Page 183 - The_secret_teachings_of_all_ages_Neat

number two they have affixed the name of strife and audaciousness, and to that of three,
justice. For, as doing an injury is an extreme on the one side, and suffering one is an
extreme on the on the one side, and suffering in the middle between them. In like manner
the number thirty-six, their Tetractys, or sacred Quaternion, being composed of the first
four odd numbers added to the first four even ones, as is commonly reported, is looked
upon by them as the most solemn oath they can take, and called Kosmos." (Isis and
Osiris.)

Earlier in the same work, Plutarch also notes: "For as the power of the triangle is
expressive of the nature of Pluto, Bacchus, and Mars; and the properties of the square of
Rhea, Venus, Ceres, Vesta, and Juno; of the Dodecahedron of Jupiter; so, as we are
informed by Eudoxus, is the figure of fifty-six angles expressive of the nature of
Typhon." Plutarch did not pretend to explain the inner significance of the symbols, but
believed that the relationship which Pythagoras established between the geometrical
solids and the gods was the result of images the great sage had seen in the Egyptian
temples.

Albert Pike, the great Masonic symbolist, admitted that there were many points
concerning which he could secure no reliable information. In his Symbolism, for the 32°
and 33°, he wrote: "I do not understand why the 7 should be called Minerva, or the cube,
Neptune." Further on he added: "Undoubtedly the names given by the Pythagoreans to
the different numbers were themselves enigmatical and symbolic-and there is little doubt
that in the time of Plutarch the meanings these names concealed were lost. Pythagoras
had succeeded too well in concealing his symbols with a veil that was from the first
impenetrable, without his oral explanation * * *."

This uncertainty shared by all true students of the subject proves conclusively that it is
unwise to make definite statements founded on the indefinite and fragmentary
information available concerning the Pythagorean system of mathematical philosophy.
The material which follows represents an effort to collect a few salient points from the
scattered records preserved by disciples of Pythagoras and others who have since
contacted his philosophy.

METHOD OF SECURING THE NUMERICAL POWER OF WORDS

The first step in obtaining the numerical value of a word is to resolve it back into its
original tongue. Only words of Greek or Hebrew derivation can be successfully analyzed
by this method, and all words must be spelled in their most ancient and complete forms.
Old Testament words and names, therefore, must be translated back into the early
Hebrew characters and New Testament words into the Greek. Two examples will help to
clarify this principle.

The Demiurgus of the Jews is called in English Jehovah, but when seeking the numerical
value of the name Jehovah it is necessary to resolve the name into its Hebrew letters. It
becomes יהוה, and is read from right to left. The Hebrew letters are: ה, He; ו, Vau; ה, He; י,
Yod; and when reversed into the English order from left to right read: Yod-He-Vau-He.