SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBER 5
booklet compiled by Lalitha Venkat for Anita Ratnam (Artistic Director, Arangham Dance Theatre)
Source: Internet
TIBET
* For the Tibetans, the five elements are connected to five
geometrical forms: the cube to the ground, the sphere to the water, the
cone to the fire, the half-circle to the air, and the flame to the
ether.
* Auspicious Tibetan eye - 5 elements bead.
CHINA
* There are five elements. Five atmospheres; conditions; planets;
sacred mountains; grains, colors, tastes, poisons; powerful charms;
cardinal virtues; blessings; eternal ideas; relations to human kind.
* The five cycles of the Chinese lunar calendar of twelve lunar years each.
* The five elements of the Chinese theory: water, fire, wood, metal, ground.
* In Cantonese, "five" sounds like the word “not.” When five
appears in front of a lucky number, e.g. "58", the result is considered
unlucky.
EGYPT
* The cosmogony of ancient Egypt and the beliefs concerning death
and resurrection are closely interwoven in processes that involve five
distinct elements.
The various passages and chambers in the Great Pyramid of Khufu
illustrate the five elements in the ancient Egyptian beliefs concerning
death and resurrection. The materials and colours used in constructing
the passages and chambers of the Great Pyramid of Khufu are of special
significance. The first element of the rite of passage would have taken
place in the subterranean compartment called the Chamber of Ordeal,
which could be regarded as a counterpart of the dark pit of nothingness
that is the Jewish Sheol, or the Roman Catholic Purgatory where it is
believed that souls after death are purified from unforgiven venial
sins. The Chamber of Ordeal is excavated some 25 metres deep in the
bedrock under the pyramid and is accessed by a narrow, steeply
descending passage.
The second element of the rite takes place in a Grotto, which also is
excavated in the bedrock just under the base of the pyramid. It
represents the Well of Life and is accessed by ascending a very steep
shaft. All of these passages, shafts and chambers were left rough and
unadorned in the same state as they were excavated, symbolising the
original and final states of human existence. The third element of the
rite takes place in a chamber of glistening white limestone, emblematic
of truth and regeneration, which has been described as the Queen’s
Chamber, but in reality it is the Chamber of Regeneration and Rebirth.
The fourth element takes place in the Hall of Truth in Darkness, through
which a soul reborn must pass in humility before its resurrection. This
hall is called the Grand Gallery and is constructed of polished black
granite, symbolic of the Inscrutable Source of all things. To the
Egyptians darkness was the mystery of all mysteries. The setting of the
fifth and final element of the rite is the highest chamber in the
pyramid, constructed of polished red granite, emblematic of fire and
purification. It is the Chamber of Resurrection, called the King’s
Chamber.
* There are five crocodiles of the Nile.
* The five wounds of Egypt sent by God through the intermediary of
Moses, according to the Koran: the flood, grasshoppers, lice, frogs and
blood.
* The ancients saw a link of God to man in the number five.
Geometrically it is a pentagon. In three dimensions it is a pyramid,
like the Great Pyramids in Egypt.
HEBREW
* Torah is the entire body of religious law and learning including
both sacred literature and oral tradition. It is also a scroll of
parchment containing the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, used
in a synagogue during services.
* The Torah contains five books - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy - which are collectively called the Five Books
of Moses, the Pentateuch (Greek for “five containers,” referring to the
scroll cases in which the books were kept), or Humash (Hebrew for
"fifth")
* Five represents strength and severity; radical intelligence. In Kabbala, five represents fear.
* The Khamsa, an ancient symbol shaped like a hand with five fingers, is used as a protective amulet by Jews.
GRECO-ROMAN
* Five is the nuptial number of love and union. It is the number
of Venus. Venus years are completed in groups of five. Apollo as God of
Light has five qualities: omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence,
eternity and unity.
* The number 5 was associated with the Babylonian Goddess Ishtar
and her Roman parallel, Venus, and the symbol for both was the
five-pointed star, or pentagram. In England a knot tied in the form of a
pentagram is called a lover’s knot because of this association with the
Goddess of Love.
* In Ancient Greece, it was called Pentalpha, as the pentagram is composed of 5 "A" shapes.
* The Greeks philosophers admitted five principles in the man: body, animal soul, psyche, intelligence and divine spirit.
* It was Homer, the Greek epic poet renowned for writing the Iliad
and the Odyssey, who is reputed to have been the first to divide the
world into five portions. He said that Earth and Olympus are the two
extremes, which respectively represent the physical and heavenly
attributes of nature. Homer assigned three Gods to the intervening
portions, of which Hera signified fire and represented perception,
Hermes signified air and represented the mind and Hades signified water
and represented desire.
PARSEE
* Five is a significant number in Parsee and Mandaean rites -
possibly connected with the five sacred intercalary days of light.
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