Number: 5
Symbol: Pentagon
and Pentagram
Sound/Music reference:
Circle of Fifths, Perfect Fifth
Quote: When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am
invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the
latest. – Henry David Thoreau
It’s a rhythmic
universe we live in; everything alive spins and oscillates in rhythm. The rhythm
laws of order and chaos seem to be the standard building blocks of nature.
Rhythm is also the glue that ties together random or external phenomena outside
our direct control. The sea, the heavens the wind and the stars dance their own
rhythmic dance until eternity. – from Spirit
into Sound – Mickey Hart
Song: Shooting
Star – Bob Dylan
Downward Spiral – Nine Inch Nails
The DaVinci Code (The DVC)
The DVC became an
integral part of my bus ride, because when I read it in December 2004, I’d been
writing about hidden codes in music and sacred geometry for over a year.
DaVinci’s famous drawing of “Vitruvian Man” depicts a human with outstretched
arms and legs. This diagram illustrates the divine proportion of man, with five
points: The four points of legs and arms, and his head. Our bodies reflect a
Pentagram, or a five pointed star.
DaVinci’s
Vitruvian Man
Music, the Pentagram
and Protection
During my journey, an old Cheap Trick song called
"Lookout" became a focal point. It had a nonsensical stanza, and fans
occasionally posted questions on the newsgroup as to the meaning of the lyrics.
I asked the Tarot cards about its meaning, got some interesting insights, and
over a year later when I read The DVC
a plethora of other possible meanings were revealed to me. Part of the lyrics
were about protection, where a dude is telling a girl to look out for some bum
who wants to get her. He’s warning her to protect
herself. I did lots of research into ancient symbols and codes, and discovered
that the Pentagram was frequently used for defense against negative forces.
When the top point faced upwards to the heavens, it was drawn or worn to
protect; but when the point was reversed or pointed downwards, it represented
evil and other not so nice stuff.
The idea of protection reminded me of a time when I was home
from college for the summer. I mowed the lawn one day while listening to my
tape of one of the band’s albums and stopped to empty the clippings when I was
overwhelmed by an intense feeling of bliss and protection. It felt as if
someone had put a security blanket on my shoulder, and then I heard myself
thinking, “I’m so incredibly happy the guys in the band are here on the planet
at the same time as me. This is what they came here to do, and even though they
are thousands of miles away, I feel safer somehow, like their music protects
me. I never feel alone and everything is perfect in my world when I listen to
their songs.”
Previously, I touched upon the possibility that rock music
could protect us. Interestingly, we refer to famous rock musicians as rock stars. A star symbolically protects,
right? I did discover a way rock stars can help protect us with their music,
and that will be a topic of another post.
The Spiral
Five displays another quality, the spiral. The spiral is
actually rolled within a pentagonal shape, and is the most widespread shape in
nature. The images below depict a perfect fifth created by a harmonograph.
Using pendulums, a harmonograph creates a visual guide to the mathematics of music.
Look at the shapes: Spirals and pointed stars. I just love how music
mirrors the essence of life. (Harmonograph:
A Visual Guide to the Mathematics of Music by Anthony Ashton)
Have you ever noticed how your outer and inner ear (the
cochlea) are spirals? The part of our
body that hears sound reflects the shape of a spiral. That’s a pretty amazing
coincidence for a bunch of Fools whose existence stems from some supposedly
chaotic, meaningless universe.
There are many other secret clues as to who we really are
which are hidden in our physical bodies that I discovered along my journey. This
is just the tip of the iceberg.
Tarot Wisdom: The
High Priest of Rhythmic Noise
Also called the High Priest, the Heirophant card represents
churches, doctrines, conformity, identifying with a group, fitting in and
social approval. This was an important card for me, because the major clue I
was given the night of my awakening was “Group Soul Reincarnation.” Rock music
fans make up a large group, and secret groups and the High Priest would become
more important as I delved into the mysteries of The DVC and esoteric societies.
Sound/Musical
reference: Circle of Fifths, Perfect Fifth
When five notes are apart, for example the note of G in
relation to C, it creates the perfect fifth (G is the fifth note from C) and
makes the simple ratio of 3:2. The Circle of Fifths is an easy way to find out
the key a song is in. It is called the Circle of Fifths because as you go
clockwise, you go up a fifth. Since it is depicted in a circle, it relates to a
spiral shape.
The perfect fifth creates a stable, harmonious sound.
Stability was used to describe the 4/4 time signature, and both go hand in
hand. I have C and G Pythagorean tuning forks, and when struck together and
simultaneously placed near the left and right ear, they are supposed to balance
the left and right brain and create a sense of ease and harmony.
How does this connect to the concept of protection? When we
are at peace and harmonious with ourselves and everyone else, we feel nothing
can hurt us. We don’t need protection. So when you hear a nice harmonious
perfect fifth and feel at ease, it’s
doing its job by protecting you from feeling dis-ease or some emotionally disturbing feeling.
For more information about the circle of fifths go to
http://www.circleoffifths.com/#axzz3auPho7dh
No comments:
Post a Comment