Sacred Numerology: Symbolism of Numbers 5 and 6 in Esoteric Traditions

It is the number of hierogamies, the marriage of the celestial principle with the terrestrial one; it is also the symbol of man in the shape of a cross: the head above, the two arms open in the form of a cross, the torso at the center towards the heart, the two legs. Symbol of the universe, two axes, one vertical and the other horizontal passing through the center. It also signifies perfection, order, divine will that desires order and perfection. In Gothic cathedrals it is present and recalls the pentagonal harmony of the Pythagoreans. It can be distinguished as a five-pointed star and a five-petaled flower. In hermeticism it is the center of the cross of the four elements, it is the quintessence, the ether. The 5 is the individual man in relation to the universal man. Symbol of all the world's esotericism of China, the Maya of India, Greece, Islam, Aztecs. The Christian mystic Saint Hildegard of Bingen speaks of it. The 5 is mentioned in Revelation in 9:5-10 and in 17:10. Matthew, 14:7: "we have only five years." In Luke 1:24: "Elizabeth hid herself for five months." The 5 corresponds to the Hebrew letter HE', a double letter in the Tetragrammaton of which HE' is the first letter: splendor of the Shekinah, light of glory from above and second HE': created light, flaming star. With the 5 wounds of Christ it recalls his sacrifice, the Lamb of God on the Tree of the cross. 5 • 5: It is the number of "marriages," of the terrestrial principle with the celestial one. "alteration," "light," "absence of contention," "ether," "quintessence," "marriage" as the union of the first even number and the first odd number, and also "androgyny" and "demigod" as well as "cardiac" because it resembles the heart which in beings is placed at the center. It is the symbol of the individual man in relation to the Universal Man. And it is the symbol of all World Esotericism, from China, to India, to Egypt, to Greece up to Christianity of the modern Era. Therefore, world esotericism is under the protection and moves according to the influence of number 5, a number that corresponds to the light of the intellect and also to the perfect man. To give you an example of how one can proceed in the meditation of a number, the number 5 can be conceived as $1+4$ that is, the number 1, the will of man that dominates the 4, the 4 elements and arranges them by illuminating them. Conversely, meditating on 5 as $4+1$ means meditating on the elements, the matter that dominates the one, the will, and thus leads to the slavery of the individual to matter. For this reason, the number 5 was also called "twin" as well as "nemesis" because it distributes both celestial and natural gifts according to its orientation. Therefore, when speaking of symbolic operations, operations do not commute: writing $1+4$ is not the same as writing $4+1$ because in the first case it is the 1 that dominates the 4 and in the second it is the 4 that dominates the 1 (clearly here we are not making a discourse on writing but on the intention of the meditator). Using the number 9, we generate the primary decompositions of 5: $$5 + 9 = 14 \rightarrow 5 = 1 + 4$$ $$14 + 9 = 23 \rightarrow 5 = 2 + 3$$ $$23 + 9 = 32 \rightarrow 5 = 3 + 2$$ $$32 + 9 = 41 \rightarrow 5 = 4 + 1$$ $$41 + 9 = 50 \rightarrow 5 = 5$$ Therefore: $$5 = 1 + 4$$ $$5 = 2 + 3$$ $$5 = 3 + 2$$ $$5 = 4 + 1$$ The 6 symbolizes the advanced man, that is, the Initiate whose qualities are the mastery or mastery of thought, word and action to a high degree, but it is not all here, because there is more. Augustine of Hippo in the first volume of his work The City of God, chap. XXX, here is what he writes about the perfection of the number six speaking of Creation: "All these things are said to be completed in six days for the perfection of the number six, repeating the word 'day' six times, and not because God needed the delay of time, as if he could not have created them all at once, but because the perfection of the work is indicated by the number six. This number, in fact, is the first that is composed of its parts, that is, of its sixth, third and half of itself: one, two and three, which, added together, give six. By parts of numbers, in this consideration we mean those that can be called quotients, such as half, third, fourth part and so on. Four, for example, is not part of the number nine, because it cannot be said to be the quotient; instead one and three are, because that is the ninth and this the third part. However, adding these parts, the ninth and the third, that is, one and three, one is far from obtaining the whole sum, that is, nine. Similarly, four is a certain part, but not the quotient of the number ten. One is instead, because it is the tenth part; two, which is the fifth part; five which is half. However, these three parts, the tenth, the fifth and the half, that is, one, two, five, added together, do not complete ten, because they give eight. If then, writes Saint Aurelius Augustine, the parts of the number twelve are added, a greater sum is obtained. In fact, twelve has the twelfth part, which is one, the sixth, which equals double; the fourth equal to quadruple, the half equal to sextuple; but one, plus two, plus three, plus four, plus six do not make twelve, but sixteen. I thought it well to recall this briefly to praise the perfection of the number six, which is the first, as I said, that is completed by the addition of its parts. With this number God completed his works. One should not therefore despise the value of a number, which the Sacred Scriptures demonstrate in many places, to those who read attentively, how much it should be esteemed. It was not said in vain in the praises of God: You have arranged everything in number, weight and measure (Wisdom 11:21)." Saint Augustine knew in depth esoteric Arithmetic, or transcendental Mathematics and demonstrates it in this long quotation that deserves careful study. The number six also has the emblem of David and Solomon expressed by two interlaced triangles that represents the Spirit and Matter that balance each other. When treating geometric figures it is necessary to read what I wrote about six relative to the figure of two interlaced triangles. The number 6 represents the dimensions of all bodies (the four cardinal points, the Zenith and the Nadir). If six is that of creation, says Augustine, seven is the number of the history of salvation or the Old Testament, while the number of full light will be 8, that is, the consummation of salvation, full light and the eternal solstice which is the New Testament. In Revelation the number 6 is the number of sin. In the Mystery of number 6 there are three ways of presenting itself with the choice between two trinities: $3 + 3 = 6$. The Trinity blesses $3 \times 2 = 6$ with the polarity of the sexes. But there is the material base of the sexes: $2 + 4 = 6$. The figure of the cube, having 6 sides which is a material symbol, but if these 6 sides of the cube are extended, then the Cross of Sacrifice springs from them. The world, creation lies under the dominion of evil. John in the first letter (5:9) confirms what I have said: "everything..."