Hexnet Hexagonal Tag Feed: pythagorean

The Chaldean Oracles

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:57:46 +0000

Here we see a selection of illustrations relating, I am told, to the so-called Chaldean Oracles of "Zoroaster"—which are, of course, neither Chaldean, nor Zoroastrian, nor oracles.

I've been unable to ascertain the origin or IP status of these images. But they are pretty amazing, so I'm posting them anyway, pending receipt of further information on the matter. They certainly look like olden-style woodcuts, or at least hand-drawn illustrations, but could just as easily be modern, and for all I know computer-generated. As always, if you have any information on the source of these images, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you.

The Double Triangle, Hexagon, Hexad, or the Number Six

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:50:00 +0000

The following is a transcript of Chapter VI of The Pythagorean Triangle: Or, the Science of Numbers by the Rev. Dr. George Oliver, a noted 19th century English Freemason. I have compiled this from several sources, including the Internet Archive, Google Books, and my own copy of the work. I slightly reworked the layout where necessary, including sort of rejiggering the chapter opening here. I've made several minor typographic modifications as well, such as removing the spaces before semicolons (a form of punctuation the good Doctor seems to have had a particular fondness for).

The rest of the book consists of similar musings on the other natural numbers, up to ten. I do not necessarily agree with Dr. Oliver's views, either on the hexad in particular, or on Christian numerology in general. I certainly don't agree with his cryptodecimalist ontology. But it is nonetheless an interesting treatment of the subject, and I offer it here as a noteworthy historical artifact of antiquarian hexagonal thought.

A PDF version of the full book can be downloaded from our Hexagonal Library.

Decad as vesica piscis

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:10:47 +0000

Here we see another form of the Pythagorean decad, highlighting its hexagonal nature.

Geometries such as this have been used by people throughout history—Pythagoreans, Freemasons, &c.—to justify decimalism. This is a false understanding of the decad. In both this diagram, as well as in the Tetractys, it is clear that the fundamental organizational principle is hexagonal, not decadian. The concept of ten emanates from the underlying reality of the hexagon—not the other way around.

Tetractys

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:14:14 +0000

The Tetractys is a triangular figure of ten points arranged in four rows, equivalent to the fourth triangular number. It was considered sacred by the ancient Pythagoreans of yore.