The specifics of the Law of Fives can be quoted from a number of sources, including the Wiki Discordia:
The Law of Fives states simply that: ALL THINGS HAPPEN IN FIVES, OR ARE DIVISIBLE BY OR ARE MULTIPLES OF FIVE, OR ARE SOMEHOW DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY APPROPRIATE TO 5.
Law of Fives and Expanded Consciousness
Discordians use their pineal glands to communicate with the goddess Eris ("Our Lady of Discord"), and focus much of their efforts on its expansion. Improved brain function overall is beneficial to this process, especially when it requires new types of thinking.
The Law of Fives requires misdirection, word association, higher mathematics, and logical leaps in order to be implemented. Here is an example proof of the Law of Fives, provided by the Barry Bittwister Cabal:
"Descartes, famed philosopher who thought that he could prove the existence of God, was invited go and tutor the 23 year old Queen of Scandanavia. The rigors of the cold climate and the fact that she demanded that the lessons began at 5 am eventually caused him to succumb to pnemonia and die. Recently, evidence has come to light that Descartes might not have been killed by natural causes. Some suspect that he was killed by arsenic poisoning."
Additional proofs are rarely less convoluted than this one. Regardless of the methods used to achieve a connection to the number five, it certainly involves considerable mental exercise.
Numerology as a Joke
Discordianism makes mockery a serious part of its religion - a popular question posed is, "Is it a religion disguised as a joke, or a joke disguised as a religion?" The Law of Fives absolutely pokes fun at numerology, the process of obtaining occult knowledge by analyzing numbers that correspond to various environmental factors and events. However, the position is never taken that ridiculous things are not real - numerology may be silly, but this doesn't prevent it from working.
It is interesting to note that there is also no material to suggest that numerology does work despite being silly. Like most things Discordian, the answers to such questions are left to the individual.
Significant Appearances of the Number Five
All appearances of the number five are significant to Discordians, but some stand out:
- The Sacred Chao, symbol of the movement, includes a pentagon to represent Order.
- Discordianism includes five elements: Sweet, Boom, Pungent, Prickle, and Orange
- "Hail Discordia!" contains five syllables
- The word "fnord" is five letters long (and cannot be explained within the limits of this space)
- Humans have five digits on each limb.
A Note on Using a Wiki as Source Material
Suite101.com generally recommends not using Wikipedia as a source, and presumably this editorial policy extends to other wikis, as well. However, when deriving material from a chaos religion, it is appropriate to quote from places that are inherently unstable and potentially inaccurate.
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