Spirit is sometimes referred to as the “fifth element.” This idea goes all the way back to Aristotle and his idea that the celestial realm was made of a fifth element (quintessence), ether, which is not found here in the sublunar world.
Four is the number of order and stability. A house has four walls; there are four cardinal points of the compass. The laying out of buildings and boundaries with right angles was so important to our ancestors that our words for measuring off squares are intertwined with our words for propriety and authority: rectangle, regular, regulation, regiment, rex (king), ruler (both kinds), right (both senses), rectify, direct (both senses), correct, rector…the list goes on and on.
The four-fold order is static, not dynamic. Every element has its quadrant, and every quadrant its element. There is no room for mystery, for surprise, for magic. Something is missing, and that something may be called spirit. Here’s one way to think about spirit: if someone created a robot that looked and behaved just the way you do, would the robot be you? Most of us would say no—being alive is more than simply going through the motions. We also have consciousness, a point of view, an interior depth; there is something more than mind, will, heart, and body, some center of awareness that experiences our thoughts and desires, feelings and sensations, without being completely defined by them.
Most Pagans believe that spirit is not something we humans alone possess by virtue of having a soul (in the Christian sense), or by virtue of having complex brains (as the scientific worldview would have it). Rather, we see spirit manifesting everywhere: in the plants and animals we share this world with, and in the grand, slow life of the cosmos as a whole.
Some people use the word “spirit” in connection with the element of fire. It has a different meaning in that context. Compare the two words spirited and spiritual. “Spirited” describes someone brimming with energies and desires and willfulness; that is spirit in the fiery sense. “Spiritual” refers to a connection with deep sources of meaning that lie beyond the confines of the ego. That is spirit in the sense of the fifth element.
The Wiccan pentagram symbolizes this mystery by opening the four-fold cross of the elements into a five-fold star. The pentagram gives physical form to a truth that is not itself physical. We don’t call five “quarters” when we cast a circle, and the four elements retain their own symmetries and contrasts. Spirit is not one of the physical elements. It is everywhere and nowhere. It has no list of correspondences, because everything can be an opening into spirit.
While it is essential to recognize spirit along with the other elements, it is also essential to keep it somewhat distinct, and not trivialize it by simply tacking it on the elemental quaternity.
7 comments
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2008.May.25 at 7:35 am
Andy
I like the way that you have described the difference between fire and spirit as being similar to the difference between ‘spirited’ and ‘spiritual’. Although I’ve known this for some time, you’re description has helped me see that more clearly – thank you!
2008.June.20 at 10:57 am
Cranmer
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation 🙂 Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Cranmer!!!
2010.November.2 at 8:39 pm
Malu
Thanks for this, its about time someone actually wrote something COMPLETELY true about my element. I was really disappointed in the information given by so many people, but this really made my day. Thank you.
2014.June.4 at 3:52 am
Spirit elemental
Yes this truly showed what it means to be spirit my element , spirit is the element of energy every being has it in them but some show more than others thank you
2011.May.20 at 11:26 am
arthur guin
This stuff is really true. One night recently, I had a dream, a dream that contained a sequence in which a beautiful woman served me a sumpuous meal. When I woke up, my wife had brought me tea and toast in bed. What’s more, when asked, she couldn’t explain why she had done it.
2012.February.13 at 10:13 am
the nomadic angel
I think there is an awakening occurring. I feel it all around me. Spirit has always been here, always around us and always connecting us, but we have come to a point where we are seriously damaging the elements, our greedy ways and egos have stripped our elements of life. Spirit is going to rain down upon us, those who are not aware of spirit will be shocked…some will not believe, but those who are already aware will know how to embrace spirit for the good of mankind and Nature. The Libra balance is finally swaying! 🙂 Thank you for writing such intelligent and informative blogs. Blessed Be!
2012.May.26 at 10:27 am
Dreamer
Spirit is all around us. It is life itself. As a people we need to understand that. Thank you, for helping others understand this.