Born in Damascus in 1981, discovering Hermetic principles at 17, and the journey from English Literature to sacred geometry. The Kybalion, martial arts, and Adobe Illustrator as consciousness laboratory.
Period:1981-2006
15 min read
Themes:
PhilosophyEducationSacred Geometrydamascus
Prologue: The Framework That Changed Everything
I'm Amadeus Samiel Hritani, though I was born as Hamed in Damascus, 1981. At seventeen, I discovered a book that would reshape everything—not just my thinking, but my entire approach to existence.
The Kybalion, with its seven Hermetic principles, arrived when traditional religious frameworks felt insufficient. This wasn't spiritual seeking for me—it was logical, philosophical pursuit of truth beyond the robotic patterns of daily life.
What began as teenage philosophical exploration evolved into a twenty-eight-year journey of developing the Universal Reasoning Framework—consciousness technology that would eventually bridge ancient wisdom with cutting-edge Constitutional AI. This is that journey, told in my own voice, raw and unfiltered.
Chapter 1: Damascus Foundations (1981-1999)
Born in Damascus in 1981 to parents separated by twenty-seven years—my father born in 1932, my mother in 1959. That generational gap within my own household shaped me early. Old Syria meeting new Syria inside the same family. My father carried the weight of earlier eras, traditional and structured. My mother embodied something more modern.
As the eldest of several siblings, I became the bridge. Mediating between my father's traditional worldview and my mother's contemporary perspectives wasn't optional—it was survival. This early experience of navigating between different consciousness frameworks planted seeds I didn't recognize until decades later.
Martial Arts: The Mind-Body Foundation
Since I can remember being conscious, I've loved martial arts—specifically Kung Fu as self-defense art and philosophy of mind and soul \m/ My dad played martial arts movies constantly when I was a kid. I was fascinated by the power of mind and body working as one system.
Growing up, I pursued training in various martial arts styles. It became one of the things I enjoyed most and still do today. I learned both Chinese Tai Chi sword style and Samurai sword style, practicing in private until this day. The geometry of movement, the pattern recognition required for effective technique, the consciousness discipline—all of it was framework training before I knew what framework meant.
The Kybalion Discovery (Age 17)
Around my mid-17s, I encountered the Kybalion. I don't really remember how or from where I got it, but it arrived at the perfect moment. The seven Hermetic principles—Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender—offered something I hadn't found in traditional religious study.
But my initial understanding was fragmentary and dangerous. Learning the principles individually, without ethical framework and proper pattern recognition, I became manipulative—using knowledge for personal advantage without understanding deeper responsibilities.
This Machiavellian phase taught me that knowledge without wisdom destroys as much as it builds.
Academic Path: Literature Over Science
Despite strength in sciences and mathematics, I chose English Literature at University of Damascus. This puzzled people who knew my analytical abilities, but I recognized something: consciousness and human experience couldn't be understood through analytical thinking alone.
The program was rigorous—not just language mastery but deep engagement with philosophy and psychology as electives. I threw myself into this interdisciplinary approach, reading voraciously across cultures and time periods, particularly drawn to works exploring consciousness, identity, and universal patterns underlying human experience.
During university years, I taught mathematics and physics in English at international schools in Damascus. Having learned these subjects in Arabic, I had to rebuild entire conceptual frameworks across languages. Even the mathematical symbols were different. This process of reconstructing knowledge across linguistic boundaries taught me something crucial about consciousness itself—how the same truth can be expressed through radically different symbol systems.
I graduated with distinction in 1999.
Chapter 2: Adobe Illustrator and Geometric Discovery (2000)
In 2000, I saved money and bought a computer for gaming. I had a friend in Fine Arts who told me about the first version of Adobe Illustrator, so I installed and used it.
Illustrator very quickly became my best friend. It helped me understand geometry in a vector-precise environment. The more I used it, the more I understood the power of geometric patterns and their influence on human perception and decision-making. This wasn't just software—it was consciousness laboratory.
I could test specific geometric relationships with mathematical precision, see how golden ratio affected visual balance, experiment with symmetry and asymmetry, explore fractal patterns at different scales. Every design became research into how consciousness processes visual information.
Chapter 3: The New York That Never Was (2001-2004)
After graduating in 1999, I tried everything to study in America. I achieved approximately 98% on the TOEFL exam—the highest score among all applicants at the US Embassy in Damascus. This should have earned me a scholarship to study at the State University of New York.
But I was utterly refused. I was Syrian with a birth name of "Hamed"—an Islamic name. New York was still recovering from 9/11. No visa. No travel. No scholarship despite perfect scores.
The Online MBA (2004)
In 2004, when it became technically possible and some good universities including State University of New York offered it, I studied the MBA online from Damascus. Marketing Psychology and Information Technology focus—exactly what I needed.
I never traveled to New York physically, but the education was just as rigorous. And staying in Damascus while studying American business psychology gave me unique perspective—observing how the same consciousness principles manifested across radically different cultural contexts simultaneously.
Sacred Geometry Awakening (2004)
The breakthrough came in a design patterns course taught by a professor who understood sacred geometry—a true genuine Mason, a very wise and good man. For the first time since my initial Kybalion encounter, I found someone who could explain the mathematical foundations underlying consciousness patterns.
He showed me that sacred geometry wasn't just aesthetic—it was functional. These patterns operated in the visual cortex, in decision-making processes, in the very structure of consciousness itself.
The Golden Ratio, the Flower of Life, the Platonic solids—not mystical abstractions but measurable, observable, functional aspects of how consciousness operates.
Freemasonry Understanding
I'd encountered freemasonry traditions, symbols, and ideas in the late 90s. Initially, I saw them as positive force for good, as Solomon Builders. But as I learned more, I saw how they were used in the world with both good intentions and bad intentions—sometimes to control, sometimes to liberate.
This deviated from my initial perception, but I found deeper truth: "The Free Masonry is the most complete system of thought and action that has ever been developed by man" (Albert Pike)—when practiced properly according to ancient timeless tradition, without corruption of religion or false spirituality.
They were forced to find new meaning without a Master/King, figuring out their role in human evolution. So they became the Freemasons. Religion started invading their lodges and acceptance criteria—less corrupted than other institutions but still infected nevertheless.
That professor who showed me geometric foundations was true genuine Mason. His teaching transformed everything.
Chapter 4: Religious and Philosophical Journey
When it came to religion—not just as philosophical and spiritual structure but as social and reasoning framework with ethics baked in—I found what I'd learned in Islam was valuable but not sufficient.
The more knowledge I acquired studying various traditions genuinely seeking truth from each perspective, understanding the unfolding of history as each saw it, the more I found that knowledge is an infinite paradox. The more I understood, the more I realized the vastness of my ignorance.
My curiosity in pursuit of knowing had to be fueled by discovery and genuine study of all micro-truths, researching, understanding and re-understanding ancient timeless truths in my way. No prejudice, no bias, no dogma, no authority, no sacred text, no sacred place, no sacred person, no sacred thing. Just the truth as it is, as it was, as it will be.
The framework became the compass guiding that eternal cyclical journey. It's like I became all, then identified as nothing, then identified as everything, then nothing, then everything, then nothing, then everything... and so on.
Chapter 5: Ukraine Interlude - Love and Lessons (2002)
In 2002, I fell for a Ukrainian girl—a dancer I met in Damascus. I decided to make the best of it by also establishing trade between Syria and Ukraine. I stayed for 8 months during which I went through a full harsh winter. Loved it, but it wasn't for me.
Ukraine presented fascinating case study. Culture caught between Russian and Western European influences, with deep historical roots. People navigating multiple cultural frameworks simultaneously, never quite settled in any single identity.
For framework research, this was gold. If universal principles truly operated across cultures, they should illuminate not just stable systems but transitional states, identity tensions, consciousness under cultural pressure.
Though the relationship and business ventures ultimately didn't work out, the cultural pattern research was invaluable.
Chapter 6: Dubai - Luxury Psychology (2003)
In 2003, I got a job with an international jewelry and expensive watches company in Dubai called Damas. I moved to Dubai, worked as salesman in luxury store for 3 months, then promoted to shop manager and left after 9 months.
It was great experience. I learned a lot about luxury psychology and marketing, able to travel to many countries in the Middle East and Africa. But it wasn't "it".
Jewelry operated at fascinating psychological levels—not just adornment but identity expression, cultural signaling, emotional anchoring, and wealth display all at once. Every piece carried multiple consciousness patterns simultaneously.
Dubai's extreme diversity tested the framework at new scale. Emirati, South Asian, African, European, American, East Asian, Middle Eastern—all navigating same city through radically different cultural frameworks, united primarily by commerce and luxury.
Despite surface differences, same geometric patterns operated universally.
Chapter 7: First Marriage and Father's Death (2004-2005)
Back in Damascus in 2004, I was married to a Hungarian/Palestinian girl I'd met at university. She was like me—different, a rebel into heavy metal music, trying to think deeper than others.
We had a daughter, Aya, in 2005.
But my father passed away in 2004, and I wasn't responsible enough in the sense that I drank too much all the time after his death. Our relationship became toxic.
Eventually she suddenly took our daughter and traveled to Budapest, saying she would apply for visa for me as Syrian so I could come, learn Hungarian, find some job there.
At that time, having graduated from university, in Syria you had to go to Army for about 2 years. I had to leave Syria before that happened. Being Syrian, no country would accept me without visa except Libya.
So I traveled to Libya in 2006, knowing no one there, supposed to be for couple of months until my wife—we were still married then—would send me the visa.
I waited and waited. She never did. Month after month.
End of Part 1
Part 1 covers my journey from birth in Damascus through university, my early framework discoveries, Ukraine, Dubai, first marriage, and the circumstances that led me to Libya in 2006 as an alcoholic refugee from my own life. Part 2 will continue with Libya—where everything transformed through pain.