Pythagoras • on Numbers
❝Number is Unit divided.❞
❝ Ιf we understand numerical and mathematical relationships,
then we will understand the structure of the universe.❞
❝ A man must first conquer practical Virtues,
so the soul can move towards the theoretical ones.❞
Pythagoras curated the beauty of ancient Greek letters.
According to Geometry, he set the angles, peripheries, and straight lines.
ততত
❝ 3 is the first Number ❞
a Number is the mathematical entity with sum of self-addition smaller than the product of self-multiplication. [intentionally written this way]
• 2+2=4 is equal to 2x2=4, thus 2 is not a Number.
• 3+3=6 is bigger than 3x3=9, thus 3 is a Number.
For Pythagoras and his followers the essence of things lies in numbers and mathematical relationships, and consider them the laws that govern our physical and etheric world.Number is the key to the world. It manifests its active presence in every thing because everything is in motion, every motion is subject to a law and an order, of which number is the expression.
Pythagorian Numerology - 3
The 3 aspects of a Whole are Energy, Resistance, and Motion.
i.e. Energy/Matter, Life or Beginning, End.
Number 3 expresses the organization without which no activity is possible. It is the formulation of the balance of two opposites, with the help of an intermediate term.
ততত
A large part of Pythagoras' philosophy came from the sacred numbers in the Orphic Tradition and from his studies in Egypt, Babylonia & Persia.
The conclusion is this :
Tetraktýs is the quintessential symbol of the Cosmos.
The first four numbers are those by which the world is governed in harmony, and this harmony is a system of three chords.
The fourth, the fifth, the eighth, and the double eighth, whose proportions are found in the first four numbers.
This harmony , according to Iamblichus, governs the music of the heavenly spheres, on which, according to Plato, stands a Siren who sings in a certain tonality. the sirens are eight (as many as the trumpets of an octave) and their song creates a unique harmony.
No complete work dealing with the inner meaning of numbers has survived, apart from a treatise attributed to Iamblichus, On the Theological Arithmetic, in which the properties of the first 10 numbers are developed from a mathematical and harmonic point of view.
In the work of Iamblichus, "Theology of Arithmetic",
the correspondences and the 'transcreations' (predicative names for every one ) of
The first elements of the Pythagorian Tetraktýs, are as follows :
• Monas: Zeus, Prometheus and Chaos
• Dyás: The Muse Erato, Isis, Rhea, justice and nature
• Triás: Hekate, wisdom and the three phases of the Moon
• Tetrás: Hercules, the 4 elements, justice and the 4 seasons
• Pentás: Nemesis, Divine Providence, Aphrodite, Athena, justice, ether or quintessence, the fifth element (Spirit)
• Exás: The Universe or the World, Muse Thalia and harmony
• Eptás : Athena, virginity and luck
• Oktás: The changeable nature and the Muse Euterpi
• Enneás: Oceanus, Prometheus, Hephaestus, Hera and Hyperion
If what you've read so far intrigues you then you might want to read Iamblichus' ❝Theology of Arithmetic❞ .
I have a copy at the Bookshelf. You can Read Online if you wish.
Metaphysical facet of Numbers
ZERO: it is the absolute One, the beginning of everything, the unknown god, the primary cause, it is in everything and nowhere, it is the state of existence before unity, duality and trinity, that is, before all existence, differentiation and numbering.
ONE: is considered the beginning of all numbers and therefore encompasses the virtues of all. It is the first number from which the other infinite numbers are derived. It is the image of the universal principle, the circle that acquires a center. This is where the first aspect of time is created.
TWO: shows separation, dimension. It is the essential "being" of nature, from which everything in the world was created. One could say that the manifestation of everything in the world comes from the union of unity and duality, male and female, finite and infinite.
THREE: are the 3 aspects of a whole, such as Energy (module), Resistance (duad) and Motion (triad), i.e. Energy, Matter, Life or Beginning, Middle, End. It expresses the organization without which no activity is possible. It is the obvious formulation of the balance of two opposites with the help of a third, intermediate term.
FOUR: has unlimited significance for the Pythagoreans, due to the fact that the sum of the first four numbers produces 10 ( 1+2+3+4=10), which added theosophically (1+0=1) yields the original unit symbolizing the return of all growth down to the natural level and recycling to the primary unit. The first solid shape, the tetrahedron, which corresponds to 4 (because the point is proportional to the unit, the line to the dual, the surface to the triad, the solid to the tetrad) has a base of 3 and a vertex of 1. So it is the creator of everything, symbolizes that phase of creation in which Matter manifested itself and solid bodies were formed.
FIVE: includes the archetypal numbers, 2, the first even number, and 3, the first odd number, which is why it is called "marriage". The Pythagoreans attributed to 5 the meaning of incongruity, because the two originally dissimilar types of number, even and odd, were reconciled and gave birth to 5. 5 is the center of the ten, symbolized by the five-pointed star, a symbol of creative love, beauty , harmony, health.
SIX: represents the phase of creation where living beings appear. It is the first perfect number. It is produced by multiplying the first even (2) and the first odd (3), unlike 5 which is produced by adding the corresponding numbers and divides exactly into two equal parts (3+3=6), hence the symbol of the yoke, as a concept of balance. It has to do with the world of the Soul, as an intermediary between the mind and the body, which it harmonizes.
SEVEN: considered a virgin, without mother and father, it has the value of the unit as a secondary reason, because it is not born from a number other than ten, as is the case with the rest. The Pythagoreans equate the heptad with Being endowed with mind. Because 7 brings periods to an end and brings them back to their starting point.
꘏
They also argued that the heptas puts the world in order and this can also be seen with a lexical arithmetic example (association and transformation of words into numbers and vice versa, based on ancient Greek numbering, which used letters of the alphabet):
as ΛΟΓΟΣ (Logos) have in mind this "triad" (at least) : Reason, Ratio, Names/Words.
ত In the beginning the world was in ΑΤΑΞΙΑ. (the lack of order, Non-order, Chaos)
ΑΤΑΞΙΑ = 373 = ΛΟΓΟΣ (in the beginning was Logos).
ΑΤΑΞΙΑ : (A=1 + T=300 + A=1 + Ξ=60 + I=10 + A=1) = 373
ΛΟΓΟΣ : (Λ=30 + O=70 + Γ=3 + O=70 + Σ=200) = 373
ত To put it in order we must apply ΔΙΑΤΑΞΗ (Arrangement/Order)
ΔΙΑΤΑΞΗ = 586 = ΕΠΤΑΣ (Seven)
(Δ=4 + I=10 + A=1 + T=300 + A=1 + Ξ=60 + I=10 + Σ=200) = 586
(E=5 + Π=80 + T=300 + A=1 + Σ=200)= 586
ত So from disorder with the new arrangement the universe comes to ΕΥΤΑΞΙΑ (Eu-order)
ΕΥΤΑΞΙΑ = 777
(E=5 + Y=400 + T=300 + A=1 + Ξ=60 + I=10 + A=1) = 777
꘏
EIGHT: is related to 2 since it is its cube (2*2*2=8).
Passing through the seventh phase of creation, in which beings developed intelligence, in the eighth phase they manifest feelings and relationships with each other and thus bring about the mental evolution of the being.
NINE: is the return of every manifestation to the unit, to the father, i.e. the final restoration of everything. With 9, the first cycle closes and the new cycle begins.
TEN: a new phase begins, a new cycle of the global event.
Available readings on Bookshelf :
Intellectual Meditations
delve into the Essence of Universal Truths,
expand your mental horizons towards infinity,
and experience Cosmic Forms & Ideas.
Follow noetic trails that lead you to Cosmic horizons
& cultivate your Spirit via the path of Intellect.
Meditate on and Contemplate with,
concepts & theories, symbols & archetypes.
An intro guide is available here.
.png)
