Magic Math

I've never enjoyed math class, except for algebra. Since that was philosophy, it doesn't count. Maybe I just never had the right teacher. I hated geometry so much that I haven't gone near sacred geometry. I will admit, however, that I have a thing for Pythagoras. I just do and I can't explain it. Again, likely more philosophy than math. The only geometry I was ever willing to do was cast a chart. Back in the day we didn't have computers to do it for us, we did it by hand! Uphill in both directions and through snowstorms! Argh, who let out the cranky old folks? lol Seriously, it's why I know there are 1440 minutes in a day without having to think about it.

Tonight I was drawn to explore the math-y side of things which lead me to a cute web site which reminded me of Magic Squares. I don't mean the numbers ones. The only magic number math I can do is sudoku. I was reading tonight about Pythagorean numerical magic squares, the harmonics of the universe, Chinese numerology and how it is similar to Pythagorean numerology and how a Chinese author believes Pythagoras came by a lot of his knowledge from India and China and just happened to bring it back to Greece. Looks like I have a Chinese counterpart! Just don't get me started on that who invented pasta thing (and ffs don't call them noodles when talking to me!).


I have a headache tonight and don't want a mathematically induced headache on top of that, so I moved on to magic palindrome squares, specifically the Sator-Rotas square The earliest version of this square was found in the ruins of Pompeii. Other versions have been found in Europe. I was meditating on the square tonight and found myself getting a bit of the vertigo. Don't meditate on anything used for thousands of years as a magickal charm when you are not feeling your best. Seriously, just turn away now. I'm not even posting the image of the square here because I can't stand to look at it again. So to let you in on the fun, go take a peek at the pictures up on wiki as well as the cute website I mentioned earlier. It has all sorts of ancient Greek and Roman math games including a click through picture labyrinth and a few ancient jokes of which I will leave you with one:

Ἀφυὴς γραμματικὸς ἐρωτηθείς· ἡ μήτηρ Πριάμου τίς ἐκαλεῖτο; ἀπορῶν ἔφη· ἡμεῖς κατὰ τιμὴν κυρίαν αὐτὴν καλοῦμεν. 

 
An incompetent schoolteacher was asked who the mother of Priam was. Not knowing the answer, he said: "It's polite to call her Ma'am".