Statos - That which Stands

Statos - that which stands. It comes from the verb root ste-, which means "to stand". It is responsible for the "st" in stay, stand, still and steady; it implies the qualities of the stark, the strong and the stable. It is also the firm and unmovable placement from which something stems, a stalk firmly rooted in the ground which it stays at. It is significant because it signifies its existence; the plant spends its whole life in one spot, never moving, and therefore that steadfast placement becomes symbolic of its presence on the earth. It is that which endures; the trees of the forest are statoi, for they sit in one position, and that is their eternal physical placement in the earth, and therefore their eternal spiritual existence. To stand is to durate time, to surpass the temporal and truly exist; like rocks under the running water, they stand steadfast against time's flow, not budging or losing itself, but resisting the tide which destroys all other things.

Therefore statos is important to the spirit. It signifies the steadiness of spiritual existence against the tide of time; that which stands in the universe's flow, as opposed to those that lose themselves with the flow and thus become subject to change and corruption. It is the spirit's nature to stand.

It is also, and more so, symbolic of physical growth, since that which stands marks its own existence upon the earth. It is symbolic of earthly existence, especially things that do not move or change, like things that are tied to the land; the people are a statos, because they continue their existence on earth through their genes. Furthermore, the elements of the psyche and mind are statos, since they reoccur eternally and stay within the human mind; they stand within it because they are part of it, even if they are sometimes forgotten or marked with obscurity, such as in ours times.

Furthermore the word State is from statos; not only the state of being, which is expressive of the ontological existence of anything, but also the political state, or the structure of power on earth in any given society. Further the Latin word status is from statos, which gives rise to the words station, statement, and stance, all expressive of what statos is. The city is also a statos, which we see in the German word Stadt.


Paired with the -p sound, which is expressive of a strictly material thing, we get the English word staple, which helps two or more objects to stay in place (bind them). This combination of st- and -p is also seen in the word stupid, which literally meant "to have been made still" (imagine being "stapled" with an expression thus unable to think out of awe, to be "stupefied" or "stooped" by something). This combination is also expressed in the word step, which relates to "stoop". A step stays in place, and does not move; it is stationary, and therefore a statos. Static, stain and stall also come from statos. Stone also comes from it, since it is the greatest representative of a firm nature or existence.

Variations on the primal root ste- include a vowel insertion between the "s" and the "t", which occurs in some languages frequently and in other with occasion. In English we see this represented in the words sit and set, both expressive of statos, with a vowel put in between the letters.

More interestingly, we see an early form of this in the Latin term satus, meaning "sown", which is a form of sero, "I sow". Sowing seed and planting crops is symbolic of the universal process of growth, and the place that the seed lands on is where it will sprout and it will be its statos. Therefore sowing is the creation of statos or the foundation of such development in the material world. The term "satus" then also carries meaning to Saturnus, the god Saturn, god of the crops, sowing and agriculture. Saturn is chiefly represented in association to the element time, and Saturn personifies time, civilization and material dictation, and these things are ruled by his house. He is the farthest from the sun, the spiritual center, and he is responsible for the judgement of things on earth in accordance with time; without him nothing can grow, and without him nothing can fade away or die. He is the iron rule of time as it passes on earth, and he is also represented by the metal Lead. He represents what lets the material body stand through time, before its death and after its birth, and therefore he can be seen as the material retainer; things only stand in the material world because of his junction. His persona as an archetype is universal. Another name of Saturn is Satan, "the sower", an interpretation differing from the Semitic root s-t-n, "the adversary". Disregarding the modern concepts of "Satan", we can see how primally these qualities belong under his association. Perhaps even "adversary" could be gleamed from interpreting Satan as both a "sustainer" in the material world and the "adversary" at the same time, since it is with time which he rules that things turn back to dust. To the temporal world, he may very well seem like the "adversary" because under him everything eventually comes to death or its initial state of non-being.The construction of "Satan" or "Saturn" with the Indo-Aryan roots would be Satonos.

There are several other words that come from statos too, like steel, stitch and stick. They are not hard to identify in daily life and can be seen everywhere. It's also interesting to note that in the Indo-Aryan language, the term used to describe the third-person state of being is -est, which we can see in German ist (3rd person conjugation of sein - to be), Latin est and the vowel ending -et (Latin -it, German -t), which was once pronounced "-est". This is also present in the outdated English conjugation -eth, which can be seen in Shakespearean English, i.e. he taketh, she maketh.

The word star may also be a descendent of statos, and it makes sense, however this is unclear since it may also come from the root hestos which means "to burn or shine".

Therefore learn from statos, since it is that which stands; through time, immovable, from birth to death, in continuum or in temporality, it is that which exists in a consistency. It stays in place, firm, and can be your stepping stone.