The five palms

Is it a coincidence that one of our most popular image subjects is the famous ‘five palms’? Of course, gorgeous beach scenes and seascapes are always popular because of the wonderful tranquility and serenity of the subject but what is it about those five palms?

Andy’s first image of the morning is usually the five palms. They are usually his last subject too, just before he leaves the beach. Followers all over the world can see the progression of the morning – the difference between the pre-dawn and post-dawn images of the same subject.

The question I ask myself is – why is five so special? I don’t know about you but four palms just wouldn’t be the same somehow.

If you research the symbolism of numbers, five is the number of balance, health. love and mankind itself, mankind because it represents the four limbs and the head. Is this why subconsciously we are drawn to the number five?

We see ‘fives’ in nature too. A hand has five fingers for example, starfish have five arms. And we’re accustomed to other groups of five too – the five lines of a musical stave and the five Olympic Rings symbolising the continents.

In most ancient cultures, five was an important number and in Asia, there are many connections with the number.

Getting back to nature, if you cut an apple across its ‘equator’ you’ll find that the seeds form a five pointed star, a pentagram. In the Bible, Eve gave Adam the apple of knowledge, leading to the pentagram being considered a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. The pentgram has been widely used as a symbol, the five points being said to represent spirit, air, fire, water and earth.

Is it possible that ‘five’ speaks to us at some deep level? I don’t know for sure but the five palms have become important to a lot of people, thanks to Andy’s artwork.