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SECRET TEACHINGS - 15. PYTHAGOREAN THEORY OF MUSIC & COLOR: Pythagoras and the Secret Symphony of Sound and Spectrum - Manly P. Hall
Published 2 years, 6 months ago
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Chapter 15. THE PYTHAGOREAN THEORY OF MUSIC AND COLOR: Pythagoras and the diatonic scale - Therapeutic music - The music of the spheres - The use of color in symbolism - The colors of the spectrum and the musical scale - Zodiacal and planetary colors.
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES - An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy: Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories, and Mysteries of all Ages - By Manly P. Hall (1928).
Chapter 15 of Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928), titled "The Pythagorean Theory of Music and Color", with its subchapters—Pythagoras and the diatonic scale—Therapeutic music—The music of the spheres—The use of color in symbolism—The colors of the spectrum and the musical scale—Zodiacal and planetary colors—serves as a radiant exposition of ancient harmonic wisdom. Hall portrays Pythagoras as the supreme architect of a cosmic symphony, where numbers, sounds, and hues converge in immutable ratios to reveal the divine order underlying all existence. This chapter bridges the mathematical mysticism of the Pythagoreans with the sensory realms of hearing and vision, demonstrating that the universe is not chaotic but a grand, proportioned harmony emanating from the One. Hall begins with a metaphysical foundation: harmony is the essence of beauty and goodness. A thing is beautiful only when its constituent parts are in perfect proportion; the universe ascends from dense, less harmonious matter to pure spirit, the summum bonum. Evil arises not as an independent force but as disharmony among inherently perfect elements. The soul, bearing a divine spark, instinctively resonates with true harmony, recognizing it as a reflection of the Good.
Pythagoras and the Diatonic Scale
This subchapter delves into Pythagoras's discovery of the diatonic scale, elevating music from mere art to mathematical science. Initiated into Egyptian Mysteries, Pythagoras returned to Greece with the insight that music is audible mathematics. The legendary blacksmith's hammers anecdote illustrates this: hammers of varying weights (proportional to 12, 9, 8, and 6) produced harmonious intervals when struck. Pythagoras experimented with weighted strings or, more accurately, the monochord—a single string over a sounding board with movable bridges—to isolate ratios: 2:1 for the octave, 3:2 for the perfect fifth, 4:3 for the perfect fourth. These proportions, rooted in the sacred tetractys (1+2+3+4=10, the triangular symbol of creation), govern consonance. Pythagoreans, called Canonici, prioritized rational judgment over sensory pleasure, yet acknowledged music's profound emotional impact. Hall emphasizes that number is the primordial law, preceding harmony and structuring all planes of existence.
Therapeutic Music
Here, Hall vividly explores music's healing power, a cornerstone of Pythagorean practice. Each of the seven Greek modes carried a unique psychological influence: the Phrygian mode stirred passions, the Dorian promoted calm and courage, the Spondaic induced profound tranquility. Anecdotes abound—Pythagoras quelled a jealous youth's rage by switching from Phrygian flute to slow Spondaic rhythm, preventing arson; Empedocles disarmed a sword-wielding guest by altering the mode. Homer's verses, sung appropriately, treated spiritual maladies. In Crotona's school, days began and ended with prescribed melodies: invigorating morning songs to awaken intellect, soothing evening ones for restorative sleep. Hall quotes Iamblichus: Pythagoras "invented melodies as remedies against the passions of the soul… against despondency and lamentation… against rage and anger… and against desires." Music thus harmonized the microcosm (human soul) with cosmic order, curing imbalances through vibrational alignment.
THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES - An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy: Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories, and Mysteries of all Ages - By Manly P. Hall (1928).
Chapter 15 of Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928), titled "The Pythagorean Theory of Music and Color", with its subchapters—Pythagoras and the diatonic scale—Therapeutic music—The music of the spheres—The use of color in symbolism—The colors of the spectrum and the musical scale—Zodiacal and planetary colors—serves as a radiant exposition of ancient harmonic wisdom. Hall portrays Pythagoras as the supreme architect of a cosmic symphony, where numbers, sounds, and hues converge in immutable ratios to reveal the divine order underlying all existence. This chapter bridges the mathematical mysticism of the Pythagoreans with the sensory realms of hearing and vision, demonstrating that the universe is not chaotic but a grand, proportioned harmony emanating from the One. Hall begins with a metaphysical foundation: harmony is the essence of beauty and goodness. A thing is beautiful only when its constituent parts are in perfect proportion; the universe ascends from dense, less harmonious matter to pure spirit, the summum bonum. Evil arises not as an independent force but as disharmony among inherently perfect elements. The soul, bearing a divine spark, instinctively resonates with true harmony, recognizing it as a reflection of the Good.
Pythagoras and the Diatonic Scale
This subchapter delves into Pythagoras's discovery of the diatonic scale, elevating music from mere art to mathematical science. Initiated into Egyptian Mysteries, Pythagoras returned to Greece with the insight that music is audible mathematics. The legendary blacksmith's hammers anecdote illustrates this: hammers of varying weights (proportional to 12, 9, 8, and 6) produced harmonious intervals when struck. Pythagoras experimented with weighted strings or, more accurately, the monochord—a single string over a sounding board with movable bridges—to isolate ratios: 2:1 for the octave, 3:2 for the perfect fifth, 4:3 for the perfect fourth. These proportions, rooted in the sacred tetractys (1+2+3+4=10, the triangular symbol of creation), govern consonance. Pythagoreans, called Canonici, prioritized rational judgment over sensory pleasure, yet acknowledged music's profound emotional impact. Hall emphasizes that number is the primordial law, preceding harmony and structuring all planes of existence.
Therapeutic Music
Here, Hall vividly explores music's healing power, a cornerstone of Pythagorean practice. Each of the seven Greek modes carried a unique psychological influence: the Phrygian mode stirred passions, the Dorian promoted calm and courage, the Spondaic induced profound tranquility. Anecdotes abound—Pythagoras quelled a jealous youth's rage by switching from Phrygian flute to slow Spondaic rhythm, preventing arson; Empedocles disarmed a sword-wielding guest by altering the mode. Homer's verses, sung appropriately, treated spiritual maladies. In Crotona's school, days began and ended with prescribed melodies: invigorating morning songs to awaken intellect, soothing evening ones for restorative sleep. Hall quotes Iamblichus: Pythagoras "invented melodies as remedies against the passions of the soul… against despondency and lamentation… against rage and anger… and against desires." Music thus harmonized the microcosm (human soul) with cosmic order, curing imbalances through vibrational alignment.