Do we have any Latin-speaking jellies in the house that could help me translate?
This has been one of my favorite songs for years and I’ve always wondered what it meant. I love Latin and really should get around to learning it. Anyway, I sorta understand some of the words, but not enough! Can one of you devastatingly good-looking braniacs help a brother out?
Quod fuit est sicut quod erit
Et quod erit est sicut quod fuit
Quod fuit ad perpetranda
Miracula aeternitatis
Quod superius est sicut quod inferius
Ad perpetranda miracula
Quod inferius est sicut quod superius
Ad perpetranda miracula
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8 Answers
I don’t know Latin and my looks are devastatingly ordinary, but here’s a translation that I got from an online translator:
That which was is like that which will be
And what shall be is like that which was
That which was to perform the
The miracles of eternity
As Above, below this is like that which
To perform the miracles of
That is below the above, for instance, that
To perform the miracles of
What* has been is as what will be
And what will be is as what has been
What has been to** accomplishing*** the wonders of eternity
What is higher is as what is lower
to accomplishing the wonders of eternity
*“Quod” can be translated as various things and “that which” definitely also works in place of “what”.
**“Ad” usually means “to” or “toward” but there are probably ways of translating that sound better.
***As far as I know, this is a gerund and should be translated as “accomplishing” or something along those lines. Jeruba may correct me on that.
@DominicX, I can talk about gerunds all day, but my Latin is part of my dim and very distant past. I remember plenty of roots but not much at all in the way of inflections. You’re the one I’d look to for a translation. Would “toward the accomplishment of miracles of eternity” make sense?
I would go with “that which” here just because “That which is above is like that which is below” is an expression with its own resonance and meaning. Applying that principle of correspondence to past and future makes sense in the same poetic way. I take this verse to be about magick.
That which is, was
And that which was, is
What is perpetrates
the miracle of eternity
As there is a heaven, so is there a hell
the miracle of eternity
As there is a hell, so there is a heaven
the miracle of eternity
Excellent source-finding, @Ltryptophan. And there is the proof that it is indeed about magick.
I was afraid, after wondering all this time, that it’d turn out to be something boring, but on the contrary! Very cool. Thanks, you guys!
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