Quintessence

Origin in Aristotle and alchemy

The concept of "fifth element" was systematised by Aristotle (4th century BC) in his Physics and De Caelo. Aristotle observed that the four classical elements (earth, water, fire, air) could explain everything that exists in the sublunar world (under the orbit of the moon) — but not the celestial bodies (stars, planets) that move in perfect circles without changing. He postulated, therefore, a fifth element: ether (or quintessence, the "fifth essence") — pure substance, unchanging, of which the celestial spheres and the stars are made. The Hindu tradition has analogous concept: the akasha as fifth element beyond earth, water, fire and air.

In medieval and Renaissance European alchemy, the quintessence took practical use as alchemical goal: distill any substance until obtaining its pure essence — its quintessence. The quintessence of a plant was its concentrated essential virtue; the quintessence of metals, their hidden spiritual nature; the universal quintessence, finally, would be the philosopher's stone — pure spiritual essence of all matter. Alchemists like Paracelsus (16th century) developed sophisticated theories of medicinal quintessences.

In modern esotericism

In modern Hermetic and esoteric tradition, "quintessence" is still used in several senses: 1) as spiritual element beyond the four material — sometimes drawn as the central or upper point of the pentagram: spirit dominating the four material elements. 2) as the essence distilled of any substance, work or experience — what remains when the impure is eliminated. 3) as analogue or synonym of akasha, ether, the fifth subtle element of the universe.

In modern speech, "quintessence" has gained the colloquial meaning of "concentrated essence of something": "the quintessence of poetry", "the quintessence of justice". This metaphorical use derives directly from the alchemical concept: that which remains when all the impure has been eliminated is the quintessence of the matter.

Spiritual contemplation

A useful contemplation: what is the quintessence of you? If you eliminate everything peripheral, all the masks, all the borrowed identities, all the conditioning — what remains? That irreducible essence that you cannot get rid of even if you wanted to is your personal quintessence. Discovering it is the goal of inner alchemical work. The integrated Self of individuation is the personal quintessence: the soul finally distilled of all that was not its own. It is a worthwhile contemplative work to do throughout life.