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philosopher. It is said that the disciples of Pythagoras never addressed him or referred to
him by his own name, but always as The Master or That Man. This may have been
because of the fact that the name Pythagoras was believed to consist of a certain number
of specially arranged letters with great sacred significance. The Word magazine has
printed an article by T. R. Prater, showing that Pythagoras initiated his candidates by
means of a certain formula concealed within

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PYTHAGORAS, THE FIRST PHILOSOPHER.

From Historia Deorum Fatidicorum.

During his youth, Pythagoras was a disciple of Pherecydes and Hermodamas, and while in his teens
became renowned for the clarity of his philosophic concepts. In height he exceeded six feet; his body was
as perfectly formed as that of Apollo. Pythagoras was the personification of majesty and power, and in his
presence a felt humble and afraid. As he grew older, his physical power increased rather than waned, so
that as he approached the century mark he was actually in the prime of life. The influence of this great soul
over those about him was such that a word of praise from Pythagoras filled his disciples with ecstasy, while
one committed suicide because the Master became momentarily irritate over something he had dome.
Pythagoras was so impressed by this tragedy that he never again spoke unkindly to or about anyone.

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the letters of his own name. This may explain why the word Pythagoras was so highly
revered.

After the death of Pythagoras his school gradually disintegrated, but those who had
benefited by its teachings revered the memory of the great philosopher, as during his life
they had reverenced the man himself. As time went on, Pythagoras came to be regarded
as a god rather than a man, and his scattered disciples were bound together by their
common admiration for the transcendent genius of their teacher. Edouard Schure, in his
Pythagoras and the Delphic Mysteries, relates the following incident as illustrative of the
bond of fellowship uniting the members of the Pythagorean School:

"One of them who had fallen upon sickness and poverty was kindly taken in by an
innkeeper. Before dying he traced a few mysterious signs (the pentagram, no doubt) on
the door of the inn and said to the host, 'Do not be uneasy, one of my brothers will pay
my debts.' A year afterwards, as a stranger was passing by this inn he saw the signs and
said to the host, 'I am a Pythagorean; one of my brothers died here; tell me what I owe
you on his account.'"