SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBER 5
booklet compiled by Lalitha Venkat for Anita Ratnam (Artistic Director, Arangham Dance Theatre)
Source: Internet
SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBER 5
* Five is the number of harmony and balance. It is also the number of The Divine Grace.
* The five fundamental virtues: wisdom, love, truth, goodness and justice.
* The number five symbolizes meditation; religion; versatility. It
represents the five senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing)
everywhere except in the East. In the East there are six - the extra
being the mind.
* The fifth dimension holds the sum of all physical awareness - it
is the memory of being everything. In this dimension, everything comes
face to face with the God of all feeling.
* According to Indian tradition, every conscious and intelligent
being is equipped with Pancha Koshas, i.e., five sheaths or layers. This
model is stated in the Taitriya Upanishad and interpreted in many
Indian texts. These are:
(i) Annamaya Kosha means the physical body sustained by food (or Anna). This is the gross or body of the individual.
(ii) Pranamaya Kosha means the vital energies (i.e. Prana) provided by
the harmonious functioning of the different components of ‘pranas’ i.e.
breathing, circulation, nervous systems, digestive and inner organs like
liver and glands.
(iii) Manomaya Kosha means reflex capacities, emotion, and similar
functions of the mind and the system. Manomaya is responding to stimuli –
both external and emotional.
(iv) Vigyanamaya Kosha means the discriminative faculty that helps in
undertaking action according to what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’.
(v) Anandamaya Kosha means the sheath of bliss.
* The pentagon is endless - sharing the symbolism of perfection and power of the circle.
 
* Five is the symbol of human microcosm. In the true pentacle, you
can see how the head, arms, and legs of a person standing spread eagled
are represented by the points of the star.
* The pentacle is being condemned for being a symbol of the Devil,
when in fact, it is a symbol of all the five elements in Nature: Fire,
Air, Water, Earth and Spirit. Upward pointing pentacles, signal that all
these elements are being channeled into the spirit. Downward pointing
pentacles signify that this spirit essence is being channeled within us.
* The pentacle, like the circle symbolizes whole, the quincunx
being the number of its center and the meeting point of heaven, earth,
and the four cardinal points plus the center point.
* The five pointed star depicts individuality and spiritual
aspiration, and education when it points upward. The five pointed star
pointing downward represents witchcraft, and it is used in black magic.
It symbolizes the ability of the will to control the elements. In that
sense it represents the power of the lower self - the human will. Note:
There is a very broad difference between witchcraft and black magic.
* Pentagram (derived from the pentagon) was in ancient times a
symbol for health and salvation, and in the Middle Ages used as a symbol
to repulse evil spirits. As a geometric form it has a multitude of
different meanings. Its special relationship to the golden section
represented the possibility of infinite divisions in both directions,
making it more mystical.
* It was used as an amulet of personal protection and to guard
windows and doors. One point up symbolized summer, two points up was a
sign for winter.
* The number 5 is associated with Mercury. Mercury indicates
mental outlook, intellectual endeavors, the way you think and
communicate. It represents ideas, methods, and information.
* Five is also representative of the Godhead - Central Creator of
the four fours plus itself equaling five. The ability to unite the
elements is found in the fifth dimension of energy - the quintessence.
The cycle of matter is transcended when the fifth awareness emerges from
it. Consciousness transcends the opposing four forces, and the
higher-life begins.
* Humans perceive five major stages in life - birth, adolescence, union of male and female, parenthood and death.
* The word Makara, connected with the number 5, is related to the
Four Kumaras, who are actually 5, one being secret; to the 5 crocodiles
in the celestial Nile to the 5th hierarchy, and also to the 5th class of
demons whom Satan (Saturn as Pan), leader of the opposition in Hell, is
the head.
* The number five formed the first counting process from which all else came.
* Five is a circular number as it produces itself in its last digit when raised to its own power.
* THE MAGIC SQUARE OF FIVE
Each row equals 65 in every direction and represents the planet Mars. It
follows the traditional Babylonian arrangement of the heavenly spheres.
The closer one comes to the earth the larger the square becomes. These
magic squares represent archetypal patterns of energy and are
mathematical reflections of the underlying natural order.
Magic squares brilliantly reveal the intrinsic harmony and symmetry of
numbers. With their curious and mystic charm they appear to betray some
hidden intelligence that governs the cosmic order that dominates all
existence. The numbers of planetary squares have been used in
formulating the names of planetary spirits and intelligences, in
constructing planetary talismans, in determining the measurements of
temples, and so on. To those initiated into the mysteries of the old
cosmologies, the divinities or archetypes of nature were recognized as
autonomous patterns of energy which leave their imprint on many levels
of human experience.
* The five pointed star represents the planet Mars and the numbers of the points are 5 – 25 - 52 - 65 - 208 - 325.
* The number five consists of two unequal parts, 2 and 3. The
diversity brings evil and misfortune. The five symbolizes the individual
(one who defies the natural order and is punished), the five fingers on
the hand, the pentagram.
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