Wicca Natural Magic Kit: The Sun, The Moon, and The Elements, Elemental Magic, Moon Magic, and Wheel of the Year Magic - Lisa Chamberlain 2018

The Fifth Element
Elemental Philosophy

The Greeks themselves came to add a fifth Element in the form of what they called aether, a word that both names a primordial deity of air and translates as “pure air” or “clear sky.” Aether was believed to embody the “upper air,” or the air that the gods breathed in the celestial sphere. Among philosophers, Aether was long classified as a type of Air, but Aristotle determined it to be a distinct Element in and of itself, and added it to the list.

This Fifth Element is also widely called Akasha, from the Sanskrit word meaning “space.” The concept of Akasha appears across many Eastern traditions and is described in one way or another as the original Element from which all creation came, and which still exists in everything and in limitless capacities outside of what we perceive to be the material world.

Later spiritual and religious philosophies would come to associate Akasha with the concept of “Spirit,” which is how it is generally defined in Wiccan and Pagan circles.

The Fifth Element is the source and substance of all creation, the invisible unifying force of the Universe, and the conduit through which magic is affected. That it has so many different names and descriptions is perhaps due to its quality of being completely intangible and always mysterious.