The Theology of Arithmetic

...of the craftsman and the crafted. For the Monad is also capable of producing the Dyad original: dyados; the principle of "two" or duality, which the Pythagoreans associated with matter and division by being differentiated. Indeed, it is easier for a craftsman to take matter to himself than it is for the reverse—for matter to take a craftsman.

3 The seed, likewise, of both females and males, insofar as it is capable of being sown by the Monad, provides a nature that is indistinguishable and common to both. In its movement up to a certain point, it begins to form a fetus or a plant; thereafter, it undergoes a change and transition toward one side or the other, moving from potentiality dynamis; the latent power to become something into actuality energeia; the state of being fully realized or active.

If the potential of every number resides in the Monad, then the Monad would be "Intelligible Number" original: noētos arithmos; number as a pure concept in the divine mind, rather than a physical count of objects in the strict sense; it does not yet manifest anything active, but contains all things together in thought. According to a certain meaning, they even call the Monad Matter original: hyle; the "raw material" of the universe and indeed the All-receiver, since it is capable of providing the Dyad (which is Matter in the strict sense) and is capable of containing all rational principles original: logoi; the "blueprints" or formative reasons of things, if indeed it happens to be the provider and distributor to all.

Likewise, they say the Monad is the Chaos described by Hesiod A famous Greek poet (c. 700 BC); in his "Theogony," Chaos is the first thing to exist, the "yawning gap" from which the world emerges. as the first-born, from which the rest of things come as if from a Monad. It is conceived as a state of confusion and blending, a darkness and shadow characterized by the lack of structure and the lack of distinction of all the things that follow it.

Anatolius Anatolius of Laodicea (3rd century AD), a bishop and mathematician who integrated Pythagorean number theory with Christian thought. says that the Monad is called Matter because without it, no number exists. Furthermore, the written character that signifies the Monad is a symbol of the most sovereign of all things, and it reveals an affinity with the Sun through the numerical summation of its name. For when the letters of the name Monas original: μονάς are added up, they yield 361, which are the degrees of the zodiacal circle. In the system of gematria, letters are assigned numbers: M=40, O=70, N=50, A=1, S=200. Total = 361. Ancient astronomers sometimes used 361 to represent the 360 degrees of the zodiac plus the Monad at the center.

The Pythagoreans Followers of the philosopher Pythagoras, who believed that "all is number." used to call the Monad Mind, likening it to the One. Among the virtues, they likened it to Prudence original: phronēsis; the practical wisdom required to act rightly, for what is "right" is a single, unified thing. They also called it Essence, the Cause of Truth, and a Simple Paradigm. It was the Order of Harmony; in the greater and the lesser, it is the Equal; in tension and relaxation, it is the Mean; in a multitude, it is the Moderate; and in time, it is the Now, the present moment. Furthermore, they called it a Ship, a Chariot, a Friend, Life, and Happiness. Towards...