MAGIC WORDS know, abracadabra." ) Energy builds and builds to a breaking point: "Abracadabra. Something flipped in my head." Then it diminishes. This is the cosmic process of creation and destruction, of waxing and waning, reflected by abracadabra. "The link between language and ritual reaches far back into the origin of human culture when certain words were felt to have awesome magical powers. That same feeling of awe is still manifest in children's eyes when they listen to a magician's abracadabra."27 Arguably the best-known and best- loved magic word in history, abracadabra is pure dazzle, and it has never lost its spark over the centuries. "When a magician says the word 'abracadabra,' wonderful things happen. A rabbit hops out of a hat, the ace floats to the top of the deck, and the comely young assistant vanishes in a puff of smoke."28 Though some magicians now consider it a cliché due to its sheer ubiquity, abracadabra remains the word associated with conjuring29, and such is its power that it is virtually impossible to speak the syllables without some vestige of reverence or at least respect. "'Magic words,' be they as commonly known as Abracadabra, or as deeply secret as the Unknowable Name of God, have ABRACADABRA ABRACADABR ABRACADAB ABRACADA ABRACAD ABRACA ABRAC ABRA ABR AB A Figure 6. Abracadabra written as a "shrinking" word. 25 Alan Furst, Dark Voyage (2004), referencing the fairy tale of Cinderella 26 Carolyn S. Kortge, The Spirited Walker: Fitness Walking For Clarity, Balance, and Spiri- tual Connection (1998) 27 Marcel Danesi, Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things (1999) 28 Martin Fry (1991) 29 "'Please is a good magic word,' I said, 'but the magic word for magicians is 'ab- racadabra.'" -- Ace Starry, The Magic Life: A Novel Philosophy (200 )