Before the Veil (6)

Some critics question whether Heraclitides strictly adhered to the fundamental philosophy of Plato, [26] but he taught the same ethics. According to Zeller, like Hecataeus and Ecphantus, he transmitted the Pythagorean doctrine that the Earth rotates once a day while the stars remain fixed. However, it is added that he did not know about the fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun once a year, which is the heliocentric theory. [27] Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence that this latter system was taught in secret rites, and that Socrates died because he was an atheist, or rather, because he revealed this sacred knowledge. Heraclitides fully accepted the Pythagorean and Platonic views on the human soul, its abilities, and possibilities. He depicts the soul as a luminous, highly ethereal essence. He asserts that before descending "into generation," i.e., into the realm of the moon, the soul dwells in the Milky Way. His daimon, or spirit, has an airy, vaporous body.

"Epinomis" contains teachings on the relationship between created things and Pythagorean numbers. The author, as a true Platonist, argues that wisdom can only be attained by thoroughly exploring the hidden nature of creation, and that this alone guarantees existence in bliss after death. This treatise extensively discusses the immortality of the soul, but the author adds that one must fully understand numbers to reach this knowledge. A person who cannot distinguish between straight lines and curves will never have enough wisdom to mathematically prove what is invisible. In other words, we only know that we possess a divine and immortal spirit when we are certain that our souls (astral bodies) objectively exist. Iamblichus says the same thing, adding that this belongs to the secrets of the highest initiation. Divine power has always been angered by those who "revealed the construction of the icosahedron," meaning those who publicly disclosed how to inscribe twelve polyhedra within a sphere. [28]

The concept that the "number" with the greatest virtue always produces good and never creates evil, is related to justice, temperament, and all other harmonious things. When the author speaks of every star as an individual soul, he means what was taught by Hindu initiates and, before them, Hermetic scholars: that every star is an independent planet, just like Earth, possessing its own soul. Every atom of matter is permeated with the divine influx of the world-soul. It breathes, lives, feels, suffers, and enjoys life in its way. Which natural scientist would be willing to object to this based on certain evidence? Therefore, we must consider celestial bodies as images of gods, that is, things that share a divine power in their essence. Even if celestial bodies are not immortal in their essential nature as souls, their function in the workings of the universe deserves a divine reverence worthy of being offered to lesser deities. This concept is clear and cannot be deliberately distorted without malice. Even if the author of "Epinomis" places these fire gods above animals, plants, and even humans, assigning all earthly beings to lower positions, who can prove him completely wrong? Unless one delves deeply into the depths of ancient philosophical metaphysics, it is impossible to understand that the imagery of its various concepts ultimately stems from the same understanding of the first cause, its attributes, and how it functions.

Furthermore, when the author of "De Anima" places three classes of daemons between these highest and lowest gods (souls with bodies), filling the universe with invisible beings, he is more logical than modern scientists who leave a vast expanse as a playground for blind forces between two extremes. The first two classes are invisible, their bodies being pure ether and fire (planetary spirits). The third class of daemons has a vaporous body, usually unseen, but sometimes condenses itself, becoming visible for only a few seconds. These are the terrestrial spirits, that is, our astral souls.

By studying these teachings analogically, based on the principle of correspondence, the ancient Pythagoreans gradually approached the resolution of the greatest mysteries, and modern Pythagoreans can do the same. Modern science stands at the edge of a dark abyss that separates the spiritual world from the material world. While closing its eyes and turning away, it asserts that this chasm cannot be crossed and has no bottom. However, in its hand is a torch, which could reveal its error by simply lowering it into the depths. Nevertheless, those who patiently learn Hermetic philosophy have built a bridge across this abyss.

Author's Notes

[26] Eduard Zeller, "A History of Greek Philosophy."

[27] "Plato and the Old Academy."

[28] "Plato and the Old Academy."