten/merge the thelema paragraphs here. --Quiddity 19:18, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

 * I fully admit that I went template crazy for a while there. I'm better, now. :) However, I fully support Abrahadabra as an independent article. If you do too, please stop by here and lend your support. Thanks and apologies for my unintentional Borging. –Frater5 (talk/con) 04:50, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Removed
I removed the following from the article:

===Father, Son, Holy Spirit=== "Some point to the Hebrew words av ("father"),  ben ("son"), and ruakh hakodesh ("the holy spirit")"

The translations are correct, but I have a hard time seeing how the three from the word abracadabra. But I mainly removed the text because the Holy Trinity is not a Jewish concept at all, and therefore the word "abracadabra" could not have originated from the combination of these three Hebrew words.
 * While it could certainly be a Christian Concept, I agree with this sentiment. I simply do not see how אב, בן, רוח הקדש form Abracadabra. Unless someone can cite a source for this statement, I second this removal.68.239.220.146 03:47, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

I also removed the words "and a Jewish magical symbol" from the text under the heading "Abraxis". There is no such thing as practicing magic in Judaism. - User: Dave31 July 2, 2006

 * That's not true, Dave. There is a lengthy tradition of Jewish magic that goes back hundreds of years or further., especially with the creation of amulets, talismans, etc. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Infinitysnake (talk • contribs) 19:21, 17 April 2007 (UTC).
 * Don't confuse Judaism (the religion) with the long culture of the Jewish people - not the same thing. There is no "magic" in Judaism; there is all sorts of folk mysticism in Hebrew culture just like any other nationality/ethnicity's. 50.111.59.83 (talk) 03:14, 17 October 2017 (UTC)

--Convoluse 07:33, 10 May 2007 (UTC)The father/son can be easily found within the Aramaic אב בריה which can be pronounced as "Av" "Breh", but the spirit is not to be found. Furthermore, it would make the rest nonsensical

Avra K'davarah
This article says that Avra K'davarah is another spelling, but google shows only two references to this form, both of which are in the wikipedia (en and ja). Is this spelling correct? This alternate spelling was mentioned about three weeks ago, on August 1st. Wrs1864 15:37, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

answer: yes it is the same i speak hebrew modern hebrew arameic and english. and yes it is the same. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.8.151.147 (talk) 18:23, 15 January 2019 (UTC)

Image

Just to note: the image to the right is available at Commons. I didn't see reason to replace the ASCII representation of the triangle with this image, but it may be useful in the future. --Oldak Quill 15:21, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

עבדא
Corrected אבדא to עבדא - The aleph does not belong, nor do I think that there is such a word in aramaic.

Corrected it back in one place but not the other.

Aramaic עבד = do/make = Hebrew עשה

Aramaic אבד = lose/destroy = Hebrew אבד Mahrabu 17:14, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

By changing אבדא to עבדא, the article has become self-contradictory. At present, the text reads, "The original Aramaic phrase was used with a Hebrew prefix Alef rather than the latter version with an Ayin. The difference was that the original meaning was 'I will create, as I say,' while the latter was 'What was said has been done.' The original Aramaic was either עַבְדָא כְּדַברָא, avda kedavra, which means, 'what was said has been done,' or עברא כדברא, avra kedavra..." The first sentence says that the original Aramaic started with an Alef, but the third sentence, which claims to use the original Aramaic, uses an Ayin. So, which is it? Poldy Bloom (talk) 21:08, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

A colourful affirmation for this proposition may be seen as an outcome from a kabbalistic speculation on the first 17 Hebrew words of Genesis. One side of this proposition depends on the idea that language itself has a creative/transformative power. Initially, the first 64 Hebrew letters of Genesis were inserted in proper sequence into the illustrated 8x8 square, in a converging spiral that starts in the R-H corner. Then, the sole letter ע (ayin) - Kabbalah's symbol for an aspect of the Creator known as Vast Face - is migrated from its regular place to a position just outside that corner. According to the Kabbalah, Vast Face remained outside his creation, leaving Small Face on the inside. Why remove this letter? A provisional motive is that the standard numerical value of the letter ayin is 70 (Digital root =7), and before its migration, this ayin had been 49th letter (7x7) in sequence. After its removal, there are no other 7s in the square. The gap it leaves is filled by all subsequent letters shuffling down by one place. Following that adaptation, the first letter-pair in the 6-letter first word of Genesis become augmented to עבר ABR which, very aptly, may mean 'to cross over/ through', 'transgress', 'translate' or 'copulate', all of which may have a place in esoteric, magical practise. Then, by artificially extending this word, we may generate another - עברא - that might be pronounced ABRA. If we push the boundary a little (ignoring the square), a valid Hebrew expression is כדברא (CaDabra) 'like a word', making a complete: ABRACADABRA (eg 'translate (or transmute), like a word'). In our present context, this would be quite significant because the 6-letter first word of Genesis is somewhat pliable. For example, its first half emulates the whole second word: ברא ('created'). And its root-word ראש (a head) is contained within prefix and suffix letters that spell בית (a dwelling). Also, its middle two letters spell the word for 'fire'; and removing them leaves the four-letter word ברית (a covenant) (check out Genesis 15:17-18). And after the migrated letter ayin is prefixed to this covenant it becomes עברית, meaning 'Hebrew (the language)'. In fact, the four letters I offered above as ABRA also scan in reverse as the valid word ארבע (arba=four). At one end of this arba is the letter ע (the accepted symbol for Vast Face), correctly on the outside of the square, which is an analogue of the Creation. And at the other end, inside the square, is a letter א (aleph) - the kabbalistic symbol for Small Face. Endorsing the abracadabra hypothesis, the evident cryptic content of the square does not stop at the first Hebrew word of Genesis, but is immeasurably more extensive. An obvious, visible example in the illustration is the meandering sequence of the letter ו (vav), that incorporates eight of the nine available copies of it. Their configuration is not unlike the Hebrew letter ל (lamed). Strange to say, there is a surprisingly resonant Jewish legend concerning 36 Tzaddiqim (Righteous Men). Since there are exactly 36 of them, they are also known colloquially as the Lamed Vavniks, because the letter lamed takes a value of 30, while that of vav is 6. It seems to me there is a fair chance that this story, along with the dual concept of Vast Face & Small Face all found their inspiration in this Square, which I commend as the Genesis Seal. And, just like this Genesis Seal, esoteric magic was founded in language and symbolism. From that foundation, the magical appearance of the word עברא (ABRA) invites the willing imagination to invent ABRACADABRA, by "transmutation, like a word".--DStanB (talk) 00:02, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

This entire article is Original Research!
There's only one single source, and it doesn't seem to support the supposition that abracadabra is derived from either Hebrew or Aramaic, which makes the majority of this article original research.--69.118.235.97 19:18, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Why couldnt it be a latin based word? In Spanish abra cadavara would mean "open up dead body!" Abra is a command to open, cadavara is cadaver, or dead body. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.141.193.33 (talk) 01:47, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

 * A very good point indeed, which endorses my reference to Genesis 15:17-18 (above) in relation to the 'tilted square' illustration. Those verses refer to Abraham opening up the dead bodies of three animals, before entering a trance-like state. It looks ever more likely that the word abracadabra was first coined by someone familiar with Spanish or Portuguese, and the Hebrew Genesis Seal that I described. Also, the Iberian peninsula was a hot-bed of Hebrew mysticism during the 12th and 13th centuries. Since this is a Talk page, I make no apology for offering original research, which may prove useful to someone.--DStanB (talk) 09:12, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
 * OR has no purpose on a Talk Page either, especially this sort of tripe. Keep your discussions on the use of Reliable Sources for the improvement of the article.50.111.59.83 (talk) 03:16, 17 October 2017 (UTC)

I agree there is no mention of other possible sources,see Abraxas for example. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.110.5.229 (talk) 17:06, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

 * Spanish for cadaver is cadáver, with a stress on the accented "á". As far as I know, it is an abbreviation of the Latin expression CARNE DATA VERMES, flesh given to the worms. I cannot fathom how cadavara would derive from there... vara means rod in Spanish, so the meaning is quite distorted. --Wtrmute (talk) 00:54, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

 * I agree. Indeed it is all original research. Here's mine, for what it's worth, since 'The first known mention of the word was in the third century AD in a book called Liber Medicinalis"' (a 4th Century Latin text). "Ab raceda re" in Latin means, more or less, "swiftly remove that thing." ("Gettit outta here.") It's very possible that this is just a nonsense word that sounds really cool and trips off the tongue, as well. We may never know. Gee, this is fun. 173.174.85.204 (talk) 18:31, 25 November 2016 (UTC)Eric

Confusion over the inverted cone description
If memory serves, aren't ancient languages (Latin, Hebrew, etc) written without vowels? Why would the inverted cone use them when conventional script did not? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.45.101.31 (talk) 21:52, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

 * Semitic languages didn't/don't use vowels (most of the time); Latin does, however. It just depends on the language: you can generally write Semitic languages without vowels and understand them just fine, but that isn't the case with most Indo-European languages (like Latin). --334 (talk) 00:08, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree with the immediately preceding comment. To elaborate, this means that when a language like ancient hebrew (with no WRITTEN vowels) is transliterated to a modern language, we must account for vowels in the language as we know, or believe, they were spoken. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.34.63.39 (talk) 23:10, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Dabaru speculation
Once I learned "dabaru" may mean "word", I thought that Abrahadabra may mean "The father of the word". Is there any chance that Abrahadabra may be the Name of the Lord? 77.46.185.53 (talk) 01:03, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

The Sword of God
it is mentioned in "The dictionary of Angels" by gustav davidson, in the apendix, that the sword of god is known by three names: albrot, jehova elico and abra cadabra, in a conjuration taken from Grimorium verum. though this adds no true historical value. at least it's a reference —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.92.117.233 (talk) 01:04, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Recommended Reading
Here's a link that describes the significance of the nine days as well as the inverted triangular shape of the amulet. http://imahd.ca/2009/10/21/abracadabra/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.248.136.14 (talk) 20:42, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Amram Kehati's theories
At present, the article contains a longish section about a theory of "The late Amram Kehati", which is uncited except for links to some web pages of unknown provenance. The section contains a number of statements of historical fact; for example "This was done to confuse the daemon or for various witchery reasons"; "the patient has to wear the amulet for nine days"; etc. If Kehati is indeed an expert on the history here, then it should be possible to find some citation of his theories in a reliable source. However, I was not able to find any mention of Kehati or of his theories in a Google Books or Google Scholar search or in a search of WorldCat. So I removed the Kehati section from the article, as being most likely a fringe theory of no particular notability.

Shortly afterward the change was reverted, by User:Israelkk, who apparently is related to Amram Kehaty, and whose entire Wikipedia history has been devoted to keeping this theory in this article. If this is truly a notable and reliable theory, I would like to see it presented with proper citations and provenance. If not, I would like to see it removed. I have not been able to turn up any reliable sources for it. If none is presented soon, I will remove it again. I will notify Israelkk that I have opened discussion here. —Dominus (talk) 19:52, 3 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I will delete this tomorrow unless someone argues for some other action before then. —Dominus (talk) 20:33, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

 * I did this. —Dominus (talk) 14:27, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Ephraim Goodman, the world-renowned linguist
I removed an uncited claim about a theory of "Ephraim Goodman, the world-renowned linguist", because I was not able to find any publications of this world renowned linguist or any mentions of this world renowned linguist. I would be glad to be corrected on this matter. —Dominus (talk) 14:27, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Amram Kehati
Amram Kehati died on 1973. Yes I am his son and I am spending time publishing his unpublished writings he could not publish due to his unexpected death. If you followed the cited references you could find this information.

During his 59 years of life he became a respected scholar of the Jewish Kabbalah and the Jewish Hallach reflected in dozens of articles and letters in magazines and books as you can read in his bibliography at http://sites.google.com/site/amramkehati/files/bibliography.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1.

The cited article regarding the meaning and origin of ABRACADABRA by the late Amram Kehati was found among other unpublished articles and books that he was not able to publish due to his death.

Electronic publishing is now as good and respected as printed publishing and it makes it easier for anyone who wants to publish his ideas, theories, books and articles without the need to spend a lot of money paying the large book publishing houses.

Your reasoning that you will not allow any material in Wikipedia that was not previously cited, means that no original thought and ideas like Albert Einstein's theory of relativity was allowed in Wikipedia if it was available back when Albert Einstein came up with his theory. The outcome is that you avoid new ideas from the readers. Do you mean that only in 30 years after some printed books and articles will mention Amram Kehati article it will be allowed? By this you make Wikipedia an archaic reference.

 * This is precisely correct, and succinctly stated, thank you. Scientific journals would be a good place to find original thought and ideas like Albert Einstein's theory of relativity in the days of its conception. However, peer review and experimental testing are necessary before such ideas find their way into high school textbooks, or indeed encyclopedias. This is intended to be an encyclopedia. Exclusion of an idea from here is not meant to imply anything about the value of the idea, only to state something about how it fits into this forum. User:scbomber 18:56, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Amram Kehati theory is well founded in the Jewish religious (in Hebrew) literature as explained in his very detailed article which is backed up by many Jewish examples of amulets and references dated back for thousands of years.

I believe that as long as no respected Jewish Kabbalah scholar contradicts and deny his reasoning it should be allowed in Wikipedia.

Israel Kehaty —Preceding unsigned comment added by Israelkk (talk • contribs) 12:31, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

 * Thanks for joining this discussion.

 * I did look at your cited articles, but they are self-published, and Wikipedia policy is that such sources are not normally considered reliable enough. Please familiarize yourself with Wikipedia's policy on verifiable sources, available here, and see this section in particular for the policy on self-published material.  If, as you say, Mr. Kehati's theories are backed up by sources that are reliable under Wikipedia's policies, the right thing to do would be to refer to those sources in the article.  —Dominus (talk) 16:07, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

The presence of verifiable sources that are visible to you is a silly thing to expect in a reference to esoteric magical tradition. I agree that a self-published article can often be considered "not enough," but how does one properly cite an article that is "published" by mystical tradition? Are you important enough that the rest of the religious community should turn out their pockets to you, so that you will stop deleting part of the Wikipedia posts that reference their tradition? You accuse Mister Kehati of devoting his entire Wikipedia career to maintaining this reference, but fail to realize that you are also participating in this sort of behaviour. Perhaps things of a mystical nature are not truly befitting this environment, wherein every source must be cited properly. Still, it seems a monumental waste of effort, no? Why argue so hard about something, simply to ensure a fact that may or may not be provable is not visible in the entry describing the origin of a word that has been used for mystical practices for thousands of years? Does it matter so much to you? Are you, perhaps, afraid that a single exception will allow for the open corruption of all of Wikipedia's sources? It is a valid fear, to be sure. I am going to look and see if I can find, in the more esoteric portions of the internet (away from google) some works by Kehati. Of course, you should realize, if you have read this far....Amram Kehati's articles were not published by himself, but by his son...and to Israel, I would recommend contacting Weiser Book company...they are always interested in intelligent books on the Qabala, and would likely be willing to publish them for you. (Mike) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.229.147.55 (talk) 16:16, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

 * I disagree that it is silly to expect verifiable sources in reference to the factual history of an esoteric magical tradition. —Mark Dominus (talk) 20:47, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

 * What is unverifiable CANNOT be encyclopedic; what is verifiable MAY be. User:scbomber 18:56, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

HaBarucha Dabar
What about the possibility that the Hebrew "habarucha dabar" is the origin of the expression? Translated literally, it reads, "The blessing is a word." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.93.134.107 (talk) 11:21, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Abreq ad Habra
Copied from Christian Churches of God website:

"ABRA has a supposed significance as it is composed of the first letters of the Hebrew words for: Father = Abba, and Spirit = Rauch Acadosh. However, J E Cirlot in A Dictionary of Symbols, Dorset, page 2, considers the whole word a Hebrew phrase.

Abracadabra: This word was in frequent use during the Middle Ages as a magic formula. It is derived from the Hebrew phrase abreq ad habra, meaning "hurl your thunderbolt even unto death".

The earliest written record available of the word is in a second century poem Praecepta de Medicina by Serenus Sammonicus a celebrated Gnostic physician. He gave instructions for using the letters of this magical triangle which he used for curing agues and fevers. It was to be written on paper, 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."

I make no claims as to the veracity of the above, but I'm wondering if anyone more qualified than me would care to comment on it.

Chilimac357 (talk) 20:38, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

"Abreq" is not a Hebrew word. "Habreq" is, but it means "shine brightly" not "hurl a thunderbolt". There is no Hebrew word meaning "death" which even remotely sounds like "habra". Good try, but this is not the original meaning. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.124.143.121 (talk) 21:46, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

True, but it could be "Habaraq ad Havara" meaning "The thunder toward Destruction" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.230.132.87 (talk) 23:16, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

 * At best, writing "Habreq" is a transliteration and offers no certainty concerning the original Hebrew word it is supposed to represent. For example, it could represent the word הברכ, meaning 'the blessing'. --DStanB (talk) 19:07, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

Poem
I noticed someone removed the poem, and I added it back. As the article is not too very long and it seems to add more than it detracts, I feel it is better to have it than not, but would open for discussion if the event anyone disagrees. Dennis Brown -  2¢   ©  16:55, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Origins -- Why all the Confusion?
I am probably not wikipedia's greatest etymologist, or linguist, or polyglot... in fact I'm barely any of these things. I am, however, extraordinarily well-read. And the most reliable sources I have encountered seem to indicate 2 most likely sources:

1 -- "abbada ke dabra" is supposedly CHALDEAN (not Arabic) for "perish like the word"

2 -- "avra kehdabra" is supposedly ARAMAIC (not hebrew) for "I will create as I speak."

I have seen both of these cited, in various sources, as the origin of the word. I tend to lean toward the "Aramaic" version (assuming that is, in fact, proper Aramaic). Aside from the fact that the phrase "I will create as I speak," is very evocative of a magical act, and even indicative of a magical word, it seems to phonetically fit. When anglicized/romanized, it is not much of a stretch to go from "avra kehdabra" to "abracadabra." The difference here is really v - to - b. (I have seen a number of words transliterated from semitic language where v and b are transposed.)

Whereas, I suspect the "perish like the word," theory comes from analysis of Sammonicus' Liber Medicinalis, where the word was said to be used on an amulet, worn by those suffering malaria. Viewed IN THIS CONTEXT, "perish like the word," makes sense as a definition, as is clear by the form of the word on the amulet:

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

However, used in any other context / way, this etymological definition does not seem to make sense. And to my knowledge, this word was used in ways / contexts other than the triangular amulet.

"wiki answers" actually has a (much better) page describing the possible origins of this word:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_of_abracadabra_in_Hebrew — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.34.63.39 (talk) 22:36, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

 * Yes I, too, have seen the "I will create as I speak." interpretation. What lends credibility to this is the underlying rationale of the biblical creation account, in which God's utterances "Let there be…" give rise to real results: And there was…. --DStanB (talk) 19:17, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

Abracadavre?
Should the song by Elena Siegman and Kevin Sherwood titled Abracadavre (combination of "abra kadabra" and "cadavre") be mentioned in the popular culture section? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.208.68.137 (talk) 14:47, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Malaria?
Q. Serenus Sammonicus calls the disease "hemitritaeus", which is explained by both the Oxford Latin Dictionary and Liddle&Scott Greek-English Lexocon as "semitertian fever". Is this really the same disease as malaria? WSJ is quite a scientific source, btw. ... -212.87.13.78 (talk) 22:32, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

“Abracadabra” is actually a Hebrew phrase meaning “I create (A’bra) what (ca) I speak (dab’ra).”
Many consider that the word “Abracadabra” is actually a Hebrew phrase meaning “I create (A’bra) what (ca) I speak (dab’ra).” I don't know if it's from some kind of ancient Hebrew form, but it sure isn't from the modern Hebrew, so in my opinion there is a need to clear it out. Thank you and good day :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.179.255.105 (talk) 16:46, 31 May 2013 (UTC)
 * This is a variation on something I added higher up, substantiated with a diagram of the early Hebrew words of Genesis in the form of a tilted square.--DStanB (talk) 08:50, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

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self-contradiction
In the "Etymology" section, the article states "Abracadabra is of unknown origin, and its first occurrence is in the second century works of Serenus Sammonicus, according to the Oxford English Dictionary", in the following "History" section it says "the first known mention of the word was in the third century AD in a book called Liber Medicinalis (sometimes known as De Medicina Praecepta Saluberrima) by Serenus Sammonicus...". Both sentences are cited, but to offline works so I cannot check which is correct. The article Serenus Sammonicus states he died in 212, and so he lived in both the second and third centuries meaning both dates are plausible. Thryduulf (talk) 23:39, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

Origin
Genesis 1:1 Bereshet bara Elohim. In the beginning created God https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/1.htm

Bereshet meaning "proceeding from" Bara meaning "power" Elohim, or Alakazam, meaning "God" Proceeding the power of Elohim. Bereshet bara Elohim Abrakad Abra Alakazam Church of Britain (talk) 14:30, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

Hebrew origin and Lawrence Kushner
The claim that the word is of Hebrew origin is cited to a book by Lawrence Kushner. However, Kushner writes that the word is of Aramaic origin. Cullen328  Let's discuss it  02:07, 22 November 2020 (UTC)
 * A possible source for improving the article. Cullen328  Let's discuss it  02:37, 22 November 2020 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Abracadabra


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Xtreme Sandwiching

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE. jni 13:36, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Xtreme Sandwiching
A marketing campaign of no significance, and certainly less notable than extreme ironing. sjorford// 17:58, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Delete extreme idiocy. Johntex 02:45, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC) This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.
 * Delete - oh honestly! what drivel. --Brookie 18:36, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete - not notable or interesting. Thue | talk 22:50, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete - As I've said before, "crap" should be an official Wikipedia term for pages like this. --Woohookitty 23:53, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. You have got to be kidding. --Calton 23:55, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. This article is stuffed with non-notable advertising while holding a jar of crap. Zzyzx11 00:37, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, trivial, Marmite doesn't hold a candle against Vegemite. Megan1967 05:03, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Enochlau 06:58, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment. I can see it now! It's Xtreme Sewing!! --Woohookitty 09:15, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Xtreme Delete. Heh heh. Zetawoof 03:57, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)


text:
John H. Ritter

John H. Ritter (born October 31, 1951, San Pedro, California) is an American novelist, short story writer, teacher, and lecturer. He has written six novels and numerous short stories spanning the historical, sports, and sociopolitical genres in the young adult field of literature. His first novel, Choosing Up Sides, published in 1998, won the 1999 International Reading Association Children's Book Award for Older Readers and was designated an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. Kirkus Reviews praised Choosing Up Sides, which attacked the once-prevalent views of religious fundamentalists toward left-handed children, as, "No ordinary baseball book, this is a rare first novel." In 2004 Ritter received the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People for his third novel, The Boy Who Saved Baseball. "What was it he really wanted is to play baseball that is all he wanted to do and guess what he got to too."

Ritter's novels have tackled subjects as diverse as the Vietnam War, the war in Iraq, the complexities of exurban land development, jazz fusion, Billy the Kid, the originations of the racial ban against African Americans in Major League Baseball, and the ascension prophecies of 2012. According to Vicki Sherbert, writing in The ALAN Review for the National Council of Teachers of English, Ritter "uses the game of baseball, the glory of music, and the power of the written word to illustrate how young people can overcome everyday, and not-so-everyday, challenges. Each book goes beyond the story of the game, beyond the story of the problem, right to the heart of Ritter's message: What is really valuable in life?"

Early life
Born in San Pedro, California, on October 31, 1951, novelist John H. Ritter grew up in the rural hills of eastern San Diego County. His father, Carl W. Ritter, was a sports writer, and later financial editor, for The San Diego Union newspaper. Ritter's mother, Clara, died of breast cancer, when he was four years old. Ritter recalls, "One thing I remember about my mom is that she sang to us constantly, making up a song for each of her four children that fit our personalities perfectly. So from her, I got a sense of how to capture a person's spirit in a lyrical phrase."

Writing in Dear Author: Letters of Hope, edited by Joan F. Kaywell, Ritter had this to say about his childhood. "When I was very young, my mother died. And my father, who deeply loved her, fell into a deep depression and began to drink heavily. After being left with four young children, my dad feared he would not be able to cope. I learned quite early that when a man drinks, he morphs into someone else. I didn’t like that drinking man. I hated the late-night arguments that filled our house, the screaming, the breaking of furniture, and the many sleepless nights I would lie in bed praying for peace, praying that my father could see the pain he was causing, how he was harming his children with his tirades, and driving the housekeepers away. In the morning, sober again, my dad would return to being the gentle, loving soul I knew him to be. And sometimes it would last all day. But never all week. Before long, I’d see his car roll up the driveway, see him climb out drunk and belligerent, and I would disappear.

"As time went on, my dad did coach our ball teams, and we did have some great times. He even remarried. But he never stopped drinking. Eventually, his second wife divorced him. His children grew up and moved away. And my dad retired into a dark and lonely house."

In an essay which appeared in the 2003 book Making The Match: The Right Book for the Right Reader at the Right Time for all yawl, Ritter again writes about his childhood.

 * "It was right around that time [1967] when a certain black book fell from heaven into my hands and changed my life. An amazing book—full of crazy characters, of sadness and love, of desperation and revolution, of insight and morality. It was political and poetical, religious and surreptitious. It was a biography of the world and it was pure fiction. I was captivated by it, motivated by it, undressed, unblest, and depressed by it. All that summer, I’d been teaching myself primitive piano, had fancied myself a bluesy, outraged rock star or an actor maybe, or anyone with an audience, anyone with a voice. Then on this one particular hot, dry October afternoon, my older brother left for college and left behind his Bob Dylan Songbook.

 * "It was long, lean, shiny, and black, a paperback, over a hundred pages full of musical notes and chords and the most surprising poetry I’d ever read. All of a sudden I had a new dream. I tore the baffle off my electric organ, cranked up the tiny Sears and Roebuck mail order amp, and sang that raggedy book from cover to cover, memorizing beat street lyrics, adopting the wail of a moaning man of constant sorrow, a tambourine man, a weather man, only a pawn, only a hobo, but one more is gone, leaving nobody to sing his sad song, and on and on. And I knew what I wanted to be. I would be the storyteller, the historian, the biographer of mixed up, dreamed up characters like these, ‘who push fake morals, insult, and stare, whose money doesn’t talk, it swears.’ Or those who ‘sing in the rat race choir, bent out of shape by society's pliers.’ Characters with eyes, with guts."

Dylan's poems led Ritter to Jack Kerouac's On the Road, then to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, "and back again somehow—with different eyes—to Mark Twain's Roughing It. All journey books, all road poems, all the manic panic of romance and motion that a country boy needs."

After high school, Ritter attended the University of California at San Diego. There he played baseball and met his wife, Cheryl, who later became an elementary school teacher in San Diego, where Ritter worked for 25 years as a painting contractor while trying to establish himself as a writer.

Choosing Up Sides
In 1994, Ritter received the Judy Blume Award and a cash grant from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for a novel in progress. In 1996, he submitted his first novel, Choosing Up Sides, through Curtis Brown (literary agents), to Philomel Books, then a division of Penguin Putnam in New York, where the novel became the first acquisition of junior editor, Michael Green. Since then, Green has risen to become Editorial Director and Publisher of Philomel Books and has edited all six of Ritter's novels.

Choosing Up Sides is set in southern Ohio in the 1920s. The novel's protagonist, 13-year-old Luke Bledsoe, is the oldest child of a preacher. Born left-handed, Luke is, in the eyes of his fundamentalist father, Ezekiel, a heathen and potential follower of Satan, for he believes the left hand is the hand of the devil. The authoritarian Ezekiel tries to "cure" Luke of his left-handedness, but with little luck. When Ezekiel becomes minister of the Holy River of John the Baptist Church in Crown Falls, Ohio, Luke inadvertently becomes involved with the local baseball team, which won the county championship the previous year and hopes to repeat their success. Unfortunately, in addition to viewing left-handedness as a conscious choice, "Pure backwards of what's right and good," Ezekiel also views baseball as a temptation that needs to be resisted, so Luke must practice pitching in secret, by throwing rocks and may apples in the woods. Early on, while Luke is watching a forbidden game, a ball lands at his feet. Throwing it back with his left hand, he amazes the crowd with both distance and placement. The ballplayers and his uncle, Micah, a sports editor for a northern Ohio newspaper, set about convincing Luke that wasting a talent such as his is the actual sin. When Luke decides to pitch for the team, a confrontation with his father ends in a violent beating, which later leads directly to the death of the father, when a crippled Luke is unable to save the man from drowning.

Reviewing Choosing Up Sides, Elizabeth Bush described it in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books as a novel that "pits fire and brimstone Fundamentalism against a rival religion—Baseball—and treats both with cathartic understanding." Patricia K. Ladd wrote in The ALAN Review that Ritter "addresses themes of autonomy and independence common to young adult readers and portrays plot through authentic dialect and well-developed characters", and his uses of dialogue, similes, metaphors, and imagery "add dimensions to the plot that leave readers pondering the book's messages long after turning the final page." Dr. Stefani Koorey in her Voice of Youth Advocates review maintained, "Unlike many sports novels, Choosing Up Sides does more than offer a mere glimpse of the grand old game of baseball—it takes a deeper look at faith, truth, and individuality", going on to dub the tale a "well-designed study of personal choice."

For many years, Ritter painted the story the same way book critics did. The IRA Award-winning novel did indeed take a deeper look at faith. As Ritter revealed, nearly ten years later, Choosing Up Sides was actually inspired by a law passed by Colorado voters in 1992 known as Amendment 2 to the Colorado State Constitution, which prohibited enactment or enforcement of anti-discrimination protections for gay, lesbian and bisexual Coloradans. Though later declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, the law's enactment inspired Ritter to search for a metaphorical children's story paralleling the discriminatory amendment and the religious-based beliefs behind it. Responding to a question in a November 17, 2003, interview by Holly Atkins for the St. Petersburg Times, Ritter hints at the book's meaning:

 * Atkins: "In ‘A Note from the Author’ at the end of Choosing Up Sides you write about where the idea for this novel originated. So although on one level this is a novel about a left-handed future baseball star, it's really about the larger issue of discrimination?"
 * Ritter: "Yes—and religious-based discrimination, to be specific. That's the hardest prejudice to defeat, since it is delivered bearing a religious righteousness. I remember, as a boy, hearing segregation and racism being justified from the pulpit and I could not comprehend this glaring hypocrisy, totally contrary to what Jesus taught. Only later did I realize that the Bible often gets interpreted and reinterpreted in such a way as to reinforce one's own bigotry and social bias. I think it's important for children to recognize this practice as soon as possible and apply their critical thinking skills to it, since it certainly continues today."
 * Ritter: "Yes—and religious-based discrimination, to be specific. That's the hardest prejudice to defeat, since it is delivered bearing a religious righteousness. I remember, as a boy, hearing segregation and racism being justified from the pulpit and I could not comprehend this glaring hypocrisy, totally contrary to what Jesus taught. Only later did I realize that the Bible often gets interpreted and reinterpreted in such a way as to reinforce one's own bigotry and social bias. I think it's important for children to recognize this practice as soon as possible and apply their critical thinking skills to it, since it certainly continues today."

Around the year 2007, Ritter began to sense a cultural shift toward tolerance, even in the most conservative states where his books are most popular, and began testing the waters toward a public disclosure of his true inspiration. In a January 2007 interview in a newsletter published online by Brodart Books, he was asked, "Do you ever feel that the self-given title of ‘baseball novelist’ is inhibiting, that it corners you into one genre?" Ritter responded, "This might be hard to understand, but being called a baseball novelist actually gives me a certain unique freedom among writers. I slip under the radar of an awful lot of people because of that title, and it allows me to reach an audience who would most likely never pick up a book about religious based bigotry [Choosing Up Sides] or the cowardice of war [Over the Wall] or one that demonizes anti-environmental developers [The Boy Who Saved Baseball], and so on, if I didn’t write under the cover of baseball." At this point, Ritter began to openly acknowledge and discuss the metaphorical underpinnings of Choosing Up Sides in schools and conferences across the country.

Over the Wall
In April 2000, Ritter published his second novel, Over the Wall. Inspired by his sense of outrage at the circumstances surrounding the U.S. Gulf War in the early 1990s and the U.S. bombing of Iraq in 1998, Ritter once again adopted an historical setting in a story about a boy's attempt to reconnect with his father and discover who he is in the process, this time using the "festering wound" of the Vietnam War. "There are many 'walls' in 13-year-old Tyler's life: the literal wall of the baseball field he wants to clear with a mighty slam; the Vietnam Memorial Wall bearing his grandfather's name; and the invisible wall Tyler's dad has built around himself since causing the death of Tyler's sister nine years earlier."

"Beginning with the lines, 'People say time heals all wounds. I used to think so. Now I know better. Time won’t heal anything. Time is nothing but a stack of yesterdays,' Over the Wall is a study not only of one family's case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the collective case of PTSD which Ritter believes the entire nation has suffered ever since the end of the Vietnam War. When young Tyler Waltern is invited to spend the summer in New York City with his cousin, he launches a book-length journey to find out what, if anything, truly will heal his family's wounds. Tyler is determined to make it onto the roster of an all-star baseball team. However, his explosive temper gets in the way of his obvious talent. With the help of his pretty cousin and with the sage advice of his coach, a Vietnam vet who also suffers from PTSD, the young man manages to navigate the risky waters of this passage. In this novel, Ritter parallels the parable of the Good Samaritan to show how, step by daunting step, Tyler's crippling anger dissolves into compassion for the "battered man" who was once his enemy."

"By the end", noted Todd Morning in a review for School Library Journal, "Tyler has gained a level of self-awareness by unraveling some of the tangled stories in his family's past and understanding the intricacies lying beneath the surface of life." A Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that Ritter "tackles tough subjects relating to violence in sports, religious hypocrisy, and the Vietnam War while creating layers of metaphors which neatly unfold..." and described the novel as a "powerful lesson in compassion." Writing in The ALAN Review, Patricia K. Ladd noted "Readers are left questioning societal mores and values, rules and politics, and their own moral development," and Roger Leslie commented in Booklist that Over the Wall is a "fully fleshed-out story about compassion and absolution."

After publishing two completely different books in time and place, Ritter began to be noticed for his ability to switch writing style and voice at will. His editor at Philomel, Michael Green, told writer Kelly Milner Halls, in an interview on authorial voice for the 2002 Edition of Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market, that when it comes to voice, "John is a true chameleon."

In the wake of Over the Wall, with its strong anti-war theme, Ritter viewed America's response to the 9/11/2001 events with increasing dismay. Writing in the September 2002 volume of the California English Journal, Ritter stated, "The strain of this past year has been tough on me. After witnessing for days the grand, immediate outpouring of selflessness, generosity, and sacrifice in lower Manhattan—the ‘small friendly town of New York City’ that I celebrated in my recent novel, Over the Wall—I now sit in a blue funk, disappointed in our nation's response and the public outcry for further military retaliation. Discouraged might be a better word. I mean, why do I even bother to write books about empathy and reaching out to others, why do our teachers bother to offer lessons on the same thing, when in crisis, we hunker in survivor mode under a blanket of ethnocentrism, fear, and nationalistic fervor? Seems to me that these were the precise sentiments that drove the hijackers."

The Boy Who Saved Baseball
Ritter finally met with widespread recognition in 2003 with his third novel, The Boy Who Saved Baseball. In an admitted attempt to lift his spirits, Ritter took on the U.S. Invasion of Iraq by disguising it as an environmental issue and using a lighter and more humorous vein in a work based loosely on Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Cited in People Magazine as a book to read, "Now that the youngsters have read Harry Potter...", the story centers on Doc Altenheimer, the eccentric octogenarian owner of an apple orchard in Dillontown, California, who is preparing to sell his acres of land—including the town's century-old baseball field—to wealthy outside developers including a banker from Texas in cahoots with a comical and dishonest mayor. After talking with twelve-year-old Tom Gallagher, however, Doc decides to let the fate of his land rest on the outcome of a single baseball game pitting a team of local ballplayers against an all-star squad from a neighboring community. "Do or die," Doc tells the townsfolk. "If our team wins… the town stays the way it is. If they lose, bring on the bulldozers." With the help of a mysterious newcomer, Cruz de la Cruz, Tom convinces a disgraced former major leaguer and social recluse, Dante Del Gato, to whip the Dillontown team into shape. Del Gato's character, Ritter reveals in an interview for the Baker & Taylor book distributor's newsletter, "was partially based on the real life tragic hero, Ken Caminiti, who was a big league MVP and batting champ in the '90s, but struggled with addictions, leaving the game under a cloud, and was dead by age 41."

Once again heralding Ritter's authorial voice, a starred review in Publishers Weekly said the book's prose was "Enthralling...at times stunning," and that, "Ritter delivers a baseball tale of legendary dimension, featuring several larger-than-life characters." Writing in the Summer 2003 edition of The ALAN Review, editor Pamela Sissi Carroll noted, "This uplifting novel is a joy to read and to carry in the mind. Like Ritter's previous novels...[he] addresses the realities that trouble today's teens and the forces that shape and reshape local and national cultures. Yet John H. Ritter's game is unfailingly hopeful and encouragingly positive." Blair Christolon observed in School Library Journal that the work "is peppered with both optimism and dilemmas; it has plenty of play-by-play action, lots of humor, and a triumphant ending."

"Baseball in Iraq"
Despite the reception and commercial success of The Boy Who Saved Baseball, Ritter could not shake the ever-increasing depression he felt over the suffering caused by the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and subsequent loss of civil liberties at home. He began to use writing invitations to rail against the violent turn the nation had taken. In an essay published in the Summer 2004 volume of The ALAN Review, he wrote, "The idealistic hopes and dreams for a better America, for a more balanced and peaceful world which guided so many of us in the ‘60s and ‘70s has, in the last three years, evaporated into thunderclouds of arrogance, self-indulgence, anger, and fear."

He used the invitation from editors M. Jerry and Helen Weiss, to contribute a short story to their fantasy anthology, Dreams and Vision, which examines the morality of going to war versus terrorism. The story, "Baseball in Iraq," is a somber depiction of a newly dead American soldier facing a life review by a six-foot-tall rooster and a sympathetic Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh. Writing in The Washington Post, longtime Book World reviewer Paul di Filippo states, "Overall, the Weisses exhibit fine taste and editorial restraint, although...their selection of the [clichéd] opening piece is puzzling...But then a challenging story such as John H. Ritter's ‘Baseball in Iraq (Being the True Story of the Ghost of Gunnery Sergeant T. J. McVeigh)’ comes along and dispels all cant and cliché with its elegant portrayal of the reviled terrorist working out his karma."

Under the Baseball Moon
In a further bid to battle overwhelming personal despair, Ritter chose a somewhat autobiographical skateboarder from a musical family as the focus of his fourth novel, Under the Baseball Moon, to examine the true definition of happiness and success for an artist in the midst of a Faustian bargain: professional good fortune paid for by an overwhelming loss of spirit and joy.

Reviewers reacted positively. According to a starred review in Kirkus, Under the Baseball Moon was "…a work that is far beyond the ordinary. It's about music and softball, dreams and passion, courage and loyalty and mysticism. The characters are eccentric and dynamic... Even the language is multi-layered, mixing music, sport and street talk with soaring imagery." In a starred review in Booklist, writer Bill Ott noted that "Ritter pulls out all the stops in his myth-heavy plot, but what really makes the book soar is his sense of place: the laid-back, hippie-influenced, communal spirit of OB permeates every scene, offering stark contrast to the coldly commercial world toward which Andy aspires. As in his earlier work, Ritter melds style to content beautifully, telling his story in a hip, street-smart argot that perfectly matches Andy's trumpet improvisations. Teen friendly, lots of fun, never preachy, but with plenty of thematic pizzazz," and a Publishers Weekly contributor noted that "Ritter's dialogue crackles with the rhythms of the funky California setting, and Andy's passion and ambition give the novel its heartbeat."

In the novel, Andy Ramos, a skilled trumpeter who hopes to revolutionize the music scene with his band's fusion of Latin jazz, rock, and hip-hop, finds himself strangely drawn to Glory Martinez, a childhood rival and talented softball pitcher who has returned to the neighborhood. Andy and Glory soon discover that their talents peak when they perform together, but when a mysterious benefactor promises to launch Andy's musical career, he agrees to walk away from his budding romance.

Asked whether there were any autobiographical characterizations in his work, Ritter said, "Andy Ramos, the main character in Under the Baseball Moon, is fairly autobiographical. I wrote tons of songs and dreamed of making it big in the rock world from age 15 to 22. His father, though, is closer to who I am today in his approach to life and his view of the entertainment industry's customary habit of reining in and ‘branding the maverick’ of talented, rising stars whom they deem as being too far out creatively."

Questioning the uniqueness of the characters in the novel, the interviewer commented to Ritter that in Under the Baseball Moon, "Glory Martinez is a handful. It seems like she stepped out of a Joyce Carol Oates novel. Can you elaborate on why she had such a tough upbringing and still comes across with charm and drive? She is one of the more intriguing characters I’ve come across in recent YA literature." Ritter replied that he sees her charm "as being hard-won through a conscious decision she made a few years before the book begins...I know from personal experience how hard it is to grow up happy and somewhat normal in a single parent home when that parent is an alcoholic. As you get older, though, you have a choice, and it can go one of two ways. Either you become your antagonistic, anti-social parent and repeat his mistakes or, by watching and suffering through his failures, you become the opposite. Of those two choices, Glory made the healthy one, which, as you say, is quite unusual in YA literature. But kids in Glory's situation do occasionally develop a desire to dream big, coupled with the drive to succeed, and I find this rare character far more fun and interesting to write about than the typical."

During the 2006 Florida Council of Teachers of English Convention in Orlando, Florida, FCTE President, Dr. Virginia White, presented Ritter with the President's Award for "significant contribution to the teaching of English in the state of Florida" citing the literary value of his books and the positive impact they had on the teaching of literature in Florida schools. >

The Desperado Who Stole Baseball
Ritter's fifth novel, The Desperado Who Stole Baseball, set in the Wild West of the 1880s and written in the manner of a tall tale mixed with Mexican style magical realism, is a prequel to The Boy Who Saved Baseball and Book One of the Dillontown Trilogy. On his way from St. Louis to Dillontown to find his long-lost uncle, the playing-manager of a championship baseball team, twelve-year-old Jack Dillon meets Billy the Kid, who is looking for a fresh start in California. Upon his arrival, Jack learns that the Dillontown Nine have scheduled a game against the powerful Chicago White Stockings, with the town's fortune hanging in the balance. Again, Ritter's voice caused critics to react. In the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Elizabeth Bush described Ritter's authorial voice as having "all the charm of a well-spun tall tale with plenty of Twainian malarkey." Marilyn Taniguchi asserted in School Library Journal that "Ritter writes in an idiom-laden, mock-epic style full of bombast and bravado...Reminiscent of Sid Fleischman."

Of significance is the Author's Note included in the paperback edition (Puffin 2010) revealing Ritter's inspiration. The "Desperado" of the title is not Billy the Kid, but a Major League Baseball owner, William Hulbert, who along with Albert Spalding and Cap Anson, added impetus to the movement to "steal" baseball from African American players, a little known fact in baseball lore, yet one Ritter believed showed a character even more nefarious: "Others would also tend to downplay baseball's racial divide, as personified by the management of these Chicago White Stockings (later to become the Chicago Cubs). I was not about to do that, having worked on the manuscript from early 2007 to June 2008, paralleling the launch and quixotic presidential quest of a mixed-race U.S. Senator and dedicated Chicago White Sox fan. And yes, as I note, Long John Dillon did stand up once and say, "For the first time in my life, I am proud to be a part of this land."—a sentiment I heard echoed across this beautiful nation repeatedly as I penned this tome. And in those moments I found hope and grace."

Among critics, the book received virtually no comments alluding to the novel's racial thrust. Only Ian Chipman, reviewing the work in Booklist, noted that The Desperado Who Stole Baseball provided "a good child's eye introduction to baseball's segregated past."

Fenway Fever
Ritter's sixth novel, Fenway Fever, a book his publisher describes as "another magical novel that celebrates teamwork—and the innate power to heal that even the least among us is born with," is scheduled to be released on April 12, 2012, to coincide with the 100 year anniversary of Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ritter is currently working on a utopian novel, 2020 Vision, premised on the changes American society must go through after a floodgate of top-secret disclosures occur upon the release of undisputed evidence of U.S. Government participation in the events of September 11, 2001.

Novels

 * Choosing Up Sides (2000)
 * Over the Wall (2000)
 * The Boy Who Saved Baseball (2003)
 * Under the Baseball Moon (2006)
 * The Desperado Who Stole Baseball (2009)
 * Fenway Fever (2012)

Contributions to Anthologies

 * "Old School/Fu-Char Skool" in Big City Cool: Short Stories about Urban Youth, edited by M. Jerry Weiss and Helen S. Weiss, Persea Books, 2002.
 * "My Life as a Reader in a Stolen Moment Talkin’ Blues" in Making the Match: The Right Book for the Right Reader at the Right Time, edited by Teri S. Lesesne, Stenhouse Publishers, 2003.
 * "Baseball in Iraq" in Dreams and Visions: Fourteen Flights of Fancy, edited by M. Jerry Weiss and Helen S. Weiss, Starscape, 2006.
 * "Dear Mr. John H. Ritter" in Dear Author: Letters of Hope, edited by Joan F. Kaywell, Philomel Books, 2007.
 * "Baseball Crazy" in Baseball Crazy: Ten Short Stories that Cover All the Bases, edited by Nancy E. Mercado, Dial Books, 2008.
 * "Tunnel Vision" in This Family Is Driving Me Crazy: Ten Stories about Surviving Your Family edited by M. Jerry Weiss and Helen S. Weiss, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2009.

title: John H. Ritter


text:
Onopordum

Onopordum, or cottonthistle, is a genus of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. They are native to southern Europe, northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia. They grow on disturbed land, roadsides, arable land and pastures.

They are biennials (rarely short-lived perennials) with branched, spinose winged stems, growing 0.5–3 m tall. In the first season they form a basal rosette of gray-green felted leaves and rarely a few flower heads. In the second season they grow rapidly to their final height, flowering extensively, and then die off after seed maturation.

The leaves are dentate or shallowly lobed to compound with several pinnatifid or deeply cut leaflets, and strongly spiny. The terminal flower head is typical for thistles, a semi-spherical to ovoid capitulum with purple (seldom white or pink) disc florets. There are no ray florets. The receptacle is glabrous with dentate margins. The tube of the corolla is slender, sac-shaped and symmetrical. The anthers have awl-shaped outgrowths on the top. The capitula have several overlapping rows of leathery basal simple linear-lanceolate spines. These are smooth to slightly pubescent.

These plants propagate only by seed. The seed heads mature in mid-summer, releasing their seeds. The fruit is a glabrous achene, 4–6 mm long and with 4-50 ribs. The pappus consists of many rows of simple, fine to minutely rough hairs, united in a circular base.

Onopordum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora onopordiella (feeds exclusively on O. acanthium).

In the Greek island of Crete a native species called agriagginara (αγριαγγινάρα) or koufoti (κουφωτοί) has its heads (flowers) and tender leaves eaten raw by the locals.

 * Species
 * Onopordum acanthium L. - Cotton thistle, Scotch thistle, Scotch common-thistle, heraldic thistle, woolly thistle [[Image:Onopordum bracteatum1.jpg|thumb|right|Onopordum acanthium - habit]] - widespread across Europe and temperate Asia
 * Onopordum acaulon L. - Stemless thistle, horse thistle - France, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
 * Onopordum alexandrinum Boiss. - Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan
 * Onopordum algeriense (Munby) Pomel - Algeria
 * Onopordum ambiguum Fresen. - Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan
 * Onopordum anatolicum (Boiss.) Eig. - Turkey
 * Onopordum arenarium M.Hossain & M.A.A.Al-Sarraf - Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya
 * Onopordum armenum Grossh. - Caucasus, Iran, Turkey
 * Onopordum blancheanum (Eig) Danin - Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon
 * Onopordum boissierianum Raab-Straube & Greuter - Turkey
 * Onopordum bracteatum Boiss. & Heldr. - Greece, Turkey, Cyprus
 * Onopordum canum Eig - Iran, Jordan, Israel, Turkey
 * Onopordum carduchorum Bornm. & Beauverd - Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran
 * Onopordum carduelium Bolle - Canary Islands
 * Onopordum carduiforme Boiss. - Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan
 * Onopordum carmanicum (Bornm.) Bornm. - Iran
 * Onopordum caulescens d'Urv. - Greece
 * Onopordum cinereum Grossh. - Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan
 * Onopordum corymbosum Willk. - France, Spain
 * Onopordum cynarocephalum Boiss. & Blanche - Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan
 * Onopordum cyrenaicum Maire & Weiller - Libya
 * Onopordum dissectum Murb. - Spain, Morocco
 * Onopordum dyris Maire - Morocco
 * Onopordum elongatum Lam.
 * Onopordum eriocephalum Rouy - France
 * Onopordum espinae Coss.
 * Onopordum heteracanthum C.A.Mey. - Caucasus, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia
 * Onopordum horridum Viv. - Italy
 * Onopordum illyricum L. - Illyrian thistle, Illyrian cottonthistle - Mediterranean
 * Onopordum leptolepis DC. - from Palestine to Altay + Xinjiang
 * Onopordum macracanthum Schousb. - Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco, Algeria
 * Onopordum macrocanthum d'Urv.
 * Onopordum macrocephalum Eig - Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan
 * Onopordum mesatlanticum Emb. & Maire - Morocco
 * Onopordum micropterum Pau - Spain, Canary Islands
 * Onopordum minor L. - Iran
 * Onopordum myriacanthum Boiss. - Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria
 * Onopordum nervosum Boiss. - Moor's cottonthistle - Spain, Portugal
 * Onopordum parnassicum Boiss. & Heldr. - Greece, Turkey
 * Onopordum platylepis (Coss. ex Murb.) Murb. - Libya, Tunisia
 * Onopordum polycephalum Boiss. - Turkey
 * Onopordum prjachinii Tamamsch. - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
 * Onopordum seravschanicum Tamamsch. - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
 * Onopordum sibthorpianum Boiss. & Heldr. - Greece, Sicily, Malta, Turkey, North Macedonia, Saudi Arabia
 * Onopordum tauricum Willd. - Turkish thistle, Taurian thistle, Taurus cottonthistle, bull cottonthistle - southern + central Europe, Ukraine, Middle East
 * Onopordum turcicum Danin - Turkey
 * Onopordum wallianum Maire - Morocco

 * Natural hybrids
 * Onopordum × brevicaule (Onopordum acaulon × Onopordum acanthium )
 * Onopordum × erectum (Onopordum nervosum ssp. castellanum × Onopordum tauricum ssp. corymbosum )
 * Onopordum × macronervosum (Onopordum nervosum × Onopordum macrocanthum)
 * Onopordum × onubense (Onopordum dissectum × Onopordum macrocanthum)
 * Onopordum × spinosissimum (Onopordum illyricum × Onopordum acanthium)

Invasive problems
Some species of Onopordum have been introduced as ornamental plants in the temperate regions of North America and Australia, where they have become naturalised in the wild. In most of these countries, these thistles are considered noxious weeds, especially in Australia where a biological control program has been set up (using the Rosette Crown Weevil, Trichosirocalus briesei). In North America, there are also Trichosirocalus control programs, but they have proved detrimental to native thistles.

title: Onopordum