Part 2 - AMORC

Map of Magna Graecia in southern Italyhimself to be not merely a moral reformer but amystical philosopher whose insights into humanrelations could bring about a society harmoniousin itself and with the gods.With Pythagoras and his communitydirecting affairs, Kroton became the mostimportant power in southern Italy. It hadbrilliant athletic successes at the OlympicGames and a flourishing medical school. Atthis period, the south Italian Greek cities wererenowned as leaders of Greek thought and culture.In material culture they rivalled other Greek citieslike Athens and Corinth. This was no provincialbackwater but a fully developed part of the ancientGreek world.Pythagoras especially stressed how the godswere to be propitiated with sacred ritual. Amongother things, he emphasised that you should wearwhite in a temple, that you should use wood andsea water rather than animals in sacrifice, and thatyou should pour libations to Zeus before eating. Inorder to create a harmonious society the philosopheralso defined what should be considered proper orethical behaviour between the sexes, and betweenchildren and their elders.He stated that the young should respecttheir parents and have a love of knowledge. Hebelieved that the Universe as a whole was a livingcreature, being a single, living, eternal and divineentity. He taught that human beings were mortal,but that the soul was not: it was a fragment orspark of the divine soul, cut off and imprisonedin a mortal body. Man’s aim in life he said was tobecome pure spirit, and thus rejoin the universalspirit to which he essentially belonged. Until thesoul could purify itself completely, it must undergoa series of transmigrations, exchanging one bodyfor another. Interestingly, these were also the viewsof the Cathars of southern France some 1500 yearslater.His religion was a kind of pantheism. Hewas also the first to coin the term Kosmos (Κοσμος)a word that combines the notions of order, fitnessand beauty, an ordered whole. Each one of us is aKosmos in miniature. The philosopher who studiesthe Kosmos becomes kosmios, orderly, in his or herown soul.The Pythagorean TraditionThe people of Kroton were inspired by Pythagoras’lofty, beautiful sentiments, and impressed by hisnoble bearing, helped him to build a school onthe outskirts of town. Pythagoras was the first touse the term “philosopher” (lover of wisdom) andgained many followers. But his school was morethan just a place of learning; it was a community,a fraternity, a way of life and a sort of scientificHe showed himself to be a mysticalphilosopher whose insights into humanrelations could incite social harmony.research establishment. It was open to both menand women at a time when women were verymuch regarded as second class citizens. He alsotaught the doctrine of rebirth or transmigration.One group of students, approximately 600in number, lived in a communal fashion in theschool. This inner circle of followers or initiateswas called mathematikoi (Students). They lived inthe community, had no possessions and werevegetarians. A second group of 2,000, the akousmatikoi(Hearers), were family members who lived in theirThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 200839