The tetractys (), or tetrad, or the tetractys of the decad is a triangular figure consisting of ten points arranged in four rows: one, two, three, and four points in each row, which is the geometrical representation of the fourth triangular number. As a mystical symbol, it was very important to the secret worship of Pythagoreanism. There were four seasons, and the number was also associated with planetary motions and music. Pythagorean symbol The first four numbers symbolize the musica universalis and the Cosmos as: (1) Unity (Monad) (2) Dyad – Power – Limit/Unlimited (peras/apeiron) (3) Harmony (Triad) (4) Kosmos (Tetrad) The four rows add up to ten, which was unity of a higher order (The Dekad). The Tetractys symbolizes the four classical elements—air, fire, water, and earth. The Tetractys represented the organization of space: the first row represented zero dimensions (a point) the second row represented one dimension (a line of two points) the third row represented two dimensions (a plane defined by a triangle of three points) the fourth row represented three dimensions (a tetrahedron defined by four points) A prayer of the Pythagoreans shows the importance of the Tetractys (sometimes called the "Mystic Tetrad"), as the prayer was addressed to it. As a portion of the secret religion, initiates were required to swear a secret oath by the Tetractys. They then served as novices, which required them to observe silence for a period of five years. The Pythagorean oath also mentioned the Tetractys: By that pure, holy, four lettered name on high, nature's eternal fountain and supply, the parent of all souls that living be, by him, with faith find oath, I swear to thee. It is said that the Pythagorean musical system was based on the Tetractys as the rows can be read as the ratios of 4:3 (perfect fourth), 3:2 (perfect fifth), 2:1 (octave), forming the basic intervals of the Pythagorean scales. That is, Pythagorean scales are generated from combining pure fourths (in a 4:3 relation), pure fifths (in a 3:2 relation), and the simple ratios of the unison 1:1 and the octave 2:1. Note that the diapason, 2:1 (octave), and the diapason plus diapente, 3:1 (compound fifth or perfect twelfth), are consonant intervals according to the tetractys of the decad, but that the diapason plus diatessaron, 8:3 (compound fourth or perfect eleventh), is not. Kabbalist symbol In the work by anthropologist Raphael Patai entitled