Tau

“ The captain nodded.
"I'd agree with that."
Tau cupped his hands over his eyes for a moment and his lips moved as if he were counting. Then he took his hands away and stared up-slope. Dane watched the medic's eyelids blink slowly. "Nothing but black or brown?" Tau pressed.
"No." Jellico supported his injured arm upon his knees, leaning forward, as intent upon the designated rock as if he expected it to assume some far more startling appearance.
"Queer," Tau said to himself, and then added briskly, "You're right, of course. That sun can play tricks with one's eyes." ”

“ Tau slung the strap of a trail bag over his shoulder. "Sir, once men of your blood, men who bred your race, hunted the elephant. They took his tusks for their treasure, feasted upon his flesh—yes, and died beneath the trampling of his feet when they were unlucky or unwary. So there is that within you which can even now be awakened to remember eldama in his might when he was king of the herd and need fear nothing save the spears and cunning of small, weak men. Lumbrilo had already awakened your minds to see what he willed you to see." ”

“ This Tau was in the form of the cross of this Degree, and it was the emblem of life and salvation. The Samaritan Tau and the Ethiopic Tavvi are the evident prototype of the Greek [Greek: τ] ; and we learn from Tertullian, Origen, and St. Jerome, that the Hebrew Tau was anciently written in the form of a Cross.
In ancient times the mark Tau was set on those who had been acquitted by their judges, as a symbol of innocence. The military commanders placed it on soldiers who escaped unhurt from the field of battle, as a sign of their safety under the Divine Protection. ”

“ If it is brains that make the difference, why do you not rule, Lord Tau, who are also a likely man though not so big as I am? Why are you carrying fugitives upon a dirty little merchant ship instead of sitting upon a Pharaoh’s throne? ”

“ Now Ditanah stretched out his sceptre to Tau in token of peace and pardon, and Tau touched it according to the custom of Babylon.
“I would hear more of this faith of yours which can kill ambition in the heart of man. Wait upon me, Prophet, in my private chamber, and we will talk together.” ”

“ These are arranged in quite an unusual way, running from below upward, in reversed order, and forming the Egyptian Tau. Around these there is a legend which, as the gem is not our property, we are not at liberty to give. The Tau, in its mystical sense, as well as the Crux ansata, is the Tree of Life.
It is well known that the earliest Christian emblems—before it was ever attempted to represent the bodily appearance of Jesus—were the Lamb, the Good Shepherd, and The Fish. The origin of the latter emblem, which has so puzzled the archæologists, thus becomes comprehensible. ”

“ Tau sealed the medical kit. "I'd like to see one of those trees before sundown. And I don't want to face another pointed rock today!"
[Pg 50]
"Why the leopard?" asked Jellico reflectively. "Another case of using flame to fight fire? But Lumbrilo wasn't among those present to be impressed."
Tau rubbed his hand across his forehead. "I don't really know, sir. Maybe I could have made the ape vanish without a counter projection, but I don't think so. With these hallucinations it is better to battle one vision against another for the benefit of those involved. ”

“ His wonder was matched by Tau's and must have been plain to read for the Chief Ranger smiled.
"For a long time Captain Jellico and I have exchanged biological data on alien life-forms—his skill in photographing such, his knowledge as an xenobiologist are widely recognized. And so I have permission for him to visit the new Zoboru preserve, not yet officially opened. And you, Medic Tau, your help, or at least your diagnosis, we need in another direction. So, one expert comes openly, another not so [Pg 13] openly. Though, Medic, your task is approved by my superiors. ”

“ Here also is seen the tau, with its horizontal stroke confined to the left of the vertical instead of crossing it, and the undeveloped omega, which has the appearance of being clipped—both forms being characteristic of the 3rd century B.C.
The trained clerical hands of the 2nd century B.C. (fig. 3) differ generally from those of the earlier century in a more perfect and less cursive formation, the older shallow type gradually disappearing, and the linking of letters by horizontal strokes being less continuous. But the Ptolemaic character marks the handwriting well through the century ”

“ For very many days the great army marched across the plains and deserts, as the progress of so vast a host was slow, till at length it drew near to the borders of Egypt. Then it was that Tau heard from his spies and skirmishers that Apepi with all his strength, a mighty power, had built a line of forts upon his boundary and in front of these was preparing to give battle to the Babylonians. These tidings he took to Nefra who sat in her chariot armed in glittering mail like some young war goddess, surrounded by a bodyguard under the command of Ru. ”

“ The Egyptian tau, one of the members of the Crux ansata, is certainly present at Palenque, but whether it was derived from any one of the Mediterranean peoples who 417employed it, cannot be ascertained. Among the Egyptians it signified “life,” as is shown by the best Egyptologists. [592] The tau was usually surmounted by a roundlet, though such was not always the case. On a stele from Korasabad, an eagle-headed man is depicted as holding the oval in one hand and the cross in the other. ”

“ There always remains"—Tau put down his mug, "—there always remains a small residue of happenings and results for which we have not yet found any logical explanations—"
"And I believe," Asaki interrupted, "it is also true that a race can be conditioned from birth to be sensitive to forms of magic so that men of that blood are particularly susceptible." That was more of a statement than a question, but Tau answered it.
"That is very true. A Lamorian, for example, can be 'sung' to death. ”

“ Tau swayed, put his hand to his head. Dane kicked away the drum, arose from his cramped position stiffly to go to him. But the medic was not yet done. He returned to stand over the prostrate native hunters and he clapped his hands sharply.
"You are men, and you shall act as men henceforth. That which was, is no longer. Stand free, for the dark power follows him who misused it, and fear no longer eats from your basins, drinks from your cups, or lies beside you on the sleep mats." ”

“ In the Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, and Coptic the word for bull means "coming" or "who cometh," and the lucida of the constellation is a first magnitude star called "Aldebaran," which means the "leader."
The Masonic Tau Cross, , is an expressive symbol of the vernal equinox and of immortality. The emblem is found on many of the ancient monuments of Egypt, and clearly its astronomical significance can be traced to the constellation Taurus, for Brown tells us that the word "Tau" is derived from an Egyptian or Coptic root meaning a bull or cow. ”

“ In addition Tau's hobby was "magic," the hidden knowledge possessed and used by witch doctors and medicine men on alien worlds. He had a library of recordings, odd scraps of information, of certified results of certain very peculiar experiments. Now and then he wrote a report which was sent into Central Service, read with raised eyebrows by perhaps half a dozen incredulous desk warmers, and filed away to be safely forgotten. But even that had ceased to frustrate him.
"It's an herb of the mint family from Terra," he replied. "Mura grows it for Sinbad—has quite a marked influence on cats. ”

“ I feel safe in promising [Pg 49] that," Tau replied. He put the vial of doctored purifier into a separate pocket of his medical kit. "It may be a problem of how long we can go without water."
"Perhaps," Asaki said softly. "Only not all the water on Khatka comes running in streams."
"Fruit?" Tau asked.
"No, trees. Lumbrilo is not a hunter, nor could he be certain when and where his magic would go to work. Unless the flitter was deliberately sabotaged, he was planning for us to use our canteens in the preserve. That is lion country and there are long distances between springs. ”

“ Of great significance are the accurate reports for the Melanesians. They have no conception of the year as a definite period of time. The word tau (a Polynesian loan-word) , or niulu, which corresponds most nearly to ‘year’, signifies a season, and so (now) the space of time between recurring seasons. Thus the yam has its tau of five moons, from the planting—when the erythrina is in flower—until the harvest, after the palolo has come and gone. The bread-fruit has its [97] tau during the winter months: bananas and cocoa-nuts have no tau, since they always bear fruit. ”

“ The thirteen Mexican serpent-gods bear a distant relationship to the thirteen stones of the Druidical ruins. The T (Tau) , and the astronomical cross of Egypt are conspicuous in several apertures of the remains of Palenque. In one of the basso-relievos of the Palace of Palenque, on the west side, sculptured on a hieroglyphic, right under the seated figure, is a Tau. The standing figure, which leans over the first one, is in the act of covering its head with the left hand with the veil of initiation; while it extends its right with the index and middle finger pointing to heaven. ”

“ Tau had handed over the command of the host of Babylon to the general next in rank to him at a great ceremony, and putting off his mail and royal emblems, had donned the white robe of the Prophet of the Dawn and returned to the Temple of the Pyramid, leaving Temu behind him because such was the will of Nefra and Khian. Save for a force of ten thousand picked men who remained to guard the grand-daughter of the Great King until all was accomplished, that army had marched for Babylon. ”

“ Tau Ceti is also a Spectral Class G star and therefore Tau Ceti was voted the star most likely to succeed, long before Man had the foggiest notion of how to cross the light-years, long before instruments sensitive enough to ascertain that Tau Ceti possessed a planetary system were developed. ”

“ He knew better than to serve fish or any of its derivatives in disguise again.
"Khatka!" Tau sat up straighter. "Now there's a planet worth visiting."
"Not on a Free Trader's pay," commented Dane.
"You can always hope to make a big strike, boy. But what I wouldn't give to lift ship for there!"
"Why? You're no hunter. How come you want to heat jets for that port?"
[Pg 8]
"Oh, I don't care about the game preserves, though they're worth seeing, too. It's the people themselves—"
"But they're Terran settlers, or at least from Terran stock, aren't they?"
"Sure," Tau sipped his coffee slowly. ”

“ Then he added a few comments of his own.
"That off-worlder who wears spaceman's clothing, his weapon is not drawn, though the others are ready. But I believe that you are right in thinking they expect to be warned by sentries. Those we can see to. Suppose then, Captain, you and I play the fear-crazed men running from demons. Nymani will cover us from the dark and your two men—"
Tau spoke up, "Give me leave to flush out our other quarry, sir. I believe I can keep him occupied. Dane, you'll take the drum." ”

“ The inner circle depicts a triple Tau with a hexagram where the bases join, and beneath is the Ace of Cups. Within the external circle are the letters TARO, and about this figure as a whole are grouped the symbols of the Four Living Creatures, the Ace of Wands, Ace of Swords, the letter Shin, and a magician’s candle, which is identical, according to Lévi, with the lights used in the Goetic Circle of Black Evocations and Pacts. ”

“ Taurus has the tips of his horns dipped in the great stream; it flows between the shining feet of Gemini and the head and shoulders of Orion as between starry banks; the peerless Sirius hangs like a gem pendent from the celestial girdle. In the southern hemisphere we should find the beautiful constellation of the ship Argo, containing Canopus, sailing along the Milky-Way, blown by the breath of old romance on an endless voyage; the Southern Cross glitters in the very center of the galaxy ”

“ Tartarus, Virgil describes the punishments of the wicked in, 381-m. Tatian adopted the theory of the Emanation of Eons, 564-u. Tatius, Achilles, held that each Star is an immortal Soul, 671-m. Tau cross in various forms and applications, 503-505. Tau, the last letter of the Sacred Alphabet, signifies the end of the Great Work, 790-l. Taurus and Scorpio figure in history of Osiris, being the two equinoxes, 478-m. Taurus opening the new year was the Creative Bull, 448-u. Taurus or Bull: after Sun advanced to Aries reverence was paid to, 450-m. ”

“ It becomes androgynous as the Races and all else on Earth develop into their physical forms, and the symbol is transformed into a circle with a diameter from which runs a [pg 034] vertical line, expressive of male and female, not separated as yet—the first and earliest Egyptian Tau; [Symbol: circle with horizontal line through it, and another from center to bottom] after which it becomes ☩, or male female separated50 and fallen into generation. Venus (the Planet) , is symbolized by the sign of a globe over a cross, which shows the former as presiding over the natural generation of man. ”