A riddle or just superstition?

Hi, I know a lot of you in this section know, more or less, Latin. So I got a question: Ever heard of SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS? It may sound a little esoteric, because I know it's been used some centuries ago for protecting against demons. If you write it into a magic square you can read it from every side, but nobody seems to know exactly what it means. Is there a connection to Masonry possible?

Damn Babelfish doesn't have Latin.

S A T O R
A R E P O
T E N E T
O P E R A
R O T A S


Hey, that's pretty nifty.

Originally posted by intrepid
Damn Babelfish doesn't have Latin.

When simian intellect is available?

The answers you seek can be found here.

Originally posted by Mirthful Me

Originally posted by intrepid
Damn Babelfish doesn't have Latin.

When simian intellect is available?

The answers you seek can be found here.

Not nearly as mysterious and fantastic as the thread's poster had thought

www.waggish.org...

There are a few suggestions here.

It says
Sator= Sower
Arepo= ? Name?
Tenet= Maintain
Opera= Operate
Rotas= Wheels.

Arepo the Sower Keeps the Wheels at Work.

Does that make any sense? I doubt it really. I go more for the suggestion that it can be arranged in a cross to spell Pater Noster twice, with the N in the center being shared, and then there are two As and two Os extra- Alpha and Omega. Early Christian identification?

Edit: oops, mirthful posted before I finished typing (I was interrupted in the middle so it sat for an hour or so)

[edit on 12-4-2005 by The Vagabond]

Originally posted by The Vagabond
www.waggish.org...

There are a few suggestions here.

It says
Sator= Sower
Arepo= ? Name?
Tenet= Maintain
Opera= Operate
Rotas= Wheels.

Arepo the Sower Keeps the Wheels at Work.

Maybe Tenet translates into the Spanish Tiene, which would mean "has to"?

In any case, I don't think the meaning is so special, as is the fact that it can be read in a square. That's probably why it was so popular. Kinda like the old tongue twisters and other anagrams...

Just an educated guess-

Plenty of societies have believed words and numbers held power. Why do you think even uttering the name of God was so important?

So the people would look for meaning in the words. Writing words in a box so that it spells the same words every way surely held magical power, in their eyes anyway.

Hmm...not what I wanted to say. Let's try this. Way back when (in I believe Sumeria), they would have oxen-like icons to their gods. They would cast spells and pray that the spirits would inhabit the icon (a statue). Well, of course, nothing seemed to change. So the priest would rattle an instrument after he made his prayer. The sound was magical. When you heard it, you knew that the spirit had entered the object. It made things seem to change, and people found meaning in it.

Originally posted by new_falcon_XXI
Hi, I know a lot of you in this section know, more or less, Latin. So I got a question: Ever heard of SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS?

Why isn't the word palindrome a palindrome!

Originally posted by Nygdan

Originally posted by new_falcon_XXI
Hi, I know a lot of you in this section know, more or less, Latin. So I got a question: Ever heard of SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS?

Why isn't the word palindrome a palindrome!

Not sure...but I do know this....

Two wrongs don't make a right!

But three rights make a LEFT!

[double post]

[edit on 13-4-2005 by Trinityman]

Originally posted by Nygdan
Why isn't the word palindrome a palindrome!

My favourite is RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR.

RATS is an acronym for Real Alternative Terrestrial Society, and is a coded message by the Free New World Illuminatibergers that the survivors of WWIII will attempt to escape earth and head for Sirius (The 'Good Star' as described in the Gnorty Writings of M. Annual).

Alternatively, Brian Q. Granger in his biography 'King of Crappers' described Satan's lavatory as 'the great and mysterious Evil Star' - perhaps referring to the attempts of the Try Harder Commission to destroy the plumbing of Jimmy 'Rats' Necros in a daring dawn raid that took out three square miles of pan piping and almost cost plucky Jimmy his life.

[edit on 13-4-2005 by Trinityman]

Originally posted by Trinityman
My favourite is RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR.

RATS is an acronym for Real Alternative Terrestrial Society, and is a coded message by the Free New World Illuminatibergers that the survivors of WWIII will attempt to escape earth and head for Sirius (The 'Good Star' as described in the Gnorty Writings of M. Annual).

Alternatively, Brian Q. Granger in his biography 'King of Crappers' described Satan's lavatory as 'the great and mysterious Evil Star' - perhaps referring to the attempts of the Try Harder Commission to destroy the plumbing of Jimmy 'Rats' Necros in a daring dawn raid that took out three square miles of pan piping and almost cost plucky Jimmy his life.

Deny that ignorance, brother!