Pythagorean and Hermetic Principles in Freemasonry

Doric Lodge 316 A.F. & A.M of Ontario, Canada - Committee of Masonic Education

That which is below is like that which is above, that which is above is like that which is below – to do
the miracles of One Only Thing.
- The Emerald Tablet (Smaragdine Table, Tabula Smaragdina)
Text attributed to Hermes Trimegistus, translated by Sir Isaac Newton

Masonic lectures suggest that our usages and customs correspond with those of ancient
Egyptian philosophers, as well as Pythagorean beliefs and systems. Pythagoras and his
followers are renowned to have derived their knowledge from Egyptian and other Eastern
influences, including Babylonian, Phoenician and Indian. The Egyptians are said to have
revealed secrets in geometry, the Phoenicians arithmetic, the Chaldeans astronomy, the
Magians1 the principles of religion and maxims for the conduct of life.
Accurate facts about Pythagoras as a historical individual are so few, and most information
concerning him so faint, that it is impossible to provide more than just a vague outline of his
life. Pythagoras is attributed to have founded a school of science and philosophy, a fraternity
of thinkers, mystics and mathematicians who saw in numbers the key to understand how the
entire universe works. They studied the philosophical meanings of numbers and their
relationships (a field related to number theory, a cornerstone part of mathematics which
contains questions unsolved to this day). The fraternity went as far as to attribute virtues to
numbers, such as:
- One was attributed to the Monad, or Singularity. The source of all numbers. Perfect,
essential, indivisible.
- Two, or Dyad, represented Duality and Polarity, or a Line (between 2 points).
Plurality, loss of unity2, “otherness” and separation.
- Three made the Triad, or Plane (uniting 3 points). By virtue of the triad, unity (“One”)
and diversity (“Two”) of which it is composed are restored to harmony. Considered to
be the most beautiful number, as it is the first to equal the sum of all the terms below
it, and the only number whose sum with those below equals the product of them and
itself (3+2+1 = 6 = 3 x 2 x 1) – to the Pythagoreans not just a mere coincidence, but a
clear sign of Divine symmetry and harmony.

1
‘Magian’ is a term used since the 4th century BCE to denote a follower of Zoroaster. Zoroaster or Zarathushtra
was an ancient Iranian prophet, philosopher and religious poet, and founder of Zoroastrianism, a doctrine
based on the human struggle between truth and lie, Free Will, creation and existence. Along with Hinduism,
Zoroastrianism is considered to be among the oldest religions in the world.
2
Loss of unity also relates to Free Will, one’s power to decide between different paths and its consequences –
two people lost their primordial unity with God after making a decision which caused them to be forced to
leave the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis.

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Aristotle wrote about these philosophers ‘the so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to take up
mathematics, not only advanced this subject, but saturated with it, they fancied that the principles of
mathematics were the principles of all things”.
In addition to the relationships between numbers and their meanings, the Pythagoreans
expressed them in geometrical forms. These forms were used to further explain the
metaphysical teachings of their philosophy, for example:
The Monad was a symbol referred by the Greek philosophers as
"The First," "The Seed," "The Essence," "The Builder," and "The
Foundation". According to the Pythagoreans, it was a term for
God or the first being, or the totality of all beings, Monad being
the source or the One meaning without division. The dot, or
point, symbolizes the residual state after the removal of volume
- the Centre, the source, the principle of emanation and the
termination of return. It denotes the creative force and the end
of all things. According to Greek philosophers, from the Monad
evolved the Dyad; from it numbers; from numbers, points; then
lines, two-dimensional entities, three-dimensional entities,
bodies, culminating in the four elements earth, water, fire and
air, from which the rest of our universe is built up.
In Hindu and Tibetan teaching, the dot (Bindu) is once again
the ‘fleck’ or ‘seed’ of manifestation. The symbolic meaning of
the point in the centre of the circle is further revealed in the
Masonic third degree of a Master Mason.
The Dyad, used by the Pythagoreans for the number two,
represents the principle of "twoness" or "otherness". The symbol
also represented Matter, or the manifestation of the Divine Will
in our material world. The central part, or intersection between
the two circles, is called the Vesica Pisces (“bladder of a fish” in
Latin) – see image below.
This symbol, also attributed to the Pythagoreans, is sometimes
elaborated in the form of a fish and adopted by Christian and
other spiritual traditions. The mathematical ratio of its width to
its height was believed by the Pythagoreans to be 265 to 153.
The actual ratio is the square root of 3, however the
Pythagoreans’ calculation is amazingly close to √3. The number
153 also appears in the Gospel of John (21:11) as the number of
fish Jesus caused to be caught in a miraculous Draught of Fish,
and the fact that the number of fish captured was important
enough to be mentioned in the scriptures suggests that some
symbolism may be associated with this passage.

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 Pythagoras is attributed to the creation of the Tetractys, a
sacred and mystical figure showing the relationships
between the first 10 numbers. The Tetractys symbolized the
four elements (earth, air, fire, and water), and also
represented the creation of space and reality: the first row
represented a point (the Monad, singularity), the second the
notion of one-dimension (two points connecting a line), the
third row contained a plane defined by a triangle of three
points, and the fourth row represented the three-dimensions
(a tetrahedron or pyramid defined by four points).
The Pythagorean fraternal oath also mentioned the
Tetractys:
"By that pure, holy, four lettered name on high,
nature's eternal fountain and supply,
the parent of all souls that living be,
by him, with faith find oath, I swear to thee."

The Pythagorean system had a great impact on future philosophic traditions, such as
Cabbalism, Rosicrucianism and early Freemasonry, all of which claimed to have evolved out
of Pythagorean ancestry. A Hebrew Tetractys has the letters of the Tetragrammaton (the four
lettered name of God in Hebrew scripture, shown above) inscribed on the ten positions of the
Tetractys, from right to left. Canadian author Manly Palmer Hall dedicated an entire chapter
of his work “The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic,
Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy" to the mystical and philosophical qualities
of Pythagorean numbers (the book contains 50 chapters and was published in 1928 when he
was only 27 years old), and Pythagorean symbolism is regularly referenced in Masonic
teachings and education.
Freemasonry also honours Pythagoras by adopting the so-
called Pythagorean Theorem (or the 47th Proposition of
Euclid) as the jewel of the Past Master, hanging
underneath the Square. This theorem states that in a right-
angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the
sum of the squares of the other two sides (a2 + b2 = c2),
dictating the exact and predictable proportions, or
harmony, between the three sides of the triangle. It denotes
advanced knowledge of the Craft and the experience that
is associated with a Past Master of a Masonic Lodge.

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As Above, So Below
Mathematics, sacred geometry, religious symbolism, Masonic philosophy – these and many
other sciences and arts mark the intellectual and spiritual efforts of man to appreciate, relate
with and understand the Divine, or what is beyond our physical senses and rational
capabilities – it has always been this way ever since we became conscious that there is more
between heaven and Earth than dreamt of in our philosophy.
There is a concept of symmetry between the Divine and its material manifestations - one of
the keys to Hermetic knowledge. This principle teaches the notion that events, or causes
happening on one side of creation are intrinsically related to effects on the other side – what
happens in the material world has direct implications in the spiritual realm, and vice-versa.
It is usually communicated that “That which is below is like that which is above, that which is
above is like that which is below”. Correspondences can be found between God and man (made
on His image before being expelled from the Garden of Eden, the initial state of bliss and
oneness with God), or men and gods (who were depicted as human-like figures, many with
human flaws such as anger, deception or envy), celestial influences in human humours and
fate in astrology, or even between medieval and renaissance architecture and Christian
cosmology. For example, a cathedral build in
the Romanesque or Gothic style was, in itself, a
means of instruction for a largely illiterate
population, and it incorporated a representation
of much of the traditional Western metaphysical
system, thus3:
The Nave represented the Earth, the habitation of
the church militant, the residence of incarnate
humanity. According to the medieval
conception the Earth was the totality of the
physical existence. Today we would say that the
Nave represents the physical universe;
The Choir represented Paradise and Purgatory, it
was the world of angels, the residence of souls
awaiting birth or, after death, awaiting
judgement in the planetary or astral spheres;
The Sanctuary represented Heaven, the abode of
the triumphant; it was the world of archangels,
the celestial sphere in the medieval cosmology;

3
Extract from ‘Freemasonry – A Journey through Ritual and Symbol’ by W.Kirk MacNulty.
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Divinity Itself was present through the mystery of the sacrament reserved in the Tabernacle
on the altar. In some traditions the abode of Divinity is called the ‘World Without End’;
The Rood Screen separated the Nave from the Choir and permitted the ordinary worshipper
only glimpses of the events taking place beyond in the same way that the threshold of
consciousness veils ordinary awareness from the Divine;
Three Aisles, accessed by three doors in the west wall, extended the length of the cathedral
building and suggest an idea which finds way into Freemasonry as the Rule of Three.
The elaborated interconnections between elements in architecture and the Divine are
explained by the need to worship in a proper, dedicated place. Architecture is the only form
of art generated from a concrete need for survival – from the elements, enemies and beasts –
and later to house divine entities and their symbols. All monuments – in fact, all things that
carry some spiritual significance – have their unique symbolism, related to the noblest of
human values, the search for meaning and faith in the Divine, from the ancient pyramids
and Palaeolithic monoliths being aligned with the cardinal points and distant celestial stars,
to mosques and cathedrals with angular foundations (related to matter and man, drawn by
the set square) and a perfectly round dome above (a Divine attribute, designed using a
compass).

Although the Divine presence is in all things and all places, the temple is built for
meditation, contemplation and worship. The notion of a round, celestial canopy above
representing Heaven (designed with a compass), a square altar below for man’s worship on
Earth (built with a set square), and a Divine connection in-between is well communicated in
the main Masonic symbol, and echoes the ancient Hermetic maxim – “As above, so below”.

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Regardless of where we look, this connection and its symbolism represent one of the oldest
principles in Craft Masonry, established well before the Grand Lodge era, from the dawn of
mystical Traditions. It is surprising that the references to the esoteric (internalized, veiled
and to be discovered only within oneself) meanings of this powerful connection between
Divine and human are mostly faint in our teachings, and that their marks in our symbolism
are limited mostly to their exoteric surface (externalized in ritual, simplified by words,
dogmatic in nature).

Man as a Temple: Connecting the Microcosm and the Macrocosm

How rich and enlightened were the views of the architects, philosophers and Masons
(operative and speculative) who understood the whole of the creation as an integrated
continuum originating from divinity, and extending to its material manifestations, and
finally to man. Another Hermetic maxim adopted by many philosophers teaches Divine
omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence in geometrical terms - “God is an intelligible
sphere, whose centre is everywhere, and whose circumference nowhere”4.

4
Deus est sphæra infinita, cuius centrum ubique, circumferential nusquam. – Corpus Hermeticus, Liber 24
Philosophorum.
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To find further evidence of this cosmological view we look back at the works of past thinkers
and philosophers. Leonardo da Vinci created the famous drawing called the Vitruvian Man
around 1487, which depicts a male figure with his arms and legs apart inscribed in a circle
and square (see reference above to symbolism on the circle-compass/angle-square as
representations of the Divine/material).

The drawing is accompanied by da Vinci’s notes, based on the work of the famed Roman
architect, Vitruvius Pollio – whence the name derives. The Vitruvian Man is based on
Vitruvius’s correlations of perfect proportions using a human figure and geometrical rules.
Perfect architecture was a continuation of the laws of nature, a system to be applied to the
formation of all natural structures, including man. His work De Architectura (probably written
around 25 BC and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus) established a system of
ratios for the construction of 'perfect' buildings (including man) that exhibited the three
necessary principles of Strength, Usefulness, and Beauty.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica explains, "Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the
human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a
cosmografia del minor mondo (cosmography of the microcosm). He believed the workings of
the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe."
If, like da Vinci and other philosophers imagined, the root of architecture lied within human
aspirations to reflect the Divine plan then the sciences of architecture and geometry were
indeed sacred.

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Another author of Hermetic and Rosicrucian texts named John Dee5 paraphrased Vitruvius
in his Mathematical Preface of 1570:
An Architect (sayeth he) [Vitrivius in his Architectura] ought to understand Languages, to
be skilful of Painting, well instructed in Geometrie, not ignorant of Perspective, furnished
with Arithmeticke, have knowledge of many histories, and diligently have heard
Philosophers, have skill of Musike, not ignorant of Physike, know the aunsweres of Lawyers,
and have Astronomie, and the courses Caelestiall, in good knowledge.
Vitruvius’ work included many disciplines ranging from mathematics to astronomy,
meteorology and musical harmony. In his time, the skilled builder needed to consider
everything touching on the physical and intellectual life of man and his surroundings.
The resemblance of these ideas with the Masonic teachings on moral architecture is too
strong to be ignored. Masons are instructed to diligently study the seven Liberal Arts and
Sciences of Grammar, Rhetoric, Dialectic, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry and Astronomy, and
make daily efforts to comprehend them. For centuries we have been searching for ways to
understand the works of the Great Architect – by building temples of stone, mind and spirit.
The parallels between spiritual transformation and architecture are indeed significant, and
we should not be surprised: the allegory of “temples” made of “stones” is consistently used
to teach the laborious path of human enlightenment – the alchemical Philosopher’s Stone has
the power to heal and transform lower beings into a higher state, raising man into a living
stone, a “house of fire” embodying God; some Buddhist temples represent the intersection of
heaven and Earth; the name of St. Peter, the most devoted disciple of Jesus, is the literal
translation for the word “Stone” (Greek: Pétros). This is not a coincidence - as the foundation
of the Christian church Peter is named in the scriptures as the spiritual cornerstone (Saint

Sacred / Peter
Stone), depicted holding the keys of ascension to Heaven.
The understanding that a stone structure can be used to praise, honour and worship Divinity
but cannot contain God is also present in most religions: the Koran teaches that “Heaven and
Earth do not hold me, but I am contained within the heart of my servant”, and in the Gospel of
Mark (14:55-58) we find the words attributed to Jesus: “I will destroy this temple that is made
with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands”. All these teachings
remind us that although Divinity permeates all of creation, its connection is stronger within
us, for man was created in His image.
No other philosophical system co-relates moral teachings with the ancient science of
architecture more directly than Freemasonry. We have craftsmen degrees, working tools,
rough and perfect Ashlars6, pillars and a stairway, columns of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian
designs - the language and teachings are there for anyone with eyes to see. It is left up to the
individual Mason to unveil the signs and understand the messages, and apply these
metaphorical tools to his morals, on his own accord and time.

5
John Dee (1527 – 1609) was a noted mathematician, astronomer/astrologer, navigator, and consultant to
Queen Elizabeth I of England. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy and Hermetic philosophy.
6
From Old French aisselier, evolved from Latin axilla - the diminutive of axis ‘plank’: a large stone block

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In Conclusion
Vitruvius and Leonardo’s analogy of man as the layout of a perfect building, or temple,
reminds us that God can also be found inside that temple. Our souls are sparks of divinity
that inhabit that temple. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you? 7
The drawing itself is often used as an implied symbol of the essential symmetry of the
human body, and by extension, of the universe as a whole. We may have been kept
separated from the original state of grace by a terrible flaming sword8, illuminated from
darkness by a forbidden fire stolen from heaven9 and taught by ancient masters how to write
our tragic history and record time during our exile on this existence10 - but still, we have
never lost our inheritance: a desire for perfection and the connection and symmetry with the
Divine. Ancient Pythagoreans, medieval alchemists, Rosicrucian philosophers and early
Freemasons concentrated their efforts in self-discovery, working to unlock the human
potential to be more than what we are now. Today our lodges boast the Pythagorean and
philosophical ancestry, and yet we do very little beyond memorizing and repeating the
ritualistic words with little attention to their true meanings, which cannot be explained in a
Book of Work or any Masonic manual. Quoting W. Bro. Ambarish Singh Roy, “Ritual for the
sake of tradition is worthless. Ritual for the sake of enlightenment is valuable. An understanding of the
ritual’s meaning is far more important than just memorizing it”.
Ritual memorization and proper execution, social intercourse and visitation, and knowing
and complying with Grand Lodge regulations are all critical elements in a Masonic
environment. However, we ought to remember that the Masonic journey is one of self-
discovery and internal transformation. Masons must be committed to never stop working
towards the unachievable perfection, to learn enough about ourselves and to provoke real
and continuous change in who we are. As Carl Jung said, ‘Who looks outside dreams, who looks
inside awakes’.
This is what our ancestors called ‘Enlightenment’, and sought with most zeal. The journey
can take a lifetime of hard work, and only when one has achieved that goal he can with all
honestly call himself a ‘Master Mason’ in the true spirit of the Craft. Until that happens we
must subdue our egos and accept the fact that we are all apprentices, regardless of our rank,
age and position. We must also never forget that masons are builders, not speculative but
operative, and as we build better foundations within ourselves these foundations shall
inevitably reflect a positive impact on the world around us.

7
I Corinthians 3:16
8
Genesis 3:24
9
Prometheus Bound – 5th-century BC - Aeschylus
10
by Hermes and Thoth, mythological Greek and Egyptian gods attributed to scribing, knowledge and geometry

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We would like to conclude by quoting W. Bro. Shawn Eyer, MPS, Worshipful Master of
Academia Lodge No 847 (San Francisco, California):
“Masonic tradition, as expressed in our rituals, directs us toward a brighter perspective. Our
emblem [the Mosaic Pavement] vividly portrays an interconnected, orderly universe suffused
with Divine wisdom and sustenance. We are free to imagine this vital force as merely poetic, or
we may understand it as real as gravity, light or electricity”.

 Authored by Bro. Rafael Etges and edited by Bro. Abiel Klein

– Comments are most welcomed and should be sent to [email protected]
December 2009

  

References

- Tobias Churton, “The Golden Builders – Alchemists, Rosicrucians and the First
Freemasons” ISBN 1-57863-329-X
- Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, “The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols” –
translated from the French by John Buchanan-Brown ISBN-13 978-0-140-51254-0
- W. Bro. Ronald Paul Ng, “Pythagoras” - http://www.freemasons-
freemasonry.com/freemasonry_pythagoras.html
- W.Kirk MacNulty, “Freemasonry – A Journey through Ritual and Symbol” ISBN 0-500-
81037-0
- Ernesto Frers, “Secret Societies and the Hermetic Code – The Rosicrucian, Masonic and
Esoteric Transmission in the Arts” ISBN 978-159477208-5
- The Philaletes Society Magazine, Vol. 62 No.4 Fall 2009
- Manly P. Hall, "The Secret Teachings of All Ages" ISBN 0-89314-830-X
- Boylan, Patrick “Thoth, the Hermes of Egypt: A Study of Some Aspects of Theological
Thought in Ancient Egypt”
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

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