The School of the Five Philosophers [from The Codex]

[Introduction to The Codex]

"The School of the Five Philosophers," sometimes known as "The School of the Five Magicians," is a Pythian academy of magic with pseudo-religious overtones. Though lacking a strict theology and espousing no gods, it propounds specific world views, demanding followers' adherence in thought and deed. Similarly, its pedagogy is premised upon eulogizing its philosophers as "ideational prophets." Thus, it is appropriate to review it within The Codex.

The five philosophers are best understood through their viewpoints rather than biographies. Little is known of them, individually, though speculation sometimes passes as fact. Most of them lived, if at all, hundreds of years ago. Each philosopher has its own House within The School.  Below, therefore, we review each House in turn.

The first philosopher, Atam, the proverbial first person, asserted the world is composed solely of stone or earth. Thus, the word "Earth" for the world. Stone can be broken down into to smaller stones, to earth and dirt, and eventually to indivisible stones too small to see. These miniscule unbreakable stones compose everything. "Matter matters," they say. All real things are solid things. What is concrete is real. What is not concrete is not real. His followers are the Atamists. Life is an apparent motion of discrete things, which they call "atamation." 

The second House, the Mosaics, claim water is the cardinal existence. All life depends on it. Where there is water there is life, and where there is life, water. Water can be parted at one moment but flow together another. It may take any shape. It can be cut but is indestructible. All things, the Mosaics believe, are waves, patterns, and flows of water. Water's cleaving without destruction, in which two parts replace one, leads to Mosaics termed "Hydras" or "Hydrants." The Hydrant who propounded the Mosaic laws was Teyliez, the philosopher of the House. Little is known of him but that he lived near the sea.

The third philosopher is also known as the "First Vulcan": Z-Pher. His House is called the Zeh-Pher and his followers Airistotellians or, paradoxically, as Z-knows. Air, they claim, is the fundamental substance: "firmament is fundament." Air moves invisibly penetrating everything. All begins with it and condenses from it, to wind, clouds, water, stone. Air is the breath of life. All magic depends on it. The Airistotellians claim complete knowledge is impossible: the world can no more be fully grasped than a hand inescapably hold air. Airistotellians are renowned for numerous verbose writings, derisively, "The Hot Air."

The House of the fourth philosopher, Ashtar or Ishtar, depending on dialect, proclaims fire's preeminence. Burning a thing destroys the thing but releases fire, the visible soul. Fire is indestructible. So, too, the soul immortal. The Ashtars assert that all things have a soul, called a "plasm." This basic seed contains the true unchanging nature. As it can never be destroyed, over time it moves from thing to thing, body to body. If it moves quickly, animate life evidences. Yet Ashtars assert all things are animate: the plasm simply moves too slowly for recognition. Burning releases it. Burning is also the source of desire and sexuality. Passionate love is a burning and may bring forth plasm. The collective fire, soul, or plasm is the "plasma."

The fifth philosopher, the "Second Vulcan," also known as the "penta-ultimate philosopher," is U-Clio. She asserted all is Number. Mathematics is the Universe's language. The truly Real is intangible, eternal, and transcendent. Number provides the form and template for tangible things, which, having physical existence, are but imperfect copies of the Real. True knowledge, likewise, is unchanging, but "knowledge" as perceived by physical beings is an imperfect copy. The U-Clideans also believe in a soul, called the u-cleus. The u-cleus, though unseen, lies at the core of sentient beings, and through it the physical perceives the transcendent. The u-cleus, thus, contains and copies all information for a being. The closest approach to true knowledge is recollection through the u-cleus. Life itself comes from splitting the u-cleus.

There is also a nascent "sixth philosopher," still living. A former student of The School, he is now a heretic. This is the Vulcan magician Gird-L. He and his incipient House deny number establishes itself and deny that the intangible is real. They claim nothing in the Universe is complete or "well bounded" and that all knowledge is prediction. Most philosophical disputes, they claim, are merely semantic, calling for the use of a rigorous language. They call this "The Boole." Gird-L is reclusive, claiming The School is trying to poison him. The School claims he is merely nervous and has gastric disease.

Before Gird-L several graduates of The School formed their own schools. These usually fared poorly. For example, the Vulcan magician D-Krtz, a prolific writer, asserted existence comes from the Mind's self-realization. He also claimed the plasm/u-cleus lies in the pineal gland, leading to graphic grave robbing allegations against his followers. His school foundered after he prematurely died from uncontrolled diarrhea.

Despite their philosophical quibbles, each House is renowned for magic in its specialized area. The School is highly selective of its students. Each is required to apprentice with each House and must receive an invitation from one to continue studying. Some say students who do not complete their studies after joining a House suffer dire consequences. The School disagrees. 

Prepared by Rus-L, D.M.S.
Office of Religious and Cultural Affairs