THE EGYPTIAN OEDIPUS’S HIEROGLYPHIC GYMNASIUM

...they grasped [divine things], so that no mystery in sacred Theosophy Divine wisdom or the direct knowledge of God. was so hidden that they did not hope to be able to unlock it through the symbolic reasoning of Arithmetic and Geometry. For since sensible things Physical objects perceived by the senses. exist as certain images of those things which are invisible, and thus all things have a certain proportion to one another—though it be hidden and incomprehensible to us—and since these proportions cannot be conceived without likeness; hence it seemed best to the Ancients, in their continuous contemplation of heavenly things, to employ those images and likenesses which, as they were simpler and more abstract, would also more aptly express the principles of sublime things. Of such a kind are mathematical contemplations, which, since they are mostly occupied with numbers and Geometric figures, brought forth such an abundance of speculations that no great man among the Ancients approached the difficult mysteries of divine things by any other way than the aforementioned path.

The entire search for truth lies in mathematical disciplines.

Hence, Boethius appropriately asserts that no science of divine things can be reached without geometry original: "ἀγεωμέτρητον" (ageometreton). This is a reference to the famous inscription at the entrance of Plato's Academy: "Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here.". Pythagoras, truly, and Plato, and their followers, placed the entire search for truth in numbers and geometric figures; indeed, St. Augustine proves from Plato that the number of things to be created was the primary model in the mind of the Creator. Aristotle could certainly not hand down the difference between mathematical species to us in any other way than through the cooperation of numbers; for when he wished to hand down the science of how one natural form is present in another, he judged it necessary to flee to mathematical forms, when he said: Just as a triangle is in a square, and so in all the rest in a hexagon original: "Καθάπερ τρίγωνον ἐν τῷ τετραγώνῳ, καὶ ἔτι πᾶσι ἐν τῷ ἑξαγώνῳ". This refers to Aristotle's idea in De Anima that more complex forms or souls contain the functions of simpler ones, just as a square can be divided into triangles.; that is, just as a triangle is in a quadrangle, so the lower is present in its superior; which will be explained more fully hereafter. And to embrace many things in a few words, the entire doctrine of truth, by the testimony of Boethius, is encompassed both by multitude and by magnitude Boethius divided the mathematical arts into "multitude" (discrete quantities like numbers) and "magnitude" (continuous quantities like space and time).. No one should doubt that the Ancient Greeks drew all these things from the Egyptians; for just as they were the first inventors of letters and mathematics, so, relying on their knowledge of these things, they used them to express all the greatest mysteries of the higher Beings, as will appear shortly. Moreover, they divided the entire mathematical object into fourfold faculties, from which the name of the mathematical Quadrivium has remained even to this day: they are Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astrology In the 17th century, "Astrologia" often referred to the entire science of the stars, including what we now call Astronomy..

The Mathematical Quadrivium.

A species of natural magic called Thaumaturgy.

From these, then—as if from a most rich spring distinguished by four streams—other and further rivulets flowed out and increased the Egyptian school original: "palæstram", literally a gymnasium or wrestling ground, used here metaphorically for a field of rigorous study. in a wonderful way. Most celebrated among these were Mechanics, Architecture, and that more hidden part of natural Magic, which consists in the knowledge of constructing machines of every kind with a certain impenetrable dexterity of genius; which the more recent writers have therefore judged should be called Thaumaturgy From the Greek thauma (wonder) and ergon (work). It refers to "wonder-working," or using mechanical engineering to create effects that appear miraculous.. Each of these will be treated extensively in this and the following Class, as far as the powers of our genius permit. To the work, then.