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
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
_________________
*(2013; Moon Books)
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