Pythagoras the Mathemagician

by Karim El Koussa

  When the first pink tinted the horizon, he uttered, “Time for the lesson, dear,” he reminded her with a tender smile. “The others might be waiting for me at the Temple.”

  She smiled back at him, and the adoration in her green eyes touched him deeply. He hastened his steps towards the Temple of Ceres-Astarte, and she matched his eagerness with an energy that pleased him. On the terrace of the temple, she joined the other nine disciples with a simple look of respect towards him, and he appreciated her tactful attitude. Taking his stand in front of them, he focused at once on his teachings.

  “Good evening to all of you, brothers and sisters. Today, before the sun completely disappears in the horizon, you will have learned the value and meaning of the numbers Seven (7) and Eight (8).”

  “Seven is the perfect number of life and its ideal vehicle. In truth, it combines the three higher elements of the spirit with the three lower elements of the body. The fourth level, or shall I say, the middle one, is the mind. As such, it shows the great relationship that exists between Man and the Divine Monad. It represents the active mind, the godhead.”

  “The Heptad, Seven, is associated with the seven heavenly bodies that form the Music of the Spheres. These heavenly entities are also related to the seven days of the week. This association is best described as follows: Moon for Monday, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury for Wednesday, Jupiter for Thursday, Venus for Friday, Saturn for Saturday, and finally, the Sun for Sunday!”

  “Listen now and listen well, for the Truth I tell you! The manifested universe is also a constituent of seven, and so is the microcosm, or man, who is organized into the seven levels of evolution. These levels start at the bottom with the physical body. The sidereal body ensues at the second level and the desire body at the third. The fourth level, being the Mind, is the stage of equilibrium, as I mentioned before. The fifth corresponds to the human spirit and the sixth to the vivid spirit. The seventh level betokens the divine spirit.”

  “You should know by heart that the symbol of seven is the Seven-Pillared Temple. It means the Initiate. It is Sophia, and for that reason, I have dedicated this number to Jupiter.”

  Pythagoras waited for the questions that usually came up after his lecture, when none ensued after a few minutes; he decided to move on to the next number.

  “Fine! Since there are no questions, which means all is well understood, let’s move on to the number Eight (8)!” He proposed with a grin of approval. “Know, my friends, that Eight, in fact, is the Octad; the first actual cube. Its relationship with the Kosmic harmony allows a perfect balance that regulates everything in the universe. Hence, know that two cubed is eight, and 2+2+2+2 equals 8. It is also the source of all the musical ratios, and it is greatly associated with the Music of the Spheres. For that reason, I have called it the Embracer of Harmonies, or Harmonia, after the name given to the wife of Kadmus who was one of the Kabirim of Phoenicia.”

  “Eight, my friends, is also related to the principles of safety and steadfastness. It is the symbol of lasting friendship and of Love too! Because those emotional relationships have a healing effect, Eight can symbolize medicine and health, as well. Thus, I have assigned this number to Eshmun, the Phoenician god of medicine and dedicated it to the Air element.”

  “In conclusion, my final concept on this number is that Eight represents the balance that adjusts the combination of the three subjective aspects, and the five objective facets of the human consciousness.”

  His discourse for the night ended with this statement and, as usual, he took his Lyre to play some music while his disciples were immersed in their meditation.

  * * *

  Inside the crypt of the Temple of the Muses, the next morning, the Mathemagician continued where he had stopped the night before.

  “The number Nine (9), the Ennead, is the Number of Justice par excellence. Its square root is three, 3×3 equals 9, and 3+3+3 equals 9. It is called Horizon, or Oceanus, because it represents the crossing line between many important sequences. For example, it is the passage between the Number Ten, and the other numbers that led to it. With the Nine, which represents the spiritual number of our Mother Earth, the perfect nine months of gestation are completed for birth.”

  “Nine is also the number of the Muses, the nine sister-goddesses of harmony, arts, and sciences. On the other hand, it relates particularly to Terpsichore – the Muse of movement and dance. Nine embodies a powerful sacred number, for it is composed of the nine aspects of the Divine Energy, best described as follows:

  Heavenly three: Father, Mother, and Son.

  Humanly three: Mind, Matter, and Spirit.

  Elementally three: Fire, Water, and Air.

  “To you, my friends, I should certainly reveal that I tried three times – nine days each, in twenty seven phases – until I successfully completed the process of self-purification. Subsequently, I’ve attained a high spiritual perfection,” he avowed as a statement to the power of this number.

  He then granted to himself some time for recollection, and to his disciples, moments of reflection.

  Quietness waned when he opened up for questions. The debate that ensued dragged on for an hour. Due to the weariness that showed on some of his disciples’ faces, he dismissed them with his insistence that they take a long break in the garden. He set a time at night to resume his teachings. Some showed reluctance but abided in consideration to the others who welcomed the rest.

  When they came back at night, refreshed and smiling, Pythagoras was ready for them.

  “Let’s discuss the number Ten (10), the Dechada, which is the greatest number of all!” he started as soon as they resumed their places around him in a semi-circle. “Ten, my friends, is the perfect Number par excellence, for when we reach it, we simply revert back to the One! And thus, the process of Creation will repeat itself ad infinitum. In that regard, Ten is related to human fate, and I have dedicated it to the World and the Sun!”

  “The Truth I tell you! It is not a coincidence that you are the 10 chosen disciples to enter the Inner Circle at this round. It is also not a coincidence that the power of the Number Ten is so faultless, for it is the vessel that holds all things through a single form and power. It shapes the Cycle of Necessity, planned, as such, by the Divine Will. It also represents all the Divine Principles that evolve and rejoin in a new Unitas. Ten is the ensemble of the Absolute Truth. It is Heaven!”

  “Listen to this once again – the numbers: One plus Two plus Three plus Four equals Ten. These numbers, joined together in this way, compose the Sacred Decade of the gods. These are the gods that hold the Kosmos together, as well as all the manifested laws of Mother Nature.”

  Pythagoras paused for a minute. His power radiated upon his disciples. Their stances reflected impeccable attention and enthusiasm.

  “Let me conclude the Theology of Numbers by imparting that Numbers are not a creation of the human mind, but rather, a mystical existence of its own. They reside outside the intellect of man, or of any living form. As you have undoubtedly realized by now, there exists a certain hidden mystery in the Numbers. In fact, it is not by coincidence that the One created the Numbers, but by Divine Reason and Logic.”

  He then halted to stare at them, one by one.

  “Numbers, my friends, absorb – to a great extent – from their origin: the Great Monad, the reality of all things. Hence, if you want to discern the properties of Numbers, you must meditate upon their meanings. You will definitely commune with them. They are gods!”

  “Know that it is not-at-all easy to understand that concept. But if you achieve it, believe me, dear brothers and sisters, you will then become yourselves. You will utterly become what you are in reality: gods!” He concluded, with finality and smiled encouragingly.

  An imposing stillness prevailed over space and time.

  Silent was the night…

  .9.

  Initiation

  Cosmology and Theology of the Psyche

  In mid-winter of the year 512 BCE,
a tyrant, by the name of Telys, raided the political territory of Sybaris; a city adjoined to the northern borders of Crotona. From the very start, he masterminded, covertly, a dangerous scheme that triggered the countdown of a powerful revolution against the government. The state of affairs promptly degraded. The negative impact on the city worsened quickly. The Oligarchic rulers fled to the democratic safety of Crotona. Naturally, the authorities granted them political refuge, and sheltered them in the safe haven of a Temple that ensured their total protection.

  With this vacancy in the government, Telys took fast control of Sybaris. He imposed his oppressive autocracy, and levied drastic legislative changes. Consequently, discomfiture prevailed among the Sybarites, who ended yielding to the new ruler – few by fascination and most by fear.

  The Crotoniates turned their eyes and hearts towards Sybaris. The political deterioration of its adjacent neighbor unsettled them. At that time, some of the Pythagorean brothers resided in Sybaris, as part of a mission that consisted of studying the mentality of the local youth. The anguish for their safety proliferated among the Crotoniates and the Fraternity.

  Their angst proved justified. With such a tyranny in force, brutality eventuated. The new political body committed a major crime, whose dreadful consequences affected the Pythagorean Fraternity. Kidnapped and incarcerated, for no particular reason, the missionaries suffered the viciousness of despotism. Some even met a brutal death.

  In an adamant attempt to subdue Crotona as well, Telys hastened to dispatch two messengers, from his government, to its authorities. The irony of diplomacy, at this stage, was that it required Crotona’s own ambassador to Sybaris to accompany them. And so it happened that Crotona received his clear-cut message, commanding submission, and their ambassador reported the dire crimes committed against the Pythagorean missionaries.

  As one would reasonably expect, the authorities ranted and raved in indignation and grief. Their anger whirled to outrage when they read Telys’ dispatch to them. The tyrant ordered the immediate delivery of all political refugees, fault of which he would execute more Pythagoreans.

  The threat threw the authorities into horror and uncertainty. People of peace and compassion, themselves, they could not fathom, for even a minute, the idea of forfeiting the refugees to a sure, atrocious death, or even worst! On the other hand, to risk the casualty of more Pythagoreans shook them deep to the bones. While in their debate, a delegation took off to announce the bad news to Master Pythagoras.

  Despite his profound grief and resentment, he reacted with wisdom and control, requesting time to ponder on his decision. The fate of his disciples was at stake! Thus, he retreated to his cave, and to his lonely meditation. His resolution taken, hours later, he summoned two of his disciples, and went to meet with the authorities. The moment he stepped inside the House of Senate, his imperturbable attitude assuaged the fear of the authorities there present, and abated their anxiety. His verdict, however, disturbed them, “No negotiation with villains,” he declared firmly.

  In spite of their perplexity, they abided in total trust.

  Crotona would not yield to the demands of such a criminal, no matter what!

  In accordance, their rejection to any attempt of negotiation ensued resolute. Astonished by the reaction of the peaceful city, the Tyrant confronted a steadfast resistance from Crotona. Upon realizing his defeat, he veered his frustration and rage against his own messengers. He sentenced the Crotoniate ambassador to death. Still unsatisfied – his sense of cruelty insatiable – he ordered the sanguine massacre of all the Pythagorean captives.

  Such an atrocious act obviously broke all connection between the two cities. The Sybarite Oligarchic political refugees remained out of sight, and well protected inside the Temple of Apollo. Nevertheless, a state of alert settled in, to oppress the residents of both cities in their daily lives. The sense of security and peace waned, as terror of a possible war haunted their days and nights.

  * * *

  Upon Pythagoras’ decision and his instructions, life resumed inside the White City, as did his lectures. He intended to provide his disciples with a state of mind that would lift their spirits from the world of visible forms, and into the hidden essence of all things. His Theology of Numbers was, indeed, a great mystical science. It constituted their admission into a more Sublime Reality that would enhance their perception of the Intelligent Fire: the Divine Monad, the creator of these forms, and the mover that kept changing them.

  That particular day, the disciples settled down on their usual places inside the catacomb of the Temple of the Muses. Pythagoras watched them pensively with fatherly affection. He decided that the time had come for him to Initiate them secretly into the Pythagorean Perfection. This third degree comprised a dual path: the Science of Cosmology and the Science of Psychology. Both esoteric sciences deal profoundly on the Mysteries of Life.

  “It is not by the air which I breathe, nor by the water which I drink, that I should ever blame myself for revealing the Mysteries to you, dear brothers and sisters. Honor them with wisdom,” he cautioned them in a firm, yet kind voice that opened his way to their hearts.

  “Listen now - Fire exists in the center of the Universe. The Sun is nothing more than its reflection. This Fire, I tell you, is the conscious Universal Mind – the Great Monad!”

  “The planets have developed from the Sun to revolve around it, and form what I call a small universe[43]. The invisible Anti-Earth, which is the Spiritual Urantia, started its rotational movement first. The Earth, the Moon, and the Sun followed it, in that order. The Sun operates as the central provider of life; it is the generator of fire and energy in a more relative proportion. Venus tagged along then Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and lastly the Zodiac.

  “That Small Universe is enveloped by an exterior fire. Beyond it stretches the infinite void. And from that void, the small universe breathes in and out the infinite air.”

  “There exist, indeed, an endless number of small universes that are governed by the same order of the Number, like ours, of course. However, each one of them assumes a specific role within the immeasurable Kosmos. I use the word Kosmos, once again, to remind you that it indicates a well-ordered and harmonious universe.”

  “After its creation, the Kosmos has surely continued its existence, upon a Divine Plan. Eventually, some of these planets should present a great probability of maintaining some form of physical life, somehow similar to ours on Earth – the Sphere of Generation. It is certainly my ratiocination that intelligence, and spirits, as well as life of some kind, inhabit part of the entire ensemble of these small universes.”

  “Behold, my friends, the important role that Earth – the sphere of the visible – assumes in its small universe. It is on its surface that occur all the operations of the incarnation and disincarnation of the spirits. On the other rotating spheres, say around the Sun, and perhaps on the moon, there exist spirits who are relatively higher than those who took physical bodies on Earth. However, much higher spirits, almost as spiritually pure as Fire or Light, live on the Sun, which is a solid reflection of the Intelligent Fire: God – the Great Monad. Think about it! The day is young and long, and the sun is still shining. Take your time to reflect on the Kosmos, its universes, and its spirits!”

  With that unexpected note, the Master finished his first session of the third degree. He left his disciples to ponder upon these Mysteries by themselves.

  Later, at nightfall, the mathematikoi, both young men and women, took a walk along the sandy shore on the outskirts of the White City. The sky was clear... Majestic! It exhibited the celestial bodies, as in a beautiful display of objets d’art, strangely suspended in the spacious void above. Akin to a sacred kingdom with unreadable signs, the sky enthralled the humans, down on Earth.

  The Mathemagician, with his white tunic and purple robe on his wide shoulders, walked a few steps ahead of them. With calm confidence, he led his Inner Circle of 10 disciples to the Temple of Ceres-Astarte for the lesson
of the night.

  “Look at the sky,” he intimated when they reached the terrace of the Temple. “Observe the space with the sharp eyes of an eagle, and take your time. If you manage an intelligent scrutiny, you will perceive the movement of all the elements of space. Yes, right! Everything in the Kosmos moves. Can’t you see it?” he inquired, while his eyes pierced the sky, as they did.

  Moments later, a voice issued, somehow hesitant, “I think I saw something. I guess so. Yes… I can see that now!” Aristaeus of Crotona confirmed with excitement.

  “Wow!” Theano exclaimed in awe. “I have never noticed it before in my life. This is so beautiful!”

  Pythagoras glimpsed at her with a tender look then reverted back to the stars. “Yes it is, indeed,” he murmured, for he never ceased to admire the beauty of Creation. “Nothing stands still,” he commented musingly, and went into silence in order to give the other disciples enough time to discover that discipline on their own. As brothers and sisters would do, they shared their thoughts, helped each other to see what they had discerned, and exchanged their enthusiasm like young explorers would do in the face of a new discovery.

  Pythagoras raised his voice above their talkfest to deliver, “As I told you previously, Earth is a Sphere. Today, learn that it has, in effect, a double movement. You have studied that it revolves around the Sun, the Sphere of the visible fire. Tonight, know that it rotates around its axis at the same time.”