The Martyrdom of Hypatia Masonic Poster - [11'' x 17'']

From The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall:

Well has it been said of Hypatia that she was the brightest star in the whole constellation of Neo-Platonism and the most touching figure in the Alexandrian epoch of philosophy. Eliphas Levi writes of Hypatia that her virtues would have taken her to the baptismal font, but she died a martyr for liberty of conscience when they attempted to drag her there. Hypatia was one of those few thinkers who could not help accurately estimating the comparative values of both thoughts and things. Her clarity of perception wrought her undoing, for she lived in a generation which had no concept of the simplicity of Truth. The world fears a mind which thinks more rapidly and more accurately than its own: such an intellect it destroys in self protection. Hence, to think is to be persecuted by the thoughtless to have vision is to be hated by the visionless; to be wise is to be reviled by fools. For thousands of years men have labored under the delusion that Truth could be destroyed by murdering those who sought to give it to the world. But the sublime verities of philosophy are beyond the reach of mortality and in every age are reborn in the heroes who rise up to carry them forward. Though the Neo-Platonic School has disappeared as an institution, nevertheless it continue to live as a spirit and now dominates the very forces which once sought to destroy it. The surest method of perpetuating an idea is to make a martyr of its for promulgator, for in the heart of man there is something which recognizes the respects the courage and conviction of those who die for principle. Many of the world’s greatest religion and philosophies would have long since ceased to exist had their founders not met with a tragic end. Though only the most meager information is now available regarding her life and teachings. Hypatia stands out upon the pages of history as having endured one of the most cruel and revolting deaths to which any martyr ever was subjected.