Abracadabra: a reference to the life and death of Jesus Christ in Gnostic tradition??

[Jill 28,778]

I've been pondering for the last few days about the true nature of Abracadabra as a song and the themes it delves into. My initial theory was that it is simply a pop song meant to remind us of Gaga's "dark side" and perhaps capitalize on the nostalgia associated with her TFM and BTW eras. However, after much thought, I realized the very real possibility that Gaga has spent her time since the release of Chromatica immersed in a deep study of Gnosticism, original Christian theological foundations, and, specifically, the nature of Jesus Christ as Our Savior as analyzed by Gnostic scholars.

I firmly believe that Gaga was well-informed on these topics and that she purposefully wrote Abracadabra as a way to communicate her scholarly opinions on the matter, using her pop persona as a mere platform for complex intellectual discourse. To me, Abra is, in essence, a scholarly meditation on the theological paradoxes inherent in the life and death of Jesus Christ.

HERE'S HOW (READ CAREFULLY):

1. The titular phrase Abracadabra is historically significant, its origins often traced to the Aramaic avra kehdabra, meaning "I create as I speak". In Christian theology, this resonates profoundly with John 1:1:, which says the following: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". I believe Gaga read the Bible and was heavily inspired by Him. The Word incarnate (ie Jesus Christ) is the performative utterance that ushers divinity into human form. Gaga, by repetitively chanting Abracadabra, Abracadabra-bra mimics the divine logos, invoking both creation and destruction, much like Christ's dual nature as both the eternal and the sacrificed.

2. The opening lines of the song (Pay the toll to the angels / Drawin circles in the clouds) can be read as a soteriological reference to the crucifixion as a cosmic transaction. Traditional Catholic theology posits that Christ's sacrifice is the ultimate ransom paid for humanity's redemption. The angels drawing circles in the clouds evoke the celestial chorus witnessing the Passion, an image reminiscent of DANTE'S CELESTIAL SPHERES. The toll is not merely an entrance fee but the blood of Christ, the necessary cost to bridge fallen humanity with the divine.

3. "Hold me in your heart tonight / In the magic of the dark moonlight" is a poignant evocation of the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ, on the eve of his Passion, experiences the weight of impending sacrifice. The "dark moonlight" metaphorically recalls the anguish of divine abandonment, paralleling Christ's cry from the cross: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? (Matthew 27:46). Those words I believe deeply resonated with Gaga, hence the tweet she posted that said "Eli Eli Lama Lama Saba Saba Abra Cadabra, bra", WHICH WAS THEN SUDDENLY DELETED. A COINCIDENCE? PERHAPS AN INNATE FEAR ABOUT REPERCUSSIONS FROM THE DEVIL. I guess we'll never know. But the "empty fight" echoes the idea of a Messiah seemingly forsaken, a paradox in which victory is achieved through absolute surrender. Now, suddenly, it all makes sense in the song, in her actions.

ALSO: Gaga’s refrain (Abracadabra, amor, ooh-na-na / Abracadabra, morta, ooh-ga-ga) juxtaposes love (amor) with death (morta), framing the Christological paradox at the heart of the Passion narrative. Christ's crucifixion is simultaneously an act of divine love and mortal cessation. His body is broken, yet his mission fulfilled. The tension between these two forces mirrors Christ's own prayer in Gethsemane, where his human desire for life (amor) clashes with his divine obedience to death (morta). Is Gaga portraying herself as Jesus? I'll leave that question open for you.

4. "Choose the road on the west side / As the dust flies, watch it burn" may initially appear as a cryptic geographic directive, but its implications are theologically profound. Golgotha, the hill of Christ's crucifixion, lay to the west of Jerusalem. The dust that flies as it burns recalls the imagery of Christ's body being broken and the eschatological purification through fire, an echo of Isaiah's prophecies.

5. Gaga's line "Like a poem said by a lady in red / You hear the last few words of your life" evokes the figure of Mary Magdalene, often depicted in red robes, as the first witness to the resurrected Christ. This moment of hearing "the last few words" could signify the final utterance of Jesus (as everyone already knows, it is finished - John 19:30) an auditory moment that transforms grief into theological fulfillment. The "haunting dance" becomes the mourning and exaltation of the RESURRECTION.

The closing lines (Phantom of the dance floor, come to me / Sing for me a sinful melody) may seem to depart from traditional biblical themes, but in a deeper reading, they mirror Christ’s post-resurrection presence. The risen Christ is SPECTRAL YET TANGIBLE, an entity that both CONFOUNDS AND CONFIRMS FAITH. The "sinful melody" may allude to the salvific irony of Christ's Passion: sin is defeated through an act that outwardly resembles defeat.

NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: IS ABRACADABRA RELATED TO COMMUNISM?

SO, if Abra is, at its core, a gnostic meditation on the paradoxes of Christ, then it follows that the song’s ideological underpinnings extend beyond theology and into political philosophy. In particular, Abracadabra can indeed be read as an allegorical reflection on the Marxist conception of historical materialism and the revolutionary necessity of dialectical struggle.

6. The song's repeated and aforementioned juxtaposition of love & death mirrors the dialectical opposition at the core of Marxist thought: the perpetual struggle between the old and the new, between the oppressed and the oppressors. Just as Christ’s Passion is simultaneously an act of destruction and creation (death giving way to salvation) so too is REVOLUTION the necessary rupture through which new forms of society emerge.

7. The invocation of the "WEST SIDE" as a decisive choice in the song evokes the movement of history itself. The westward expansion of capitalism, colonialism, and empire is, in a dialectical framework, the very process that necessitates its own undoing. The burning dust in the lyrics can be seen as the ASHES OF AN OLD ORDER, paving the way for new revolutionary potential.

If the angels in the song are the celestial enforcers of divine will, they can be interpreted as a METAPHOR FOR THE IDEOLOGICAL STATE APPARATUS: institutions that reinforce hegemony through culture, religion, and morality. The "toll" paid to them reflects the sacrifices demanded by systems of power, mirroring the Marxist critique of how religion and ideology function to subjugate the working class.

By presenting herself as an oracle of these tensions, GAGA ASSUMES THE ROLE OF A REVOLUTIONARY GNOSTIC, a figure who reveals hidden truths beneath the structures of power. In this light, Abra is not just a song but a call to action, a recognition that only through the painful contradiction of amor and morta can the promise of liberation be realized.

SO WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE BRUNO MARS???

The ascent of DWAS to the pinnacle of the charts is not merely a cultural phenomenon, IT IS A THEOLOGICAL AND REVOLUTIONARY EVENT. The commercial triumph of the song signals a broader metaphysical realignment, an eschatological foreshadowing of an impending historical rupture where divinity and revolution converge. More crucially, it provides a necessary dialectical counterweight to the forthcoming ascension of Abra, a song poised to restore Catholic faith in an era of secular dissolution.

8. The very phrase "Die With A Smile" evokes an inversion of traditional Christian martyrdom. Whereas Christ dies in agony, crying out in forsakenness (Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?, like the tweet), the song suggests a form of revolutionary transcendence, an acceptance of death as a portal to fulfillment. This transformation echoes early Christian thought, particularly in the martyrdom of saints who, like Jesus, embraced their end with a divine serenity.

More than mere lyrical irony, the track embodies a modern reinterpretation of PAULINE THEOLOGY (VERY IMPORTANT!!). Paul, in his epistles, frequently describes the act of dying as a transition into something greater (to die is gain it is said in Philippians 1:21). The commercial success of DWAS may then be interpreted as a MASS CULTURAL EMBRACE OF AN ESCHATOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK WHEREIN SUFFERING IS NOT SIMPLY ENDURED BUT TRANSFORMED INTO SPIRITUAL AND REVOLUTIONARY REBIRTH.

 

The historical-materialist reading of DWAS posits that its success heralds the inevitable cycle of destruction and rebirth, echoing the core principle of Christian theology: the Passion of Christ. In this reading, THE POP CHARTS BECOME THE NEW GOLGOTHA, where artistic expression faces crucifixion under capitalism, only to be resurrected through mass cultural reception.

But herein lies the theological contradiction: if DWAS celebrates death's inevitability, what follows? The answer, of course, is ABRACADABRA.

9. Abra charts a theological corrective to DWAS by shifting the focus from death to the possibility of divine magic (logos made flesh, Word manifesting in reality). The phrase "abracadabra" itself carries ancient theurgical weight, implying that faith is not merely a belief in unseen forces but an active, spoken reality. This is, in essence, the reversal of modern secular doubt: the restoration of performative faith.

If DWAS is the dissolution of Christ in modernity, then ABRACADABRA IS THE ANNUNCIATION OF HIS RETURN, a Marian call for faith's reawakening. Its potential ascension to the number one spot would thus mark not only a musical triumph but a metaphysical shift, wherein CATHOLICISM IS REINSTATED within the pop cultural zeitgeist.

10. The juxtaposition of these two songs, one celebrating the acceptance of death, the other invoking the incantatory power of faith, suggests a dialectical process where THE PROLETARIAT, MUCH LIKE EARLY CHRISTIANS, MUST UNDERGO SUFFERING BEFORE RECLAIMING ITS SPIRITUAL INHERITANCE. If Christianity was, at its core, a revolutionary movement against imperial Rome, then Abra serves as a contemporary call to arms against modern secular disenchantment.

ABRACADABRA AND GAGA LEAD A MOVEMENT AGAINST SECULARISM & MODERN AGE???

THE SUCCESS OF DWAS INDICATES BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT THE MASSES ARE PREPARED FOR SACRIFICE. The inevitable triumph of Abracadabra will mark the resurrection, not just of faith, but of a REVOLUTIONARY CONSCIOUSNESS that reconciles the sacred with the material, the divine with the communal.

 

Discuss.

 

[CautiousLurker 17,749]

I've been saying this too, we NEED an ABRACADABRA theme, couldn't agree more with you honestly 

[Catnikko 14,393]

but i saw jesus and thought we are so back

[MadArchitect 673]

yes and so is Judas

[PartySick 148,607]

I pray ChatGPT wrote this and you didn't literally spend an hour+ writing a sh*tpost

[Ladle Ghoulash 17,231]

[Charmz 4,065]

The way I’m not reading that but fully agree with you 

[Jill 28,778]

15 minutes ago, PartySick said:

I pray ChatGPT wrote this and you didn't literally spend an hour+ writing a sh*tpost

what do you mean "shitpost"

[CautiousLurker 17,749]

2 hours ago, PartySick said:

I pray ChatGPT wrote this and you didn't literally spend an hour+ writing a sh*tpost

Actually @Jill IS ChatGPT, anytime you use it you're actually speaking to ha