Fifth element definition12/10/2023 ![]() A point-up pentagram came to symbolize spirit ruling over the four physical elements, while a point-down pentagram symbolized spirit being subsumed by matter or descending into matter. The issue of a pentagram being point-up or point-down only gained relevance in the 19th-century and has everything to do with the arrangement of elements. The final line between earth and spirit completes the geometric shape. ![]() Starting with spirit, the highest element, we descend to fire, then follow the lines of the pentagram over to air, across to water, and down to earth, the lowest and most material of the elements. ![]() This hierarchy determines the placement of elements around the pentagram. Traditionally, there is a hierarchy among the elements ranging from the most spiritual and rarefied to the least spiritual and most material. Since at least the Renaissance, one of its associations is with the five elements. The pentagram has represented many diverse meanings over the centuries. Circling clockwise from earth you get water, and then air and then fire, which is the least material of the elements. Earth is the lowest, most material element. That hierarchy can be traced through this diagram. The lower elements in the hierarchy are more material and physical, with the higher elements becoming more spiritual, more rarefied, and less physical. There is traditionally a hierarchy of elements, although some modern schools of thought have abandoned this system.
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