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Pythagoras
INDEX
GRAMMAR
RHETORIC
DIALECTIC
ARITHMETIC
GEOMETRY
MUSIC
ASTRONOMY
SCIENCE
.
"Until about a hundred years ago rational men lived like spies in an enemy country. They never walked abroad unless disguised in irony or allegory. To have revealed their true selves would have been fatal"Bergen Evans
The liberal arts and sciences
Gra, Loquitur; Lo, vera docet; Rhe verba sonorat;
Mu, canit; Ar, nemerat; Ge, ponderat; Ast, capit astra.
"...let one of these be that art which prepares the body to be subservient, as a prompt and robust vehicle, to the mandates of the soul, and which is denominated gymnastic. Let another art be that which is the angel of the conceptions of the soul, and which is called rhetoric; another, that which is the nurse and tutor of the juvenile mind, and which is denominated poetry; another that which is the leader of the nature of numbers, and which is called arithmetic; and another that which is the teacher of computation, and is called logistic. Let geometry, also, and music follow, who are the associates of philosophy and conscious of her arcana, and to each of which she distributes a portion of her labour."
Maximus Tyrius (circa 200 CE) "Dissertation", xxi, translated by Thomas Taylor(1758-1835).
A reference to the Liberal Arts and Sciences can also be found in Fremasonry’s oldest extant document, the Halliwall Manuscript.
Grammar Grammar is the science which teaches us to explain the poets and historians; it is the art which qualifies us to write and speak correctly.
Rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of using secular discourse effectively in the circumstances of daily life.
Dialectic Dialectic is the science of the understanding, which fits us for investigations and definitions, for explanations, and for distinguishing the true from the false.
Arithmetic Arithmetic is the science of pure extension determinable by numbers. Ignorance of numbers leaves many things unintelligible.
Geometry It is an exposition of form proceeding from observation. For every excellent and well-ordered arrangement can be reduced to the special requirements of this science.
Music Music is the science of time intervals as they are perceived by tones. Pythagoras testifies that this world was created by music, and can be ruled by it; thus it is possible that to him, who does not know even a little music, many things remain closed and hidden.
Astronomy Astronomy, of which we now speak, teaches the laws of the steller world.... which is built up on the investigation of natural phenomena in order to determine the course of the sun, of the moon, and the stars, and to effect a proper reckoning of time.
Definitions written in 819 CE by Archbishop of Mainz, Rabanus Maurus
(784 - 856 CE) [Translated from "Great Pedagogical Essays" by F.V.N. Painter, New York: 1905.]

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