Thanks for stopping by. This website will be a collection of my notes on the various Wisdom Traditions we find in antiquity. We are fortunate to live in such an age where this knowledge is available to us.
The term ‘Wisdom Tradition’ may refer to several things. It has been called the ‘perennial philosophy’ in modern times. An older term would be the ‘Prisca Theologica’. The Wisdom Traditions we will be looking at stretch back into pre-history, before the written word. To determine potential relationships between different we will be using a variety of techniques. Firstly, through the basic use of geometry, astronomy and arithmetic, we will look at the knowledge that would have been available to our earliest ancestors. I will see to show that it is trivial to determine Phi, for example. We will look at how this knowledge was then seen as being manifest in the stars and planets, such as the Dance Of Venus which whispered Φ (Phi), and the Dance of Mercury which whispered π (Pi).
Through such techniques we will see to show how the ancient world appeared to the ancients, and then see how this appearance may have gone on to shape their philosophy.
A COMMON STRUCTURE
All Wisdom traditions seem to share a certain structure.
1. All is one. This universe and all that happens in it is but one event, one phenomenon.
2. This material reality we find ourselves in is but a shadow of the deeper nature of existence.
3. We find that there is a ‘harmonic law’ that runs through this level of existence. This is an objective truth, one that cannot be fully grasped by the human mind. To the Taoists it is the Tao, to the Vedics it is Rta, to the Zoroastrians it wass Asha, to the Egyptians it was Maat, to the Greeks it was the Logos. As above, so below.
COSMIC HARMONY AND THE GODDESS
Commonly, that which is in harmony with this law is seen as beautiful and good. This was often allegorically depicted as a Goddess of Beauty. Kings were expected to rule in harmony with this law. Should they fail to do this their authority became null and void. The Chinese use the term ‘mandate of heaven’ to reference this perspective, although we will find it has much deeper cultural roots. A very similar parable is found in the tale of King Canute and the tide for example.
Conversely, that which was in opposition to this law was seen as corrupt and evil. Most often there were severe penalties for transgressing the law, usually punishment by the same Goddess in her dark aspect. Kali, Sekhmet (The Eye Of Ra), and the Gnostic Sophia of the Apocalypse to name but a few. In antiquity she was also seen as the wrath of God. As we will see, she was not seen as some passive principle as is common in the modern age. Quite the opposite in fact.
There are common structures within the myths of the various cultures which have transmitted the Wisdom traditions to us. We will be using these structures and a cladistic analysis upon them to suggest where there may have been common cultural descent and/or other cultural transmission between groups. We will see that this tradition stretches far back into Indo-European culture, far beyond what we have written down.
MODERN PARALLELS
In addition to this we will be looking at the concepts expressed in the ancient texts. It could be suggested that they were seeking to build a system level view of the Cosmos. We will see, for example, that the harmony they saw in the heavens, from which they extrapolated the concept of universal harmonic law, is actually still an area of research today. It is called ‘Orbital Resonance’ and is how we explain the resonant structures we see in chaotic gravitational systems. Whilst they (perhaps) lacked the technical terms for such things, they certainly recognised the importance of them. Similarly, with the pentagon resonating Phi, they saw what we would now call a fractal structure. A infinite system without beginning or end.
On top of this, they also saw the importance of Chaos and Order. There are countless myths and poems and myths trying to articulate their understanding. In modern terms we would articulate this via Complexity theory and ‘Emergence’. More specifically, a certain type of emergence knowns as ‘dissipative systems’. This is the processes by which local order can increase within a system whilst the overall disorder (entropy) also increases. It is through this, ‘Order from Chaos’, that all was born.
In the modern age we are fortunate in having vast computing power at our fingertips. We can explore this more fully than at any time in our past. We can discover how the phenomenon known as ‘the Edge of Chaos’ can be fused with the idea of dissipative systems to give a framework by which phenomenon such as biological evolution (and everything else) may occur. When one looks at the words of the ancients, often we find there is very deep, very specific meaning which has somehow been lost in modern times.
Their wisdom did not merely extend to the physical. They also had a profound understanding of the psychology of man. This was wrapped up in what is called the art of ‘Rhetoric’. It was seen in the Delphic Maxim of ‘Know Thyself’. It should also be noted that their Wisdom wasn’t some poorly defined collection of ideas. In some instances, such as in the Birth of Venus, we see that Botticelli transmitted this wisdom to a geometric accuracy of within six thousandths of a percent.
We will be looking through the ancient texts and will observe how, originally, it was all tied in very specifically with Geometry, Arithmetic and Astronomy. We are fortunate in that the general framework of education expected to understand their teachings has been passed down to us via the Septrivium. Through this, I hope to show that the Wisdom Traditions of old were in many ways much more advanced than any existing frameworks available in the modern age. Whilst we have much knowledge, Wisdom itself has been forgotten.
THE GODDESS ALETHEIA: TO UNFORGET WHAT HAS BEEN LOST
It is in this spirit that I dedicate my website to Aletheia. She was the Goddess of Truth in ancient Greece. Her name is made up from ‘A’ and ‘Lethe’, referring to the River of forgetfulness in the underworld. In this form, Truth, in the absolute sense, was seen as something which had to be remembered and uncovered. In the tradition of Isis it was hidden behind a veil. The Gnostics took the view that this Truth was already known, in some level of the human psyche it already existed. Thus they took the perspective that this Truth has to be found within yourself, by stripping yourself of all illusion.
Needless to say, this perspective is shared with countless traditions. Thankfully they have offered us many ways to try and reach this Truth ourselves. From the intellectual and rational path of the Septrivium, leading Philosophers to ultimate union with Sophia, to the meditative practices of the Buddhists, or the Trance states of Tantra. There are countless paths, but they all lead to the same destination. They all lead to Wisdom, Truth, Beauty and Love, for they are all refer to the same thing.
In this website I will try to share all I know about such things to the best of my ability. Please forgive me my errors.
