FIVE is the symbol
of the pentacle, and of the human being, which, with arms outstretched in
the shape of a cross appears to comprise five parts, two arms, two legs, a head and a body,
sheltering a heart. It also includes the five sense, five extremities (head, hands and feet). It is
also a symbol of the universe, it's two axes, vertical and horizontal, passing through the same
center; of order and perfection; and lastly, of the will of God which can only desire order and
perfection. ("Good Orderly Direction" etc.) In Eastern traditions, making the sign of five
is
manifesting life. As an odd number it expresses an action rather than a state. In thissense, a
human shape maybe drawn in a pentagram of which the center is the genitals. Five symbolizes
the manifestation of humans in their physical and spiritual development. Five also has a deep
connection with Eros. When dreaming, we often run into five in connection with the search for
genuine involvement in life, whether or not this is expressed sexually. Eros and the willingness to
form a union are at the heart of five, and while sexuality can play a role in it, Eros is much more
than that.
Step Five is equated
in many ways as an act of confession, and once we have done it, we are
absolved. As the number five is an action, rather than a state, the Fifth Step is the concrete
action we need to take in order to make progress on our journey towards manifestation of our
spiritual development. It is a part of that integration of "our insides with our outsides."
It is in
Step Five that we do the inner work to bring our internal storehouse in to order by taking
inventory, realigning the axes, following direction. It is also action in that we must actively seek
someone out and be willing to share with them. To me, divinity is not a separate entity in this
Step. If you look back at the number three, you will see how Three comes out of two. It is in
the Step, that when two humans sit down together, divinity is automatically manifested. It is not
separate from us. Trust is involved, and this can only happen if we recognize the divine in each
other and strive to the divine in ourselves during this process. The connections with Five and
Eros also seem to indicate that unless we do the inner work to rid ourselves of our baggage, a
meaningful intimate relationship will be difficult, if not impossible.
The number five
implies the completeness of life and the root from which the word
quiintessence comes from..the fifth essence. Five is everywhere, but elusively nowhere. We get
flashes of it, which seems cruel at times, but it is the essence of spiritual life.
For thousands of years, father and son have stretched wistful hands across the canyon
of time,
each eager to help the other to his side but neither quite able to desert the loyalties of his
contemporaries. The relationship is always changing and hence always fragile; nothing endures
except the sense of difference.
All fathers are invisible in daytime; daytime is ruled by mothers and fathers come
out at night.
Darkness brings home fathers, with their real, unspeakable power. There is more to fathers than
meets the eye.
Stories of Introductions,
Initiations, and Goodbyes:
The Sovereign
The Lover
The Magician
The Warrior
1. The Number
