V. The Pentad - The Sinks

Active Pentad

Passive Pentad

The Monad is the Seed, the Dyad imparts Change to it, the Pentad gives it Life, and the Decad Completes and Contains it. These Numbers form a Geometric Progression, for as the Seed is to Change, so is Life to the Whole (1:2 :: 5:10); and as the Seed is to Life, so is Change to the Whole (1:5 :: 2:10).

The Pythagoreans name the Pentad "Alteration," for it creates a Novel Situation, for better or worse; indeed it is often initially worse, but ultimately better. For the Pentad is a Breakdown; it destabilizes the Stasis (and Complaisance) of the Tetrad, and confronts it with a Problem - or Opportunity. As the Tetrad is the Principle of Orderly Linear and Cyclic Change, so is the Pentad the Principle of Unpredictable, Creative Nonlinear Change.

The Pythagoreans also call the Pentad "Aphrodite," for this Goddess has the power to disrupt the normal Order of Things, whether among Gods or Mortals. Thus when Hera must alter Zeus's decisions for the World, She borrows Aphrodite's Girdle, and then Her Wishes cannot be denied. Likewise an agent of the Unexpected and Unintended is the Planet Mercury and the God Hermes, who is called the Trickster. He is the Psychagogos (Spirit Guide), who leads Souls out of the Mundane Realm into the Unseen Realm (A-ides = Hades), the Patron of all Boundary-Crossers.

In the Fifth Cosmological Stage the normal Order of the Universe is temporarily disrupted (with permanent effects). Thus in the Babylonian Epic of Erra, Four-square Marduk, grown old and complaisant, is temporarily driven from His throne by Erra (Nergal), a violent God, known for bringing crises, such as forest fires, fevers and plagues. So He wreaks havoc on the World for no other purpose than the Chaos it engenders.

(Frequently the Pentad manifests as a demand for Equality or Justice. Thus the Pythagoreans call the Pentad "Nemesis," "Justice," and "the Equalizer," since it takes from one and gives to another so as to establish Equivalence, which may be more or less than Equality.)

Wands: Spiritual Crisis

Image: Five wands arranged as an upright star arrangement; counter-clockwise from lower left, they are: blue torch, green caduceus, yellow torch, orange thursos (pinecone-tipped staff with a spike on its base), red keraunos. The bases of the wands are at the center of the star. Fiery background.

Commentary: The colors correspond to the five elements: red=earth, blue=water, green=air, yellow=fire, orange=spirit. The new, fifth element is represented by the Dionysian thursos, for its spike induces Dionysian mania, which disrupts the organized structure of the Tetrad; thus it appears to have been thrust into the center of the elemental cross. Its orange color represents the sudden outburst of emotion. The torches are pointing outward to represent breaking free from old constraints. The background represents an outwelling of spiritual ferver.

Swords: Intellectual Crisis

Image: Five swords in an upright star arrangement; the lower four with their points directed outward, the upper with its point at the center. Counter-clockwise from the lower left, the colors of the swords are blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Background of thunderheads.

Commentary: The fifth sword is thrust into the center of the elemental cross, disrupting its defensive structure. The thunderheads represent a new crisis appearing on the horizon.

Cups: Emotional Crisis

Image: Five cups in an upright star arrangement. Topmost cup pours its contents into the center of the star, the other four tilt to the outside and spill their contents. Counter-clockwise from the lower left, the colors of the cups are blue, green, yellow, orange, red. Background of rushing sea-green waters.

Commentary: The fifth cup, coming from none of the four directions, dumps disruptive feelings among the cups of the previously stable relationship, so that they tilt, spilling their feelings and letting them flow outside the relationship. The background represents emotional turbulence.

Pentacles: Material Crisis

Image: Five pentacles in an upright pentagonal arrangement, each engraved with an elemental symbol. Clockwise from the lower left they are blue/water, red/earth, orange/spirit (eight-rayed double cross), yellow/fire, green/air. Brown background.