The number 5 has always been regarded as mystical and magical, yet essentially 'human'. We have five fingers/toes on each limb extremity.We commonly note five senses - sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. We perceive five stages or initiations in our lives - eg. birth, adolescence, coitus, parenthood and death. (There are other numbers / initiations / stages / attributions).
The number 5 is associated with Mars. It signifies severity, conflict and harmony through conflict. In Christianity, five were the wounds of Christ on the cross. There are five pillars of the Muslim faith and five daily times of prayer.
Five were the virtues of the medieval knight - generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety as symbolized in the pentagram device of Sir Gawain. The Wiccan Kiss is Five fold - feet, knees, womb, breasts, lips - Blessed be.
The number 5 is prime. The simplest star - the pentagram - requires five lines to draw and it is unicursal; it is a continuous loop.
The pentagram is the symbol of microcosm - Man. The pentagram represents the four elements with the fifth, Akasha or spirit at the topmost point.
The fifth element is the underlying unity of the others, their essence and matrix. The elements are allocated to four quarters of the compass, which for the purpose of the pentagram rituals are:
AIR ---- East
FIRE ---- South
WATER --- West
EARTH ---- North
AKASHA ---- Center
The quarters are sometimes allocated differently slightly, water and earth being interchanged.
