The Quintessential Element
Some years ago in the UK, at the time of the general election there was an advert for a television current affairs program. It had a picture of Margaret Thatcher as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz with the caption “If only I had a heart”, with the then leader of the opposition (I think James Callaghan) as the scarecrow and the caption “I only I had a brain”.
This is a common view: left-wing people work from the emotions, right-wing people work from the intellect. One could add that instinctual people would be considered even more right-wing (“blast them to pieces”), and intuitive people even more left wing (“let’s relax and contact the spirits”).
These generalisations have some truth but only in people who are not balanced. If people are predominantly emotional then certainly, decisions will be made on an emotional basis overriding rationally. Similarly, if people are predominantly rational then they will be cold and cut off from the emotional impact of their decisions. The first choice of instinctual people may be to fight before negotiating and the emotionalist may be reluctant to enter into battle even when the situation demands it.
The mystical journey is about balancing yourself; to understand the forces that influence you and to use each aspect of your psyche in order to fully understand the situation. For example, imagine someone tells you a story about how a friend of his was defrauded out of some money. The rationalist may be unmoved and simply shrug (“That’s life”). The emotionalist may be feel for the victim and want to give them money whilst the instinctual may want to go out and beat the culprit up. The balanced person sees all these aspects, and if they have a good intuitive aspect to their psyche, may even get a voice or a vision showing them what really happened. With all these aspects in place they are in a position to make a decision. It may be simply to shrug and say “That’s life”, but at the same time feeling for the victim; it may be to take action but this would be from a rational analysis of the pros and cons of the situation.
In some respects, this is like our use of technology. We have tools at our disposal that a wise person uses to gain an understanding and perform tasks. An unwise person gets carried away with the technology and uses, for example, their computer to view pornography.
The Alchemists had the concept of the ‘quintessential element’. This was the fifth element made from the alchemical combining of the other four elements. In other words, when one has assimilated the four aspects of the psyche: rationality, emotion, instinct and intuition you can develop the fifth element which enables you to become king or queen of your own kingdom. You control your psyche rather than being controlled by it.
