SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBER 5
booklet compiled by Lalitha Venkat for Anita Ratnam (Artistic Director, Arangham Dance Theatre)
Source: Internet
PYTHAGOREANS
* The pentagram served the Pythagoreans as a salutation and a
symbol of health. Medieval masons considered it a symbol of deep wisdom
and integrated its proportions in ecclesiastical edifices.
* The geometry and metaphysical associations of the pentagram were
explored by the Pythagoreans who considered it an emblem of perfection.
* The sum of the first even and odd numbers (2 + 3) is 5. (To the
Pythagoreans 1 was not a number and was not odd.) It therefore
symbolizes human life and - in the Platonic and Pythagorean traditions -
marriage, as the sum of the female 2 and the male 3. The Pythagoreans
discovered the five regular solids (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron,
dodecahedron, and icosahedron; now known as the Platonic solids). Early
Pythagoreanism acknowledged only four of these, so the discovery of the
fifth (the dodecahedron, with 12 pentagonal faces) was something of an
embarrassment. Perhaps for this reason 5 was often considered exotic and
rebellious.
SOCIETIES
* As with the Pythagoreans, the pentagram was a symbol of
recognition for certain secret societies, such as the Freemasons Flaming
Star. The pentangle on the shield of Sir Gawain, one of the Knights of
King Arthur, signified Gawain's perfection and power over evil.
* To the Gnostics, the pentagram was the "blazing star" and along
with the crescent moon was a symbol relating to the magic and mystery of
the night sky.
It was a symbol of Godhead for the Druids.
The Celts associated it with the underground Goddess Morrigan.
* The Knights Templar used the pentagram shape in the placement of
chapels and shrines in the Rennes de Chatres in France. During the
Inquisition many lies were spread. The pentagram was seen to symbolize a
goat's head or the devil in the form known as Baphomet, whom the
Inquisition accused the Templars of worshiping.
* The pentangle is a token of truth. Each of the five points are
linked and locked with the next, forming what is called the endless
knot. The pentangle is a symbol that Gawain is faultless in his five
senses, never found to fail in his five fingers, faithful to the five
wounds that Christ received on the cross, strengthened by the five joys
that the Virgin Mary had in Jesus (The Annunciation, Nativity,
Resurrection, Ascension, and Assumption), and possesses brotherly love,
pure mind and manners, and compassion most precious. The inside of the
shield is adorned with an image of the Virgin Mary to make sure that
Gawain never loses heart.
According to a poem:
The fifth of the five fives followed by this knight
Were beneficence boundless and brotherly love
And pure mine and manners, that none might impeach,
And compassion most precious - these peerless five
Were forged and made fast in him, foremost of men. Norton, 215-216
* Members of secret societies, such as Masonic Lodges of the Grand
Orient, in their highest levels use the words "unknown superiors" to
describe the force that guides them and their efforts. When the
Illuminati was formed on Walpurgisnacht (eve of May 1st), 1776, five men
gathered in a cavern deep beneath Ingolstadt in Bavaria and made
contact with what they said were "unknown superiors." One of these five
men was Dr. Adam Weishaupt. The name Adam Weishaupt is profound in the
sense that his name means "first man to know the superiors." Here let it
be noted that the five founders of the Illuminati used witchcraft
rituals known as "The greater and lesser keys of Solomon", which
involved the "Pentacle of Invocation." The pentacle is a
three-dimensional, five-pointed star, and the number five became sacred
to the Illuminati. We must also note that the Rothschild family
consisted of five sons of one Moses Amschel Bauer, who took the name
Rothschild, because it means "Red Shield." Much later, a man named John
D. Rockefeller also had five sons to control the American branch of
Illuminism. The Illuminati and all of witchcraft is obsessed with the
Pentacle of Invocation, and is it any wonder that the Washington
Monument in Washington D.C. is exactly 555 feet high.
* In modern Wicca, the pentagram can also be inscribed on the
alter pentacle- the five points symbolizing three aspects of the Goddess
plus two aspects of the God.
RELIGION & CULTURE
* The five sacred Sikh symbols prescribed by Guru Gobind Singh are
commonly known as Panch Kakars or the 'Five Ks' because they start with
letter K representing Kakka in the Punjabi language. They are: Kesh
(unshorn hair), Kangha (the comb), Kara (the steel bracelet), Kachh (the
soldiers shorts), and Kirpan (the sword).
* In East Asian tradition, there are five elements: (water, fire,
earth, wood and metal). The Japanese names for the days of the week,
Tuesday through Saturday, come from these elements via the
identification of the elements with the five planets visible to the
naked eye. Also, the traditional Japanese calendar has a five-day weekly
cycle that can be still observed in printed mixed calendars combining
Western, Chinese-Buddhist and Japanese names for each weekday.
* According to some traditions of Maya mythology, we are now
living in the Fifth World. It is a symbol of the perfection in the
Mayas. The five suns or eras of the Aztecs.
* The culture of the Australian Aboriginal has evolved with the
knowledge of five elements and it has been expressed in various myths
and become part of their rituals and ceremonies, their dream-time. The
original African shamanic culture, its religious and folkloric
expressions have known and used these concepts since time began. The
South American Mayas have based their calendars, astrology, their temple
architecture and understanding of the universe on these insights, as
have cultures that predate them. The American Indians cannot be
understood in their deep nature bound beliefs without reference to the
Five Elements. They have extensive rituals, ceremony and knowledge of
these.
* In Discordianism, 5 is seen as a very important number as
demonstrated in the Law of Fives and The Pentabarf, which contains five
rules. Each page of the Principia Discordia, the primary religious
document in Discordianism, is also labeled with 5 digits.
* In some cultures there are five cardinal directions, including the center.
* The pentagram has been used throughout history. The earliest
known use dates to around the Uruk period around 3500 BCE at Ur of the
Chaldees in Mesopotamia. It was found on potsherds with other symbols.
* The pentagram was a symbol of imperial power in later periods of
Mesopotamian art. Power extended out to "the four corners of the
world".
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