Sunday, July 13, 2014

MYSTERIOUS word MAGIC


Ah, the mysterious mysteries of word magic! 

In Ariadne’s Thread* Laura Perry labels the following jaw-dropping ancient Roman word-square a “letter labyrinth:

SATOR
AREPO
TENET
OPERA
ROTAS

See how all five words pop out at you four times each – once forward, once backward, once heading down and once heading up?  Utter wizardry!   

According to Perry, letter labyrinths descended from the labyrinth of Theseus-and-the Minotaur fame.  Medieval European Pagans used them as magic devices – and Perry thinks modern Pagans can too. 

So what exactly does “Sator arepo tenet opera rotas” mean? 

No one knows.

Each word defined:

Sator 
(from sero=to sow) Sower, planter; founder, progenitor (usually divine); originator

Arepo 
unknown, likely an invented proper name; its similarity with arrepo, from ad repo, 'I creep towards', may be coincidental

Tenet 
(from teneo=to hold) holds, keeps; comprehends; possesses; masters; preserves

Opera 
(noun) work, care; aid, service, effort/trouble; (from opus): works, deeds.

Rotas 
(from noun rota) wheels; (from verb roto) [you] whirl around, revolve, rotate; used in the Vulgate Psalms as a synonym for whirlwind and in Ezekiel as plain old wheels (definitions from Wikipedia, “Sator Square”)

Although I have an idea what “Sator arepo tenet opera rotas” means, I’m not going to spoil your fun by telling you right away.  Meditate on the square for a while.  What magic meaning can you pound out of it? 

Wikipedia’s suggested meaning is stunningly devoid of anything remotely aromatic of magic: “The farmer Arepo has [as] works wheels [a plough]”, or,  “The farmer uses his plough as his form of work.”

On the other hand, Laura Perry‘s translation definitely smacks of magic: “The sower Sator holds the wheels as his work” (Perry says “The name Sator is possibly that of a regional grain god or demigod”)(p. 49). 

Another magical word labyrinth: abracadabra:

          a
         ab
        abr
       abra
      abrac
     abraca
    abracad
   abracada
  abracadab
 abracadabr
abracadabra


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*(2013; Moon Books)

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