The mystery formula in the Gevelsberg Stadtzeichen
Hermann Krause, Rector emeritus
The Gevelsberg Stadtzeichen (town symbol) was presented to the public on Dec.6, 1987.
This work of art stands on the Ennepe bridge, and a plaque with the following inscription
is attached to it.
R
O
T
A
S
O
P
E
R
A
T
E N
E
T
A
R
E
P
O
S
A
T
O
R
This is the famous sator formula. It is considered to be the greatest of all magic squares.
One can read the text not only horizontally from left to right but also vertically. One can
also begin in the lower right corner and then continue to the left as well as to the top. It
always results in the same wording. A text which reads the same from all sides is called a
palindrome.
‘Ein Neger mit Gazelle zagt im Regen nie.’ is a well known German palindrome. One can
read this sentence the same way forwards and backwards. - An example in English
would be ‘Madam, I'm Adam.’
Reading backwards had a certain magic significance. One thought that reading something
backwards could break a spell. Thus one tried to find word combinations for magic
formulas with the same wording in both directions. In this way a spell could not be
broken by being read backwards.
I. Various analyses
This particular magic square with three vowels and five consonants is full of secrets. Here
are some of the many interpretations:
1)
The text can be translated in various ways. Der grosse Brockhaus translates it as:
Sower Arepo holds the wheels with difficulty.
There are also a lot of other interpretations, such as:
The Creator keeps the world in motion.
(Internet, University of Marburg)
The word arepo causes the greatest difficulties. It is a so-called hepax legomenon, a word
that occurs only once in ancient writings. Many translators believe that arepo might be a
proper name. Actually the explanation of the word is quite simple. It is the reversal of
opera, to fit into the magic square. Thus it is not possible and also not so important to
find the 'correct' translation of the sator formula.
2)
Magic rituals are said to effect changes, for example to make a sick person well.
The sator formula itself contains changes:
Rotas in the first line becomes sator in the fifth.
Opera in the second line becomes arepo in the forth.
The formula changes from the first to the last line just like a patient's state of health
would, and through this change a new state of things develops.
A sick person becomes well.
3)
In the middle of the square appears twice the word tenet in the form of a cross (tenet
'holds' from Latin tenere 'to hold'). The Cross "holds" Christ. It is also striking that the
four corners themselves end in T, the early Christian form of the Cross.
4)
Pastor Grosser from Chemnitz discovered in 1926 that, by transposing the letters, the words
pater noster 'Our Father' appear twice in the form of a cross. The letter N appears only
once. The remaining letters of the double pater noster cluster around it in the shape of a
cross, as do the letters A and O twice. These two letters (alpha and omega) are the
beginning and the end of the Greek alphabet and an early Christian divine symbol.
P
A
A
T
O
E
R
P
A
T
E
R
N O
S
T
E
R
O
S
A
T
O
E
R
Thus one can see an encoded ‘Our Father’ in the sator formula.
5)
Ten different knight’s moves result twice in the sentence oro te pater ‘I pray thee, Father’.
What remains is the palindrome sanas ‘that you make healthy’. Read “normally”, the
square allows differing translations and interpretations, but the knight’s move results in
a linguistically perfect Latin text whose translation is relatively straightforward.
The following example shows the words oro te pater only once.
END <--
R 10
O
T8
A
S
BEGIN-->
O1
P
E5
T
E9
N
E
T4
A
R2
E
P6
O
S
A
T
O3
R
R A7
Thus the formula also contains a prayer for good health.
Faith and superstition combine here in an unusual way.
If the magic formula fails, perhaps a prayer will work?
6)
According to Dr. A. Wilsmann, the order of the letters can also be considered
mathematically. Multiplying two numbers and putting the last digit of the product into
a matrix one gets the numeric square given below.
In row three, column six, one has an 8 (3 x 6 = 18, the final digit is 8). At the same place in
the letter square stands the letter A. In row four, column seven, where the numbers
square has 8 (4 x 7 = 28), the letter square also has A. In this way the letter A is always
associated with the number 8.
1
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
9
2
5
8
1
2
6
0
4
8
5
0
5
0
5
8
4
0
6
2
1
8
5
2
9
2
3
4
5
6
7
3
R
O
T
A
S
4
O
P
E
R
A
5
T
E N
E
T
6
A
R
E
P
O
7
S
A
T
O
R
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
8
9
8
9
1
1
8
9
Thus a certain letter corresponds to each final number. The only exception is the number 5
which stands for T or N. Thus we get the following values:
0=E
1=S
2=O
4=R
5 = T or N
6=P
8=A
9=R
It almost seems as though the composer of the text had the multiplication table in mind.
7)
Finally there is a Rosicrucian interpretation for the sator table. The Rosicrucians are an
international fraternal order that strives for esoteric wisdom. According to their own
tradition, the order originated in ancient Egypt and continued to exist in the form of
secret societies. At the end of the 18th century, the Rosicrucian order, the leading German
Masonic group, attained decisive political influence. Even Friedrich Wilhelm II of
Prussia, who reigned from 1786-1797, belonged to their order. The symbol of the
Rosicrucians, which gives the order its name, is a combination of a rose and a cross.
In accordance with the Song of Salomon, the Rose of Sharon ‘the blood of the Lord’ twines
around the tenet cross, which has an N in the center (nomen- in nomine sancto ‘a name
[with]in the name of the Lord’. The rose tendrils ro-sa are the four corner letters, with
the neighbouring letters arranged horizontally and vertically.
R
O
T
O
E
T
E N
A
E
S
A
T
A
S
A
E
T
O
O
R
II. Historical tradition
The formula originates from Pompeii, which was destroyed in 63 AD, so it is not of
Christian origin. It did however have a different form.
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
The formula has also been found on a Coptic papyrus amulet. The Copts are the Christian
descendants of the ancient Egyptians.
A 12.5 x 7.5 cm fragment from the year 280 AD was found while excavating an early
Roman settlement near Manchester. This fragment contains part of the formula. That
artist's version begins with rotas, which is, according to Brockhaus an earlier one. From
a Christian point of view arepo could be translated as 'plough', so that the formula
would then read:
‘Christ the sower stops the wheel [sic] of destiny with the plough of the cross.’
(Grosser Brockhaus)
In Christian times this formula from antiquity developed as a versatile cryptogram, a
secret magic formula, thus guaranteeing its survival and making it popular everywhere
in the West
The unusual perfection of the square caused its rapid spread over two centuries.
It is also found in Italy, e.g. in the church of Pieve Terzagni in Tremoni or in the
Augustinian church in Verona, also in France and in England, even on the cover of a
Bible and on a coin of the emperor Maximilian from the year 1572.
The formula has been written down, engraved, and even baked, and used in many ways. It
was supposed to ward off disaster, particularly rabies, lovesickness, livestock epidemics
and fire. Even as late as 1743 Duke Ernst August of Saxony required the purchase of fire
buckets with the sator formula.
None of the customary books of magic are missing this formula. (Grosser Brockhaus)
M. Ruhnke, Professor of Music in Erlangen, has communicated to me that the formula
was set to music by the Austrian composer Anton von Webern (1883-1945).
Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum contains a conversation between a person named Sator
Arepo and Belbo, which refers directly to the solution of the ‘sublime anagram’. The
solution however is left to the reader.
III. A distinctive symbol
Janusz Hajduk-Gubalke, the artist of the Stadtzeichen, thinks of the formula as a
distinctive symbol, an expression of his world-view. Just as we cannot completely
understand and interpret the rotas formula so we cannot completely grasp and explain
God and the world by reason alone. There is always a mysterious something left over.