“number is the ruler of forms and ideas and the cause of gods and daemons.”
“We must avoid with our utmost endeavor, and amputate with fire and sword, and by all other means, from the body, sickness; from the soul, ignorance; from the belly, luxury; from a city, sedition; from a family, discord; and from all things, xcess.”
Pythagoras of Samos (Greek: Ὁ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, O Pūthagoras o Samios, “Pythagoras the Samian”, or simply Ὁ Πυθαγόρας; born between 580 and 572 BC, died between 500 and 490 BC) was an Ionian Greek mathematician and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mystic and scientist; however some have questioned the scope of his contributions to mathematics and natural philosophy. Herodotus referred to him as “the most able philosopher among the Greeks”. His name led him to be associated with Pythian Apollo; Aristippus explained his name by saying, “He spoke (agor-) the truth no less than did the Pythian (Pyth-),” and Iamblichus tells the story that the Pythia prophesied that his pregnant mother would give birth to a man supremely beautiful, wise, and beneficial to humankind.
He is best known for the Pythagorean theorem, which bears his name. Known as “the father of numbers”, Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religious teaching in the late 6th century BC. Because legend and obfuscation cloud his work even more than with the other pre-Socratics, one can say little with confidence about his life and teachings. We do know that Pythagoras and his students believed that everything was related to mathematics and that numbers were the ultimate reality and, through mathematics, everything could be predicted and measured in rhythmic patterns or cycles. According to Iamblichus of Chalcis, Pythagoras once said that “number is the ruler of forms and ideas and the cause of gods and daemons.”
He was the first man to call himself a philosopher, or lover of wisdom,[2] and Pythagorean ideas exercised a marked influence on Plato. Unfortunately, very little is known about Pythagoras because none of his writings have survived. Many of the accomplishments credited to Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues and successors.
Pythagorean Theorem
Symmetrical Solids of the Ancients
Tetrahedron (Fire)
Four equilateral triangles as faces
Hexahedron (Earth)
Six squares as faces
Octahedron (Air)
Eight equilateral triangles as faces
Icosahedron (Water)
Twenty equilateral triangles as faces
Dodecahedron (Aither)
Twelve regular pentagons as faces
Beliefs
- Moderation in all things
- There was no crime equal to that of anarchy
- Do not pray for yourself
- No man knows what is good for himself
- God is the Monad (The One that is Everything)
- The God of Pythagoras was the Monad, or the One that is Everything. He described God as the Supreme Mind distributed throughout all parts of the universe–the Cause of all things, the Intelligence of all things, and the Power within all things. He further declared the motion of God to be circular, the body of God to be composed of the substance of light, and the nature of God to be composed of the substance of truth.
- Eating of meat clouds the reasoning faculties
- Use the magical properties of plants
- Music has a therapeutic power
- Opposed to surgery in all forms
- Does not allow disfigurement of the human body as it is a dwelling place of the gods
- Friendship is the truest and nearest perfection of all relationships
- Nature is a friendship of all
- Knowledge is the fruitage of mental accumulation
- Man and the universe were made in the image of God
- Sidereal bodies were alive, all planets and stars are bodies encasing souls and minds
- Each species of creatures has a “seal” given by God and that the physical form of each was the impression of this seal upon the wax of physical substance.
- Man is destined to ascend into the realm of the immortals
Pythagorean Y
Taken from Manly P Hall’s The Secret Teaching of The Ages:
The famous Pythagorean Υ signified the power of choice and was used in the Mysteries as emblematic of the Forking of the Ways. The central stem separated into two parts, one branching to the right and the other to the left. The branch to the right was called Divine Wisdom and the one to the left Earthly Wisdom. Youth, personified by the candidate, walking the Path of Life, symbolized by the central stem of the Υ, reaches the point where the Path divides. The neophyte must then choose whether he will take the left-hand path and, following the dictates of his lower nature, enter upon a span of folly and thoughtlessness which will inevitably result in his undoing, or whether he will take the right-hand road and through integrity, industry, and sincerity ultimately regain union with the immortals in the superior spheres. It is probable that Pythagoras obtained his concept of the Υ from the Egyptians, who included in certain of their initiatory rituals a scene in which the candidate was confronted by two female figures. One of them, veiled with the white robes of the temple, urged the neophyte to enter into the halls of learning; the other, bedecked with jewels, symbolizing earthly treasures, and bearing in her hands a tray loaded with grapes (emblematic of false light), sought to lure him into the chambers of dissipation. This symbol is still preserved among the Tarot cards, where it is called The Forking of the Ways. The forked stick has been the symbol of life among many nations, and it was placed in the desert to indicate the presence of water.
Now, it is VERY interesting that Manly P Hall uses the phrase “or whether he will take the right-hand road and through integrity, industry, and sincerity ultimately regain union with the immortals in the superior spheres.” Let’s take a look at the Rothschild family coat of arms:
“Concordia Integritas Industra” translates to “Harmony Integrity Industry”
Divide by 3 (Three)
Pythagoras believed everything can be divided into three parts and that everything must be viewed as triangular. Pythagoras did not consider the numbers 1 and 2 to be numbers. Pythagoras started counting at 3 (Triangle) and 4 (Square). 3+4+1+2 = 10. Ten (10) is considered to be the great number of all things and the archetype of the universe.
“Establish the triangle and the problem is two-thirds solved”
“All things consist of three.”
~ Pythagoras
Pythagoras divided the universe into three parts:
- Supreme World
- Superior World
- Inferior World
Supreme World
The Supreme World is the subtle, “interpenetrative” spiritual essence that flows through all things and is the true plane of God. The Supreme World is omnipresent, omniactive, omnipotent, and omniscient. The Supreme World is the totality of all that exists. Pythagoras believed this realm to contain the lower two realms of the Superior and Inferior.
Superior World
The Superior World is the home of the immortals and the Carl Jung archetypes. The inhabitants of this realm can only interact with the Inferior world through “shadows” that are cast.
Inferior World
The place of man, creatures, the physical plane.
Tags: Pythagoras
