Follow the Tau
Priscillian said:
So was I till I discovered the greater and longer story lines by following the Tau-cross staff that made it full circle. From the Holy Land via Axum in Ethiopia (where the Tau-cross staff is still carried around in procession by christian priests –I’ve got such an original Tau at home!) along the southern [quite remarkable – there must be a lot of untold stories! -gb] shores of the Mediterranean via Nazaré [Nazareth?] on the Portuguese coast to Padron and Santiago cum annexis to Ireland [linking picture created errors just now] from where Brandan, Willibrord and Bonifatius took the story back to the continent to Dokkum in Friesland (where the latter was murdered) and Echternach (with its dancing procession) in Luxemburg & so on & so further. Who said again: It is all one great story?
Some references (not to confuse anyone anymore!):
http://images.google.com/images?hl=nl&q=Tau&gbv=2 ; Franciscan Tau Crucifix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_pr ... Echternach : Three steps forward are taken, then two back, so that five steps are required in order to advance one pace. [Just like a good story should develop!]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_ ... ry_of_Zion ; It remains a significant center of pilgrimage for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, especially during the main Festival of Zion Maryam ;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axum ;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Orthodox_Church : The initiative in the Roman Catholic missions to Ethiopia was taken, not by Rome, but by Portugal, as an incident in the struggle with the Muslim Ottoman Empire and Sultanate of Adal for the command of the trade route to India by the Red Sea.
http://www.tadias.com/wp-content/upload ... -1-new.jpg ; Figure 1: tau-cross staff ;
http://www.tadias.com/?cat=10 ;
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/hi ... _head.aspx ;
Tau cross head ; This cross head in the shape of a T (the Greek letter tau) was discovered in the garden of a rectory at the beginning of the twentieth century. It would originally have been fixed to a wooden staff to form a crozier, the powerful symbol for a senior official in the Church.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalibela ;
http://home.wanadoo.nl/spaansen/lalibela.htm ;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sign_and_the_Seal ;
http://elcaminosantiago.com/PDF/Way_of_ ... mes_03.txt :
The Way of Saint James by Georgiana Goddard King: > Taustaff > Volume III
The Bourne :
The High God [347] > [358] "Dr. Garstang desires to elucidate the passage by reference to the Hittites and their draped pillars, and such pillars are known to Minoan cults, and the dressed Virgins of Spain are their daughters. In this connexion I should like to point out [359] that the figure in the Gloria which I have called S. James Minor and which is usually interpreted as a reduplication of the Son of Zebedee, carries as his attribute a Taustaff wrapped around with cloths."
In
The Messianic Legacy van Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln (from
The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail) 1986, ISBN 0-552-13182-2, see foto’s between pp136-7:
10: The twelfth-century Kilfenora Cross, Co. Clare. The figure on the left holds a familiar bishop’s crozier [kromstaf-gb], and that on the right the T-shaped staff of office traditionally carried by bishops of the Egyptian Church.
11-12: Above left, detail from an illustration of Anthony and Paul, Monastery of Anthony, Egypt, showing the Egyptian T-shaped staff.
Above right, carving of St James, Portico of Glory, Santiago de Compostela, featuring the Egyptian staff.
13: Below left, cross shaft at Tighlagheany, Inishmore, Aran Islands. The rosette at the top is a characteristic Middle Eastern pattern.
14: Below right, Egyptian Church gravestone of the seventh of eighth century A.D. showing te rosette pattern.
P148: Priscillianist texts were used in Ireland, despite their heretical status in Rome’s eyes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tau :
Scientific uses : The lower-case letter τ is used as a symbol for: The Golden ratio 1.618... (although φ (phi) is more common) ;
Other uses : In ancient times, a symbol for life and/or resurrection, whereas the 8th letter of the Greek alphabet,
theta, was considered the symbol of death. -
Tau is usually considered as the symbol of Franciscan orders due to St. Francis' love for it, symbol of the redemption and of the Cross. Almost all Franciscan churches have painted a tau with two crossing arms, both with stigmata, the one of Jesus and the other of Francis; usually members of the Secular Franciscan Order wear a wooden τ in a string with three knots around the neck.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taw#Hebrew_Pronunciation ;
In Judaism :
Tav is the last letter of the Hebrew word
emet, which means
truth. The
midrash explains that
emet is made up of the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet (
Aleph,
Mem, and
Tav: אמת).
Sheqer (
falsehood), on the other hand, is made up of the 19th, 20th, and 21st (and penultimate) letters. - Thus,
truth is all-encompassing, while
falsehood is narrow and deceiving.
In Jewish mythology it was the word
emet that was carved into the head of the golem which ultimately gave it life. But when the letter
aleph was erased from the golem's forehead, what was left was
met - death. And so the golem died. -
Sayings with Taw -
From Aleph to Taw describes something from beginning to end; the Hebrew equivalent of the English From A to Z. [
Got it!?]
Follow the Tau – 2
See
miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html :
5a. How jewish Ja'akov became roman Jacobus and catholic James
Is this Ja'akov with his Tau-staffl? See big picture below or click on foto 47 on
http://www.manbos.com/en/verfoto.asp?id ... ql=2&cod=1