Musicmancers

The Musicmancers are a semi-secret society of educated musicians throughout Europe and the Middle East who study Pythagorean mathematics and musical theory in attempt to better understand the nature of the universe. Some musicmancers of exceptional talent have been able to access the power of the universal spheres by playing music, but this is exceedingly rare. No one at the World Musicmancers Council that met in Constantinople in 869 knew anyone personally who had this ability. Nevertheless, they continue studying music and tuning their instruments to the precise intervals described by the Pythagoreans and their successors, in particular the sixth-century musical theorist and philosopher Boethius. They hope one day to encounter the power again and use this power to bring peace and unity among all humans in their love of God and God's creation.

Structure

The Musicmancers’ Council, as they are officially known, is a small organization with a simple membership hierarchy. It comprises both men and women, and the only criteria for membership is that members play an instrument and can pay the membership fee, which is waived for members of the clergy. (Nevertheless, because an education is required to participate in council meetings, membership remains exclusive to the elite.)
The council is organized into regional chapters, with the highest-ranking member serving as the overseer of the chapter. The overseer of the Byzantine chapter, based in Constantinople, serves as the head of the entire organization. Although most overseers are men, there are some women overseers. Abess Hildegard of St. Maximinus Abbey is the overseer of the Eastern Francia chapter.
If a member is found who can harness the power of the spheres, that person would be promoted to a special rank within the organization, but it has been centuries since the last true Musicmancer reigned.

Culture

For a medieval organization, the Musicmancers are remarkably diverse. They include people from all over the Christian world, from Spain to Persia. Though they are a Christian organization, they have some Jewish and Muslim members in their ranks. Men and women are equal in their study of music’s mysteries, and clergy and laypeople work together side by side. They are united by their common education and love of musical study. Although many languages are spoken at council meetings, the musical notes and intervals are the same.

Public Agenda

The Musicmancers aim to become closer to God - each in their own way - through a more complete understanding of the universe. As much as they can use music to become in tune with God's creation, they will use that to bring peace and unity among all peoples. Their meetings are a mixture of a study group and a performance. All musicmancers believe that music is for everyone in the world to enjoy, together.

History

The earliest history of the Musicmancers dates back to Pythagoras and his school in the sixth century BCE. For almost a thousand years, followers of Pythagoras and his mathematical and musical theory have met together at various points in time to study and to try to understand the music of the spheres. These groups usually styled themselves as Pythagoreans and lacked a central organization, though Pythagoreans from different parts of the world would converse with one another about their shared interest.
At the same time, inhabitants of specific geographic regions observed a stronger universal pull in certain spaces and began to study this phenomenon as well. On two notable occasions - once in northern Germany in 11 BCE and once just outside of Ephesus in 234 CE - inhabitants of the regions in question were able to detect a connection between the stronger universal pull in their area and music, which was somehow more powerful when played in certain areas.
It was not until 523 of our era when Boethius, a latter-day student of Pythagoras and author of On the Principles of Music, made a similar connection in Rome on the other side of the Tiber. He had been studying music and the spheres together for quite awhile by then, and when he detected a place where the two converged, he founded the Musicmancers and held their first council meeting in that very space. Not long afterward, King Theodoric arrested Boethius on charge of treason. Though Boethius was executed before he could call a second meeting of the Council, his fame spread far and wide. By 553, the official date of the Musicmancers' Council charter, there already existed several chapters throughout the Christian world, and it was only left to the patriarch of Constantinople, Saint Eutychius, to head the organization and create the constitution that still stands in the late ninth-century.

φύσιν περὶ παντὸς ὀμοίην

The Musicmancer motto, phusin peri pantos homoien, means, “nature everywhere is alike” and comes from the Golden Verses of Pythagoras.

Founding Date

553

Type

Educational, Society

Alternative Names

Musicmancers’ Council