The first solid figure is the Quaternary, the symbol of immortality. It is the Pyramid, for the Pyramid stands on a triangular base, and terminates with a point at the top, thus yielding the Triad and the Quaternary or the 3 and 4.
The Pythagoreans taught the connection and relation between the Gods and the numbers, in a science called Arithmomancy. The Soul is a number, they said, which moves of itself and contains the number 4; and spiritual and physical man is number 3, as the Ternary represented for them not only the surface but also the principle of the formation of the physical body. Thus animals were Ternaries only, man alone being a Septenary, when virtuous; a Quinary when bad, for:
Number Five was composed of a Binary and a Ternary, and of these the Binary threw everything in the perfect form into disorder and confusion. The perfect man, they said, was a Quaternary and a Ternary, or four material and three immaterial elements; and these three Spirits or Elements we likewise find in Five when it represents the microcosm. The latter is a compound of a Binary directly relating to gross Matter and of three Spirits. Since, as Ragon says:
This ingenious figure is the union of two Greek breathings placed over vowels which have or have not to be aspirated. The first sign (῾) is called the “strong” or superior “spiritus,” the Spirit of God aspired (spiratus) and breathed by man. The second sign (᾿) the lower, is the soft “spiritus” representing the secondary spirit; ... the whole embraces the whole man. It is the universal quintessence, the vital fluid or life.[1367]
The more mystic meaning of the number Five is given in an excellent article by Mr. T. Subba Row, in Five Years of Theosophy, in an article entitled “The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac,” in which he gives some rules that may help the enquirer to ferret out “the deep significance of ancient Sanskrit nomenclature in the old Âryan myths and allegories.” Meanwhile, let us see what has been hitherto stated about [pg 609] the constellation Capricornus in Theosophical publications, and what is known of it generally. Every one knows that ♑ is the tenth sign of the Zodiac, into which the Sun enters at the winter solstice, about December 21st. But very few are those who know—even in India, unless they are initiated—the real mystic connection which seems to exist, as we are told, between the names Makara and Kumâra. The first means some amphibious animal, flippantly called the “crocodile,” as some Orientalists think, and the second is the title of the great patrons of Yogins, according to the Shaiva Purânas, the sons of, and even one with, Rudra (Shiva), who is a Kumâra himself. It is through their connection with Man that the Kumâras are likewise connected with the Zodiac. Let us try to find out what the word Makara means.
Says the author of “The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac”:
Makara ... contains within itself the clue to its correct interpretation. The letter ma is equivalent to number 5, and kara means hand. Now in Sanskrit Tribhujam means a triangle, bhujam or karam (both synonymous) being understood to mean a side. So, Makaram or Panchakaram means a Pentagon.[1368]
Now the five-pointed star or pentagon represents the five limbs of man.[1369] Under the old system, we are told, Makara was the eighth instead of the tenth sign.[1370]
The sign in question is intended to represent the faces of the universe, and indicates that the figure of the universe is bounded by Pentagons.[1371]
The Sanskrit writers “speak also of Ashtadisha or eight faces bounding Space,” referring thus to the Loka-pâlas, the eight points of the compass, the four cardinal and the four intermediate points.