Rasa
In most Wiccan rituals, the four quarters of the circle are invited, as a part of making sacred space, as the four elements... but in my particular Tradition (Reclaiming, one particular denomination of Witchcraft), we invite Center as well (the 5th element), in addition to the Quarters.
If the other elements can be likened to the cardinal directions, the Center is the point where all the elements intersect. The perpetual crossroads that each of us is standing at, always, in every moment.
It's also our own centre (soul?), and a place of transformation, change, permutation, possibility. It's the moment, and the awareness of the moment.
It could be the Void (like the space over the edge of the cliff that the Fool is stepping into) or it could be paradox. It might contain absolutely Everything, or Nothing, or maybe both at once!
It also could be seen as above and below (or the world and the Divine, or force and form, or activity and passivity, etc, etc.), and the point where they come together in Divine Union to birth change.
I think all of these things fit with the Tarot as well.. the Majors are like the Centre, to me, each a snapshot of growth and transition in a process that's always unfolding, each a symbol of the Divine, each a human quality, each a lesson, a theme, an archetype. And they interact with the four elements as the suits of the minors, weaving in between them, the minors showing different polarities, experiences, parts of the self, and then majors showing the places where those intersect, and giving voices to different facets of the Mystery.
To me the 5th element isn't separate from the rest, it's embodied by all the cards, all things. The Major Arcana breaks it down into manageable bits, but to me Center/Spirit/5th element/whatever you want to call it, can never really be entirely described, quantified, or articulated. It's like a bunch of lenses to look at the Divine with, but none of them are actually seeing the whole picture, because it is too big, paradoxical, non-verbal, awesome, and moving for anyone to be able to ever process in its entirety.
...... and that's my view on the 5th element.. hopefully my mystical rambling is halfway intelligable.
If the other elements can be likened to the cardinal directions, the Center is the point where all the elements intersect. The perpetual crossroads that each of us is standing at, always, in every moment.
It's also our own centre (soul?), and a place of transformation, change, permutation, possibility. It's the moment, and the awareness of the moment.
It could be the Void (like the space over the edge of the cliff that the Fool is stepping into) or it could be paradox. It might contain absolutely Everything, or Nothing, or maybe both at once!
It also could be seen as above and below (or the world and the Divine, or force and form, or activity and passivity, etc, etc.), and the point where they come together in Divine Union to birth change.
I think all of these things fit with the Tarot as well.. the Majors are like the Centre, to me, each a snapshot of growth and transition in a process that's always unfolding, each a symbol of the Divine, each a human quality, each a lesson, a theme, an archetype. And they interact with the four elements as the suits of the minors, weaving in between them, the minors showing different polarities, experiences, parts of the self, and then majors showing the places where those intersect, and giving voices to different facets of the Mystery.
To me the 5th element isn't separate from the rest, it's embodied by all the cards, all things. The Major Arcana breaks it down into manageable bits, but to me Center/Spirit/5th element/whatever you want to call it, can never really be entirely described, quantified, or articulated. It's like a bunch of lenses to look at the Divine with, but none of them are actually seeing the whole picture, because it is too big, paradoxical, non-verbal, awesome, and moving for anyone to be able to ever process in its entirety.
...... and that's my view on the 5th element.. hopefully my mystical rambling is halfway intelligable.
