Number GroupsIt is also the number of man because man has five senses and five
distinct extremities: two arms, two legs, and a head that directs the other
four.
The pentagram is actually a figure of the microcosm, man, and repre-
sents the soul (1) rising above the animal nature.
Sometimes the body of man is drawn on the five-pointed star, the
head at the single point at the top, the arms outstretched on the two
points at the upper middle, and the legs on the two lower points. Drawn
this way it locates the five mysterious centers of force, which have great
meaning to the mystics, the study of which leads to remarkable under-
standing. Man is the pentacle.
But inverted, the pentagram represents a perverted power, for it takes
man off balance by standing him on his head. Black magicians distort it by
breaking a line somewhere or by using it upside down so that the two star
points are at the top resembling a goat’s horns. The ancients considered
the Pentad as a symbol for marriage because it contains the first female
number, 2, and the first male number, 3. (The 1 was not considered the
first male number because it is found in every number and its addition
makes odd numbers even.) Five candles are lighted at the wedding cer-
emony. The minister performing the rites holds one hand, five fingers
spread, above the bride and groom while declaring them to be husband
and wife (The Pythagorean Triangle, 136-7).
The Pythagoreans noticed that the five points resembled five capital
A’s interlocked, so they called this symbol “Pentalpha.” Alpha represents
the Element of Air and is everywhere presentin, through, and
aroundall creation.
The 5 is the number of nature because above the four Elements of
Earth, Fire, Air, and Water is the fifth and celestial Element of Ether.
Pythagoreans called it “quintessence,” which means “the purest and most
essential part of anything.” The number 5, by its shape, symbolizes this
quintessence because it has a serpentine form showing pictorially the ani-
mating spirit or vital essence that flows through all of nature (Morals and
Dogma, 634).
Most flowering plants have petals or leaves in clusters of four or
five. Like nature, 5 reproduces itself by its own seed, because when it is
multiplied by itself it returns to itself by producing its own number,
showing up as part of the total, for example, 5 × 5 = 25, 5 × 15 = 75,
5 × 25 = 125, etc.
The 5 is related in form to sharp shapes, forms that lack order or
coherence, and to jointed and disjointed bodies. The fifth Sephira is called
Geburah, or Severity. It means strength. It is opposite of Chesed (Mercy)
on the Tree, and where Chesed is the builder, Geburah is the destroyer,
both necessary to ongoing creation.
Being the destroyer means eliminating that which is no longer useful.
It also demands payment where it is due, and fulfills karma. “Chesed