From the book
Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry
R. Swinburne Clymer · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPythagoras is invoked as an ancient teacher and initiate.
- In Ancient Mystic Oriental MasonryThe book places Pythagoras among teachers whose doctrines Masonry is said to honor.
- In this editionOrdinary number matches include lists and quantities unrelated to sacred symbolism.
- A place to readM.43: … “Freemasonry honors as its ancient great teachers Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Plato, and many others, and in some” …
Meaning
Pythagoras is invoked as an ancient teacher and initiate. Sacred number concerns the interpretation of numerical arrangements as expressions of cosmic or spiritual order.
Use in the book
The book places Pythagoras among teachers whose doctrines Masonry is said to honor. Triads, groups of lights, the tetractys, and ceremonial sequences give number an interpretive function. Another passage presents Pythagorean associations as stages in the transmission of the Mysteries. Number thus supports a reading of symbols, while the teacher’s name also supports a genealogy.
Places to read
- Mystic Masonry · Block 43… “Freemasonry honors as its ancient great teachers Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Plato, and many others, and in some of its degrees gives a brief summary of their doctrines. Masonry, in a certain sense,” …
- Mystic Masonry · Block 45… “four-lettered name of Deity, the Greek followers of Pythagoras found a glyphic by which they both expressed and concealed their philosophy, and it is the Hebrew tetrad IHVH, or 'Yod, he,” …
- Foundations of Mystic Masonry · Block 57… “mysteries of the Essenes ** were imported by Pythagoras into Italy, without undergoing much variation; they were there denominated the Mysteries of Pythagoras; and, in our own day, they are called” …
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 63“268. "The direction of Pythagoras to his disciples was in these words: 'Offer sacrifices and worship with thy shoes off.'”
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 89“293. "Turning from the scenes of woe, he (the candidate) was passed through some other dark caverns and passages, until, having successfully treaded the labyrinth, consisting of six spacious vaults, connected” …
In this edition
Ordinary number matches include lists and quantities unrelated to sacred symbolism. Their frequency is not a measure of Pythagorean doctrine.
Reading the argument
A numerical resemblance may suggest an interpretation without proving historical contact. Read the figures as the book’s symbolic language first, then assess any asserted route of transmission on its own evidence.
Pythagoras
“Pythagoras” — 7 occurrences in 6 text blocks: I.27; M.43, 45; F.57; S.63, 154.
Pythagorean
“Pythagorean” — 3 occurrences in 3 text blocks: M.45; F.55, 85.
number
“number” — 12 occurrences in 11 text blocks: M.47, 78; F.12, 38, 119, 128, 132; S.116; R.22–23; N.65.
numbers
“numbers” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: S.132.