D

DANCE

elaborate a tension

OHG: danson = to draw along, as in a round dance; tinsen = to draw or drag forcibly, to trail along; to draw towards one; thenen = to stretch, stretch out, draw, trail; L: tendere = to stretch; from *TEN = to stretch;

HB: hiyl = twist, whirl, writhe, dance; tremble, be wounded, be in pain; machul, machiyl—from ma- + chiyl; cf. *HEL = distension, lengthening, release; development, labour, pain; *HIYL = to suffer, twist, stretch, produce ideas, resolve, open up;

HB: rakad = stamp, spring about, leap, skip; *RK = tenuousness, expansion, rarefication, stretching; cf. *RA = power of motion, ray linking and emerging from center to periphery + *KD = vertical pole, axis, summit, point on which everything turns and is carried, origin;

The word dance derives from *TEN meaning tension, stress or tone. Its ancient reference is to the twisting or coiling-up of a stretched thread. To dance is literally "to be tense", to elaborate a tension. The Greek equivalent of dance is choros, a ring dance or a band of dancers and singers. The ´QOR gives chorde, a twisted or twined string; and the ´QAR = to sing or resound.[1]  A spatial connection is established on the same root by chortos = a garden courtyard, chora = an empty expanse/room, choris = a separated space, and karar = to dance around. The ´QERD - associated with the central cavity of the heart (F: coeur) - is not unrelated to the twofold spatial and temporal symbolism of the states of Being which comprehend simultaneously a static `regional' and dynamic `cyclic' dimension.

The Hebrew equivalent of dance is machuwl which means variously a round/spiral dance; to destroy/stride/sever/separate; to bring forth/generate; and to enclose/designate/set-apart. Broadly speaking dance, both in meaning and execution, involves a cosmogonic sense which assimilates creation, destruction and the establishment of order. Both dance and architecture share a cosmological and cosmogonic function. The architect[2] and the dancer play a demiurgic role in the drama of their techne. Both weave cosmos upon the ashes of chaos bringing to informed light the Essence veiled in tenebrous Substance.[3] The word `architect’ is from GK: arche = primordial, first + techt, from *TEK =  beget, originate, generate, weave, hew, form, cut; thus giving techne = art, artifice, knowhow; cf. *TAN = stretch-out, expand; tantu = thread, and tandere; cf. SK: tamas, darkness. The striking correlations of this etymon verify a consistent ideology for the art of dance: it is above all concerned with and qualified by the proportional interrelationships and interactions of cosmic tendencies represented in the Hindu tradition by the guna: sattva (light/expansion), tamas (dark/contraction) and rajas (rotation); 

architect, chord, court, heart, technology, tendency, tension…

DANGER

power of ensnarement

OF: danger = absolute power, irresponsible authority, power to harm; from L: dominium = power; GK: enecho = to hold in or upon, to ensnare, begrudge, entangle with, quarrel against—from en- = in, on, by, at + echo, scheo = to hold, possess;

domain…

DARK

concealing, withdrawing light

ME: derk, dernen = hide, conceal; darn—in the sense of stopping up a hole; AS: deork, gedyrnan, dernan = hide, conceal, keep secret; OHG: tarchanjan = hide; tar-I = secret, dark; tarni = secret, dark (darn, tarnish); tarnan = to obscure, darken; cf. F: terniss = to wax pale, wan, discolor, lose luster; terne = dim; from *TER = pass through, turn, trigger; and cf. tarry = linger, loiter, delay - provoke, vex, annoy; L: tardare/tardus = slow, sluggish, late; English: tarre = incite, set-on; ME: tarien = irritate, provoke, worry, vex; targen = delay, tarry; AS: tergan = vex; L: tardare = delay; tardus = slow; F: tarder = to be late;

*TER = pass-through, reach; go through, rub, turn; SKT: taras = passage, ferry, penetrating (cf. avatar: an incarnation as penetrating here from elsewhere); GK: terma = goal, end; L: intrare = pass into; trans = go through; terere = bore, rub; tornare = turn; the idea of the term is associated with the action of turning, boring through, piercing; and through *TERQ = twist; SKT: tarku, GK: atraktos = spindle; L: torquere = twist; cf. torque, torsion, torture, tortoise (as having twisted feet);

ME: derk, dernen = to to hide, conceal; to darn – in the sense of stopping up a hole; AS: deork, gedyrnan, dernan = to hide, conceal, keep secret; OHG: tarchanjan = to hide; tar-I = secret, dark; tarni = secret, dark (darn, tarnish); tarnan = to obscure, darken; cf. F: terniss = to wax pale, wan, discolour, lose luster; terne = dim;

HB: hoshech, hashach = to be dark, withholding light, to darken; hidephel = gloom of a lowering sky; hashach = to restrain, refrain, refuse, preserve, hinder, hold back, withhold; cf. hishshuch = conjoined, bound together – like the nave of a wheel joins the spokes – the sense is of a withholding compaction which darkens; from *H = life, being, breath, spirit + *SHCH = restriction, return into the self, envelopment, rest; gathering, profound meditation, deep sleep, burial;

GK: skotos = shadiness, obscurity; from skia = shade, shadow; cf. skotia = dimness, obscurity; see sky, shade; *SKEI = to shine; SKT: chhsya = shade, image, reflected light, splendour; GK: skia = shade; AS: scinan = to shine; *SQEU = to cover, shelter; SKT: sku = to cover; GK: skutos, kutos, L: cutis = skin; scutuim = shield; obscurus =  covered over, dark; OHG: skiura = shed, stable; Ice: skjol = shelter, cover; sky = a cloud; AS: hyd = hide, skin; cf. *SQEU = to perceive, observe, beware of; SKT: kavi = wise, seer, prophet, poet; GK: koeo = I mark; thoskoos = inspector of an offering; L: cauere = beware, be cautious; AS: sceawian = look, behold; *SKHEI = cleave, part, shed; *SQEL = cleave, part, divide; AS: sell – shell; SKT: chhid = cut, divide; GK: schixein = split; L: scindere = cleave; AS: sceadan = shed, separate; *SKLAUD = to shut; L: claudere = shut; *SKLEU – in GK: kleis, L: clauis = key; L: clauus = nail; GK: calupto = cover, veil; cf. HB: *SHCH = restriction, return into the self, envelopment, rest; gathering, profound meditation, deep sleep, burial;

black, clause, close, cover, enclosure, escutcheon, darn, delay, gleam, gloaming, gloom, hide, include, obscure, scale, scowl, shade, schism, sheath, shed, shell, sheen, sheer, shield, shimmer, shine, show, skill, sky, tarnish, tarry, term, torque, torsion, torture, twilight…

DAY

the warm hours

ME: dai; AS: daeg; G: tag; Teutonic: dagos = hot season; dagas = harvest, summer; SKT: midagha = the hot season, daha = a burning, heat; *DHEGH = to burn;

HB: iom = hot, the warm hours; *IOM = the day, luminous universal  manifestation; *IM = manifestation (*I) + external action (*M) = universal manifestation, massing, increase, gathering and  piling up; the sea, as symbol of universal substance and manifestation;

GK: semeron = on this day, presently, now; from hemera, hemai = a period, age, day; to sit, be tame, gentle;

DECIDE

discriminating act

L: decretus, past participle of decernere = decree, separate—from de- = away from + cernere = sift, separate, decide; cf. GK: krinein = separate, decide, discriminate, critic;

L: decisus = cut off—from de- = from, off + caedere = cut (cf. sede = sedition); decidere = fall down (cf. deciduuo = deciduous); cadere = fall (cf. cadence);

cadence, cede, concede, deciduous, discern, discriminate, sedition…

DECK

augment by furnishing and adorning

AS: theccan = thatch, cover, clothe, adorn; D: dekken, G: decken = cover; D: dek = a cover, a ship’s deck;

HB: rabad = spread, deck; rabah = increase, bring to abundance, enlarge excel, nourish; rab = abundant, increase; rabab = cast together, multiply, increase, project; cf. ribba = myriad, ten thousand times ten thousand; *RB = multiplication, augmentation, increase; what is great, extended, accrued; 

GK: chruso = to gild, bespangle, deck; from chraomai = to furnish what is needed, use; chreia = employment, affair, business, demand, requirement; chre = it needs, must, ought to be; necessity, need; chrao = loan, lend;

adorn, cover, decorate, decorum, equipment, gear,  furniture, ornament…

DECORUM

befitting seemliness

L: decorum/decorus = seemliness (see SEAM), decency of conduct; decorare = to adorn; decus = ornament, grace; decere = to befit, to be fit (for); decet = it befits, seems (decent); GK: dokeo = I am valued at; dokei = it seems; E: doxa = creed, belief; from *DEK = honor, think fit; SKT: dac = honor, worship; GK: dokei = seems fit; doxa = opinion, belief; L: decet = fitting, docere = teach, discere = learn; cf.

*DEIK = indicate, show, point out; GK: deiknumi = I show, dike = justice; L: dicere = tell, indicare = point out (dedicate, diction;

*DEUK = lead, conduct; L: ducere = lead; AS: teon = pull, tug;

adorn, conduct, conduit, cover, decent, decorate, deck, dedicate, educate, equipment, gear,  furniture, index, indicate, ornament, seam, seem, teach, token…

DEEP

what comes forth, burdened by descent

ME: deep; AS: deop = extending far downwards; cf. E: dip, dive; AS: dippan; ME: dippen = dip, plunge, immerge; D: doopen; G: taufen = to baptize;

HB: metsulah = a deep place of water, mud—from tzuwlah = to sink, abyss of the sea, deep; to reach a limit, termination; cf. tzaah = what comes (from) out, issue, excrement; cf, motza = going forth, exit, egress, source, production, utterance, descent; matza = come forth, appear, be present, take hold; what is pressed; *MTZ = to (cause to produce) milk, press, pressure, express, expression; *MT = downward motion, emotion, vacillation; *TZ = finality, term, solution, end; *TZA = productivity, birth, what is pushed (out), carried (forth);

HB: humacq = make deep; humecq = depth; vale, broad depression, valley; *HUM = aggregation, accumulation; amongst, with, towards—from *HU = interiority, void, abyss; deep sounds, profound and without harmony; cavity of the chest + *MCQ = what melts, liquefies, becomes weak, tender; what faints;

HB: thehom, thohuw = abyss—as a surging, gathered mass of water; the deep; the sea or subterranean water supply; deep place; thohuw = to lie waste, desolation of surface, desert; formlessness, wilderness; *(TH)HEI(M) = the state of a being not yet existing, but with the potential to exist, developing its power in infinite space[4]; *HEIM—from *HEI = elementary existence, effort, work + M = interior activity, envelopment, and the heat that results from contractive motion; envelop, seize, exert a force on something, compress, render obscure, darken; a wall—as enveloping; what is curved, round; *HEM what is curved, round, hot, obscure, enveloped; natural heat, solar fire; blackness; generative ardor; cf. bohuw = emptiness, vacuity, undistinguishable ruin, void; *BH = the sound of something opening, the sound of a yawning chasm; abyss, unfathomable depth—cf. Genesis 1: 2 – “the earth was without form and void (tohuw-wa-bohuw), and darkness was upon the face of the deep”[5];

GK: bathus = profound, going down (to the bottom; cf. E: bathysphere, bathos)—from basis = base, baino = walk, a pace, the foot; cf. basileus = foundation of power; baros = weight, load, abundance, authority, burden;

abyss, base, basilica, deep, dive, pace, passage, pause, void…

DEFER

bear apart

F: défaire = undo; from L: de = down, away + ferrere, to bring-down (before) another; to bear-down/apart, carry or take-down; differre = differentiate, carry apart, scatter, disperse; from dis- = apart, away from and ferre, GK: pherein = bear, carry, ferry; OE: ferian = carry, convey, ferry—from*BHER = carry, and cf. *PER = lead, pass over/through (a limit); hence, to defer is to present as unbound, unstrung—as given unconditionally to another: deferral is the proper mode of that inclining on which community is strung; to delay is to provoke decision, incite to action, call-forth (L: pro- forth, before + vocare, SKT: vak = voice, sound), excite to action; cf. L: desistere = desist, put away, leave off—from de- = away + sistere = put, place,  stand away, and resistere = resist, stand back, set, stand fast—from re- = back + sistere = stand;

HB: achar = to loiter, be behind, procrastinate; continue, delay, hinder, stay there, tarry longer; the hind part, behind, remnant, residue, what remains; next, other, following, after; late, last, latter; achariyth = the last or end; future; cf. ach = kindred, brother; ached = to collect, unify, gather; *ACHR = what is other, following, posterior, comes after, stays behind—from *ACH potentiality of nature, equilibrium, equality, identity, fraternity; brother, parent, neighbor, hearth around which a community gathers; *ACHO = junction, union, agglomeration;

HB: arak = to be long, defer, draw out, lengthen, tarry, be slow; *AR = nature, power, motion, linear and direct movement, flow; *ARK = prolongation, extension, release;

GK: anaballomai = put off, throw back – from ana- = up, off, back + ballo = throw;

bairn, barrow, bear, bier, birth, burden, circumference, confer, delay, desist, differ, different, differentiate, indifferent, ferry, fertile, furtive, metaphor, offer, periphery, prefer, proffer, proliferate, refer, resist, suffer, tarry, transfer... 

DEFINE

settle a limit

L: definire = to limit, settle—from de- = down + finire, finis = to set a boundary, end, finish; cf. E: finial—from L: finiabilis = terminal, and finiles lapides = terminal or boundary stones delimiting the boundaries of a terrain; and E: fine—from L: finus = pure, well rounded (in the sense of complete, efficacious;

boundary, end, finial, finish, limit, term, terrain…

DEGREE

step, grade, rank

ME: degree, degrez = rank, state, position, extent; OF: degret = step, rank—from L: de- = down + gradus = step, grade, rank, pace, gait; figuratively, a step towards a goal, rising by stages—from *GHREHD = walk, go;  

HB: maalah = elevation, arising, upward progression, step or grade; *ML = continuity, plenitude, motion going from beginning to end; what is fully formed—from *MA = exterior action + *AL elevation, extension;

GK: tagma = orderly arrangement, series, succession; from tasso = arrange in an orderly manner, assign, dispose, allot, ordain, set; cf. taktos = arranged, appointed, stated; tekton = artificer, weaver, producer (of fabrics), carpenter; L: syntaxis = ordered arrangement, grammatical construct; syntassein = put into order—from syn- = together + tassein = arrange; 

architect, egress, egress, grade, graduate, ingredient, ingress, progress, regress, step, syntax, tactics, taxonomy, technology, transgress…

DENSITY

impororous compactness

L: densus, thick, crowded, cloudy, turbid; GK: dasys, compact, thick with leaves; from *TEN = stretch, render thin; SKT: tanu = thin; tantram = loom (of stretched strings); GK: teinein = stretch; tasis = a stretching, tension; tenos = sinew; tetanos = stiff, rigid; tonos = string, hence sound, pitch; L: tenere = hold, grasp, keep, have possession, maintain; tendere = stretch; tenuis = thin, rare, fine;

A common quality of enduring architecture, a quality that renders buildings and designed environments worthy of valuing is a certain density of register, of connotative potential (we might say of `meaning').

Such density constitutes what might be called atmosphere or circumambience. It is built by overlay and juxtaposition so that several possibilities of sense coexist as compossibles, simultaneously or side by side, each equally valid, each equally valuable, and which together produce concatenation and intensification.

This kind of heightening renders a work resilient and adaptable, since its integrity does not depend on one or another singularity, but on the natural capacity of a network to adjust itself to circumstance. Sense proliferates; as do functions, agencies and capacities to produce differently.

The work is indefinitely flexible, adjustable and recombinable—its shape shifting propensity antithetical to the necessity for archetypes and hierarchies. Such characteristics of enduring valuableness apply across multiple degrees—from function to aesthetics, metaphor, allegory or symbol.

The more registers and degrees are engaged with by a work, the more multiple the conjugations it fields and operates, the more resilient it will be to the vagaries of what constitute value at any given time. Hence it will endure because it will be cared for, and it will be cared for in recognition—not of its usefulness, although that goes without saying, but—of its compelling longevity.

detain, intend, maintain, tension, thin…

DESERT

unbinding desolation

OF: desert, L: desertus = wilderness, waste; deserere = to desert, abandon—from de- = down, away + serere = bind, join;

HB: yashamown = lie waste, be desolate; yashen = to be slack, languid, to sleep, grow old, die; yasha = to be open, wide, free, saved; yesha = deliverance, salvation, prosperity; yashar = to be straight, even, prosperous; yasam = to place, be placed, set, be put; *ISH = substance, reality; substantial manifestation; substantial and effective being; state of being, of appearing to be; *SHM = circumferential extent, sphere of a being, space occupied by a being; there, in there; the name of a being, the sign rendering a being knowable as such – a place, time; *MN = figuration, determination, definition, qualification; species, external face of things, image, proper measure of a being; *MOWN = to figure, define, form an idea or image of things, imagine, measure, number, qualify; the aspect of a thing/being, its form, face, figure;

HB: tziyah = parched, aridity, barrenness, drought, desert, wilderness, solitary place; tziyuwn = conspicuousness, sign, way mark; *TZEH = what is dry, arid, exposed to the sun’s rays; *TZ = scission, solution, term, goal, end; *TZIY = clarity, luminous effusion; place exposed to the sun’s rays and rendered dry and lustrous; cf. tziyr = beauty, image; tziyr = hinge—from tsuwr = cramp, confine, besiege, bind up; tzur = cliff, edge, refuge, precipice;

HB: hurabah = sterility, desert, wilderness—from hurab = to braid, intermix, commingle; become covered, darken towards evening; *HU = interiority, void, cavity of the chest + *RB = multiplication, augmentation, increase, propagation;

GK: eremia = solitude, desert, wilderness; eremos = lonesome, waste; cf. ereo = utter, speak, say; cf. rheo, ereo = flow, pour forth, speak, say, command; rhema = utterance, topic; GK: hermeneia = translation, interpretation; hermeneuo = the god of language; interpreter, translator; hermeneutikos = skilled in interpreting (E: hermeneutic); Hermes (Roman: Mercury)= messenger of the gods, male principle, god of the circumference countering Hestia, goddess of the hearth (Roman: Vestia); cf. E: hermit; ME: eremite; L: heremita; GK: eremites = desert dweller; L: hermeticus = relating to alchemy (E: hermetic).

The Greek goddess Hestia delimits the centre and navel of the domestic space.[6]  The omphalos and circular hearth of the Mycenean megaron was enclosed by a quadrangular configuration of 4 columns rising to an opening in the roof. In the oikos, the circle of Hestia was conjoined to the square of Hermes (Hermes tetragonos). The tension between these two deities is that between concentration, fixation, permanence; and expansion, impermanence, mutability - between the `female' centripetal and enveloping attraction of an enclosing space, and the `male' centrifugal and developing distraction of an external world - or again between the sedentary and nomadic modes of existence. Together, these tendencies regulate a spatial and temporal rhythm of fixation and mobilisation. In the oikos, Hestia, goddess of the hearth, is seated in the omphalos; while Hermes, the messenger (aggelos) and god of the threshold, is stationed at the door. Hestia is the principle of spatial, temporal, and domestic identity; Hermes the principle of spatial, temporal and domestic difference. Hermes is the "wall piercer" evoked as "gliding edgeways through the keyhole". In macrocosmic terms, Hermes stands at the town gates, on state boundaries and crossroads, and at tombs - gateways to the underworld; while Hestia is enshrined in the civic agora and in the hieratic acropolis.[7] 

The conjunction between Hestia and Hermes establishes and opens a vertical communication across discrete ontological levels. From the hearth rises the incorporeal sky-column of smoke originating in the central fire. The pillar conforms and confirms the cosmos. The altar (histia) of the hearth (hestin) - surrounded by 4 timber columns (histoi) - is identified with the mast of a ship; with the upright loom operated by a `woman who weaves' (histia); with the goddess Anagke, the spinner who holds the vertical luminous cosmic Spindle of Necessity (anagke).[8] 

abandon, anchorite, bind, desolation, hearth, hermeneutics, Hermes, hermit, Hestia, join, peregrination, pilgrim, rhythm, waste, wilderness…

DESIGN

fully mark out

L: designare: from de- = down, out, fully + signare = mark, sign, assign, denote; plan, prescribe; assign a role and position; place, situate; inscribe, prescribe, mark; render significant, and meaningful—from *SEQ/SEG = cut, cleave, plough (sythe); cf. F: dessin = drawing and dessein = design; cf. (very broadly) G: dasein - from da- = the, that (as situated, as placed: hence = ‘the-there,’ or ‘that-one-there’ - from *DHE = set, place, put, establish, install) + sein = being: hence, ‘being-the-there’;

assign, designate, section, segment, sign, signature…

DETAIL

cut away

OF: detailler = to piecemeal, to cut into parts, parcels; L: de- = fully, out, away + OF: tailler = cut, tailor; L: taleare = cut; intertaleare = slash;

tailor…

DEVELOP

unfold

L: dis- = apart + veloper = enwrap, wrap up; cf. lap = wrap, involve, fold—from ME: lappen, wlappen = wrap up, enwrap, enfold; L: inuoluit, uoluere = roll; GK: eiluein = enfold; AS: wella = well, spring—from *WEL = wind, turn, roll; SK: nal = turn here and there; valana = turning, agitation; GK: helix = spiral; elissein = turn about; *WEI = bind, plait, weave; SK: vaya = weave; L: uitis = vine; uiere = bind;

fold, helix, spiral, weave, wind…

DIAGONAL

across the joints

GK: dia- = through, across + gonu = knee, joint, parent—from ginomai = beget, cause to be, become; see *GEN(KEN) = to generate, produce; S: jan = beget, begin; GK: genos = race; gineomai = I am born; L: genus = race, kin GK: genos; GK: gigeoskein, geotos; S: jna; L: gnoscere = to know; GK: gonu; L: genu = articulation, joint, knee, corner; goneus = parent, seed; ginomai = to cause to be, to become, arise, be assembled; to be fulfilled; genius = innate inborn nature or power of productivity; gnomon = vertical shaft casting a shadow to tell the time of day—from *GNO = know;

gender, generate, generic, genus, gnomon, knee, knot, kind, knowledge…

DIAGRAM

scribe-out lineaments

L: diagramma = scale, gamut; GK: diagramma = figure, plan, list—literally, `what is marked out by lines’; diagraphein = to mark out by lines, draw out, describe—from dia- = through, across + graphein = write; gramma = letter, note, writing—from grapho = (en)grave, write, describe, inscribe; graphe = document, scripture (as engraved);

engrave, grammar, graphic, grave, scale…

DIAMETER

measure across

L/GK: diametros = diagonal, diameter—from dia- = across + metrein = measure; *MA = measure; L: mate, GK: meter = mother;  

matrix, material, matter, measure…

DIFFERENCE

thoroughly bear apart

OF: differer = defer; L: differre = to carry apart, differ, defer; L: dif-/dis- = apart + ferre = to bear, carry, ferry;

HB: phalah = to distinguish, put a difference, separate, set apart, sever; phalach = to slice, break open, pierce, cleave; cf. pallet = escape, deliverance; phalet = refugee; pheletah = refugee—as an escaped portion, a remnant; all from phala = to separate, distinguish; phaliy = remarkable, wonderful—as standing out separately and distinguished; *PHL = distinction, privilege, separateness; something admirable, precious;

HB: badal = to divide, separate, select, distinguish; bad = separation, part of the body, branch of a tree; thread or yarn—as divided fibres; cf. bada = to devise, invent, design, feign, lie; *BD = separation, isolation, solitude, individuality, particular existence; opening, to open the mouth—from *B = interior activity + *AD = lone distinct object;

GK: diakrino = separate thoroughly, withdraw from, oppose, discriminate; judge, estimate—from dia- = throughout, thoroughly + krino = separate; cf. GK: diastole, diastellomai = to set oneself apart, to stand apart—from dia- = thoroughly, throughout + stello = set fast, avoid, withdraw oneself—from *STHA = to stand; and diastema, diistemi = space, interval—as a standing (stao) apart (dia-), being removed, separated;

decide, defer, dimension, distance, stand…

DIMENSION

measure apart

L: dimensio = a measuring—from dis- = out, apart + metiri = measure; cf. *MEN = think; L: mens = mind;  mensura = measure;

diameter, matrix, matter, measure, mind, mnemonic, monument, remember…

DIRECTION

straighten-out

L: directus = straight; dirigere = to straighten, direct, steer—from dis- = out, apart + regere = rule, control, regulate, make regular: that is, according to rule; from *REG = move in a straight line, lead, rule;

HB: yara = to flow as water, rain; to lay or throw; shoot; point out, teach, instruct;

HB: harak = to set in a row, to arrange, put in order; herek = equipment;

HB: yashar = to be straight, even, upright, pleasing; yash = to stand out, exist, be—cf. yasham = lie (spread-out) waste, desolation;

HB: kasher = to be straight, right;

HB: kuwn = to be erect, stand up, stable, stand; *CHN(*KN) = solidity, consistency, fixity; to affirm, confirm, conform, render apt for, produce, designate by name; *CHR(*KHR) = what is apparent, eminent, distinctive, remarkable; character, mark, script, engraving, writing, which conserves the memory of things; 

GK: kateuthuno = straighten fully, direct, guide—from kata- = down, fully + euthuno = straighten, steer, govern, make straight; euthus = straight, level, true; euthutes = rectitude; cf. eus = good, well done;

correct, desert, erect, rectangle, regal, regular, right, rite, rule…

DISCREPANT

severed apart

L: discrepantia = discordance; discrepare = sound differently, differ; from dis- = apart, off + the etymon *SKER, cut, sever;

carnage, curt, excoriate, scabbard, scar, scarp, score, scrape, shard, share, shear, shore, skirt…

DISPOSITION

how the disparate stand together

L: dispositio = a setting in order; disponere = set in various places; dis- = apart + ponere = place; cf. F: disponible = available (ie. available for); arrangement, natural tendency;  dispose = distribute, arrange, adapt; ME: disposen = ordain; cf. position, L: positio = a putting, placing; ponere = place, put—originally pos-sinere, where sinere (past participle situs) = let, allow (cf. *SED/SET, site, sit, etc.) + pos-, from GK: proti = towards; a letting-be towards, afford, cf. propensity, positive (as settled, certain, in place); pose = position, attitude, posture (cf. pause, as rest, settlement); L: pausa/pausare = pause/cease, cause to rest, place, put; F: pondre (to lay eggs), L: ponere (place, set) and E: ponder are correlative;  the L is adapted from GK: pausis = pause, a ceasing, stop, end; pauo = I make to cease;

F: disponible = non-activity as a readiness to act, to be available-for; something freely available, to have at one’s disposal; the state of being able to dispose freely something or some power; F: dispos, L: dispositus = an agility and flexibility for whatever is called-for; a tendency towards or for something; an aptitude or intention; a state of being (eg. being indisposed);

HB: siym = put, appoint, commit, bring, convey, determine, mark, name, purpose, command, give; from *SHM = the space occupied by a being, there, in there; the situational aspect of a being, its position and extent in existence; the name of a being, its sign, that which renders it knowable, that which constitutes it as such (eg. its place or situation, its time or occasion);

GK: boulomai = be willing, be disposed, intend; boulema = resolve, will; boule = volition, purpose, will; a passive acquiescence, when compared with theleo/etheleo = chose, prefer, incline, be disposed (forward), intend, list, prefer; diatage = arrangement, institution, instrumentality—from diatasso = arrange thoroughly, institute, prescribe; dia- + taxis = arrangement—from *TEK = to weave, intertwine, assemble, make what is apart stand together;

Disposition/composition do not refer to a static arrangement, but to a configuration open to certain possibilities and able to set in train a certain distribution: an order of distribution of parts; a manner of deployment, employment, or usage. Classically, composition is an aspect of rhetoric, by which one disposes in the best order what has been found by invention; the plan of a work (intention, dessein/design); in astrology, the state and aspects of the stars; and in human temperament, state of the emotions or soul[9];

arrange, pose, position, place, ponder, posture, set, site, site, situation, techne, technology…

DISTANCE

standing apart

L: distare = to stand apart, be remote, far; from dis- = apart, asunder, away from + *STA = stand, stable, static, stiffness, firmness; cf. *DWIS = twice, two, dual; GK: dis = twice, two; OE: standen = occupy a place, stand firm, stay, continue, abide;

HB: shalab = to space off, make equidistant, set in order; a spacer, raised interval; the stile in a frame or panel; ledge; shelf; from *SHL = line traced between and tying together an object and another; relations—from, to; what follows its own laws, what remains on the straight path +*LB = vitality, passion, vigor, courage, audacity; the heart; what keeps to the center of things; quality resulting from the deployment of the vital principle—from *L = expansion + *AB = interior activity; 

dual, stand, stable, static, two…  

DISTRESS

strain apart

L: districtiare = afflict—from districtus = severe; distringere = pull asunder, punish—from dis- = apart + stringere = touch, hurt, compress, strain, wring, vex; cf. distrahere = draw apart, pull different ways; cf. E: distrain = restrain, seize goods—related to district - `a territory or circuit, wherein one has the power to distrain; as a manor is the lord’s district,’  `within which a lord… may judge… the inhabitants’[10];

HB: tzarah, tzar = narrow, tight, crowded: therefore, adversity, affliction, tribulation, distress; tzeror = something packaged, packed up, parcel; tzarar = to cramp, oppress, be in a straight; tzuwr = cramp, confine; tzur = cliff, escarpment, boulder, rock—as compressed; refuge, edge; tzuwra = rock, form—as pressed out; *TZR = formation, compaction, liaison and aggregation of constituent parts; creation, figuration, figure, image, model; compression caused by an externalizing motion which pushes and tightens its elementary parts one onto the other; what constrains, obliges, forces, oppresses; violent adversary, enemy, rival; *TZOU = order, command, direction, imprint; law ordinance; *TZOUR = conformation, conformity; 

GK: anagke = constraint, necessity, what is needful, distress—from ana- = up, severally, out + agkale, agkos = a bend, ache, curved/crooked arm; cf. Anagke = Goddess of Necessity;

GK: sunoche = restraint, anxiety, anguish, distress—from sunecho = to hold together, compress, constrain, hold; from sun- = together, with + echo, scheo = to hold, possess, have, keep; cf. stenochoreo, stenochoria = to hem in closely, cramp, distress; narrowness of room—from stenos = narrow + choreo = space, room; 

district, trace…

DIVERSE

turned apart

OF: divers = differing, unlike, sundry, repugnant; L: diuertere = turn asunder, separate, divert; diuersificare, diuersus = turn asunder, part, divert; di-/dis- = apart + uertere = turn (diversion) + facere = make; uersus = a turning, line, row (verse); uerti = to turn to;  F: divers - di- = apart, out of + verser = pour, turn; *WERT = to turn, to become, to come to pass (worth); *WERG = to bend, turn, force; L: uersio/uertere = to turn, change; translation, statement; cf. L: uarietatem, uarius = variegated, diverse, manifold, difference, change; uariegare = to make of various colours; uarius = of diverse colours + igare/agere (cf. facere = to make) = agency: ie. to drive, cause, make;

HB: shanah = fold, duplicate, do again, double, be given to change, repeat; shanah = the year as a repetition or repletion of a cycle of time; sheniy = double, second, again; shettayim = two, twofold, couple, double, second; shana = alter, change, be diverse; *SHN = mutation, iteration, passage from one state to another; diversity, variation, change; *SHAN = the number two, that which divides (like teeth); that which measures; ontological mutation, cyclic revolution; 

GK: poikilos = motley, various, manifold, diverse; cf. kio/kineo/kinesis = move, stir, go; poieo, poiesis = make, do, perform, produce, fabricate; polutropos = in many ways; polus/pollos = many, much + tropos/trope = turn, revolution, variation, mode, style, way of doing; cf. pollakia = many times, frequently; polemeos, pelomai = bustle, warfare; polus, pollos = much, many; cf. polis = city; 

HB: chilayim = separation from two heterogeneities, seeds; cf. chele = prison—as separated, prohibited from extending, closed-in; chol = all, any, every; the whole; chala = to restrict, prohibit, hold back; chalah = to end, cease, finish, accomplish, bring to pass, make perfect, wholly reap, spend, waste; completion, destruction, utterly consume; cf. cheliy = something prepared, an apparatus, implement, tool, utensil, gear, furniture; chaliyl = complete, fully, whole burnt offering, sacrifice; chalal = to complete, make perfect; *CHL = accumulation, apprehension, grasping, assimilation, achievement, perfection; what is integral, whole, absolute, perfect, total, universal; what consumes a thing – completes, finishes, perfects, accomplishes it; *CHOUL = what grasps, holds, agglomerated; all from *CH = the hand as hollow, as container, mold; assimilation, similitude, analogy—see *KHA = gape, space + *L = what expands, arises, deploys; unification, reunion, coincidence, possession;

HB: shana = to alter, change, turn; shanah = to fold, duplicate, transmute, repeat, reiterate; shanah = a year—as the revolution or repetition of a cycle; *SHN = mutation, iteration, passage from one state to another; what carries something into variation, change, diversity; shan = the number two, what cuts and divides, the teeth; what measures and allocates; a cyclic revolution, ontological mutation;

HB: phasas = to disperse, disappear cease; phas = palm of the hand—as spread out; *PHS = a portion of the circumference, part of a totality;

HB: rakam = to variegate, embroider, fabricate; rak = flattened out, thin, lean; rakab = decay; rakiya = expanse, firmament, visible arch of the sky; raka = to pound the earth, expand, overlay, beat, stretch; *RK = tenuousness, rarity, expansion; all from *R = vibration + *KA = convulsive and violent effort, vomiting;

defer, difference, divert, divide, variegated, variety, verse, version, whirl…

DIVIDE

void asunder

L: diuidere = part asunder—from di-/dis- = apart; uidere = to part (cf. E: widow); cf. vide = void, empty; to insert an interval between; to make dual; cf. E: devil, from GK: diaballein: dia- = across/two + ballein = throw (ball, pell); hence, ‘to make double’;

HB: badal = divide, separate, distinguish, make to differ, sever out, differentiate; a part, piece; bedek = gap, leak, breach; bedar = scatter; badad = separate, alone, divided; *BD = separation, isolation, solitude, individuality, particular existence; opening (the mouth), speak, lie; what is between two; *BL = dilation which increases bulk, causes to boil up; distension, abundance; cf. *DL = extraction, removal, attenuation: therefore exhaustion, division, disjunction—from *D = natural abundance, borne of divisibility (symbolically corresponding to the number 4) + *AL = elevation, power, extension, eccentric force;

HB: halak = allotment, portion, separated part;

HB: baka = cleave, rend, break up, open; bikah = split, valley between mountains; bikah =  pour out, empty, depopulate, spread out, render void; boker = dawn, break of day; *BK = evacuate, dissipate, rarify;

HB: hatzah = to cut, split in two, halve, divide, reach to the midst; hetz = piercer, arrow, wound, thunderbolt; hatziyr, hatzer = court, yard, hamlet, village—as set apart, surrounded, or separated by walls; *HETZ = division, scission, sharing; what acts externally, the outside; what divided by irruption, passing from inside to outside; see *KHA/*GA = gape, space;

HB: naphal = to fall, fail, be divided, perish – see naphatz = to dash to pieces, scatter, issue forth; *NPH = dispersion, movement acting from inside to outside; *AL = elevation, power, extension, eccentric force; *ATZ = border, limit, term, end; what is firm and restrained; compression, restrictive force; doubling, reiteration; the foundation of things center; asylum, refuge; *NTZ = what attains its term, goal, end; end of germination, flowering, splendor; to reach the highest point, fly; 

HB: phalag = split, divide; phala = separate, distinguish, make singular, make remarkable, make wonderful, accomplish; phele = miracle; phalah = distinguish, put a difference, set apart, make wonderfully; slice, break open, pierce; phalet = refugee, fugitive—as separated; pheletah = deliverance, escaped portion; phalai = judge, discriminate; phelec = balance, scales, weight—as discerning difference; *PHL = distinction, privilege, choice, election; what is put aside; what is divided into distinct parts; *PH = the mouth, speech; *PHA = the most apparent aspect of a being, face; *PHEH = the voice, eloquence, oration; opening; *PHEH = what expands, breath; *PHI = orifice, beak; preeminent part, angle, speech, message; *PHUH = scream of an animal, clamor, diffusion;

HB: pharac = break in pieces, split, distribute; phara = loosen, expose, dismiss; pharatz = break out, disperse, grow, increase; pharaq = break off, discontinue, deliver, violate, frustrate; pharas = break apart, disperse, wound, scatter; declare, show; pherath = break forth, rush (Pherath = Euphrates river); phar = a bullock—as breaking forth in wild strength; phara = bear fruit, increase; *PHR = fructification, production, elementary generation; what is fertile, fecund, productive; *PHRSH = disperse, divulge, manifest, expose;

GK: merizo = to part, apportion, share, differ, disunite—from meros, meiromai = to receive a section, allotment; division, share; meris = portion, province, part, participation; cf. diamerizo = to partition thoroughly, to fully divide; cf. *MA = matter, measure + *RA = to flow; cf. riza = root; ereo = to utter, speak; rheko = break, wreck, crack; rhema = utterance, matter, topic, subject matter; rhetos = outspoken, disctinctive; rhusis = issue, flux (of blood);

defer, difference, diverse, divert, garden, part, yard,

DOMAIN

given place

L: dominicum, dominicus, dominium = lordship, private property; L: dominus = lord; dominatus = to be lord; dominium = power; L: domare, GK: domanein = to tame; *DEM (*TIM) = to build; house, household; GK: demein = to build; domos = house; *DHE = to put, place, set, perform, do; SKT: dha = to place, put; GK: tithemi = I place, set; thema = a thing proposed; thesis = a placing; themis = law; AS: dom = a judgement; deman = to judge; domes daeg = day of judgement; cf. domino = dungeon tower; *DEU = to work, prepare; *DO = to give; SKT: da = to give; GK: didomi = I give; dosis = a gift, dose; L: donum = a gift;

HB: radah = tread down, subjugate, prevail against, rule over; radad = tread in pieces, conquer, overlay; *RD = indefinite motion like that of a wheel; what extends, deploys, occupies space—from *R = motion + *D = elementary abundance; see *RT = directed flow, arrested development;

HB: mashal = to rule, have dominion over, reign; to liken, resemble; moshel = a parallel, likeness; to use figurative language, allegory; mimshal = ruler, dominion; cf. mishkan = residence, tabernacle – see under TENT; *MSH = what is moved by a contractive tendency, retreat, compaction, in-massing; harvest, gathering – from *M = external activity + SH = relative motion; see *SHL = line traced between and tying together an object and another, under DISTANCE; and *CHL = accumulation, under DIVERSE

GK: kurieuo = to rule, be lord over – from kurios = supreme in authority, controller, Sir; kuria = Lady;

GK: kratos = vigor, great, might; krateo = to seize, retain, hold fast, retain;

do, dome, domicile, dominion, doom, dose, place, rhythm, theme, timber, thesis…

DOME

housetop

L, F, I: dome = town house, open steeple roof, housetop, cupola; MF: dome = town house, guild hall; L: domum, domus = house, building;

do, domicile, dominion, doom, dose, place, rhythm, theme, timber, thesis…

DOMICILE

dwelling house

L: domicilium = habitation—from domus = house + cilium, cella = cell; equally from cilium = to dwell, delay, hinder, tarry, abide, stay;

cell, cellar, do, domicile, dominion, doom, dose, dwell, place, rhythm, theme, timber, thesis…

DOOR

threshold of death

SK: dvara, dvandra = delusion of the pairs; dvarapala = guardian of the gate; thuran = door; *THU = death; cf. F: tuer = kill; GK: thusiasterion = altar; J: torana, torii = gate; GK: eleutherosei = freedom; aletheian = truth; cf. Theo = God; ishTAR = 8th gate of Babylon;

F: porte, I: porta, S: puerta = door; E: port = harbour; cf. opportunity—from *PER- = through; cf. the god Janus, the janitor who holds the power of keys; January as the `gate of the year’; Januae Coeli, the gate of heaven (corresponding to the winter solstice in Capricorn); and Januae Inferni, the gate of hell (corresponding to the summer solstice in Cancer);

HB: phetach = opening, door, gate, entrance; phatach = to open wide, loosed, plough, carve, appear, break forth, draw out, let go free; photah = to open, a hole, hinge, secret part, vulva; phetha = to open the eyes, wink; moment, instant, suddenly; phathar = to open up—in the sense of interpreting, explaining, illuminating; phathah = make room, increase; phatsa = wound in the murature of a fabric; *PHT = opening, dilation; to open the mouth, yawn; *PHTH = dilation, extension, penetration, divisibility, space; *PHTZ = diffusion, unleashing, exit, liberation; *PHCQ = what alternates, opens and closes, comes and goes; to pass from one place to another, to be carried here and there; *THCH = submission, dependance, inferiority: under, below;

GK: thura = door, portal, gate; thuris = aperture, window; cf. thera = trap, destruction; see *TER/THER = limit, turning;  

The door unites at a single location and event the 3 dimensions of space and the 3 phases of time.  It stands at the centre of a 3 dimensional cross traced by the axis of entry, the plane of the wall and the vertical axis. It also locates an instantaneous threshold poised between the memory of what is past, and the anticipation of what is future. The door consumes the dimensions and phases of space and time. The keystone or lintel is the seed of the door. It is identified with the gate of Eden, the Lesser Mysteries and the Earthly Jerusalem. It precedes the Greater Door embodied—above the altar or terrestrial omphalos—in the eye of the dome: threshold of the Greater Mysteries leading to Heaven.[11]

To pass through the door is to travel under the lintel and is a sublime experience. The word sublime is from sub = under, and limen = lintel. As in the case of the Latin sublimare, it carries the allied sense of purification—of the sublimation of individuality. The sublime is by definition that which belongs to the Supernal place; that which is attained beyond the lintel; that which is on the inner side of the door. In Arch Masonry this symbolism assumes paramount importance as evidenced by the central tympanae of innumerable Christian churches which configure Christ as the gate of redemption within the motif of the vesica pisces. Christ is the "head of the corner", the keystone of the arch, the lintel of the sublime passage, the very essence of what makes the opening possible in both a spiritual and structural or architectonic sense: "the very stone which the builders (oikodemon) rejected has become the head of the corner (kephalen gonias)".[12] 

In the Biblical account, the Eternal appears to Abraham whilst the latter sits "by the oaks of Mamre... at the door (pethach) of his tent in the heat of the day".[13]  It is there too that the Word comes from the Lord to Jeremiah, and from which it is in turn proclaimed to the people.[14]  Likewise, it is from above the mercy seat and between the 2 cherubim of the ark of the testimony that God speaks to Moses.[15]  As high priest, Christ is empowered to "enter the inner shrine behind the curtain, as a forerunner on our behalf"[16]; "entering into the inner side of the veil" (esoteron tou kata petasmatos) because He has "passed through the heavens".[17]  Christ is "a minister of the holy things (hagion leitourgos) and of the true sanctuary (ie. the tabernacle or tent: skenetes alethines)[18] pitched by the Lord and not men".[19]  Christ brings a new covenant vis a vis the tabernacle which paradigmatically was organised into 3 spaces separated by two curtains or veils. The first defined the purely worldly from the worldly holy place (hagion cosmikon), and the second this latter from the Holy of Holies (hagia hagion). This last was entered only once a year, and every year, by the high priest (archierous) who enacted specific blood rituals. Christ—the eternal High Priest after the order (taxin) of Melchizedek[20], is Lord of the "greater and more perfect tabernacle (teleioteras skenes) not made with hands"[21], in contrast to worldly tabernacles modelled on "types of the true things" (antitupa ton alethinon).[22]  At the moment of Christ's death the curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom (kata petasma tou naos eschisthe eis duo).[23] This "veil which is before the testimony"[24], and which "separates... the holy place from the most holy"[25], is henceforth replaced by Christ, since "One greater than the temple is here".[26]

"I am the door (thura) of the sheep"[27]; "if anyone enters by me he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."[28]  "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction... For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life".[29]  Likewise "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God".[30]  The Christian door is a prelude to the altar as Christ is a prelude to God, and the Church—both as community and as building—is a prelude to the Kingdom.

But passage through the door is at a price; and the door posts are smeared with the blood of the lamb. To enter is to be en-tranced, but also to suffer self-sacrifice. The gate of freedom is also the gape of judgement. The etymon of `door' is allied to duality, division, and death; but also to cosmogenesis: to a spiritual recreation and rememberment.[31] 

The altar (thusiasterion) is a threshold of death and rebirth. As the point of connection between the Heavenly Ray and the earthly plane, it represents an access to the Other—a rupture in the continuity of space equivalent to the instant as a rupture in the continuity of time. 

The city door or gate is a mouth (mukha)[32]; and it is elsewhere the `mouth of the manifest' (mukhya) which establishes the basic measures for proportioning architectural dimensions.[33]  The correspondence of the door, the mouth, and the basis of proportional measure establishes a symbolic alliance between the void, sound and number through the conforming motif of the vesica pisces: the `gate' of geometric and therefore spatial configuration.  Traditionally, the capital city of a kingdom is the gate of Heaven: the threshold of cosmic order and rhythm. It configures the cosmic mountain. It resolves and summarises the indefinite horizontal expanse of the domain it engenders and assimilates. It connects that domain with the indefinite states lying in discontinuity above and below it - domains which are threaded together in continuity by the cosmic axis.  It concentrates "the essence of the diverse provinces and realms which constitute the imperial microcosm... [and is] the tangible expression of a concentration of power".[34] 

By extension—and in so far as it gathers the kingdom together—the sacred temple is a spatialisation of the door; and the door a crystallisation of the cosmos. The door is a complementary and `negative' image of the `positive' temple as mountain. Horizontal passage through the door corresponds to a vertical infiltration through the trunk of the cosmic tree, or to a journey upstream along the Celestial River—these being identified with both the manifestation and reintegration of cosmic order.[35]

The identity of temple and door, mountain and cave, tree of life and cosmic passage, are incorporated in such motifs as the sacred tree shrines of ancient Egypt, Hinduism and Buddhism (bodhi-ghara); in the Hindu city or temple gate (gopura); in the ancient Greek temenos set within forest clearings; in the tents (skene) and tholoi crystallising the foliate shade (skia); and in the iconography of numerous lintels configuring the cosmic pillar, the canopy of Heaven, and the release from bondage to the alternation of cosmic antinomies.

The door cleaves boundaries between states and domains of existence. This it does by establishing continuity in the midst of discrete, separate and incommensurable existence. At the same time, the door is an interruption of continuity: a threshold of discontinuity for a domain at the boundary of which it is situated. To cross it is to pass through a cleft in the murity and into the cavern of the cosmic mountain. Such a passage represents an instantaneous disappearance from one domain and an instantaneous appearance at another.

The gates of the Great Stupa (candi) at Borobudur (Central Java: 778-825 AD) are an explicit instance of this. They are monumental cleavages corresponding to traditional motifs such as the Symplegades or clashing rocks through which the mythic hero passes.[36]  The rebates of the candi at Borobodur are bare and unadorned in contrast to the iconographic profusion of other surfaces surrounding the rectilinear terraces. Like the surfaces of the upper circular terraces which symbolise the formless world (anurupa), the rebates of these candi are devoid of discrete formal images. They are celestial places subsisting within the terrestrial world. They are residues of the Sacred.[37]

The gates are interruptions in the multiplicity of existence. They stand as the undifferentiated milieu of an irrupting Supernal presence, and correspond architecturally to the void (sunya) of non-duality (advaita). The doors of Borobodur are expressed architectonically as a sudden interruption in the circumambulatory experience of the terraces. Like degrees in the initiatic processus, progress is made only by sudden intellectual intuition and not by mediate cognition. Such spiritual insights into the fabric of Being that they afford to the pilgrim correspond to a suspension of mental conflagration and polemics. They are "symbolically invisible"[38] but also architectonically sur-prising—which is to say that they manifest literally a grasping `from above.' The space of the doorway is a region of ontological ascent; and the stairs leading to the upper terraces are naturally located within the interval of the candi. Ultimately, the initiate who—whether ontologically or architectonically—`misses' the door also misses the opportunity of release from the round of existence. The perpetual circle of becoming (samsara) shifts to spiral involution only as a result of successive passages through the pierced boundaries of the terraces; these latter representing on the one hand the veils of mutable and formal existence, and on the other obstacles which constrict the possibility of salvation or release (moksha).

The door (pathach) corresponds to the instant (petha) of time: the present which holds together and apart the dual tendencies and phases of past and future. To cross the threshold[39] is to pass through the timeless void of a knot which binds the rhythmic pulse of succession. "Whoever would transfer from this to the Otherworld or return, must do so through the undimensioned and timeless `interval' that divides related but contrary forces between which, if one is to pass at all, it must be `instantly'".[40]  In the temporal condition these thresholds are ritually fixed at the twilights of dawn and dusk connecting the opposition of day and night: "for whatever is done when it is neither day nor night [or past or future] is done ex tempore, sub specie aeternitatis, and forever".[41]  The twilight belongs to neither of the contraries which it simultaneously binds and transforms. It is not a measurable extent of time and therefore has no definite duration. Experientially, visual distinction and clarity of discernment at the twilights is difficult due to the coincident confusion of extremes; a confusion which compels not action but contemplation, and which reveals not an irresolved duality but the very impossibility of any duality whatsoever. Consequently twilights—as junctions of times —are auspicious occasions for rituals; and in particular for rituals of initiation involving the reconciliation of ontological states. Twilights are also occasions of danger. They correspond to the motif of the forest and conform to the dual significance of the door whose threshold is essentially one of veiling and unveiling, of illusion and truth, of death and rebirth.[42]

The solsticial and equinoctial nodes of the solar cycle[43] are cosmic gates opened only for an instant—at the moment of contraflexure between the dual phases of contraction and expansion, recession and procession, ascent and descent; the first decreasing to the increasing power of the second—and both acceding to equipoise and stillness in the unconditional centre which summarises and resolves their conditional antinomy.[44]  These nodes of change represent both the suspension and impulsion of sequence. In them is no duration, yet in them originates, and through them passes the alternation and rhythm of time.

The door is literally an opportunity (op = near, porte = gate) harboring a favorable moment which suspends both spatial location and temporal duration. In space it is a point collected by the instant and the unextended —an adjacency to the sacred, and a rupture in the veil stretched between the sacred and profane. Like the gate of Heaven (Ishtar) it is infinitesimally small, narrow and difficult—but also immutably correct, upright and straight.[45] The door is also an instrumental vehicle and vessel which carries the pilgrim across an ontological chasm to the other shore. The door on the one hand bridges states of manifest existence together in a horizontal mode, and on the other offers a vertical passage for their assimilation with the non-manifest.

devil, divide, dual, opportunity, port, portal, lintel, sublime, tarry, threshold, two…

DOWEL

peg

G: dovel, dobel = plug, peg;

DOWN

town

ME: dun, down; AS: dun = hill, fortified hill town; tun = fort, enclosure, town—from AS: of-dune, a-dune = off or from the hill;

HB: iarad = descend, fall, bring down, descend to a lower region; cf. iara = to flow—as rain descending; lay, throw, point out, instruct, show; iarat = precipitate, throw; iara = to be broken up; ierek = vacuity, pallor; from *IAR = flow, *IA = manifest power, hand, pointing finger + *RD = indefinite motion, like a wheel; what extends, deploys, occupies space; to rise or fall;  

HB: shachah = depress, prostrate, fall down; donation, bribe, reward; shachach = sink, depress, stoop; shachat = tread down, press; from *SHCH = incline, follow a tendency, fold before the law; swim, follow the course of a river; shakab = lie down, lodge, rest, stay, sleep; shuwk = entwine, shut in, fence or hedge up; showkah, showk = bough; shok = booth, tabernacle—as interlaced; cf. *SHK = to return into oneself, envelopment, rest; recollection, deep meditation; *SCH = closed round object capable of containing and covering; sac, veil, cover, envelope;

GK: kata = down—in place or time; prefix denoting opposition, distribution, intensity: eg. katabaino = to walk, descend, fall down; from kata- = down + baino, basis = to walk, pace, the foot; kato, katotero = downwards; cf. *KT—from *K = resistance, compression, agglomeration + *T = tension, extension;

town…

DRAIN

dry out

AS: drenian = to become dry; dreag = to be dry; dreogan = to last, endure, be hard; to work, perform, endure; cf. E: drought, dredge, drudge; 

dredge, drought, drudge, dry, endure…

DRAW

drag across

ME: drawen; AS: dragan; G: tragen = draw or pull along, carry; drawer; AS: dragan = draw, drag; D: dragan = carry; AS: dragan = draw, drag, dredge, carry, endure; from*DHREGH, *REG = stretch, reach, rule (cf. right, rack, regular, reign); *REIDH = convey, ride (cf. road), ready (cf. read, riddle); AS: raedan = read, interpret; *RET = run along, rotate, chariot, car, wheel; *TER = pass through, reach, go through, rub, turn; SKT: tara = passage, ferry, penetrant; GK: terma = goal, end, completion, limit (cf. avatar, term, transom); AS: tredan = tread; L: tractare = handle (cf. treat, trace), draw, pull (cf. trigger); from L: trahere = draw, drag with violence; cf. F: trahir = betray, pull along (by the leg); OF: traictis = (a thing) manipulated, worked-over, refined, well handled or nicely made, attractive, admirably made (cf. treatise, tractate); L: tractus = a drawing-out, the course of a river, a trail, tract or region, a continued duration; GK: trechein = run; trochos = runner, wheel, pulley (cf. truck); hatraktos = spindle; AS: strican = to move or sweep along; OHG: trehhan = to scrape, shove, draw;

HB: shab = draw up water; shabab = break up, fragment; shabah = transport away (into captivity); shebiy = exiled; shabiyc = inteweave, netting, intertwine; shebakah = network, reticulated ornament (to a pillar); lattice, wreath—therefore also snare, trap; shaba = to be complete, to seven oneself; shibah = seven—as the sacred full (complete) one; indefinite number; *SHB = return to a point of departure, restitution, reformation; the taking of a people, captivity, deportation, expatriation—from *SH = relative motion + *B = interior activity;

HB: mashak = draw, sow, sound, prolong, develop, delay, stretch out, scatter; masheth = raising, rising, uutterance; *MSH = contraction, retreat into oneself, gather up, mass up + *SHK = return into oneself, envelopment, rest; recollection, deep meditation;

GK: helko = drag, draw; cf. helisso = fold, coil or wrap up; proserchomai = draw near, approach, come forward—from pros = forward, toward, near to + erchomai = come or go; cf. hypostello = to draw back, withhold, withdraw;

betray, down, drag, draft, draught, dredge, dwell, trail, train, tractate…

DRESS

make ready

ME: dressen = make ready, deck; OF: dresser = erect, set up, arrange; L: directus = straight, just, upright, direct;

HB: habad = work, prepare, make, serve; hab = envelope, darkness, density; cover—an architectural term meaning architrave; *HB = material center, what condenses, becomes thick, heavy and tenebrous; density, obscurity, shadow cloud, thick fog; *HD = time, temporality, transitory; limited period, periodic return, measured and constant duration; *AD = distinct isolated object; *BD = separation, isolation, particular existence; opening; speech;

HB: hushah = to do, make, accomplish; *HUSH = conformation by aggregation of parts; combination; plan formed in advance; a work, composition, creation, fiction, work, thing;

GK: georgeo = till the soil, dress; georgeos = land worker, farmer; from ge = soil, region, country, land + ergon = to work, toil, act; 

clothe, cosmetics, cover, deck, decoration, difference, dwell, equipment, gear, ornament, invest, vestibule, vestment…

DUAL

L: dualis = containing two; duo = two; from *DUO = two, double; cf. *DHEU = pass away, die, come to an end; cf. AS: duala = error;

devil, divide, double, duplex, twain, twelve, twilight, twine, twist…

DURATION

persistence

L: durare, duratio = to last; durus = hard; duritia = hardness, harshness, severity; Irish: dur = dull, hard, stupid, obstinate, firm, strong; W: dur = steel; cf. E: durance = captivity, imprisonment, long sufferance, endurance of hardship; last, continue, endure, abide, remain, persist; to sustain, brook, suffer; from *DERU/*DRU = firm, solid, steadfast; SKT: dru = tree; daru = wood, timber; GK: drys = oak; doru = beam, shaft of a spear; W: derw = true; derwen = oak;

dour, Druid, durable, endurance, tree, true, trust…

DUSK

obfuscating

AS: dox; Swedish: duska = drizzle, dusk = slight shower; duskug = misty; SKT: dhusara = grey, like dust; ME: dosc = obscure, not bright; tending to darkness, shadowy, obfuscated (L: obfuscare = to darken; from ob- = to + fuscus = dark); dusken = become dark; OE: dox = dark haired, dark from absence of light; from *DUSKO = dark coloured;  

dust, obscure, obfuscate, shadow…

DWELL

settle down

ME: dwellen = delay, linger; to be torpid to err; AS: dwellan = to retard, delay, seduce, lead astray; to err, to be dull, stupid; dwellian = go astray, wander aimlessly; duala = error; Icel: dvelja = to delay oneself, tarry, abide, hinder; SK: dhvr = to bend aside; cf. E: dwale = trance, torpor, stupor;

*WES = to clothe; to dwell, live, be; to shine; SKT: vas = to put on clothes; dwell, to pass the night, to live; to shine; vasanta = spring; vastu = house; vasti = dwelling place; GK: estia = hearth; astu = city; esthos = clothing; eso = dawn; L: uestis = clothing, garment; L: Vesta = goddess of the household; ausosa = dawn; uer = spring; auster = south wind; cf. austerus = harsh, tart, sour; australis = southern; AS: wesan = to be; Gothic: wisan = to be, exist;

HB: iashab = sit down, remain, settle, marry - from iesh = stand out, exist as an entity; *ISH = reality, substantiality, a state of being, a substantial manifestation; cf. iasha = to be open, wide, free, delivered, saved; iashen = to be slack, languid, asleep, old—as having long remained, as being of substantial age; iaresh/iereshah = to occupy/possess by seizing upon; cf. shuwb = turn back, return; iasam = place, be placed; iashar = straight, even, correct, upright.

HB: shakan = lodge, reside, abide, remain; *SHCH = restriction, return to self, envelopment, exterior repose; profound meditation, physical slumber; sheken = residence; shagah = to stray, transgress; shagal = copulate with; shakab = lie down, lodge, sleep, stay, ravish; shaan = loll, be peaceful; shuwk = entwine; showkah = interleaved branches, bough.

GK: kathemai—from kata = down + hemai = to sit; katoikeo = to house permanently; katoikesis,  katoiketerion, katoikia = residence; enoikeo = to dwell in—from oikos = home, house, family; oikonomeo = (economy of the) household;  sunoikeo = to dwell together; Cf. GK: meno = to stay, tarry, remain; and skenoo = to tent, encamp, reside—from skene = tent, cloth hut, tabernacle; cf. *SKEI = cut, split;

austere, austral, clothe, dark, divest, economy, invest, tabernacle, tent, vestment, was, vessel, vestal, vestige, vestibule, vestment, invest, divest…

DYNAMISM

reserve of enduring potentiality

GK: dunamikos = powerful; dunamis = power, potentiality, might, strength; dunatos = strong, able; cf. L: durus = hard, enduring, lasting;

enduring, duration, latent, potential, power, remainder, remnant, sustainable…

NOTES

[1] Cf. karu = a singer, and carmen = a song.

[2] Cf. arche = primordial/first, and techt, from ´TEK = to beget/originate/generate, meaning to weave/hew/form/cut; thus giving techne = art/artifice. Cf. also.´TAN = to stretch-out/expand, tantu = thread, and tandere; cf. tamas. The striking correlations of this etymon verify a consistent ideology for the art of dance: it is above all concerned with and qualified by the proportional interrelationships and interactions of cosmic tendencies represented in the Hindu tradition by the guna-s: sattva, tamas and rajas.

[3] For the symbolism of theatre see Guénon,AI,188s.

[4] Fabre d’Olivet: 28-31

[5] Translated by d’Olivet as “and the earth was contingent-potentiality in-a-potentiality-of-being (wha-aretz): and-darkness (a hard making power)–was on-the-face of-the-deep (fathomless-contingent-potentiality of being (haithah thohou wa bohu))”

[6] Ibid.,128,133,141. Plato defines Hestia (cf. *WES = dwell, live, be; shine; clothe - under DWELL) in terms of an etymological identity with ousia or essia - immutable and permanent essence; as well as hosia - the principle of motion: CR,401c-e. Hestia therefore conforms to the motif of the unmoved mover. The goddess also corresponds to the Roman Vestia; and in the sense of determining and governing a generative spatial enclosure, to the vesica pisces, the vastu, and the vastu-purushamandala.

[7] Ibid,127-175,232.

[8] Plato,R,616; cf. Vernant,MT,160-1.

[9] Littré, 640.

[10] Skeat: 176.

[11] "Behold, a door (thura) being opened in heaven. And I heard the first voice (phone) as a trumpet speaking to me... And at once I became in spirit (eutheos egenomen en pneumati)": Revelations,4:1-2.

[12] Matthew 21:42; Luke 9:22; Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; Ephesians 2:2; 1 Peter 2:7; cf. Psalm 118:22s; Isaiah 28:16.

[13] Genesis 18:1-10.

[14] Jeremiah, 7:1.

[15] Exodus 24:22; Jeremiah 7:2.

[16] Hebrews 6:19-20.

[17] Hebrews 4:15.

[18] On the tent (skene) as celestial canopy, see Psalms 104:3; 136:5; Isaiah 40:22; 42:5; 45:12; 51:13.

[19] Hebrews 8:2.

[20] Melchizedek is High Priest, King of Salem, without genealogy, without beginning or end of life, and resembles "the Son of God [continuing] a priest forever": Hebrew 7:1-5; Genesis 14,17-20; Psalms 110:1. On Melchizedek, see René Guénon, The king of the world: 47-58.

[21] Hebrews 9:11.

[22] Hebrews 9:24.

[23] Matthew 27:51; cf. Mark 15:38.

[24] Exodus 27:21.

[25] Exodus 26:33.

[26] Matthew 12:6.

[27] John 10:7.

[28] John 10:9.

[29] Matthew 7:13.

[30] Matthew 19:24.

[31] Dvara; deva; deus; thor; theos. The association of these words with `tree' and `three'—as well as with `thunder' and `truth' (cf. *DRU = firm, solid, steadfast)—is significant in terms of the `door' and the number 3: both motifs of the gate of manifestation.

[32] Coomaraswamy, EIA: 215,225.

[33] MP, 258:17-19.

[34] Mus,B,410-11.

[35] In the Hindu temple, the door `frames' the deity of the garbhagrha whose image is carved on the centre of the lintel. Iconographically, the door is either armed by guardian deities or interlaced with vegetal and watery elements. It is an arbour harboring the Supreme. The sacred river, whose source is Heaven, is identified with shakti: to enter is to bathe, to be purified, initiated and transmuted; "the door-way is the iconostasis of the Rivers, of Shakti" whose 2 phases—upstream or cosmogenesis, and downstream or reintegration—are represented iconographically by its diremption into the 2 door posts from a single celestial origin in the lintel: see Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple: vol 2, 331s.

[36] Paul Mus. Borobudur: 365s; Coomaraswamy, Selected Papers 1: 521-544.

[37] Mus, Borobudur: 315s.

[38] Mus, Borobudur: 364s.

[39] Hebrew saph = container, bowl, cup. Accordingly, the threshold is a place in its own right: a region which, like the vesica pisces in geometry, is poised between, connects and resolves the duality of its extremities. In the Hindu tradition it is prescribed that the threshold must be stepped over but not on; see Alain Danielou, Le Temple Hindou: 43.

[40] Coomaraswamy, Selected Papers 1: 542.

[41] Coomaraswamy, Selected Papers 1: 528, referring to RgVeda 10:129,3.

[42] Coomaraswamy, Selected Papers 1: 528-31, 542-4; Time and Eternity: 45.

[43] The solstice is the standing still (stit-um) of the sun (sol); the equinox is defined as the moment poised between equal nights. Consequently the former preserves a solar and vertical significance, whilst the latter translates a lunar and horizontal significance. The solsticial gates are `limit-points' or terminals—and also tropics or `turning circles' (tropikos kuklos)—towards or around which the sun appears to move between its ascending and descending annual path; whereas the equinoctial gates are literally crossed by its annual alternating movement across the horizon.

[44] Hence John the Baptist, born at the summer solstice (Cancer) decreases, as Christ, born at the winter solstice (Capricorn) increases. Further on the motif of the 2 gates of the year and particularly on the two faces of the god Janus—a symbol of the door—see Coomaraswamy, Selected Papers 2: 399n; René Guénon, The King of the World: 62s.

[45] Cf. Coomaraswamy, Time and Eternity: 43n,79: "the gate is as narrow as the way is straight."