I have found mysefl neck deep in Pythagorean theory, which is interesting since Pythagoras didn’t write anything. I got here by researching the origins of zillij. I’m researching connections between astronomy, Pythagoras, Sufism, and Islamic ornamentation.

What do Free Masons and Moroccan artisans have in common? Pythagoras. While the artisan might not be conscious of the connection, the Free Masons refer are much more aware of the historical roots of sacred geometry. At least, that is what I hear. Free masons must be men.

Links below will tell you more about Pythagoras, where he was born, and what is known about his beliefs. He didn’t document his ideas and his followers were sworn to secrecy, so its hard to know what is known. But, he had a clear influence on Plato, Aristotle, and Islamic artisans.

Pythagoras

• Pythagoras Biography
• Pythagoras, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Pythagoras and Music of the Spheres, unit from a course in Geometry in Art and Architecture at Dartmouth
• The Neoplatonist Roots of Sufi Philosophy, comparative philosophy research paper by Kamuran Godelek at Boston University
• Pythagograms
• Pythagorean & Fractal Geometric Art

Gnomon

Astronomy

• Brief History of Astronomy, University of California, San Diego, Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences

Arabic Numerals

• Arabic Modal Theory
• History of Arabic Numerals
• Arabic Numerals and Trigonometry

Sufism

• Universal Principals of Islamic Art
• Sufisim and Hinduism
• University of Georgia – Sufism and Sufi Orders
• Ibn Arabi’s Conception of Archetypes
• Sufism Journal
• What is Sufism
• Sufism Overview

Note: I don’t know who made the painting featured in the above image. I found it on the Louisiana State University math department website. The page states the painting is on a board that has Golden Section Dimensions and the space is broken up into the Golden Section Proportions.

The more I research, the more I am amazed the way Arabic/Islamic contributions to Western intellectual development have been erased from common history. It is bizarre.

Its great that I can basically give myself an ivy league education for free online, but I think I may go broke doing it. Want to click on an ad for me? I’m making about .18 cents a day. Ah, it doesn’t matter. I’m on my way now.

If you have a useful resource to add to this dense subject, please leave a comment. Thanks.