Mood: You'll feel smarter.
Listening to: Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust
Reading: Haunted | Chuck Palahniuk
Watching: Dangerous Liasons

I've been asked this a few times in the past day or so: Cinquain, why do you have a five on your new avatar, and why is the number five superscripted in your new journal header?

It's a good and quite relevant question, so I'll answer it as best I can. (If you read this entry, I guarantee you'll feel smarter when you're done.)

The number five is just as significant as the two digits that we most associate with spirituality and meaning, the numbers three and seven.

- Five is the symbol of the human microcosm. It is the number that signifies the human being. The human form creates a pentagon while the arms and legs are outstreched, with two points created by the hands, two by the feet, and one by the head. The pentagon is endless, sharing the symbolism of perfection (oh my, is that where I get it from?) and the power of the circle. Five is a circular number as it produces itself in its last digit when raised to its own power. The pentacle, like the circle symbolizes whole, holds the number five as its center and meeting point of heaven, earth, and the four cardinal points plus the center point.

- The number five is representative of the Godhead, or Central Creator. It is the marriage of the hieros gamos as the combination of feminine and masculine; feminine being even (2) in frequency and masculine being odd (3) in frequency. (2 + 3 = 5)

- Five symbolizes meditation, religion, and versatility. It represents the five senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing). We also find five in nature, such as in the five petaled flower.

- The five pointed star depicts individuality and spiritual aspiration, and also education when it points upward.

- The number five formed the first counting process from which all else came.

- Buddhists believe that the heart has four directions with the center of the heart as its fifth. This symbolizes universality. This idea of five is also symbolized by the Sacred Mountain surrounded by its four islands.

- There are five Dhyani Buddahs: Vairocana the brilliant, Akshobhya the imperturbable, Ratnasambhava the jewel-born, Amitabha the boundless light, and Amoghasiddhi the infalliable.

- In Chinese culture there are five elements, five atmospheres, five conditions, planets, sacred mountains, grains, colors... five tastes, poisons, powerful charms... five cardinal virtues and blessings... and five eternal ideas.

- In Christianity the number five depicts human beings after the fall in the Garden of Eden. There are five points to the cross which are represented by the five wounds of Christ.

- In Graeco-Roman culture the number five is the nuptial number of love and union and is the number of Venus. Venus years are completed in groups of five. Apollo, the god of light, has five qualities: omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, eternity, and unity.

- In Hebrew culture five represents strength, severity, and radical intelligence.

- In Islamic culture there are five pillars of religion, five Divine Presences, five fundamental dogmas, and five daily times of prayer.

So why 'cinquain'? Cinquain means 'a five-line stanza', somewhat like a Haiku. So while it embodies the creativity of poetry and art, it also takes on the worldly properties of all the things that are mentioned above.

Pretty deep, huh?
Now you know.