CUE University

Ancient Knowledge

Before knowledge was divided into subjects, number, nature, time, geometry and the sky were studied together.

CUE is not claiming these ancient systems were the same. It is showing how people have searched for patterns in number, time, relationships and the sky for thousands of years.

The tetractys: ten points in rows of 1, 2, 3 and 4. The ratios 2:1, 3:2 and 4:3, the octave, fifth and fourth, all live inside it.

Featured Why Pythagoras Believed Number Was Fundamental The man, the legend, the tetractys, and whether he invented numerology. Featured Who Was Hermes Trismegistus? A Greek god, an Egyptian god, and texts once thought older than Moses. Featured How the Chinese Zodiac Began Twelve branches, twelve animals and a cycle older than the story of the race.

Explore Ancient Knowledge

Number & Philosophy

Pythagoras, Plato and the idea that number sits beneath reality.

In progress: The Pythagorean Brotherhood · How Pythagorean Tuning Worked · Plato’s Mathematical Universe · What Plato Meant by Harmony

Sacred Geometry

Circles, triangles and solids, and what the record really shows.

In progress: The Flower of Life · Metatron’s Cube · The Vesica Piscis · The Geometry of Mandalas · Geometry in Islamic Art

Ancient Time

How people learned to measure days, months and years.

In progress: The Egyptian Calendar · How the Julian Calendar Changed Time · Why Months Have Different Lengths · Why Chinese New Year Changes Dates

The Sky

Babylonian astronomy, the zodiac and the planets.

In progress: The Seven Classical Planets · How Ancient Astronomers Tracked Eclipses · What Is the Metonic Cycle? · Why Solstices and Equinoxes Mattered

Chinese Knowledge

The zodiac, the I Ching, the Lo Shu and the cycles behind them.

In progress: The Five Elements · Yin and Yang · The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches · Why 8 Is Considered Lucky · Why 4 Is Often Avoided

Hermetic & Esoteric

Hermes Trismegistus, the Emerald Tablet and alchemy, in context.

In progress: What Is Hermeticism? · Alchemy as Symbolism · The Four Classical Elements · Macrocosm and Microcosm

Ancient Numbers

Why cultures across Babylon, Greece, China and the Abrahamic traditions gave certain numbers special weight.

Ancient Numbers Why Ancient Cultures Cared About the Number 7 Seven planets, seven days, seven heavens: where the pattern comes from.

Next in the series: The Meaning of 3 in Ancient Traditions · Why 4 Represents Order · Why 8 Became Associated With Prosperity · Why 9 Appears in Mythology · Why 12 Became a Number of Completion · Why 13 Became Mysterious

Ancient Ideas That Became Mathematics

Science, religion, mathematics and astrology were not separate subjects for most of history. They grew up together.

Became mathematics Why Babylon Used Base 60 Two wedge signs, place value, and a square root accurate to a millionth.

Next in the series: From Sacred Triangle to Pythagorean Theorem · How Astronomy Created Calendars · How Music Revealed Mathematical Ratios · How Geometry Became Architecture · How Star Mapping Became Astrology and Astronomy

How we write history Checked, dated, and honest about doubt

We say what the historical record shows, and date texts by the evidence rather than by legend.
Where an origin story is disputed, such as the age of the Lo Shu or the “Flower of Life” at Abydos, we say so.
CUE never suggests an ancient system secretly contained CUE’s doctrine. Its own view is labelled as its own.