Tuesday, May 31, 2011


FIVE = free-form life, man, health, love, magic/mystery, regeneration, momentum, superior, excellence, power, authority, identity, expansion, growth from within, action, restlessness, grace
  • also known as quint, quintet, quintuplet
  • associated with stars, pentagons and spirals
  • spirals = growth through resistance
  • Fibonacci Sequence - sequence of numbers where the first numbers are 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, …
  • the Fibonacci Sequence also forms the Fibonacci Spiral, which is the basis for the Golden Section / mean / ratio: 1.618
  • the Fibonacci Spiral appears abundantly in nature:
-proportions of bone lengths (metacarpals)
-distances between planets and their moons
-facial proportions
-body proportions
-heartbeats
-number of senses
-uncurling of an embryo in the womb
  • five petal plants bear edible fruit
  • phyllotaxis is natural spiral growth found in sunflowers, artichokes, pinecones, pineapple, cacti, tree branching as well as seashells and animal horns - and even the family trees of honeybees
  • these proportions are the basis engineering and design, including the Parthenon, the Sydney Opera House and even high curvature
  • "we are part of the embodiment of the five-part harmony that we are drawn to in the world … pentagonal symmetry is the signature of living, breathing form - it's only natural that it would be beautiful to us." -Maggie MacNab
  • five is the atomic number of boron
  • the strongest hurricane type is Category 5; the strongest tornado type is F-5
  • Muslims attend mosque and pray 5 times per day
  • Pentateuch are the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
  • n Cantonese, "five" sounds like the word "not"; when five appears in front of a lucky number (ie. 58), the result is considered unlucky
  • "five spice" is a traditional spice in Chinese cuisine, which included cinnamon, star anise, ground clove, fennel and red pepper
  • in musical notation, a musical staff is made of five horizontal lines
  • "a perfect fifth" is the most consonant harmony in music, and is the basis for most western tuning systems
  • there are five basic positions in ballet which form the basis of all ballet movements
  • on a computer keyboard, Shift+5 gives you a percent sign (%)
  • on telephone keypads, the "5" key is associated with the letters J, K & L, and almost always has a raised dot
  • Roman numeral is V
  • in astrology, the fifth sign of the Zodiac is Leo, the Lion (July 23 - August 22)
  • the symbol of Olympic Games is five interlocked rings (red, yellow, blue, green, black), representing the number of inhabited continents represented by the Olympians (counting North America and South America as one continent)
  • quintuplets are five offspring in the same pregnancy
  • "high five" is a celebratory hand gesture where two people slap hands together
  • "take five" is to take a short break
  • "five-finger discount" is slang for shoplifting
  • "five second rule" means you can still eat something within 5 seconds of dropping it on the ground
  • pentameter is a verse of poetry with five repeating feet per line; Shakespeare used iambic pentameter, where the unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
  • No. 5 is the name of the iconic fragrance by Coco Chanel, circa 1920
  • in astrology, 5 is ruled by Mercury
  • 5 ball in billiards is solid orange
  • "on the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five golden rings, four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree"
  • fifth wedding anniversary gift is wood
COMMON FIVEs:
  • five parts of human body (head, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg)
  • five fingers (pinky, ring, middle, index and thumb)
  • five toes
  • five classical elements (earth, air, water, fire, ether - the "quintessence")
  • five senses
  • five tastes (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami)
  • five stages of grief (shock, denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance)
  • five vowels (a, e, i, o, u)
  • five Ws of journalism (who what, when, where, why)
  • five Great Lakes (Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, Superior)
  • five boroughs of New York (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island
  • five oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Indian, Antarctic)
  • five types of triangles (equilateral, isosceles, obtuse, right, scalene)
  • Jackson Five (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael)