PYTHAGORAS: SACRED BULL SLAYER - Bro. P.D. Newman, 32°

When the great Samian sage his noble problem found,

A hundred oxen with their life-blood dyed the ground.

   Of all the symbols presented to the attention of the newly-Raised Master Mason, the 47^th Problem of Euclid, otherwise known as the Pythagorean Theorem[1], is in the author’s estimation the most obtuse. What makes it so is the fact that it is not the right-angled triangle which serves as the symbol. Nor is it the configuration of the three boxes which are formed from the mathematical squares of the base, perpendicular, and hypotenuse of that triangle. Rather, that which serves as the symbol is in this instance the very theorem itself! Gen. Albert Pike, 33° too was perplexed by the Craft’s curious treatment of a mathematical theorem as a Masonic symbol. “A circle, a triangle, a square, a cube are symbols,” he said, “but I do not know that any other Problem has ever been so styled.[2]”

   The Pythagorean Theorem is employed by operative masons for the practical purpose of determining whether any given intersection is at a true right angle. But, according to some scholars, long before the advent of early stone masonry, a primitive form of the theorem was employed by the ancient Egyptians for the necessary purpose of recovering agrarian boundary lines following the annual flooding of the Nile.

“The 47^th problem of Euclid…in which the sides are 3, 4, and 5…is also known as “the Egyptian string trick.” The “trick” is that you take a string and tie knots in it to divide it into 12 [equal] divisions, the two ends joining…Then get 3 sticks…Stab one stick into the ground and arrange a knot at the stick, stretch three divisions away from it in any direction and insert the second stick in the ground, then place the third stick so that it falls on the knot between the 4-part and the 5-part division. This forces the creation of a 3 : 4 : 5 right triangle. The angle between the 3 units and the 4 units is of necessity a square or right angle.[3]”

If the above is correct, then “the Egyptian string trick” would indeed have been an absolutely indispensable tool, enabling this primitive farming people to recover year after year the boundary markers which served to separate one man’s crops from another’s.

   Greek historian Herodotus once wrote that “Egypt was the gift of the Nile.” Indeed, for their entire civilization was dependent upon its annual cycle of flooding, the same of which delivered to their barley and wheat fields the mineral-rich silt from the river’s bed. Before receding to its normal height, the floodwaters of the Nile swelled both sides of the shore some six miles inland, hydrating and fertilizing the fields which flanked them. For those who depended upon it, the annual flooding of the Nile was therefore intimately connected to the idea of agriculture, the latter being to the ancient Egyptians of such paramount importance that an entire Mystery cult, the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris, was constructed around it.[4] And, according to the account of Neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichus, Pythagoras himself was very likely initiated into those same Mysteries. In Iamblichus’ The Life of Pythagoras we read that

“[while] in Egypt he frequented all the temples with the greatest diligence, and most studious research, during which time he won the esteem and admiration of all the priests and prophets with whom he associated. Having most solicitously familiarized himself with every detail, he did not, nevertheless, neglect any contemporary celebrity, whether a sage renown for wisdom, or a peculiarly performed mystery. He did not fail to visit any place where he thought he might discover something worthwhile. That is how he visited all of the Egyptian priests, acquiring all the wisdom each possessed. He thus passes twenty-two years in the sanctuaries of temples, studying astronomy and geometry, and being initiated in no casual or superficial manner in all the mysteries of the Gods.”

Masonic lore reiterates Iamblichus’ account, stating in the lecture of the Master Mason Degree that “the great Pythagoras,…in his travels throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe, was initiated into several orders of priesthood.” Provided the extreme importance placed by the native Egyptians upon the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris, it may safely be assumed that the initiations which Pythagoras reportedly underwent during his twenty-two year long stay in the Land of Khem were no doubt inclusive of the same. Interestingly, the very theorem for which Pythagoras is revered among Freemasons is frequently interpreted in light of the agrarian Mysteries of Isis and Osiris. According to the research done by my dear friend and Brother Steve Burkle,

“[The concept of a Divine Trinity represented by the Masculine, the Feminine, and the Offspring] is ancient in origin and was spoken of by Plato (Circa 348 BC) in Book VIII, Chapter III of The Republic in which he advances a description of the so-called “Nuptial Figure,” which is a triangle having sides in the proportion 3, 4, and 5. Plato describes the perpendicular side as 3, the base as 4, and the hypotenuse as 5. He further states that the square of 5 is the sum of the squares of 3 and 4.…Plutarch (46 A.D.), in a later commentary, refers to Plato’s Nuptial Figure and adds that, based upon Plato’s description, the perpendicular represents the male, the base the female, and the hypotenuse the offspring.…Early Egyptian mystery schools considered this linked to Isis, Osiris, and Horus.”

   The Mysteries of Isis and Osiris contained several elements that would doubtless be familiar to a Freemason. As in the Craft, the Hierophants of these ancient Mysteries sought to indoctrinate their participants regarding the reality of deity and the immortality of the soul. As I explain in my article Masonry and the Mysteries of Eleusis, this was likely accomplished via a ritualized dramatization of the cult’s sacred mythos, the same of which appears to have been an imaginative allegorization of the naturalistic cycle of birth, life, death, and resurrection or rebirth, as exemplified in the agrarian cycle of sowing, tending, harvesting, and sowing again. In particular, their myth told of the violent murder of Osiris, the Egyptian deity of grain and sustenance, by his evil brother Typhon, a deified anthropomorphization of the forces of darkness, death, and decay. According to legend, Typhon was jealous of Osiris for the latter’s marriage with the virginal goddess Isis. Not unlike the Old Testament episode concerning King David and his desire for Bathsheba, Typhon plotted for a way to isolate and estrange the vestal Isis from her beloved husband. It was with this in mind that Typhon tricked his brother Osiris and, with the mallet of jealousy, anger, and deceit, Typhon struck down Osiris, and with him the very source of sustenance for all of mankind. He then proceeded to encase Osiris’ corpse within the heart of a living acacia tree. When she learned of the tragedy which had befallen her husband, Isis sped as fast as she could to his rescue, but she was too late. Isis arrived only to see the victorious Typhon depositing the acacia, which had at that point been reduced to mere planks, into the murky waters of the Nile. The widowed Isis threw herself upon the remaining stump of the acacia and washed it in her tears. It is said that her tears were so plentiful that they caused the Nile to overflow. And, if the reader will recall, it was precisely the annual flooding of the Nile which made the entire Egyptian civilization a reality. In the end, through sheer determination and force of will, Isis was successful in finding the missing pieces of, and eventually raising her deceased husband back to life, much in the same way that the ancient Egyptians’ were successful in endeavoring to recover their various fields and thence to raise new crops each year following the annual flooding of the Nile, the same of which destroyed every field marker in its path. In the opinion of the author, it is not without a sense of irony that the same phenomenon which was responsible for such widespread destruction in the river’s vicinity also happened to be the sole source of life for those who inhabited it.

   Some scholars believe that the legend outlined above is commemorated in the Masonic emblem of a beautiful virgin weeping over a broken column [while] behind her stands Time, unfolding and counting the ringlets of her hair. According to Bro. Edmond Ronayne,

"[i]n Egyptian Mythology, Isis is sometimes pictured weeping over the broken column, which conceals the body of her husband, Osiris, while behind her stands…Time, pouring ambrosia over her hair."

The Mysteries of Isis and Osiris eventually went on to influence those of Cybele and Attis, Dionysus and Semele, Persephone and Demeter, Orpheus and Eurydice, and finally Freemasonry, where the same great truths of the reality of deity and the immortality of the soul are commemorated in the legend of G:.M:.H:.A:., the allegorical story of whose life, death, and resurrection hearkens back to the sacred mythos celebrated by the ancient Egyptian cult of Isis and Osiris. And, as Masonic lore informs us, Pythagoras was no stranger to the Egyptians’ powerful and mysterious doctrines.

   In his book Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Laertius relayed the account of Apollodorus regarding Pythagoras’ discovery of the theorem which carries his name. In Laertius’ chapter on The Life of Pythagoras, we read the following:

“Apollodorus the logician says of [Pythagoras] that he sacrificed a hecatomb when he had discovered that the square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle was equal to the squares of the sides containing the right angle.”

It is the enigmatic episode in Pythagoras’ life described in the excerpt above with which Freemasons are most readily familiar, and consequently the episode with which the present article is principally concerned. Such being the case, special attention must necessarily be paid to certain of its particulars, because believe it or not, everything up to this point has for the most part been merely background! It is only now that we begin to approach the real meat of our subject! (no pun intended)

   Masonic lecture does not provide a definition for the word hecatomb. On the contrary, the reference is made casually and in passing, almost as an afterthought! The silence observed by our ritual progenitors on this matter speaks volumes, and should be the first indication to the inquisitive Mason that something deeper is very probably being implied. Indeed, the very lack of explanation regarding their use of the word hecatomb is quite literally an invitation to the studious Mason to investigate further. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiques[5] defines hecatomb as “a sacrifice to the gods of 100 cattle.” For those of my readers who are even remotely familiar with the life and teachings of the great Pythagoras, you know that we have just been given our second indication that something deeper is most definitely at work!

“Learned Masons know that Pythagoras was not only a vegetarian but he clearly professed a reverence for all animal life. How could it be that such a profession and lifestyle be put aside so quickly based upon his discovery? Could it be that such a discovery warranted such a reversal of values? Could it be that he allowed his own personal standards to be put aside due to the enormity of his discovery? Or could it be that we as Masons need to put aside our preconceived notions and step back from the literal to receive the nurturing that was intended by our Ritual progenitors?”

As my dear friend Bro. John Nagy makes clear, not only was Pythagoras a devout vegetarian, but he absolutely condemned the act of murder in all its forms, the ritual sacrifice of animals notwithstanding. So, this naturally begs the question: ‘What in the hecatomb was Pythagoras doing sacrificing one hundred bulls!?’ What was he doing sacrificing even one bull, for that matter? The reader is kindly asked to consider the following speculations: ‘What if Pythagoras’ bull was no ordinary, everyday bull? What if Pythagoras’ bull was in fact a sacred bull?’

   A sacred bull is not just a bull. It is a symbol. Indeed, in many cases it is not even a bull at all, but rather a sheaf of grain. For, the sacred bull is in actuality a deified animalization of the grain spirit, whose ritualized sacrifice in the avatar of the sacred bull was believed to ensure fertility to the land and prosperity to the people. The sacred bull could of course manifest as a literal bull, as in the case of the Egyptian Apis Bull, the worship of which was eventually assimilated to that of Osiris[6]. However, more often than not, the sacred bull manifests as a sheaf of corn, wheat, barley, or other grain which has been designated by the people and consecrated as the sacred bull. According to Sir James G. Frazer,

“[one] form which the corn-spirit often assumes is that of a bull, cow, or ox…the corn-spirit in the form of a bull or ox is killed on the harvest field at the close of the reaping. At Pouilly, near Dijon, when the last ears of corn are about to be cut, an ox adorned with ribbons, flowers, and ears of corn is led all around the field, followed by the whole troop of reapers dancing. Then a man…cuts the last ears of corn and immediately slaughters the ox….At Pont a Mousson and elsewhere on the evening of the last day of reaping, a calf adorned with flowers and ears of corn is led thrice around the farmyard, being allured by a bait or driven by men with sticks, or conducted by the farmer’s wife with a rope. The calf chosen for this ceremony is the calf which was born first on the farm in the spring of the year. It is followed by all of the reapers with their tools. Then it is allowed to run free; the reapers chase it, and whoever catches it is called King of the Calf. Lastly, it is solemnly killed…Further, the corn-spirit in bull form is sometimes believed to be killed at threshing. At Auxerre, in threshing the last bundle of corn, they call out twelve times, “We are killing the Bull.” In the neighborhood of Bordeaux, where a butcher kills an ox on the field immediately after the close of the reaping, it is said of the man who gives the last stroke at threshing that “he has killed the Bull.” At Chambery the last sheaf is called the sheaf of the Young Ox, and a race takes place to it in which all the reapers join in. When the last stroke is given at threshing they say that “the Ox is killed”; and immediately thereupon a real ox is slaughtered by the reaper who cut the last corn.[7]”

We therefore see that there is likely more to Pythagoras’ bull slaying episode than one might immediately suspect. In what is probably the most well-known reference to a hecatomb, the ceremonial preparation of the sacrificial animals described immediately prior to their being slaughtered inadvertently betrays their identification as sacred cattle. In the opening scenes of Samuel Butler’s translation of The Homeric Iliad we read the following:

“[T]hey ranged the holy hecatomb all orderly round the altar of the god. They washed their hands and took up the barley-meal to sprinkle over the victims…When they had done…sprinkling the barley-meal, they drew back the heads of the victims and killed and flayed them.”

As was the case with certain of the customs documented by Sir J.G. Frazer in his monumental study The Golden Bough in which the sacred bull was adorned with and identified as the cereal harvest, the sprinkling of the hecatomb with barley-meal as described in The Homeric Iliad identifies their sacrifice as a type of what Frazer called “the corn[8] spirit as a bull.” For, this also is a form of cereal consecration, consubstantiating the sacrificial victims with the perpetually dying and resurrecting grain spirit.

   Few Masons are aware of the fact that a sacrifice very similar to that described in The Homeric Iliad preceded the building of King Solomon’s Temple. In the Old Testament book of I Chronicles, we are told of the sacrifice which Solomon’s father David made on the threshing-floor of Ornan, the same of which resulted in the first Temple’s construction. Aside from the rather telling detail of David’s sacrifice having been performed in a place with wholly agrarian connotations, in verse 23 of the 21^st chapter of the same we learn that David’s sacrifice, for reasons unexplained, necessitated of all things wheat.

“Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price…And Ornan said unto David, take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.[9]”

Although we are not told to what specific purpose “the wheat for the meat offering” was finally put, this same curious association between grain and meat can be found in verse 29 of the 1^st chapter of Genesis, where we are informed of our Creator’s words when He spoke: “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth…to you it shall be for meat.” Furthermore, the oxen slaughtered during King David’s ‘threshing-floor’ sacrifice are not specifically noted as having been a hecatomb. Still, the fact that the episode described above shares several common elements with those described in The Homeric Iliad, as well as Frazer’s The Golden Bough, is not easily ignored. For all practical purposes, what David appears to be sacrificing is a sacred bull, i.e., a bull as an avatar of the grain spirit.

   The notion that death feeds or fertilizes and thus perpetuates the living (and vice verse) has been intimately associated with bovine symbolism since the earliest of times[10]. In addition to the bull’s status as a symbol of fertility, apparently on account of its association with the act of plowing, as well as “the power of [the bull’s] arousal by the cow in heat[11],” the carcasses of rotting bulls were also thought by the ancient Greeks to have been the source honeybees, the belief being that the latter were magically and spontaneously produced from the former. Hence the title of bourgensis or bull-born applied by the ancient Greeks to honeybees.[12] This misconception was so widely accepted by the ancients that, according to Greek myth, when Pythias-Apollo defeated the Python and subsequently took control of the Temple at Delphi, he

“chose as his first brotherhood of priests…a group of Minoans from the Cretan labyrinth of Knossos….This priesthood…replaced the ‘Gray-ladies’ [of Delphi], but the oracle itself remained in the hands of…the Pythia, whose title was the Queen Bee in this hive of men.[13]”

By taking a group of bull-worshipping, Minoan priests and recasting them as worker bees in his hive-like Temple at Delphi, a structure which already had a long history of association with bee symbolism[14], Apollo was effectively demonstrating that his new, bee-like persona was quite literally born from the bovine elements of the Minoan culture! Interestingly, according to Iamblichus, Pythagoras was actually named after Apollo in his Delphynian guise as Pythias!

   It is notable that Apollo in his guise as Phoebus-Apollo also happens to be the very deity to whom the hecatomb was being offered in the aforementioned episode from The Homeric Iliad. However, Aristotle tells us in his Constitution of the Delians that the only offerings which were permitted to be laid upon Apollo’s altar were those of wheat, barley, and cakes; and that furthermore, the only place where Pythagoras himself was known to have worshipped was at the altar of Apollo – and that on account of the fact that “no victim is ever slain there.” The reader may thus safely assume that, not only was Pythagoras’ hecatomb in all likelihood made at the altar of Apollo, but the sacrifice therefore in no way could have involved the actual slaughter of even one real, flesh and blood bull. Aside from the fact that “no victim is ever slain” at the altar of Apollo, the same deity after whom Pythagoras was named and to whom he prayed, the bull or ox was specifically noted by Iamblichus as being an animal which even Pythagoras’ followers were “prohibited from sacrificing.” So, this naturally raises the question: ‘What was it then?’ What was it which the “peaceable,” vegetarian Pythagoras was sacrificing in the form of a bull at an altar whereupon no blood was allegedly allowed to be spilt? Well, according to Neoplatonist Porphyry, “the more accurate say that this was an ox made of flour.” Like the author, upon registering the above statement, the reader is very likely exclaiming: ‘What!? Pythagoras’ bull was made of flour!? Now, that’s a bull of an entirely different color!’ And such an exclamation is certainly warranted. For, if Porphyry is indeed correct, then it would mean that Pythagoras was quite literally sacrificing “the wheat for the meat offering[15],” and such a sacrifice would be in perfect accord not only with his own moral convictions, but also with his culture’s expectations in regards to what is acceptable concerning an Apollonian offering. It would also be in accordance with the nature of the very discovery which necessitated this most symbolic of sacrifices, the 47^th Problem of Euclid having already been implicated as an ancient agricultural tool among the grain farmers of the early Egyptian people. It is a discovery like this which makes one want to leap up an exclaim “Eureka!” For, these additions veritably alter the entire significance of Pythagoras’ hecatomb episode, and in the author’s estimation, bring us closer to what indeed may have been originally intended by our ritual progenitors.

   The earliest known example of a sacred bull is the Sumerian Bull of Heaven, the ever-grazing Gugalanna[16]. However, the clearest example of the bull as representative of the grain spirit is in the author’s opinion to be found with the archaeological remains of the ancient Mystery cult of Mithras. The Mithraic Mysteries flourished primarily in Rome in and around the beginning of the first millennium, and are believed by scholars[17] to have been adopted by the Roman army during their travels throughout the east, where the bull-sacrificing Haoma cult of Persia would no doubt have been encountered.  Mithras’ role in this Persian cult was as divine mediator, serving to bridge the divide which adherents of the faith believed separates the world of man from that of Ormuzd or Ahura Mazda, the One Source of Life and Light. Interestingly, Mithras also was frequently referred to by his followers as “the lord of the cattle pastures.” Like Masonry, the Mithraic Mysteries consisted of a hierarchical structure of initiatory degrees or levels of attainment, wherein the Mysteries of the cult were progressively imparted to the initiate as he made his advancement through the grades.

   Their meetings were held in small, subterranean chambers called Mithraea, cave-like in appearance. Similar to a Masonic Lodge, the floors of the Mithraea were consistently designed as a rectangle or oblong square. The ceilings, on the other hand, while considerably low, were in all cases found to be vaulted like the very arch of heaven. Quite unlike a Masonic Lodge however, is the fact that the eastern wall of every Mithraeum, whether in fresco or in relief, included a depiction of the famous Tauroctony or Bull Slaying scene, the central episode in the mythos of the Mithraic cult.

“The most complete Tauroctonic designs show Mithras kneeling upon the Bull, which is crouched down; Mithras, wearing the pointed Phrygian cap (of liberty), tunic, and a cloak, stabs the Bull with a dagger near its right shoulder….ears of corn springing from the tail of the animal…[18]”

In addition to the ears of corn sprouting from the beast’s tail, some versions of the Tauroctony depict shafts of wheat, and even clusters of grapes as protruding from the wounds which Mithras has inflicted. At the animal’s feet too can oftentimes be seen groupings of the same plants, having sprung up apparently from the blood spilt during the animal’s sacrifice. The inclusion of grape clusters in the constitution of the Mithraic bull is notable, as grapes are the special province of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and resurrection. Turning again to Frazer’s The Golden Bough, we read that

“Dionysus was also figured…in the shape of a bull [and] we are naturally led to expect that this bull form must have been only another expression for his character as a deity of vegetation, especially as the bull is the common embodiment of the corn-spirit…and the close association of Dionysus with Demeter and Persephone in the mysteries of Eleusis shows that he had at least strong agricultural affinities....On the whole we may perhaps conclude that…as a bull Dionysus was essentially a god of vegetation.[19]”

Furthermore, if there was ever any doubt as to the symbolic nature of the Mithraic Bull Slaying scene, Carl A.P. Ruck, the professor of Classics at Boston University, and his co-author Mark A. Hoffman assure us that

“[t]he Mithraea were kept intentionally small and when the membership exceeded their modest capacity, rather than enlarge the chamber, additional halls were often constructed in the near vicinity….Although the slaughtered bull was a mythological representation of a Eucharist meal, it is inconceivable that such a menacing and dangerous creature could be butchered in so confined a space. The flood of blood [would have] made the chamber entirely intolerable, especially since there were no provisions for draining it or cleansing the chamber.[20]”

Thus we see that the bull being killed in the Tauroctony is to all appearances a sacred bull. The complexities and intricacies of the Mithraic Mysteries aside, no written record of the cult has survived, if indeed there ever was one. Nevertheless, what is known about the Mysteries of Mithras, other than the pertinent information presented above, is far too detailed to be here treated fully.

   In conclusion, the sacred bull can manifest as an actual bull which has been specifically consecrated as an avatar of the grain spirit. We saw several such instances in the customs documented by Sir J.G. Frazer in his monumental study The Golden Bough. In cases of the like, it is generally believed that the sacrifice of the designated animal ensures the future fertility of all of the land. However, in the majority of cases, the sacred bull manifests as a purely symbolic, deified animalization of the grain spirit, whose sacrifice occurs, quite literally, upon the floor where the harvest is threshed, or at the reaping the last of the remaining fruits of the field.

      Factual or fictional, by sacrificing a hecatomb immediately following his discovery of the 47^th Problem of Euclid, a theorem which, as we saw with the case of the Egyptian string trick, has long been implicated as a primitive agrarian tool, Pythagoras was effectively aligning himself with a long history of sacred bull slayings, allegorical and literal. Considered in light of the phenomenon of the sacred bull, i.e., the bull as an avatar of the grain spirit, the once absurd notion of a murder-condemning vegetarian slaughtering a hecatomb on account of his stumbling upon a practical means of discovering or recovering perpendiculars becomes at once not only significant, but amazingly profound! And, it is just another great example of that which makes Freemasonry “a peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated with symbols.”

 

REFERENCES

Aristotle. Constitution of the Delians

Burkle, William S. The 47^th Problem of Euclid – The Veil Lifted

Butler, Samuel. The Homeric Iliad

Daremberg, Charles. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiques (with Edmond Saglio)

De Hoyos, Arturo. Albert Pike’s Esoterika

De Hoyos, Arturo. Albert Pikes Morals and Dogma: Annotated Edition

Duncan, Malcom C. Duncan’s Ritual of Freemasonry

Frazer, J.G. The Golden Bough

George, Andrew R. The Epic of Gilgamesh

Guthrie, Kenneth S. The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library

Hall, Manly, P. The Secret Teachings of All Ages

Laertius, Diogenes. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers

Mackey, Albert G. The Symbolism of Freemasonry

Maor, Eli. The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4,000-Year History

Mellaart, James. Catal Huyuk: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia

Nagy, John S. Some Light on Masonic Bull

Newman, Phillip D. The Beehive: A Migration of Myth

Newman, Phillip D. The Beehive Revisited

Ronayne, Edmond. The Broken Column

Ruck, Carl A.P. Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras (with Mark A. Hoffman)

Ruck, Carl A.P. The World of Classical Myth (with Danny Staples)

The Holy Bible: Master Mason Edition

Westcott, William W. Resemblances of Freemasonry to Mithra

www.themasonictrowel.com (The Meaning of the Square)

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[1] “In every right angled triangle the sum of the squares of the base and perpendicular is equal to the square of the hypotenuse, i.e., the line which connects the ends of the other two sides.”

[2] Esoterika, p. 192

[3] www.themasonictrowel.com (The Meaning of the Square)

[4] See Sir J.G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough.

[5] Charles Daremberg and Edmond Saglio

[6] See Bro. Manly P. Hall’s discussion of the Apis Bull in his exhaustive The Secret Teachings of All Ages, pp. 284-6.

[7] The Golden Bough, pp. 440-2

[8] or grain

[9] I Chronicles, 21:22-3

[10] See James Mellaart’s Catal Huyuk: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia.

[11] Prof. Carl A.P. Ruck and Dr. Danny Staples, The World of Classical Myth, p. 32

[12] See The Beehive: A Migration of Myth, originally published in The Working Tools Magazine, No. 49 (Feb., 2012)

[13] The World of Classical Myth, p. 115

[14] See The Beehive Revisited, originally published in The Working Tools Magazine, No. 52 (May, 2012)

[15] I Corinthians, 21:23

[16] See The Epic of Gilgamesh.

[17] See Prof. Carl A.P. Ruck and Mark A. Hoffman’s Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras.

[18] W. Wynn Westcott’s Resemblances of Freemasonry to Mithra

[19] The Golden Bough, pp. 449 & 452

[20] Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras, pp. 34-5

Bro. P.D.Newman, 32°

Valley of Corinth, Orient of MS

Tupelo Lodge No. 318

 

Disclaimer: This paper entitled. "PYTHAGORAS: SACRED BULL SLAYER" was submitted to Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM for publication by the author, P.D. Newman. The printing of this or any other writing does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Tupelo Masonic Lodge No. 318 F&AM or the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. Please read our Terms of Use for full details.

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