The Quintessential Quadru-cycle

Gales in flux expand.

Vapors white to blackened spin-

Mother’s tears scatter.

Mother’s tear’s scatter

Sustenance and destruction-

Terra lives and dies.

Terra lives and dies.

Bloomed from germinated death-

human passions blaze.

Human passions blaze.

Transposing love, greed, and hate-

Gales in flux expand.

***

Where is the Fifth element? Quinta in Latin means “five.” Quintessence is defined as the purest or best example. The classical elements, or essences, of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire are well known in the world, but there was a time when it is believed that there were five. In medieval philosophy, the believed elements were Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, and Aether.

The fifth element refers to what was known as the aether, a special unknown substance that permeated the celestial sphere and was purer than any of the four terrestrial elements. The notion of a fifth element was broached by Plato and later written about by Aristotle, but neither philosopher used the term. One distinction that characterized the aether in Aristotle's description was that it moved in a circular motion, while the four terrestrial elements moved linearly.

Apart from its dynamic motion, one characteristic that set the aether apart from the four terrestrial elements was that it was thought to be pure. Alchemists later sought to extract what was then known as the quintessence from earthy substances in the hope of isolating an otherworldly cure for mankind's ills. By the 15th century, quintessence came to refer to the purest form of any substance, and soon afterward followed its current meaning, the essence that characterizes a thing.

(Excerpted from Distilling the Essence of Quintessence, https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/quintessence-origin-meaning-history-elements)

This world is in dire need of the mysterious Fifth Element, Aether. Where are you, Aristotle? Is the Fifth element, Love?