“Therefore, on Earth, the Human Being remains in a constant state of tension because the material world diverts him from his ultimate goal. His goal was and always will be the redevelopment of his Intelligence, through a chain of reincarnations that would reinstate his lost Spirituality and Divinity. And from that moment on, his reincarnations on Earth are not merely a fall into matter anymore, but rather an elliptical ascension towards the higher spheres. Why? Because Earth, as I said, has fashioned his final physical level! Hence, his ultimate mission is to become what he was, and is in reality, a Son of God. You should not be amazed at this knowledge for, in truth, we are the sons and daughters of the Earth, but also of a Celestial Race. Know thyself!”
With these words, the Mathemagician finished one of the most important parts of his secret Initiation. With a great satisfaction, he discerned the comprehension in his students’ eyes and smiles. In fact, their looks conveyed a divine light.
He smiled widely.
* * *
Life in that City of a god consisted of a daily conduct of Equality, Justice, and Freedom. A strong belief in friendship, as well as a great sense of Love and Peace, engulfed the ever-increasing Pythagorean Fraternity.
Night surged with an incredible calmness. The stars filled the sky with scenic lights that paved the way for the Moon, the Queen of the sky, to reign over the streets, the houses, and the temples of the White City. The mathematikoi convened with enthusiasm for another esoteric lesson at the terrace of the Temple of the Muses, there, where the Master once summoned the Golden Eagle. Pythagoras resumed the promulgation of his wisdom. He presented them with the Divine Psyche. He discussed its inevitable ascension, back to the Heavens above, where it truly belongs.
“The Psyche, or Soul, is invisible and immortal. It is a self-moving unit, or Number, divided into three elements. The first, being the nous or mind, is the seat of Intelligence. The phren comes secondly. It epitomizes the feeling, the instinct, and the raison d'être, or the vital principle. The third element is the thumos, passion, representation, and performance.”
“Phren, the vital principle, resides in the brain and heart of both Humans and Animals. The thumos dwells only in the heart of both species, formed of the same natural elements, and sharing the same natural life. However, only the nous – the mind – characterizes the essential self of Man alone, and is eternal with God.”
“Listen, my friends, and listen well! The Psyche represents the Astral Essence of the physical and mortal body that holds, within itself, an Eternal Spirit. It is through its power of action that this Spirit has formed the human spiritual body that is the Psyche. Thus, the Psyche, serving on the sensitive level, is the instrument that moves and animates the physical. Without it, the body remains an inert force.”
“I have named the Psyche: the Subtle Chariot. It’s the secret chariot that, upon the physical death, lifts up the Spirit from Earth to the Kingdom of Heaven – the Divine Excellence. When this transpires, the thumos – passion – returns to Earth. And the Phren – the vital principle – is eliminated. The disembodied Psyche will…”
“Excuse me, Master. I am sorry to interrupt you,” Glorippus cut him off with a frown of perplexity.
“Yes brother?”
“What happens to the mind at this stage?”
“At this stage, the nous joins the Universal Mind, God the Great Monad.”
“I see…”
“Master, you were saying something about the disembodied Psyche?” Hippon, one of his young mathematikoi hurriedly asked. “What happens to it?”
Pythagoras nodded. “Right brother, I shall continue. Figure this out. Perplexed and confused by its new state of disembodiment, the Psyche cannot fathom whether it is dead or alive. It enters then in a state of ecstasy that prevails in the Ether as long as it revolves in harmonious movements with the Kosmic Music. When heard, the Music of the Spheres releases the Psyche from all links with the Earth left behind. At this stage of new existence, the Human Psyche starts to distinguish its divine nature, and contemplates the gods for a while before meeting with them. Then and only then, great feelings of peace and love infuse and embrace it in a state of illumination.”
“My friends! Never forget the other non-human disembodied souls that pervade the air above us, subsist around us, and intervene in our lives. These angelic and demonic daemons fashion our dreams, impart us with health and illness, and appear when you beckon them through divinations, oracles, and rites of purification.”
He stepped forward and asked around, “How many times have you performed the sacred magical ritual of the Pentad inside our sanctuaries? How many times have you used the power of the number Five, drawn inside a circle, to exorcise the bad daemons?”
By this note of alert, he invited their questions. He waited patiently for as long as it took them to deal with their individual speculations.
At last, the mathematikoi – Leocritus of Carthage – broke the silence, “Master, how would the Human Psyche be judged in this case?”
The question was relevant. His interest shone in his eyes, and in the fast pitch of his voice.
“That’s a very good query, Leocritus. When the Psyche comes to meet the gods face to face in the Ether, its deeds are weighed at once on the scale of Life. If found worthy, and equitable in the goodness done, and in the peace and love lived, then to be reborn in flesh would be unnecessary since the Psyche would have earned the right to join the gods. Hermes, the Gatekeeper, guides these purest souls to the realm of gods, and away from Earth.”
“On the other hand, a corrupt and guilty Psyche is condemned to return to Earth by the load of its own wrongness. Imprisoned by Hermes inside a new body on the Sphere of Generation, it assumes its punishment of self-purification through the cycle of death and rebirth. It remains entrapped inside that wheel until it accomplishes a total purification from every wrong and evil committed along the cycle.”
“In order to attain the desired freedom, the Psyche must control the illusions of matter, and live the virtues of a good life. At that stage, it would have developed its intelligence again, gained back all its spiritual faculties, and realized the beginning and the end within itself. Once reverted to its pure and sacred reality, the Psyche ascends to enter into the Divine State of the Universal Soul – Maia, and merge with its Light. It ultimately becomes one with the Great Monad; the Divine Intelligence.”
At that revelation, most of his Disciples expressed their elation; most, but not the mathematikoi Leon of Metapontium, who stood up to prompt, “Master, a question please! When the Psyche unifies with the One, does it lose its individuality?”
Impressed by the pertinence of the inquiry, the Master regarded him with respect. He then observed his audience and said, “Brothers and sisters, Leon has advanced a very intelligent question here! Pay attention and listen carefully. The highest state in the evolution of man is not the act of merging into the unconsciousness of the Universal Mind, but rather the act of sharing the Supreme Consciousness in creative action!” He proclaimed to the hearing of all, and to the echo of their heartbeats.
Waves of awe followed. Grins of delight drew on the faces of those who had fully grasped the meaning behind such a strong statement.
“Yes, my friends!” Pythagoras lifted his eyebrows in amusement, smiled in response, and nodded with satisfaction. “And the greater news is that when the Psyche is unified with the One, it becomes a pure Spirit, which is a controlling power. It does not lose its personality at all! In rejoining God, it accomplishes, in fact, its own individuality. It attains the highest status of Man, which I call the Kosmic Man level. This Kosmic Man is a half-god. Therefore, the Intelligent Light of the Great Monad, I tell you with faith, feeds this half-god eternally!”
He halted as the murmurs of wonder surged from the Assembly of his mathematikoi. He could feel their positive and passionate vibrations reaching him. They exchanged their feedback with each other, and he let it be for a while. Theano stared at him with sparkles of delight and, fo
r a moment, the beauty of her soul fully transpired in the green ocean of her eyes. His heart swelled with emotion, yet he remained composed. He readied himself to convey the last revelation of his hieros logos for he was about to complete the third degree Initiation of Perfection.
“Therefore, brothers and sisters,” he started in a strong tone to compel their soundless attention. “Knowing is willing, loving is creating, and being is shining the truth and beauty of becoming a god.”
With that, the Mathemagician unearthed the final Truth. His eyes shone bright, and his body seemed transfigured.
Silence reigned, so did the stillness that captured his Disciples. The Truth overwhelmed their capacity to utter a single sound. Their eyes reflected a sober worship towards their Master, who had just asserted their potentiality to become half-gods. But, more importantly for Pythagoras, their souls shone with the depth of their comprehension. Their spirits relished in the eagerness of their next phase; the ultimate expedition that would make them like God!
Man’s end is to become like God - a god!
In fact, they had finally realized that this was the fate of every atom in the Kosmos, and of every small universe in space.
Silence prevailed. The Heavenly sky and all its bright stars witnessed their wonder, and beheld among them the imminent rising of new gods.
Quiet was the night.
Truth be told, Pythagoras was the first man on the Grecian Land to say “I tell you the Truth”. The Truth, which he had just proclaimed, formed a bond between Heaven and Earth, and between gods and men, to combine all of them together, in a Society of friendship, justice, and wisdom. This Pythagorean Society accomplished the first Human experience of joining the Exoteric to the Esoteric, the Semi-Sacred to the Sacred.
As it came to be, the Pythagoreans walked the middle path of life. Akin to their Master before them, they stood out in the Center of their existence with their particularities, and expanded towards the Circle, the Universal. Within a bond of true friendship, they practiced the first monastic life ever witnessed in the history of humanity. They lived as meditative thinkers, philosophers, scientists, and secularizers. While others had failed before them, they succeeded in uniting both justice and wisdom in their collective conduct of daily life.
In view of that, the White City of Pythagoras embodied an earthly order, successfully manifested from the Heavenly Kosmic City; an efficient and harmonious city!
* * *
One Sunday afternoon in the month of August, a beautifully memorable day befell on every mind and heart in the White City. The Sun radiated in splendor over the gracious procession of young women in white. From the Temple of Ceres-Astarte on the shore, they advanced through the narrow passage around the hill, and all the way into the White City.
On both sides of the street that led to the terrace of the Temple of Al-Apollo, people of all ages hailed at them, and cheered with excitement and joy.
At the head of the procession, Theano appeared more gorgeous than ever; her eyes sunny, her smile bright, and her cheeks tinted with the pink hue of shyness and warmth. Her wedding tunic carried the five-pointed star on her chest. Her bouquet of white roses, and her simple bridal wreath of white sweet alyssum, gave her the appearance of an angel. From the crowds, petals of roses drizzled on her. Her joy increased as her heart swelled with emotion.
Approaching the Temple, Pythagorean dancers surrounded her with the sacred Dorian dance that welcomed her into the Circle of Marriage; one of the many within the Great Circle of Necessity. Theano, her steps light, followed the melodious tempo of the Lyre with graceful movements until she reached Pythagoras, waiting for her at the steps of the terrace.
Time came to a standstill.
She admired her future husband, magnificent in a royal purple robe over his white linen tunic. She deemed his white beard seemly to the beauty of his age. Never had a man carried his late fifties with such nobleness. Or so she thought.
Pythagoras met her with the eyes of his soul before smiling widely at her. All too slowly, her eyes in his, she ascended one step up while he hastened three steps down to her. He took her hands in his. His gaze warmed her face with delight.
“Shall we?” he murmured in a husky tone that touched her deeply.
“Yes my love, for ever,” her heart replied out loud.
Hand in hand, they traversed the terrace, crowded with happy people. Fellow members waved at them with great enjoyment. Their guests from Crotona saluted their passage with affection. Guests from other adjacent cities nodded in respectful attention. Theano felt overwhelmed with happiness.
The couple halted for a second at the gate of the Temple of Light. The velvety melody that drifted to them was but the prelude of the hallowed atmosphere that received them inside. The altar radiated under the sunrays that diffused in from the openings of the walls. Theano gasped in admiration. In tacit response, Pythagoras squeezed her hand tenderly. At that moment, the melodic music of the lyre faded smoothly to give way to the sacred hymn that eight Pythagoreans of the Inner Circle intoned to El-Apollo. At once, the noise from the terrace gave way to a unanimous deferential quietness. Pythagoras and Theano continued their way to the altar. There, they stood in veneration, their hands joined together.
The Mathemagician uttered the sacred words, the ineffable name, to summon the Spirit of the One to descend upon them. Out of nowhere, as if by magic, fume of incense wafted and blended with the sunrays to encircle them. They breathed in the powerful aroma with delight. Without unlinking their hands, they turned to face each other. Their eyes dwelled together in the vision of the manifestation of the Eternal Truth in their union.
By marrying Theano, Pythagoras finally touched the peak of achievement in the manifested life. He in fact had completed the fusion of two opposite, yet complementary, human beings. Their love justified their union, just as they believed. They were in truth fallen models of the One, just as Pythagoras had previously perceived in his contemplations. Deep down within himself, he admitted his surrender to the Woman, whom he had always rejected.
He, the Philosopher with a vow of chastity; he who had consecrated all his Love to Sophia – the great wisdom – in the invisible abode of the One; he, Pythagoras, had ultimately fallen for the love of Theano, one of his Disciples, a woman dwelling on Earth, the Sphere of Generation!
Outside the walls of the Temple, that evening, on the wide open terrace and all around, the Pythagorean Society, and their guests, celebrated the phenomenal union. Pythagoras, and his lovely bride Theano, participated in the celebration of their marriage with unveiled happiness.
Music, dance, and a bit of wine, until dawn…
.10.
The Martyr of Sophia
Two years after the massacre of the Pythagorean missionaries, the tension between Crotona and Sybaris skulked in the shadows of iniquity. The Sybarite political refugees subsisted under the protection of the local authorities in the safety of the Temple of Apollo. The menace of an imminent war remained a major cause of disturbance for both populations. Their peace of mind and sense of security remained scarce. Forcefully, the state of vigilance prevailed in spite of the absence of any real sign of hostilities, other than what their speculations concocted.
Until one day, Telys, the Tyrant, surprised Crotona with a formal dispatch in which he demanded the immediate abdication of its political protection on the Sybarite fugitives. He threatened the authorities with ghastly repercussions if they would not consent at once. “Let it be certain in your minds that, the House of Senate, the Pythagorean Society, and the city of Crotona will bear the consequences if you refuse to abide to my demand at once.”
Bound by their previous agreement with Pythagoras, whom they trusted without limit, the authorities stood up to the tyrant… In spite of the significant threat of his powerful army, they resisted the political pressures with faith and determination. They refuted his intimidation, and rejected his demand.
Along with their written rebuttal, their reply contai
ned the same strong statement that Pythagoras had ensued two years back. “We do not negotiate with criminals.”
In the same toughened tone, they reminded him that Sybaris owed its freedom to Pythagoras, like many other Italian cities. They condemned him for massacring the peaceful Pythagorean missionaries; a cruelty that remained hard to forget and forgive. They ended their missive with “The great independence and democracy of Sybaris, offered by Pythagoras, was a gift from the Heavens and the god Apollo. This blessing bechanced the city well before you captured it and turned it into an autocracy and a haven for miscreants.”
The news reached Crotona quickly. Rumors have it that after reading their reply, Telys went mad… very mad!
The days that elapsed did not pacify the revived antagonism, quite the opposite. Telys ranted and raved in his own kingdom of tyranny until he finally declared war on Crotona. The Crotoniates, in turn, never took the necessary precaution in fortifying their defense, or reorganizing their small military force. Despite the two-year tension in which they had tarried, their alert had remained minimal until that moment. Crotona had failed to work on enhancing its military capabilities that subsisted scarcely and deficiently. At that crucial time in its history, Crotona started realizing, in mounting horror, that its defensive army would not stand a chance in front of Telys’ powerful one!
Thoroughly aware of their dangerous deficiency, Pythagoras engaged in intense speculations. He probed his means to save Crotona, and ultimately his Fraternity. In disquietude, he debated his own philosophy of nonviolence. War contradicted all that he stood for, and all that his principles stood on! He had often proclaimed, “War is the leader and legislator of massacres.”
The sole idea of hostilities quaked his being in abhorrence. Yet, as an Initiate of the first order, he heeded the voice of duty, a voice he could not ignore, urging him to take action. He concluded that the defense of the self, and of the beloved ones, would justify his response to the imperative call.
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