Quintessence

I love the sound of this word. Quintessence. I was thrilled to read about its etymology- it gives it an almost mystical quality.

early 15c., in ancient and medieval philosophy, "pure essence, substance of which the heavenly bodies are composed," lit. "fifth essence," from M.Fr. quinte essence (14c.), from M.L. quinta essentia, from L. quinta, fem. of quintus "fifth" + essentia (see essence). Loan-translation of Gk. pempte ousia, the "ether" added by Aristotle to the four known elements (water, earth, fire, air) and said to permeate all things. Its extraction was one of the chief goals of alchemy. Sense of "purest essence" (of a situation, character, etc.) is first recorded 1580s.

The fifth essence. Fire, earth, water, air and ....this, this substance that permeates all things.


I would have loved to live in a time when that was what we knew about the world- that it was fire and water and earth and air and mystery...when people weren't so smug about electrons and all the boring stuff that can be 'proved'. There is a romance to that kind of knowledge- living off the earth, venerating its elements, awed by its inexplicable complexity. In that way of being, there is a relationship between us and what exists around us- a respect, a mutual symbiosis that was acknowledged and as a result, allowed to shape life. That, to me, is pure.

Quintessence...