Pythagoras the Mathemagician

by Karim El Koussa

  Motionless as never before, Pythagoras listened attentively to the Magician, almost hypnotized by the words he thoughtfully uttered. Nothing really came up to his mind for a discussion. He just murmured under his breath, Air is not an element, but a resemblance of the spirit!

  “Fine then, let’s proceed! There exist seven planets that influence the Earth and its inhabitants to a great extent. They are the Sun, the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury and Mars. They are manifested in seven letters. With that in mind, there are now ten letters and there remain twelve out of twenty-two. Correct!?” The Magician inquired with a witty smile as if he was playing with numbers and shapes; Pythagoras nodded. “Well, the remaining twelve letters are the images of the twelve signs of the Zodiac.”

  Pythagoras remembered at once the teachings of the Sacred Alphabet back with the Hierophants of Gebel. Indeed, the system of teaching of the Egyptian Guardian differed in many ways. His transmission of the knowledge of the Sacred Alphabet seemed to take a more practical way. Hmmm… How interesting! He thought in anticipation.

  “Are you following me, Son?” The Magician snapped with a frown.

  Pythagoras wanted to chuckle at the question that appeared to be a pattern of his new teacher. Yet he did not. He simply answered, “Always!”

  “You should. I count on it!” the Magician said bluntly and reverted to his lecture. “When each letter of the sacred language combines with its associated number, it affects, to a significant extent, the tri-une dimensional worlds of the spirit, the intellect and the matter,” he stressed each word as if the neophyte needed that emphasis to understand.

  Pythagoras grasped the full meaning when he recalled his experience with the deep sound of the murex shell back on the Surian beach.

  …The sound of water with past memories of the sea echoed, inside his inner realm, the voice of silence that whispered to his mind, merged with his spirit and vibrated with his body.

  Such a mystical experience had made him fathom, back then, the power of his three dimensions; his tri-une nature of being.

  His discovery of the Harmony of the Spheres, afterwards, in the Mountain of Gebel had ensued as a confirmation of that existing bridge between Heaven and Earth.

  “Are you following me, son?!” The voice of the Guardian of the Sacred Symbols propelled him back to the purpose of his presence there.

  This time, the Magician caught him indeed distracted by his flashback. He felt some heat on his face under the accusing amber eyes. Because lying was not part of his nature, Pythagoras opened his mouth to apologize.

  Impeding him to do so, the Guardian cracked at once, “Shall we proceed?”

  Pythagoras nodded and diverted his eyes. Yet, at the loud chuckle that cropped up, he turned to look at the Magician. Surprised, he followed the glimpse of his master on his own attire. Pythagoras gazed down and blushed at the sight of his torn out robe that appeared more black than purple. He shrugged off his shoulders with fatality. What unsettled him more at this moment was the blunt character of the Guardian rather than his own physical appearance! When he looked up, he noticed that his master had already moved on. He rushed to join him.

  Side by side, the teacher and the neophyte walked through the gallery. They stopped in front of a painting picturing a royal person in a white robe, a scepter in his hand and a golden crown on his head.

  “Well, let’s see Pythagoras!” the Guardian taunted him. “Can you explain the significance of this painting?”

  “Sure!” Pythagoras took up the challenge with confidence. “The white robe signifies Purity. The scepter stands for Mastership, while the golden crown means the Kingship.”

  “Not bad, not bad at all,” the Guardian replied wittily. “What else could the golden crown mean though?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There is more to this illustration than the physical appearance of… hmmm… a clean wise king,” he tempted him again.

  Pythagoras stood alert. His new teacher might consider himself funny, but his brusqueness submitted Pythagoras to a new challenge by the minute.

  At his discomfiture, the Magician sighed loudly and explained, “It is not wrong if you don’t know what the answer is, son. The golden crown means the Universal Light. Every will that unites with God, for the manifestation of Truth and Justice, will dwell inside this Light. Accordingly, the will participates directly in the Divine Power over the existential life. It is an eternal gift to the free spirits.”

  Pythagoras pondered over the revelation. A Magician! He mumbled in the silence of his mind. To his surprise, the Guardian respected his silent meditation. Not long enough though!

  “Any questions?”

  “Well, yes,” Pythagoras replied. “What are the letter A and the number 1?”

  “They symbolize, in the spiritual world, the Absolute Being from whom life sprang. In the mental world, however, they mean the Unity and the Equilibrium of life. On the physical plane, they personify the Microcosmic man who, by expanding his occult faculties, elevates himself up into the spheres of infinite Macrocosm.”

  “Very interesting!” Pythagoras exclaimed, impressed by this new system of Initiation.

  The Magician smiled and continued his interpretations on the meanings of each painting. Pythagoras began to perceive the inside significance of the sublime ideas and images they embodied.

  The lesson ended as they reached a small door on the rock. The Magician levied the heavy bolt and opened up to a dusky grotto.

  “Go ahead! The servants will help you clean up. I’ll meet you later in the Chamber above,” the Guardian informed him, pushed him gently forward and closed the door at once.

  In the grotto, the same assistants greeted him with the same impassive faces. They led him to a lavatory where they subjected him to a cleansing process that included washing with hot water and soap, shaving his head and beard, and changing into a dry white linen tunic. Pythagoras welcomed the refreshing feeling, and of course, the food they lay down for him in a low table of carved brass in a private luxurious room.

  He relaxed on a comfortable couch, content that the tests had finally ended. Feeling victorious, he began to enjoy the calmness that enveloped him. The sound of music drifted, tender and soothing, from somewhere in the background. The melodious tones engulfed him gently to convey him into a journey of dreams. So tired, his eyelids gave in as the tension of his muscles waned.

  Pythagoras woke up from his sleep to the sound of exotic music. He smelled a powerful aroma of jasmine and roses in the room. Something felt strange to him. He opened his eyes to astonish at a feminine silhouette swaying to the musical rhythm behind a white translucent curtain. Her body moved languorously and enticed his basic male instincts.

  The woman appeared from behind the curtain, a wholesome embodiment of female beauty. He swallowed hard. Her long black mane waved down on her golden skin. A sheer blue tunic barely covered her beauty. All too slowly, the curves of her body undulated as she closed the distance to him. With every one of her steps forward, her hips stirred in an erotic manner that warmed his insides. Her powerful sensuality blazed the blood in his veins.

  In her hands, a silver cup of red blooming roses fused out an arousing fragrance that caressed his skin, warmed his senses, and fueled his desires. He lifted his weight on his elbow to ogle at the exotic woman. Her big black eyes and full lips tempted him. Dazzled and totally mesmerized, he leaped to his feet, hesitated a bit, thought for a moment, but then with uncontainable strange impulses he dashed to grab her by the waist. He brought her body tightly to his and his other hand fondled her breasts. Her dark eyes hypnotized him.

  “Are you afraid of me, handsome man?” she murmured in a guttural voice.

  His insides quivered with reeling want. His hands shaped her feminine curves and further down to caress her hips.

  “Go ahead, love,” she incited him, encouraged him, and stimulated his male desire to a point of no return.

  His mouth neared hers as she whisp
ered, “With my body, I shall give you the prize of the winners… the oblivion of pain… and… the cup of happiness.”

  He halted, just an inch from her parted lips. Somehow, her words had slashed his mind like a sword and blasted him awake from the lecherous tension in which he had basked.

  Temptation…

  He became conscious, all of a sudden, of the fact that he was about to jeopardize all that he stood for. She must have sensed his hesitation for her attempt at seduction intensified. She stroked his chest, grabbed his hand, kissed his fingers, and her eyes hooking his, dragged him to the couch.

  Pythagoras beseeched all the powers left in him to fight the fervor that burned his flesh. He snapped her hands away. He stood up with an immense exertion of willpower. She seized his hand. She tried to pull him back to her. He refused to yield, however hard it felt. He snatched himself away from her enticement. He marched to the middle of the room. He veered angrily and glared her straight in the eyes.

  “Touch me not woman, for I have not yet come to my higher-self! You know this, don’t you?” He raved and ranted. “You aim at slowing my progress by engaging my sexual desires, don’t you? You, woman, are stepping on my way. Get out!” Pythagoras fulminated, but more at himself for having risked falling into temptation.

  The Nubian woman lowered her eyes in surrender. Her attempts to seduce him failed. She stepped back and back, all too slowly…

  Suddenly, priests in white robes stormed in with bright torches. They chanted hymns to the goddess Isis. The woman sneaked shamefully behind the curtain, never to be seen again. The priests surrounded Pythagoras and led him to the Sanctuary of Isis with all the due honor of a winner.

  A semi-circular formation of some dozen Magicians received him in that hall. The priests joined them to seal the Assembly circle. The statue of Isis stood majestically at the heart of the Temple. A golden rose ornamented her breast and a seven-ray crown covered her head. Her son Horus rested in her arms.

  The High Priest of Osiris, the Hierophant Sonchis, appeared in splendor in the middle of the Assembly. Wearing his white linen tunic topped by a purple robe, he opened his hands to greet him. In a ceremonious tone and strong voice, he announced, “Pythagoras, Son of Phoenicia, Seeker of Truth and Wisdom, here and forever, pledge silence and submission to the Occult Doctrine!”

  Pythagoras straightened up. He inhaled deeply then, his eyes straight in those of the High-Priest, he proclaimed his oath.

  Only then, did Sonchis welcom him officially in the secret circle of Isis, accepting him, in the name of the Assembly, as their brother and future Initiate.

  Elation overwhelmed Pythagoras.

  I am now a disciple of Isis, a son of Isis, like Horus! His heart exclaimed, his spirit heightened, his eyes moistened and he shivered with emotion.

  In the company of all the Magicians and Priests around, he felt the manifestation of a strong divine presence. The sphere of Truth seemed to draw a path for him to walk, and open a door for him to enter.

  But… how? He wondered with sudden anxiety.

  * * *

  A few days later, Pythagoras traipsed the Sahara; Memphis to his back and the Pyramids as destination. Under the blaze of the Egyptian sun, he moved on. His steps immersed in the softness of the golden sand. The small dunes merged all around him. His step unhurried, his heart in marvel and his mind pondering over the world of mystical meanings.

  Like all those prophets, holy men and sages who had preceded him in this path, the Sahara welcomed his probing for wisdom and for the purification of thoughts. In fact, traveling through the Egyptian desert created in his mind a sort of inexplicable state of existence. It just puzzled him to a degree of madness. This emptiness, the very void all around him, made him wonder about how minuscule he really was. Like a drop in the ocean, he was just a white mark in the infinite golden sand.

  At night fall, he tackled more than the strong darkness and the sharp cold. A world of illusions parted its doors wide open to snare his mind in its chimera and deception. Pythagoras feared losing his direction. Within the chaos that framed his senses, strange voices emerged from and through the wilderness.

  Voices of Elves, Jinnis, Angels or Demons! He wavered.

  No, wait a second! His wits urged him to listen carefully. His inner ear tuned in to the voices. Thus, the musician with a perception powerfully developed through years of playing music, him who had decoded the Harmony of the Spheres, rebutted as false the voices emitted from the Sahara. He marched farther, fearlessly. He acknowledged the weird voices as nothing more than the sound of the silent night; the echoes of his loneliness distorted by the most natural phenomenon of all, nature itself!

  After all, that is what makes of the Sahara an enchanted habitat, he muttered with a smile.

  From afar, the Sphinx and the Pyramids finally materialized in his sight. Moon light shaped the gigantic mystical forms with a magical blend of beams and shadows. There they stood, in all their glory, amidst the Egyptian desert, resisting the course of time. He trembled deep inside as he felt their energy vibrating all around. He halted for a moment of awe then pressed his steps forward, quickly. His mind pondered on their mystery, speculated on their existence and strove for answers that would not come into light.

  What do they stand for? What is there inside the Sphinx? How was the Great Pyramid built? Why? What does it hold inside its walls? Is it Numbers, Immortality, Reality? What is it? What are they?

  The questions scuttled inside his head, unruly like the blowing dust of the Sahara that began to gust on him.

  Two spots of light materialized in front of him. They moved, swayed and edged closer and closer. Two men appeared with torches in their hands. They greeted him cordially as if they were expecting him. Pythagoras examined them in a swift gaze. Both dark and bald, the men looked strangely similar. Their muscular and hairless bodies were bare but from a long skirt, of colorful stripes, belted at the waist. Their darkly outlined eyes emphasized their tattooed eyebrows and thick lips. Without further delay, they rushed him towards the monuments. They guided him to an entrance located between the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid. Two other similar men stood in guard with long spears in their hands.

  “This takes you to the underground of the small Temple of the third Pyramid,” one of the sentinels informed him then added in clarification, “the Pyramid of Men-Kau-Ra.”

  The guards browsed cautious looks around before rushing him inside.

  This tiny structure is surely a place inaccessible to the common people, Pythagoras deducted.

  “This is the Hat-Khet, the House of Body where studies are conducted,” the guard notified him and added respectfully, “I am instructed to escort you to your room at once.” His striking white teeth sparkled when he grinned widely. “I understand you shall be spending the night.”

  And the months and years to come… Pythagoras formulated in the silence of his heart. It will be a long journey, indeed!

  To his escort, he answered with a simple nod.

  Soon, he entered a small austere room. The moment the door shut behind him, he dropped in exhaustion on the narrow bed.

  He closed his eyes.

  Silence filled the place.

  Inside the Hat-Khet, Pythagoras initiated his journey of studies with the Egyptian Priests and Magicians. The 1st degree of his education took him numerous years. He studied the organic constitution of human beings and animals, as well as vegetables and minerals. He poured over the circulation of blood, the muscular system, the respiratory system and the functions of all the four kingdoms of nature.

  The program, more advanced than any previously acquired, boosted him forward to the level of physician. He came to peruse the natural constitution of the four Kingdoms of earthly life. That was a direct indulgence into the Natural Magic, so to say.

  Meanwhile, he put his solitude to good use in his Spartan room plunging into the scholastic ocean of Cosmogony and elementary Geometry. In the Hall of the Temples, he acquired his instr
uction on the Hieroglyphs. That Egyptian system of writing allowed him access to the odyssey of man, and the story of human civilization.

  Years later, dressed in a white linen tunic and fully equipped with his new erudition, Pythagoras penetrated into the House of Soul, known as the Hat-Ba. The second in size and importance, it was situated inside the exterior Temple of the Khaf-Ra Pyramid. The House of Soul received the more mature seeker of Truth that he had become.

  Gladly surprised, he met Sonchis there. He entrusted his mind willingly to the High Priest of Osiris who instructed him on the science of Esoteric Physiology[22].

  His 2nd degree Initiation started!

  In the years that followed, Pythagoras acquired the knowledge of the Astral Plane. He mastered the skills of developing and directing the mysterious fluid that manifested into vital force. That force allowed him substantial mastership over both the physical and ethereal dimensions. In fact, these occult studies of the so-called Astral Magic granted him the power of magnetism and therapeutic healing.

  During an afternoon break from his intensive studies, Pythagoras relaxed on his chair. While meditating on the science of Therapeutic healing, he recalled his talk with Abdu-Eshmun, the High Priest of the Temple of Eshmun…

  Water is just an accelerator of the healing process, a highly pure element of Nature that works as a purifier…

  The healing operation actually happens through both, the combination of my will, I, Abdu-Eshmun, and the power of Theurgy…

  It is not yet the time for you to have these powers. You are only a beginner, and, the road is way too long. Be patient, my brother…

  The words from his past echoed in his head. He grinned with a sense of thrill and triumph. Now he could affirm that his time had certainly come to possess those healing powers!