I immediately thought of Plato and western esotericism. These look magical. Plato's atomic theory in Timaeus was that atoms should be the simplest geometric forms possible. These are what we now call the Platonic forms: the tetrahedron, the cube, the isocahedron, the octohedron and the dodecahedron. Plato associated each with an element, based on the intrinsic material properties of the geometric shape. For instance, earth was cubic because cubes stack well and fire was tetrahedric because the sharpness of the pyramid-shape was destructive like fire.
Dodecahedra were the 5th element, the quintessence, which was the aether beyond air. Totally magical. These things would have impressed people and communicated philosophical prowess.
Dodecahedra were the 5th element, the quintessence, which was the aether beyond air. Totally magical. These things would have impressed people and communicated philosophical prowess.