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THEOLOGIA
ARITHMETICA
TRIADUM
Arithmetical Theology of triads
John Opsopaus
Here are some observations, mostly Pythagorean but also
Alchemical, about
triads, both theological and musical.
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I. TRIADIC GENESIS
A. The Monad
The first principle is the Monad or Unit. It is prima materia
(first matter),
an undifferentiated unity, an unstructured wholeness, the
principle of
stability. The Monad corresponds to the first stage of many
cosmologies, the
Primeval Waters, the Confused Mass (Massa confusa), Tiamat,
etc.
B. The Dyad
1. Undetermined Dyad
The second principle is the Undetermined Dyad (aoristos duas),
the principle
of change, separation, differentiation, conjunction and
mediation. The
Indefinite Dyad is an active/energetic principle, as opposed to
the Monad,
which is passive/material.
2. The Dyad Itself
The Undetermined Dyad becomes determinate by operating on
the Monad. As the
principle of separation (Separatio) it splits the Monad, so that
Chaos (gap)
opens in it. In this way the Indefinite Dyad creates the Dyad
Itself (auto to
esti duas), an actual separation into opposites (Separatio
oppositorum). It
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creates a polarity between male/female, form/matter,
stability/change, etc.
They are the passive forms of the alchemical Sulphur and
Mercury. The Dyad
corresponds to the second cosmological stage, in which some
active agent (e.g.
Marduk, Shu, "Destructive Strife" -- oloios neikos, etc.) opens a
gap between
Earth (Gaia, Keb) and Sky (Ouranos, Nut); it's the splitting of
the Cosmic
Egg.
C. The Triad
The Undetermined Dyad operates again, this time as a principle
of mediation,
to create a Mean between the Extremes of the Dyad, thus
producing the Triad,
which is a Harmonia (joining), a structured unity, the Rebis
(Two-thing), a
synthesis of the opposites (Coniunctio oppositorum) of the
Dyad. This is the
Alchemical Wedding, in which